How to grow Squash, Winter?
- Latin Family: Cucurbitaceae
- Latin Genus: Cucurbita
- Ease of Growing: Moderate
- Growing Type: Annual
The Winter Squash get their name not because they can be grown in winter (they are not at all hardy), but because they store well and were traditionally eaten during the winter. They are usually grown with Summer squashes, but are cured and stored after harvesting.
Squash are large plants that take up a lot of room, but make up for it by being very productive. The vining types are very sprawling, but can be grown on trellises or cages to make them more space efficient. You might try growing them on the site of an old compost pile. All of the Squash must have full sun for good growth.
Videos
Squash, Winter History
The Winter Squash are true native Americans and have been cultivated here for at least 5000 years. Several different species produce Winter Squash (Pumpkins are also members of this group).
Soil Preference
- PH (min/max): 6.0 - 7.0
- PH Ideal (min/max): 6.3 - 6.5
These are hungry plants and do best in a soil that is loose, fertile, moisture retentive and rich in organic matter. They dislike saline or acid soils.
How to care for Squash, Winter?
Winter Squash are quite frost tender and can't be planted until all danger of frost has passed and the soil has warmed up.
These are vigorous and robust plants and if they are well fed and watered they can compete with almost any plant.
Water
The plants need an evenly moist soil for maximum productivity. The best way to water squash is in the morning with a soaker hose or drip irrigation, as wet foliage can easily lead to fungus diseases, especially with cooler nighttime temperatures.
Water moderately early in development and heavier after fruits form.
Fertilizer
High nitrogen. Moderate potassium. Moderate phosphorous. Squash have a very vigorous root system, which may go down 6 feet in its search for nutrients.
Seeds
Seed Viability: 3 - 6 years
Germination Percentage: 75.0
Squash are cross-pollinated by insects and all the varieties of Summer and Winter Squash can cross pollinate. This means you have to either hand pollinate them or isolate by 1/2 mile. You should save the seed from at least 5 plants to ensure enough genetic variability.
Hand pollination isn't as complicated as you might imagine. Go out in the evening and find some male and female flowers that are about to open the following day and tape them shut with 3/4" masking tape. The next day you open a male flower (from a different plant) and remove its petals. You then carefully open the female flower without damaging the petals, brush the pollen-laden anthers from the male on to the pistil lobes of the female and then tape it closed again (to prevent further pollination).
This procedure should work about 50 to 75% of the time. It works even better if 2 males flowers are used to pollinate each female. You will soon know if this has worked because a successfully pollinated flower will swell rapidly (mark it carefully so it isn't accidentally harvested). If pollination wasn't successful the flower will soon fall off.
You must then leave the fertilized squash to mature fully on the vine. This will slow down further fruit production, or may even stop it altogether. When the fruit is fully ripe it will get woody.
It takes time for the fruit to ripen fully, so allow plenty of time before frost - at least 60 days. You then clean the ripe seed, dry it thoroughly and store in a cool dry place.
Light
Sun: min. 6 hours daily
Full sun.
Conditions:Warm, Hot
Season:Short Season, Long Season
Storage
Cure for 2 weeks in a warm place (80 to 90° F) and then store at around 50 to 60° F and 60 to 70% humidity. They may last 6 months or more in storage, which is why they were once important for self-sufficient farmers.
Storage Req: Cool
Storage Temp: 50-60°F
Storage Length: 1-180 days
Problems
Powdery Mildew
If you live in a moist area, your squash plants may be badly affected by Powdery Mildew. If white dust-like spots begin to appear on your squash leaves, chances are likely it's Powdery Mildew. Powdery Mildrew is a fungal disease, spread through the wind. Keeping your plants protected is difficult, so acting quickly is a good way to ensure you get a good harvest!
Dealing With Powdery Mildew: You can spray the leaves with a homemade mixture of 1 tsp baking soda and 1 quart water. Or, if plants are large enough, remove the infected leaves from the garden. Do not use these leaves in your compost! It will only spread more disease!
Squash, Winter Types
- Mix and Specialty
- Spaghetti
- Cushaw
- Acorn
- Hubbard
- Cheese
- Buttercup
- Banana
- Delicata
- Butternut
A combination of multiple Winter Squash varieties.
Winter squash is a summer-growing annual vegetable, in the same family as summer squash. Unlike summer squash, though, winter squash is harvested and eaten in the mature fruit stage, when the seeds within have matured fully and the skin has hardened into a tough rind. At this stage, most varieties of this fruit can be stored for use during the winter. It is generally cooked before eating.
Spaghetti Squash is a type of Winter Squash known for its distinctive flesh that falls away from the fruit in ribbons or strands resembling spaghetti when cooked and removed from the skin.
