Winter squash

Vegetable · warm season · also called butternut, acorn squash, spaghetti squash, hubbard, kabocha

Butternut squash, one cut open to show the orange flesh
Photo: George Chernilevsky, Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

When to plant

  • Sow seeds outdoors about 2 weeks after your average last spring frost.
  • Ready to harvest about 95 days after planting.

Harvest when rind resists a fingernail; cure 1–2 weeks.

Frost dates depend on where you live. Enter your ZIP code to get exact dates.

Dates by zone: 3a 3b 4a 4b 5a 5b 6a 6b 7a 7b 8a 8b 9a 9b 10a 10b

Growing basics

Sun
Full sun (6+ hours)
Spacing
36–48 in
Soil temperature
At least 65°F
Time to harvest
About 95 days
Plant family
Squash family (cucurbits)
Harvest per plant
About 8 lb
Seeds keep
About 4 years

Companions

Good neighbors: Sweet corn, Green beans (bush), Nasturtium, Borage

Keep apart: Potato. Potatoes and squash-family crops compete for water and share pests.

Keep apart: Horseradish. Horseradish spreads aggressively. Give it its own spot.

Keep apart: Mint. Mint spreads aggressively into neighbors. Keep it in a pot.

Keep apart: Fennel (bulb). Fennel slows the growth of most garden plants. Grow it on its own.

Keep apart: Sunchoke (Jerusalem artichoke). Sunchokes spread aggressively and shade neighbors.

Varieties to try

  • Table Queen (acorn) 85 days: compact acorn squash
  • Spaghetti 90 days: stringy flesh, pasta substitute
  • Delicata 100 days: thin skin, sweet
  • Waltham Butternut 100 days: stores well
  • Blue Hubbard 110 days: very large, long storage

Pests and problems

Squash bugSquash vine borerWhitefliesBacterial wilt of cucumbers and melonsDowny mildewMosaic virusesGroundhogsAphidsCucumber beetlesPowdery mildew

Grow it well

Tips

  • Cure winter squash before storing it. Cut squash with a few inches of stem, and keep it somewhere warm (about 80°F) for a week or two, until the skin is too hard to dent with a fingernail. Then store it cool and dry, around 50 to 55°F. Cured butternuts keep for months.
  • Hand-pollinate squash if the fruit shrivels. Baby squash that turn yellow and rot weren't pollinated. In the morning, pick a male flower (on a plain stem, with no tiny squash behind it), peel back its petals, and dab its center into a female flower.
  • Scrape off squash bug eggs. Every few days, check under squash and pumpkin leaves for clusters of shiny bronze eggs, and crush them or lift them off with a piece of tape. Catching them before they hatch saves a lot of trouble.

All 8 tips for winter squash →

Winter squash seeds on Amazon (opens a new tab)Insect netting on Amazon (opens a new tab)Floating row cover on Amazon (opens a new tab)Soaker hose on Amazon (opens a new tab)

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