Butternut squashes, Tomatoes and Carrots

GeorgeBee

A couple of quick questions re. my veggies, I'm a complete newbie so bear with me - and apologises in advance if they are (and they probably are) daft questions.

Butternut squashes - They have green squash shaped fruit, which then got big yellow flowers on the the end, which fell off after a couple of days. Some of the fruits which have flowered look fine - round and green - others looks pretty sad - yellow and shrivelled. Unsure why, and wondering if I should remove these sad looking ones?

Also had some flowers with no squashy bit? Just flowers on a stalk. What's the purpose of the flowers? Have a feeling I've missed something here!

Carrots - How do I know when to pull them, without pulling them? I can'r remember what variety they are, but they're meant to be round. Sowed outdoors May/June time.

Tomatoes - Gardener's Delight - When on Earth will these ripen? Been green for so long - do they just need sunshine?

Thanks all!

wallbash

Will only attempt to answer tomato question.
Mine have lots of green ones, only had 7 red ones..... sad if you start counting them

GeorgeBee

I've had no red ones lol! Not even a tint of orange yet!

wssla00

Butternut squashes could be that they haven't been pollinated or you may have blossom end rot?

Carrots, scrub off just a little of the top layer of soil and see the width of the carrot. If it looks wide enough you can pull it. Just don't pull it, see it's not right and replant- they HATE that lol

Tom's yeah all mine are green at the mo as I am in Scotland so they take longer especially if they are outside. Heat and light they need. Plus a weekly feed of tomato food

Enjoy

lizzyb1812

Squashes - they sound fine. The fruits form behind female flowers which eventually drop off. The flowers with just thin stalks are the males which have pollinated the females. It's the same as for courgettes.

Carrots - either check the tops gently as advised above or pull just one to check the size. If they are small but of an eatable size you could consider pulling every other one to give the rest more room to swell - you won't get a ball sized carrot in a space only big enough for a marble

Tomatoes - patience is a virtue I'm afraid. Don't worry, soon you'll be on Old Style looking for tomato recipes ......

Lizzyb

Nuttygal

I'm a total novice to this too but I think I might be able to help with the squash question. If I'm right (and please anyone feel free to correct me as I could be wrong!) then the flowers for the butternuts are probably the same as my courgette ones. The plant has male and female flowers on it. The male ones are the long thin stalks with a flower and the females are the ones which have a small bulbous fruit behind the flower. If the female flower isn't pollinated then the fruit will start to grow but will then rot instead of developing fully.
What I've been doing with my courgettes is removing an open male flower stamen (not sure if that's the right terminology) and rubbing the polllen onto the female flowers to hand pollinate them.

Hope this is of some help xxx

wallbash

What I've been doing with my courgettes is removing an open male flower stamen (not sure if that's the right terminology) and rubbing the polllen onto the female flowers to hand pollinate them.

Gardening and sex ,this is a wonderful forum:rotfl: