How to Grow Squash:
Summer and Winter Squash
★ SaveLearning how to grow squash is easy, and one or two plants go a long way. Summer squash like zucchini and yellow crookneck give you fresh squash all summer, and winter squash like acorn, butternut, and pumpkins keep for months in storage.
The two big challenges are space and pests. Squash vines sprawl, so give them room or a sturdy trellis, and watch for squash bugs and vine borers.
From My Garden
Our family loves acorn squash, baked with butter, bacon, and brown sugar, in the fall and winter months. We also love butternut squash steamed and mashed. My sister makes a great butternut soup in the fall, and she has shared her recipe with me.
So whenever we have extra garden space, we grow some winter squash along with our tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers.
We live in an area with many farmers markets and fruit and vegetable stands, so when we run out of our own squash, there are plenty of chances to buy more.
Charlotte
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Summer Squash vs. Winter Squash
| Summer squash | Winter squash | |
|---|---|---|
| Examples | Zucchini, yellow crookneck and straightneck, pattypan (scallop) | Acorn, butternut, spaghetti, hubbard, pumpkins |
| Plant habit | Mostly compact bushes | Mostly long vines (some bush types) |
| Days to harvest | 45 to 60 from seed | 80 to 110 from seed |
| Pick when | Young, tender, with soft skin | Mature, with a hard rind |
| Storage | About a week in the refrigerator | Months in a cool, dry place |
| Plants per person | 1 to 2 | 2 to 4 for winter storage |
See our guides to zucchini, butternut squash (below), acorn squash, and pumpkins.
How to Grow Squash: Planting
Squash loves warmth. Warm soil is the first rule of how to grow squash. Plant after your last frost, when the soil is at least 60 degrees F (70 is better). Cover young plants on cold nights.
- Soil: Rich, loose, well-drained soil with plenty of compost. Squash are hungry plants.
- Sowing: Plant seeds 1 inch deep in hills or clusters of 3 to 4 seeds, then thin to the best 2. Seeds sprout in 5 to 7 days in warm soil. You can also set out transplants started 2 to 3 weeks earlier.
- Spacing: Bush summer squash 2 to 3 feet apart; vining winter squash 3 to 6 feet apart, in rows 4 to 6 feet apart.
- Save space: Train vining squash up a sturdy trellis or fence, and support heavy fruit with slings. See vertical vegetable gardening.
Corn and winter squash grow well together. Plant late corn with winter squash: the squash leaves shade out weeds, and the corn uses space above. Add beans for the classic Three Sisters.
Caring for Squash Plants
- Water: Keep the soil evenly moist, about an inch a week. Water the soil, not the leaves, in the morning so leaves dry by evening. Don't handle plants when they're wet, which can spread disease.
- Mulch: Pull weeds until the vines start to run, then spread a thick mulch of straw, hay, or leaves. A pad of mulch or a board under each winter squash keeps it from rotting.
- Feed: Water with compost or manure tea when the first fruits set, and feed every few weeks.
- Pinch: When winter squash vines reach about 5 feet, pinch off the tips to encourage fruiting side shoots.
- Late flowers: By late summer, pick off new winter squash flowers so the plant ripens the squash it already has.
- Bury the extra roots: Squash vines put out roots at each joint. Cover the joints with soil (but not the flower stems) so they root in. The extra roots make plants stronger and help them survive vine borer damage.
Protect the bees. Bees are a big part of how to grow squash successfully. Squash need bees to pollinate them. If you spray anything, do it in the evening when bees are done for the day.
Why Isn't My Squash Making Fruit?
Be patient early in the season. Squash plants have separate male and female flowers; the female flower has a tiny squash at its base. Some hybrid varieties open lots of female flowers before any males appear. Without pollen, the little squash stay small and rot from the tip. Within a week or two, male flowers open, the bees go to work, and the plants start producing.
Still no squash? Hand-pollinate: pick a male flower, peel back its petals, and dab the pollen onto the center of an open female flower in the morning.
Growing Butternut Squash
★ SaveButternut is one of the best winter squash to grow. Everything above about how to grow squash applies to butternut. The smooth, tan squash have sweet, nutty orange flesh, and they keep for months. Butternut is also one of the squash most resistant to squash vine borers, because its stems are solid.
- Varieties: Waltham Butternut is the classic, ready in about 100 days. Butterbush and other compact types fit small gardens.
