HelpfulGardener.com

Hello gardening gurus. I'm in LI, New York and have never grown butternut squash before. Is it too early for plants to be flowering? Mine are not so should I be worried?

I think it depends on the growing conditions. Last year was my first year trying pumpkin. I had a horrible battle with powdery mildew and when that was nearly gone, the plants never made one female flower! I finally gave up and ripped them out...

This year I'm growing mystery squash that sprouted out of my compost pile. It could be one of a number of varieties as we went through every kind of squash trying to find our favorite (buttercup or turban, btw ). So anyway, these vines were transplanted and are quite healthy but only have male flowers so far.

I hope yours is doing as well. We can always try a little epsom salt in some water, it's supposed to encourage blossoms. Try 2 tbsp per gallon with a squirt of dish soap.

I have huge plants mostly squash. None of them have ANY flowers yet.

My Zucchini has lots of flowers and I have had to pick one already, so
very size approipriate, and more coming.

My peas all have flowers and are tall and very healthy looking so are my
beans (yellow and green).

I have not had a garden in many years and don't remember about when to expect flowers (of any kind).

I live in Claremont, NH.

Judy

A lot is going to depend on when you put them in the ground, but also keep in mind that several male flowers come before any female flowers do.

Once you get the female flowers, you can either wait for mother nature to pollinate or you can hand pollinate.

the key when did you start the plants tho