Butternut squash plants, do they survive winter?

wishuponastar

Once the butternut fruits start turning a tan/yellow colour on the vine does that mean they have stopped growing?


I know in the case of tomatoes that if they don't have enough room in the pot they are growing in that the tomatoes will only grow to a size that the plant feels it can support, I've learnt that through having tomato plants in too small containers and seeing their fruit. Once they start turning red, even if they are repotted the fruit that has already started growing and turning red doesn't grow any bigger.


When I put them in the ground I only dug an area a bit bigger than the pot they were in and I didn't turn the ground all around so in effect they are in a larger pot even though they are in the ground (if that makes sense). I realise this was a mistake and I should have turned the ground all over to allow the roots to grow but this is my first time so I'm learning all the time.


The only reason I'm asking is that I've not noticed my fist sized squashes getting any bigger, they seem to have stopped. Compared to the initial days where each day I would notice a size difference.

Davesnave

wishuponastar wrote: »

Once the butternut fruits start turning a tan/yellow colour on the vine does that mean they have stopped growing?

Possibly. Because there's so many leaves and mine are all mixed-up, I never really know what they're doing! That's why I whipped half of them off to see what happens.


The ones already stored are turning colour and I've given a few of these away to see what other people think of them. I would say their taste when raw doesn't seem sweet enough yet, but the ones we've cooked have been fine.


As for digging a big hole, unless your ground is very hard, the roots will find their way out of the planting area, I'm sure.