Butternut squash flowering already?

[CrazyConure]

I am growing butternut squash for the first time. This plant is still fairly young but I see a flower-like thing in between where two stems come out. I have a picture:




What is that?

Here are photos of their sizes



Here is the flower-like thing in the distance

 

[Chuck]

Yep, that is a bud and in a few days a pretty flower

 

[IcyBC]

Wow, they look very healthy and green! You must live in a warmer part of USA to have the bud on your Butternut Squash already. We had hail as of yesterday, and it is mid May already.

 

[CrazyConure]

Thanks everyone. At first, I thought it was just new leaves forming. Now, I see these buds EVERYWHERE! The original one in the picture got longer as well. I'm excited.

 

[Chuck]

Thanks everyone. At first, I thought it was just new leaves forming. Now, I see these buds EVERYWHERE! The original one in the picture got longer as well. I'm excited.

Don't get discouraged when the first flowers are just flowers and they shrivel and fall off. Squash have two kinds of flowers, male and female. The males just have a long stem but the females have a little baby squash at the bottom end of the flower

 

[CrazyConure]

I know. I'm planning on hand pollinating. We have a lot of bee's here, but I don't trust them to go on both male, and female flowers.

 

[remnant]

It depends on the variety you have grown. I have grown butternut squash from Syngenta and they don't require assisted pollination though they have both male and female flowers. On another note, how do you deal with the problem of fruitflies and other insects which lay their eggs inside the butternut plant? I dealt with the problem through bagging the young fruits inside black polythene bags.

 

[CrazyConure]

I'm growing the waltham butternut. I spray my plants with soap water everyday. I was fixing my butternut today to help it climb the trellis. There were a few ants. I sprayed all my plants down and went back to work. I took a quick look at my basils closer and realized I killed a mosquito-like insect that was about to eat my basil. It died on the leaf. I felt happy I sprayed them at that moment.

I don't have much of a problem with bugs now that I spray it down. I use dish soap and it really does wonders. At the early stages of my winter squash, I saw some holes their leaves. That's when I started. I don't have anymore leaf holes now.

 

[CrazyConure]

To answer someones question. I live in Miami. It's a tropical place.

 

[sillylucy]

Mine also started flowering. I am in California and it is always hot here. I am having a problem with it being too hot and my squash leaves are looking sad and thirsty! I am watering them morning and night, but they still get a little thirsty! I started growing mine from a seed that was sprouting inside of the squash! I can't wait to harvest and then have butternut squash soup!

 

[CrazyConure]

I still don't know what i'm going to make with my butternut squash. Soup does sound really good though!

Do your leaves droop when they get thirsty?

 

[Chuck]

I still don't know what i'm going to make with my butternut squash. Soup does sound really good though!

Do your leaves droop when they get thirsty?

If they droop in the morning they are thirsty. In the afternoon they are just hot

 

[CrazyConure]

Thanks!

 

[CrazyConure]

I started adding some zip-ties to the plants to help it start climbing the trellis. Here's an update:

 

[liam#]

Hi my butternut squash are only producing female butternut flowers i need advice and its early