butternut squash leaves are turning yellow

Question

My butternut squash leaves are turning yellow fast. I have checked the stems for fluid and it is not discolored or slimy. I cannot find any borers and this happened within a week period. I have tried to keep adequate water on them as well. The thing about it is, that it happened in less than a week. I used Miracle Grow garden soil and added bagged cow manure before planting. I have acorn squash next to them and Zucchini and they look OK. If you can suggest anything, please do.

Thanks, Jacob Seitz

ALSO, can I pull the squash which are not ripe yet and process them for freezing?

Answer 1

You can harvest unripe butternut and ripen it indoors but it will never produce the juicy sweet flavor of a sun ripened butternut. After you ripen it indoors I would make haste in freezing it because it will not store as well as those ripened on the vine.

Here is an article that tells you how to ripen indoors:
http://homeguides.sfgate.com/ripen-butternut-squash-after-picking-78973.html

How often do you water them? Under or over-watering could cause yellowing of the leaves.

Squash roots spread out in the top 12 inches of soil and grow several inches per day, competition with other shallow-rooted vegetables can deprive leaves of the nitrogen they need to form chloroplasts — the cells that keep them green. Since you have acorn squash and zucchini nearby, this could be a distinct possibility.

Here is an article outlining reasons and fixes for yellowing squash leaves, this may give you some other leads:
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/squash/why-squash-leaves-turn-yellow.htm