Help with Volunteer Squash plants

[parker34]

Hello
My garden isn't really doing much this year, mostly due to time issues for me. The only bright spot is a couple of squash plants that came up (most likey from the compost I have buried in the garden the last couple years).

I think one of them might be a butternut, the other could be acorn, maybe pumpkin. The flowers on one of them is a peach like color if that helps. I have had a bunch of the flowers fall off of the stem, they didn't open up.

My questions are:
-WHat do I need to do to get some squash going on these vines?
-I thought I remember reading somewhere that there were male and female flowers?
-Do I need to "facilitate" the male and female getting together?

I don't really know alot about squash/pumpkins, other than that they are yummy.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks!

[bell7283]

You would know the difference between a male flower and a female flower as the male has a small "fruit" attached to it at the base of the flower and a female is just a flower. You can hand pollenate the male but I hear its a slightly difficult process at first. They do sell sprays that will pollenate the female as well.

That said, in my opinion, this doesn't seem like a pollination problem as you didn't mention seeing any little fruit (male flowers). Plants tend to produce lots of female flowers before any males show up. If the plant is not strong enough, for what ever reason, the males flowers tend to show up less and less. Have you fertilized them? Maybe thats the issue.

I am excited to see the other advise given on this post as I love growing winter squash and pumpkins.

[!potatoes!]

just one thing - bell, you've got it backwards, I'm afraid. the female flower has an attached immature fruit, just like it's ladies who get pregnant. not that this really effects the questions at hand.

[bell7283]

[bell7283]

Hahaha that does make more sense. Thank you.

[parker34]

Thanks for the input! I have not fertilized, I just use compost.
UPDATE: I had a couple minutes yesterday to look at the the plant and I found a flower with the immature fruit below the flower, I don't think the flower has opened.
There are a bunch of small flower buds on the vine that haven't flowered yet, and a couple that have flowered but haven't opened.

So now what? Am I being impatient? Just a little excited I guess and I'd like to see some fruit!

Another question, one of my vines has tons of little hairs on the vine, kinda like a tomato plant. Will those grow roots if contacted by soil? Should the vine be buried?

Thanks again!!

[applestar]

All cucurbits will set down roots from leaf nodes -- not the hairs -- if they are in contact with soil or even laying atop moist mulch and lawn turf.

It helps to let them do that especially with squashes and ump kinds that are susceptible to SVBs -- this way, evenin the original main stem is compromises, the vines will continue to derive nourishment and water from peripheral root systems.

So, they are not quite like tomato vines that grow roots from almost anywhere along the stems.