- Planting: butternut is tender to frost. Sow seeds 1 inch deep after the soil warms in late spring, in hills of 4 to 6 seeds, 6 to 8 feet apart, and thin to the 2 or 3 strongest plants. Or start seeds indoors in peat pots 3 to 4 weeks before planting out.
- Soil and feeding: full sun and rich, well-drained soil with plenty of compost. Butternut is a heavy feeder; a drink of compost tea or manure tea every few weeks helps. Old-time gardeners often grew squash right on top of the compost pile.
- Mulch: keeps the fruit clean and holds moisture in the soil.
- Harvest: pick when the skin is fully tan, with no green streaks, and too hard to dent with a fingernail. Leave a short piece of stem on, and bring all squash in before a hard frost.
- Storing: cure in a warm, sunny spot for about 10 days, then store in a cool, dry place. Butternut often keeps until late winter.
★ SaveSquash Pests and Diseases
| Problem | Signs | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Squash vine borer | Vine suddenly wilts; sawdust-like frass at the base | Wrap stem bases with old nylon stockings or row cover to spot the red eggs; bury vine joints so extra roots form |
| Squash bugs | Gray-brown bugs and bronze egg clusters under leaves; wilting leaves | Hand-pick bugs and scrape off eggs; set a board out overnight and collect bugs under it in the morning |
| Cucumber beetles and bacterial wilt | Striped or spotted beetles; plants wilt and die | Row covers on young plants until flowers open |
| Powdery mildew | White powder on leaves, mid to late summer | Water in the morning, at the base; give plants room for air flow |
| Mosaic virus | Mottled leaves; yellow squash turning green with yellow spots | Remove sick plants and control aphids; the squash is still safe to eat |
| Pickleworms | Holes in flowers and fruit (mostly in the South) | Check plants often; hand-pick; pick summer squash young |
Download our free garden pests chart to help identify the bugs you find.
Growing Squash in Containers
Choose bush or dwarf varieties for pots. Here is how to grow squash on a patio or deck. Use at least a 5-gallon container (bigger is better) filled with potting mix, and add a cage or trellis the day you plant; it's hard to add one later.
Feed every few weeks, mulch the soil surface an inch or two deep, and water often. See our container gardening guide.
Harvesting Squash
Summer squash
Pick summer squash young, Knowing when to pick is a key part of how to grow squash. when zucchini and crookneck are 6 to 8 inches long and pattypans 3 to 4 inches across. They're most tender with small seeds, and tiny ones can be fried whole. Check every day or two; one missed zucchini becomes a baseball bat, and the plant slows down.
Winter squash
Let winter squash ripen fully on the vine. It's ready when the rind is hard enough that your thumbnail won't dent it, the color has changed (from shiny to dull green, or to tan, yellow, or orange), and the stem is drying. Often the vine is starting to die back.
In dry weather, cut squash from the vine with a sharp knife or pruners, leaving a few inches of stem. Pick all ripe squash before a hard frost, and cover unripe ones with heavy mulch on frosty nights.
Curing and Storing Winter Squash
The last step in how to grow squash for winter is curing and storing. Cure butternut, hubbard, and pumpkins in a warm, sunny spot for about 10 days, until the stems shrivel and turn gray. This hardens the skin for storage. Acorn squash doesn't need curing.
Store in a cool, dry place, around 50 to 55 degrees F, with good air flow. Don't wash squash before storing, and never store bruised or damaged ones; they spoil and can spoil their neighbors. Acorn keeps a month or two; butternut and hubbard can last most of the winter.
★ SaveSquash Questions
- How long does squash take to grow?
- Summer squash is ready about 45 to 60 days from seed. Winter squash takes 80 to 110 days.
- How many squash plants do I need?
- One or two summer squash plants are plenty for most families. For winter storage, plant 2 to 4 winter squash per person.
- Why are my squash rotting at the tip?
- Usually poor pollination early in the season. Wait for male flowers to appear, or hand-pollinate. Uneven watering can also cause it.
- Can I grow squash on a trellis?
- Yes. Vining winter squash and small pumpkins can climb a sturdy trellis; support heavy fruit with cloth slings.
- When should I pick winter squash?
- When the rind is too hard to dent with a thumbnail, the color has changed, and the stem is drying. Pick before a hard frost.
More Squash and Vegetable Guides
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