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Vegetable Gardening

What created this etched design on my butternut squash?

12 years ago

Harvested butternut squash today and took a picture of one that has a (rather pretty) etching on it. This happened when the squash was still soft and young. Any idea what type of insect would do this??? It's the only squash that was affected. I'm thinking maybe a snail?

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Comments (5)

User
12 years ago
black rot, aka gummy stem blight...fungal disease
seysonn
12 years ago
Some kind of fungus growth.
It happens to bottle gourds while curing but not with severely pronounced deep pattern like that. I will wash it with vinegar (use a brush) to kill the fungus, possibly.
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Alicia O'Dwyer
2 years ago
It's just brown etch. An overgrowth of lignin on the skin. Not rot or fungus. Totally harmless. The flesh is still fine. Answering (yes I know it's 10 years later) because this still comes up in a Google search of butternut etch and the false answers can cause people to throw out perfectly good crops!
theforgottenone1013 (SE MI zone 5b/6a)
2 years ago
The squash in the OP's picture from 10 years ago is for sure showing signs of black rot/gummy stem blight. nc-crn gave the correct diagnosis.

Search results for "brown etch on squash" brings up mostly Australian websites and articles, a couple of which mentioned black rot as a cause.

Rodney

https://extension.usu.edu/vegetableguide/cucumber-melon-pumpkin-squash/gummy-stem-blight
bragu_DSM 5
2 years ago
ha ha .... old age ... like when i look in the mirror . [ten years ago post]

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