I planted 4 seeds each in 2 wheat straw bales in April up here in the mountains of Western NC. its been a very dry summer. I watered the ...Read Morebales daily and fertilized with 10-10-10 monthly. By mid July, 6 vines had run more than 15 ft in every direction and had set 9 very large squash. Three of the squash stunted at the neck and rotted, but 6 have grown huge, all approx. 2 ft long. Its late Sept. (approx 150 days since the seed sprouted) 2 are completely orange, 4 are mostly orange with a bit of green. Our first frost is approx Oct 21 so there's plenty of time to fully ripen.
The vines are quite susceptible to alternaria. Copper sulfate did nothing to stop the spread so I was forced to use Chlorothalonil, Two applications 10 days apart, which stopped the spread.
The flowers are typical squash blossoms, attracting striped squash beetles, which I set out YELLOW (only) meat packaging trays/traps filled with water and a squirt of liquid dishwashing soap. These attract/drown the majority of the squash beetles if you set out enough traps and keep them filled with water/soap.
I also planted 8 heirloom butternut seeds. I've already harvested 10 squash with more still ripe on the vine. These, too, became infected with alternaria / squash beetles and required spraying/traps.
I've had no appearance of powdery mildew.
In comparison, the Argonauts produced far more poundage of squash. Each of these giants weigh in at 15 - 20 lbs. The heirloom butternuts were all about 2-3 lbs. While the butternuts ripened early, the Argonauts required approx.150 days.
I'm happy with the experience and will plant these orange giants again next year...but I will give them much more space to run. These are not for limited space gardens.
I planted 4 seeds each in 2 wheat straw bales in April up here in the mountains of Western NC. its been a very dry summer. I watered the ...Read More
A long straight 20 lb squash from Golden Valley Seed. 13% Brix.