Winter Squash is a summer-growing annual vegetable, in the same family as summer squash. Unlike summer squash, though, winter squash is harvested and eaten in the mature fruit stage, when the seeds within have matured fully and the skin has hardened into a tough rind. At this stage, most varieties of this fruit can be stored for use during the winter. It is generally cooked before eating.
Cushaw Squash is a type of winter squash closely related to pumpkins, and is also known as Pepian. This plant's adaptation to Squash Vine Borers makes it competitive in commercial growing. In the South US it is commonly grown for pies, and is actually preferred over the pumpkin! It also has medicinal properties.
Winter squash is a summer-growing annual vegetable, in the same family as summer squash. Unlike summer squash, though, winter squash is harvested and eaten in the mature fruit stage, when the seeds within have matured fully and the skin has hardened into a tough rind. At this stage, most varieties of this fruit can be stored for use during the winter. It is generally cooked before eating.
Acorn squash is a type of winter squash with distinctive longitudinal ridges and sweet, orange-yellow flesh.
Winter squash is a summer-growing annual vegetable, in the same family as summer squash. Unlike summer squash, though, winter squash is harvested and eaten in the mature fruit stage, when the seeds within have matured fully and the skin has hardened into a tough rind. At this stage, most varieties of this fruit can be stored for use during the winter. It is generally cooked before eating.
Hubbard squash is a type of winter squash with a teardrop shape. It is often used as a replacement for pumpkins.
Winter squash is a summer-growing annual vegetable, in the same family as summer squash. Unlike summer squash, though, winter squash is harvested and eaten in the mature fruit stage, when the seeds within have matured fully and the skin has hardened into a tough rind. At this stage, most varieties of this fruit can be stored for use during the winter. It is generally cooked before eating.
Cheese squash is a type of winter squash that can often resemble a wheel of cheese. It often has distinct longitudinal ridges, but the general shape of a pumpkin. Many consider this the perfect pumpkin pie variety, since its flesh is not very stringy, but a bright orange color. Some varieties can get as big as 40 lbs!
Winter squash is a summer-growing annual vegetable, in the same family as summer squash. Unlike summer squash, though, winter squash is harvested and eaten in the mature fruit stage, when the seeds within have matured fully and the skin has hardened into a tough rind. At this stage, most varieties of this fruit can be stored for use during the winter. It is generally cooked before eating.
Buttercup squash is a type of winter squash, with a flattened turban shape, and generally has green skin, with dense, yellow-orange flesh.
Winter squash is a summer-growing annual vegetable, in the same family as summer squash. Unlike summer squash, though, winter squash is harvested and eaten in the mature fruit stage, when the seeds within have matured fully and the skin has hardened into a tough rind. At this stage, most varieties of this fruit can be stored for use during the winter. It is generally cooked before eating.
Banana squash is a type of winter squash with an elongated shape, with unusually colored skin, often light blue, pink or orange.
Winter squash is a summer-growing annual vegetable, in the same family as summer squash. Unlike summer squash, though, winter squash is harvested and eaten in the mature fruit stage, when the seeds within have matured fully and the skin has hardened into a tough rind. At this stage, most varieties of this fruit can be stored for use during the winter. It is generally cooked before eating.
Delicata squash is a type of winter squash with a distinctive long shape with longitudinal stripes. Also known as the carnival squash for its colorful appearance, often bright yellow, orange and green. It is named ";delicata" because of its skin, which is thin enough to be either easily peeled off prior to cooking, or eaten once it has been cooked.
Winter squash is a summer-growing annual vegetable, in the same family as summer squash. Unlike summer squash, though, winter squash is harvested and eaten in the mature fruit stage, when the seeds within have matured fully and the skin has hardened into a tough rind. At this stage, most varieties of this fruit can be stored for use during the winter. It is generally cooked before eating.
Butternut squash, also sometimes called a butternut pumpkin, is a type of winter squash, with a sweet, nutty flavor similar to that of a pumpkin.
Winter squash is a summer-growing annual vegetable, in the same family as summer squash. Unlike summer squash, though, winter squash is harvested and eaten in the mature fruit stage, when the seeds within have matured fully and the skin has hardened into a tough rind. At this stage, most varieties of this fruit can be stored for use during the winter. It is generally cooked before eating.
Pests
- Blister Beetle
- Deer
- Leafminers
- Aphids
- Cucumber Beetle
- Gophers
- Leafhoppers
- Nematodes
- Squash Vine Borers
- Mealybug
- Squash Bug
Diseases
- Anthracnose
- Bacterial Wilt
- Damping Off
- Downy Mildew
- Angular Leaf Spot
- Alternaria Blight
- Black Rot
- Powdery Mildew
Related Plants
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Pumpkin