[ytyynycefn]

I need some squash advice!  With the cold weather coming along fast, should I pick my unripe but good sized squashes now?  Can they be ripened indoors?  The pumpkins are turning orange, the butternuts and others are still pretty green.

Cheers!

[John]

Not sure about your squashes but my pumpkins ripened nicely outside on a table facing south.

This year my squash was a disaster - I tried the three sisters method and, despite the July heatwave, no crops. I expect the Hopi indians in the SW USA had better weather than the best we have to offer.

[Plot25]

Three sisters method? What's that?

I had great success with squashes this year, last year I had mainly male flowers and hardly any female/fruit flowers. :?:

[mellowmick]

Mine are only really starting now. I've got 3 on one plant, which is creeping along the ground. Biggest one is tennis ball sized. They were growing and flowering, but nothing tangible until the summer broke at the start of September and we had some heavy rain. Then they started trippling in size in about a week. Funny game, this growing stuff thing. :?

[John]

Three sisters method? What's that?

I had great success with squashes this year, last year I had mainly male flowers and hardly any female/fruit flowers. :?:

You basically plant sweetcorn with squash inbetween rows and climbing beans by the sweetcorn.

The theory is the corn shades the squash and supports the beans that, being legumes, give nitrogen to the sweetcorn.  

Ideal for hot  dry climates, but not so great for Cheshire.

[wellingtons]

... when the weather turned too.  I have some orange pumpkins and some turning, I'm going to harvest the ripe ones and hope that the others go orange in the next week, if not I'm going to pick them and put them in the green house and hope!