In this article, we share a comprehensive guide to growing Squash at home.
Quick Guide Information
Common Name: Squash
Scientific Name: Cucurbita pepo
Family: Cucurbitaceae
Life Span: Annual
Time Till Harvest: 60 to 90 Days
Light Requirement: Full Sun
Optimum pH: 6.0 - 6.5
Squash is an easy to grow and extremely generous vegetable. A well-established crop of squash just keeps on giving, oftentimes beyond what you're capable of eating on your own. This means finding ways of storing it or finding friends and family who will happily take them off your hands! There's no gift better than that!
Squash is in the cucumber family and also closely related to pumpkins and melons. There are dozens of different types of squashes, and the term squash is actually a pretty ambiguous name. For example, not many people are aware that Zucchini and pumpkins are actually just types of squash.
The two main classifications of squash are the winter and summer squashes.
Summer Squash
+ Harvested when young and tender in summer months.
+ Characterized by its soft skin and not ideal for storage.
+ Tends to be less sprawling and grows more as a bushy vine.
Winter Squash
+ Harvested once mature. Immature fruits are not typically valued for flavor.
+ Skin is tough and usually inedible making it great for storing throughout the winter.
+ Plants tend to sprawl out and spread.
Propagation
Squash is a quick growing and vigorous plant that should generally just be planted by direct seed. They can be started early in pots and then transplanted, although they don’t always take too well to transplants. Squash tends to prefer warm weather and should be planted well after the last frost once soil temperatures are above 20C.
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