The butternut squash is instantly recognizable by its pear-like shape and beige skin. With us you will learn everything for the successful cultivation of butternut squash.
The butternut squash can be prepared in a variety of ways and impresses both with its taste and its ingredients. Since the winter squash has a good shelf life, it can be enjoyed over a long period of time. We share tips on growing, caring for and harvesting butternut squash in the garden.
Butternut squash: appearance, characteristics and origin
The popular butternut squash form a subgroup of the musk squash (Cucurbita moschata) and are available in different variations. How to make it from zucchini (Cucurbita pepo subsp. pepo convar. giromontiina) or other cucurbits ( Cucurbitaceae) is used to, the plant of the butternut squash also develops large, heart-shaped leaves with fluffy to rough hairs. The leaves are green, have silvery veins, or are often sprinkled with silvery-white spots. The funnel-shaped, orange flowers are not only an eye-catcher, but also edible. It is an annual herbaceous plant native to South America but is now grown as a popular vegetable across much of the world. The shoots grow creeping over the ground or can climb up supports. The fruit, the butternut squash itself, is light yellow to beige in color and oblong, pear or peanut shaped. They have a rather thin shell. This contains the melon-scented, deep orange pulp and only a few seeds. In contrast to spaghetti squash (Cucurbita pepo), this pumpkin is not fibrous even after cooking, but soft and tastes mildly sweet. The butternut squash, butternut squash or simply butter squash probably also gets its name from its buttery-tender, nutty flesh.
The best varieties for the garden
The butternut squash already forms its own subgroupthe musk gourd, but there are numerous varieties of it.
- ‘Butterfly F1‘: Italian variety with 3 - 4 kg heavy, slightly ribbed fruits. The hybrid variety grows quite compact and ripens from the end of September.
- 'Early Nutter F1': High-yielding hybrid variety with slender fruits that weigh around 1.4 kg. Fruits are ready for harvest about 90 days after pollination.
- 'Honeynut': Ideal pumpkin for one or two people, because the fruits only weigh about 0.5 kg. The shell is light yellow to light beige in color. Inside are very few seeds and lots of pulp.
- 'Ponca': American high-yielding butternut variety weighing 0.5 to 1 kg. The numerous, small fruits ripen reliably even in cooler summers.
- 'Tahiti Melon': Butternut variety with a round body and incomparably long necks, almost like a swan. This variety has a particularly sweet, almost melon-like taste.
- 'W altham': Pear-shaped butternut with a light beige color and fruits weighing up to 2 kg. Maturity is late from late September to October.
Plant butternut squash
If you want to plant a butternut squash yourself, you should plant the seeds on the windowsill in spring. This can happen from April, because it is already warm enough in the apartment for that. To make it easier to germinate the butternut seeds, it is best to use a potting soil at the beginning, such as our Plantura Organic Herb & Seed Soil. This is less nutrient-rich than classic potting soil, so the seedlings develop a larger root system in order to get enough nutrients. The seed should be covered with soil and stuck about 3 cm deep in the ground. Keep the seeds evenly moist and warm at around 20 to 24°C. After germination, which takes about 7 to 14 days, the seedlings are placed in a sunny spot by the window.
In addition to purchased seeds, you can also dry the seeds from self-harvested fruit and sow them next spring. However, since squashes are strict cross-pollinators, they easily interbreed with other squashes. It can then happen that pumpkins that contain bitter substances and are therefore poisonous are also produced. Even with seeds and fruits bought from the supermarket, the formation of bitter substances cannot be completely ruled out. That's why you should always have a tasteOrientate yourself and never eat bitter gourds.
Prick out the squash plants in rich potting soil and larger pots as soon as they have formed the first true, heart-shaped foliage. After the plants have gradually hardened off from the beginning of May, nothing stands in the way of moving outdoors after the Ice Saints in mid-May. When planting out, there should be a distance of at least one meter between the plants. For sprawling varieties, estimate about two square meters per plant.
