I've been growing this variety for several years now- I use a trellis for it. (a BIG trellis...)

I haven't had trouble getting female fruits this year, but last year I seem to remember that it took longer to get females. They did come eventually.

Incidentally, this is actually a winter squash- if you let them go, they'll get hard and sort of butternut squash colored. They're not as sweet as a butternut IMHO, but they keep pretty well. I let some go last year and they kept about as long as my butternuts- they're just so big they aren't easy to deal with. It's not easy to store a 4 or 5 foot long squash...

I sometimes pick the fruits before the flower opens if they're big enough. You'll notice that some of them are much larger than others starting off- you don't have to let it open to eat it. Of course, if you want to save seeds, that's another matter.

I grew them last year and this year. Both times, it took a long time of just having male flowers before the squash finally showed up.

I have 1 getting ripe right now, and it is the 1st of the season. (This year I only have 2 plants) I could probably pick it today, but I'm going to wait a little longer.

aubade... what production can i expect per plant, for the season? how many on average?

I'm growing them for the first time this year, and while the males did come first, the females were only around a week behind. For the first couple that weren't in sync, I took a q-tip and stole some pollen from the males, and brought the q-tip inside the house, where it was temperate and not humid, and then took the pollen-covered swab out the next day to pollinate the females.

My vines aren't even close to 40 feet, but I've already eaten a couple squash, and have 5 or 6 with flowers that are about to open, and many more females that are still teeny tiny.

Like Elizabeth said, sometimes the squash can get really large before the flowers even open (I have one that's pushing 18" and looks like it won't open until tomorrow), while others have flowers that open at 6" or less. If you keep a couple pollen-covered q-tips on hand, you can make sure your females will always have something there to get their mojo workin'.

Can anyone who has grown and is knowledgeable in the vining squash called tromboncino or zucchetta rampicante, please give input here. I'm wondering how many squash I can expect per plant, for the season???? Also, I've only gotten three so far, with tons of male flowers, and only a few females... And the females never even seem to open up!!!! Do they self-pollinate? Because the three squash I got, it appeared the flower was never even close to ever opening. I'm trying to maximize my yield and any input would be appreciated... !!!!!!

I read on one site that they are heavy yielders with one vine being able to yield 20+ squash. Personally, I am not experienced as this is my first year growing them, and I've only gotten 1 squash per vine so far. I had one female who's flower opened, and was filled with several bumble bees, as was the male flower I was going to use to hand pollinate, but since the bees were there, I thought, oh, you guys have it covered. But apparently they never swapped flowers, and the female withered from lack of pollination. The second female I hand pollinated successfully and the third, the bees finally did their job. So no, I'd say they don't self polinate. The flowers only open in the morning for a short time. I have been known to pull them open if I miss the window and hand pollinate anyway. This usually works, but sometimes not.

How big were the squash you got? Because these are huge squash and the unpollinated fruit behind the flower get to 6 inches + in size. So maybe the fruits you got from the flower that seemed to never have been opened, really were unpollinated. Or it is possible that you missed the short open time. Although I can usually tell that the flower has been open, cause it's kind of like a stretched out deflated balloon in appearance with soft wilted edges, as opposed to sharp, tightly sealed pointy edges. Does that make sense?

Hope that helps a little.
Susan

Susan...thanks for your reply! Let me explain the conditions here... I've planted 8 zucchini bush plants and all have withered and died except one, and it produced one scraggly bush zuke only. I think the soil temp must just be too hot b/c last season I'd get maybe four zukes a week from one plant (8-ball). I do go out early and all the male flowers are open yet the females arent even flowers.

Regarding the vining tromboncino, So far I've gotten 3 squash total of 18 inch length, and the plant is 45 feet long. I can probably pick four male flowers every other day if I wanted to, but regarding the females...

I can say with near certainty that the female flowers have NOT opened up...They have even flowered in that sense...instead they are shut tight and still green. There are a few that I had to crack open and hand-pollinated them, but they arent even flowers yet. Its so bizarre. Maybe its because I started them a little late, I dont know.

But do the female flowers look totally different than the males? I mean, I have yet to see a female flower become yellow in any form at all. This is why I wondered aloud if they self-pollinate b/c I swear that two of the fruit never flowered and the female flowers stayed rock hard and green. I say this b/c there was no withering like the balloon like you said and are almost instead like a venus fly trap.

I hestitated to answer, b/c this is only my 2nd time growing them so I'm certainly no expert. But I definitely got nowhere near 20 per vine. I'd say more like 5 per vine last year, if that.

I've still only got that one I mentioned earlier on the two plants I've got growing this year, which I haven't picked. It is huge! I see another little one so I'm hoping it will get pollinated and grow soon.

I just haven't really been paying that much attention to my garden either, since I'm 8.5 months pregnant and that doesn't mix with 90 degree temps and humidity! I'm afraid to go outside lol. So I haven't really been keeping an eye on how many flowers there are or anything.

I haven't gotten many either, but my vines are small. I think that bed may need more nitrogen, because all of my vines were small this year. But for the 20+ count, I would have to imagine that is in ideal conditions and only if you were harvesting frequently and using as a summer squash. Certainly if you leave the squash to ripen as a winter squash that will indicate to the plant that it doesn't need to produce as many fruit to insure mature seeds.

As for the tightly closed squash flowers, I've only seen that once before and it was on one of my regular zuch plants. It was shaded out by some Roma Tomato plants, and didn't seem to be happy in it's spot. The stress on the plant is apparently what causes this non-opening flower thing. I only got one zuch off that plant that year. Never planted squash in that bed again. Never had the problem again. Maybe try some bloom boosting fertilizer? Maybe there is a deficiency in the soil that is causing the issue. Also, look for any other conditions that may be stressing the plant. And thank the garden gods that with this situation you still managed to get some pollinated fruit!

Let us know if you have any revelations. :)

Susan

Mix spent coffee grinds, cut banana peels (cut off hard stem) in a blender with water and add that to the watering of the young (and older) plants for phosphorous and potassium. For nitrogen, use urine, 1:10 or more with water for nitrogen during early plant development. Dilute Epsom salts are good for magnesium. Find details from youtube gardeners for these and other natural fertilizers. Keep plants watered in the high summer heat.

Ha ha. If your vines are 40 feet long, they sure don't need fertilizer. Certainly not nitrogen. There is NO nutrient that will buy you female flowers. But I suspect, eight years later, the OP finally got some. But oral ingestion of some substance producing patience would help. I wonder if that could be classified as "organic" gardening.