[greenhead]

Hi all,  Had a good year with Butternut Squash - 25 fruits from 4 plants. Eaten two but lost the rest in storage!!  Well placed in a closed shed not touching and each fruit ripe.  So what has gone wrong?  Frost or wrong type - Summer or Winter variety?

Commiserations please,!!  and hopefully advice for this year.

Mike

[mumofstig]

It would have been too cold in the shed, they need to be above 10C. I keep mine in the spare bedroom where the radiator valve is only just open, to stop damp.

[robinahood]

I am lucky in that I have a fairly dry cellar, I can store squash, onions, apples etc for many months.

[Dev]

That must be incredibly frustrating Greenhead. I'm growing them for the first time this year so I think I will try Mumofstig's method.

[sunshineband]

I store mine in the unheated spare bedroom, lined up on the cupboard tops 

When any of the grandchildren come to stay, they love seeing them

[JayG]

Slightly ashamed to admit that a couple of year's ago I kept 3 ripened winter squashes on a chair in my sitting room - they kept for months perfectly happily (maybe not quite as happy being dumped on the floor when visitors came!)

Any skin damage will be exploited by cold and damp, and if they get frosted you need to act quickly, even if previously in A1 condition.

[greenhead]

Hi, thank you for your replies,

Had not realised there are winter varieties like Crown Prince and Cobnut which may store better than summer varieties.  10c minimum rules out storage in a garden shed.  Hope - better luck this season.


Mike.

[New shoot]

That is unlucky to lose almost all of them 

Butternuts do have thinner skins than some.  I use the shed for squash storage and get away with it, but you do need to make sure the skins are fully ripe and thickened up.  I also put them on shelves, then drape fleece like a curtain down in front of them.  They get checked a lot and any suspect patches on the skin mean immediate transport to the kitchen for dealing with - roasted squash freezes well 

Crown Prince does keep for a long time.  I've grown that one before and got away with keeping it in the greenhouse over winter.  It is tasty as well.  You get fewer fruits but they are pretty large.

[rowlandwells]

funny you should mention butternut squash yep we had the same problem through storing them in a cold greenhouse low temperature caused them to start damping of spores appeared

so it was a swift exit from greenhouse to kitchen we prepared them for the freezer unfortunately lost some but managed to save enough for cooking at a later date the same applied to our pumpkins and marrows all safely went in the freezer

a friend of ours told us he keeps his in his loft and had no probs but from what's been said squashes marrows and pumpkins need a damp and frost  proof place to keep them overwinter this is the first year for us growing butternut squash what a crop they produced more than I thought as did the pumpkin and marrows put it like this I needed the tractor and trailer to bring them from the allotments to the house

 to me all squashes are one of  best versatile vegetables you can grow and cook with 

[mumofstig]

squashes marrows and pumpkins need a damp and frost  proof place

I know I'm daft ( that's before you tell me so!  ) but, to me, that reads like they need to be somewhere that is damp  when I hope that what you mean is somewhere damp proof (dry) and frost proof.
 

[greenhead]

Is 'butternut squash' a winter or summer variety or is  butternut squash a generic name - confused!!

Mike.

[engineer]

Hi greenhead, I had the same thing happen 2yrs ago lost the lot to rot by storing them in the garage! This year I took some advice off this site, when harvesting them cut 1" or 3cm above and below the fruit to form a little T handle, dry them off somewhere warm and dry for 2 weeks and then store somewhere warm and dry, mine have been quite happy under the spare bed, I have 4 left waiting for the next batch of soup.

[engineer]

Mike, always regarded it as a summer fruit, but someone may know better!

[mumofstig]

Butternut squash are one of the many types of winter squash
https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/grow-your-own/vegetables/squash
but many other varieties of winter squash are known to store for longer than the Butternuts do.