Summer Squash
Planting, Growing, and Harvesting
Summer Squash
You’ll find everything you need to know to plant and grow summer squash in the accompanying table’s tabs:
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- How many summer squash plants to grow
- Growing conditions for summer squash
- When to plant summer squash
- How to plant summer squash
- Watering, fertilizing, and pruning summer squash
- Companion plantings for summer squash
- How to harvest, store, and use summer squash
Growing Summer Squash
Summer squash—crookneck, scallop, straightneck, and zucchini—are warm-season vining vegetables. Squash plants bear vines with large, hairy leaves with many black, orange, yellow, and multicolored, round, oval, gourdlike, tubular, scallop-edged, or crookneck-shaped squash, their fruit.
The fruit and flowers of summer squash are versatile in their many kitchen uses, from raw to steamed, sautéed, boiled, baked, stir-fried, deep-fried, or grilled on a barbecue.
Summer Squash Plant and Care Guide
How Much to Plant
Allow 1–2 plants of each cultivar per household member.
How to Plant
Seed germinates in 8–10 days.
Average Climates: Sow seed or transplant seedlings in full sun in spring when soil warms to 60–85°F (16–29°C).
Mild-Winter Climates: Sow seed in late summer.
Sow 4–5 seeds, 2–3 in. (50–75 mm) deep, 3–4 in. (75–100 mm) apart, thinning to 2 plants per drill, in hills raised 1 ft. (30 cm) high and 2 ft. (60 cm) wide, 6–8 ft. (1.8–2.4 m) apart, or in rows 3–5 ft. (90–150 cm) apart, installing sturdy tripod supports at time of planting.
Best Conditions for Growth
60–75°F (16–24°C).
Soil Type and Fertility
Moist, well-drained soil. Fertility: Rich. 5.5–6.8 pH. Prepare soil at least 30 in. (75 cm) deep.
Proper Care
Easy. Keep evenly moist; avoid wetting foliage or fruit. Fertilize monthly with 5–10–10 formula. Cultivate. Keep heavy fruits from direct soil contact by placing squash on boards or suspend hanging fruit from supports with bird-netting cradles. Aphid, vine borer, squash bug and fungal disease susceptible.
Pairing Recommendations
Beans, nasturtiums, and bush peas.
Maturity, Picking and Gathering
50–65 days. Cut squash when the rind is tender and before seeds mature.
How to Store and Preserve
Fresh in vegetable compartment of refrigerator for 2–3 weeks; cooked and frozen, 6–8 months. Eat summer squash whole or sliced: steamed, boiled, broiled, or buttered, wrapped in foil, and grilled or baked. Squash blossoms, dipped in batter and fried until golden and crunchy, are a delicacy and a sure means of limiting squash production.