[greenhead]

My partner (lottiegob) and I have a slight disagreement - We have planted a squash plant on top of a pile of horse manure.  It is now producing fruit,  how do we know when it is ripe,  I say it is down to size,  lottiegob says it is ripe when it changes colour to orange (ish).  The fruit is presently light green and about the size of a small marrow.  Who is right! we have no idea which variety as the plant was given to us.

[mumofstig]

AS you don't know the variety you don't know what size it is s'posed to be 
Is it summer or winter squash?...help!
Summer ones you can eat right away, but winter ones you leave to ripen on the plant.

The way to tell if they are ready is when the skin gets really hard, a lot of them also change colour, but some don't change until they have been stored for a while

A photo might help you know....someone may recognise the variety  :blink:

[greenhead]

Thanks mumofstig,  I have asked the question re summer/winter and will get a photo later this week.

[greenhead]

It is a Summer squash.

[mumofstig]

Then they are like courgettes, so you can eat them when you like the look of them 

[greenhead]

Thanks again mumofstig, I guess we can both live in peace again.

[greenhead]

I now have photos of the squash in question can anybody recognise the variety?

Thanks.

[8doubles]

That is a Butternut which is a winter squash, you can pick it when the colour goes from green to yellowy brown . Leave plenty of stalk on when you cut it and store on a sunny windowsill . They improve in flavour if stored for a few weeks.
If you can bear to wait that long.

[DD.]

Looks like a butternut to me. Will be ripe when it goes a golden yellow.

If so, it should be a winter squash.

Winter and summer refer to their keeping abilities, not growing times.

Winter ones store well, summer ones don't.

[DD.]

Snap(ish).

[DD.]

And it looks like lottiegob wins!

[greenhead]

Thanks all,  so what do we do now? leave it to grow on,  bearing in mind Frost could occur later this week  or cut it off and let it ripen indoors.

In future, does it need to be planted on top of a pile of horse manure?

[DD.]

I'd leave it on, the minimum forecast overnight temp for your area in the next 5 days, (according to the BBC) is 7C.

[8doubles]

Check to see that there are no signs of pests or decay on the underside if you are leaving it in situ to ripen, it helps to put a brick or tile under the squash to help keep it dry.
The plant looks good and healthy on the heap but about 6 buckets of dung in a hole in a sunny position will be enough for one plant.

[mumofstig]

6 buckets of dung in a hole in a sunny position will be enough for one plant.

6 buckets?  I hope you get manure for free