Squash Butternut Hunter F1 - Cucurbita moschata

The Butternut Hunter F1 Squash is a musky squash of excellent taste quality. It usually produces 6 or 7 light brown fruits of medium size weighing approximately 1 kg on a solid and compact plant. It is a fairly early variety. It can be sown from April to June for a harvest from August to October.

Musky squashes, butternut squashes, sucrine du Berry, etc. belong to the Cucurbitaceae family, of the genus Cucurbita moschata. This annual herbaceous plant has long, vigorous, trailing or climbing stems with the help of strong tendrils. Each plant has separate male and female flowers, making it monoecious. It is the female flowers that will produce the fruits once they are fertilized by the pollen from the male flowers.

They are generally elongated in shape, with a swollen club-shaped end, sometimes spherical, flatter, or ribbed. Their colour is also very variable: dark green, orange, cream, etc. When ripe, they are covered in a characteristic dust. The peduncle has five well-defined ribs and widens as it spreads at the point of attachment to the fruit. The flesh is thick and rather dark in colour, ranging from red to orange.

Harvest and storage:

The squashes should be harvested as late as possible, without risking the first frosts. Keep the peduncle as large as possible and store them in a temperate room (10 to 15°C) while avoiding them from touching each other. This way, you can store them for a few months to a year.

The gardener's tip:

You can bury the stems at the nodes to encourage rooting.

To save space and protect your fruits from rot, you can grow pumpkins on supports such as a trellis or sturdy stakes. You can also place a tile or brick, for example, between the ground and the fruit to isolate it and limit premature rot. A thick mulch will also do the trick.