I would probably go for it, depending on the wire gauge of the stock fencing and the expected weight of the type of butternut you're thinking of growing. (Sand Hill's copy says Trombone gets 30-40 pounds - that might be a good one to keep on the ground :) ) We had a couple NOIDs that were determined to live in the tops of the CRW tomato cages last summer. Granted, the largest fruit only weighed 7 pounds, and there weren't several squash all hanging from the same cage.

On the other hand, a Moon and Stars melon went up one of those cheapy hoop-type tomato cages. The one small fruit (maybe 2-3-4 pounds) hanging down didn't seem to bother the watermelon vine in the least, but the weight pretty well finished off the cage.

Maybe eaglesgarden will chime in if he had his butternuts on a trellis last growing season and describe how it worked out.

The stock fence is hung on conduit pipe so it will hold the weight unless the rust gives out and a wire breaks. The butternut seeds are saved from a storebought ~2-3 lb squash. But you think the vines/stem will hold up a hanging fruit without any problem...that's good.

I use nylon garden netting, and I had no trouble with butternuts on the trellis this past year. I didn't do anything but help to put the vines up the netting every now and then. I did nothing extra to support the fruits, I just let them hang. No problems at all. Go for it!

I haven't tried it myself but I once had a neighbor with butternuts growing on a fence. The fruits were just hanging with no support, and they seemed to do just fine. Next time I grow butternuts I'm trying it.

Butternuts seem to be a winter storage vegetable. I'm in zone 6 (last frost date is May 16). When do these squash get started and when do they get planted out in the garden?

A pointer for the winter squash impaired would be nice.

Thanks.

Andrew

Winter squash generally take all summer to grow. Check the days to maturity and count back from your first frost date to get a good idea when to plant a particular variety.

I plant most of mine in June since I've got a long summer and want the mature squash in October rather than August.

The trellis idea is working pretty good so far. Its actually two trellises 3-4 ft apart with the butternut planted in the middle. Sugar snap peas were on the trellises until about two weeks ago. I planted the squash a little late (1st week of June I think) and they are just now starting to climb.

spiced_ham, I have a similar setup. If the squash get too big I'm planning to run some bamboo horizontally across the two trellises to support the squashes from underneath.