An ideal place for growing butternut squash is right next to the compost or on very nutrient-rich and well-drained soil in the sun. To improve it, you can either mix in compost or enrich it with a nutrient-rich substrate such as our Plantura organic compost. Our organic soil is ideal for all types of vegetable plants that have a high nutrient requirement. The large proportion of organic matter also has a positive effect on soil life in the garden.
Tip: A well-established cultivation culture is the so-called Milpa bed, in which corn (Zea mays), beans ( Phaseolus vulgaris) and squash are grown together and where each vegetable benefits from the properties of the other.
Care for the butternut squash: cutting, fertilizing and more
Pumpkin plants need a lot of water to grow. Therefore, you should also water the butternut squash frequently, especially after planting out and during dry periods of summer. Always water into the soil and not onto the large leaves to prevent diseases such as powdery mildew. Waterlogging must not occur. Lukewarm rainwater or stagnant tap water are ideal for watering.
The nutritional requirements of pumpkins are also quite high. Like tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum), they are heavy consumers. As soon as the first blossoms appear, you should therefore fertilize the butternut squash. For plants that are intended for consumption, an organic fertilizer is recommended, such as our Plantura organic tomato fertilizer. It is a slow release fertilizer that releases the nutrients slowly over a period of three months.
For an attractive butternut squash harvest, it is worth cutting off the shoots after about five fruit buds per plant, so that more and more are not formed. Alternatively, pick the five most promising squashes early on, as soon as they are recognizable after flowering. The remaining fruit buds are removed along with their side shoots.
Harvest Butternut Squash
You can harvest the butternut squash in the fall between September and October. It is important that the harvest takes place before freezing temperatures prevail outside. Because frost does not tolerate the heat-loving vegetables. You can tell that the butternut squash is ripe by the following signs:
- The hard shell sounds hollow when knocked on
- Heavily woody brown fruit stalk that is difficult to cut
- Color depends on the variety, usually light yellow and no streaks
A soft stem is a sign that the butternut squash is not yet ripe. When harvesting storage pumpkins, be sure to leave the stalk on the fruit so that no rot can penetrate this area later.
Can butternut squash overripe? Like all squashes, butternut squash can overripe. This is especially useful if you had to harvest early due to approaching frost. To do this, store the pumpkin in a dry and warm place, at 15 to 20 °C, preferably on a dry surface such as straw. Turn the squash regularly to prevent rot and bruises, and to allow ventilation.
Storing and Preserving Butternut Squash
In order to store butternut squash, you need conditions similar to those for post-ripening. It can be a little cooler, but not colder than 10 °C. Around 15 °C is ideal. An air-dry environment is also important so that the pumpkins do not rot. You can hang the fruits individually in nets, store them in boxes or on straw. The pumpkins should not touch each other when stored. This way, the butternut squash can be enjoyed until next spring.
Alternatively, you can preserve it by cutting it up into small pieces and freezing it. The butternut squash can be preserved in s alted water for up to a year.
You can also prepare the butternut squash first, for example as a soup, and then freeze the whole dish to preserve it.
Preparing the Butternut Squash
Because the butternut squash is he althy and contains many valuable ingredients, it is a very popular vegetable. The content of beta-carotene, vitamins A and C have a positive effect on the eyesight, as well as on the skin and hair. In addition, the pumpkin has a low fat content. The often only a few butternut pumpkin seeds are also edible and very he althy. They can be seasoned and roasted in the oven to make a delicious snack.
There are countless ways to cook butternut squash. For example, as a delicious pumpkin soup, but also as a pasta sauce or as an oven-roasted vegetable, the pumpkin will win you over with its buttery, nutty taste.
Can you eat butternut squash in their skins?
The butternut squash skin is edible but is usually removed. It's quite hard and doesn't really soften when cooked, so many find the texture uncomfortable to eat.
Can butternut squash be eaten raw?
Squashes like butternut squash can be eaten raw. However, the shell should be removed first.
In addition to edible squashes such as the butternut, there are also ornamental squashes that are not suitable for consumption. We have put together an overview of edible and poisonous pumpkin varieties for you.