Celebrate “National Sneak Some Zucchini onto Your Neighbor’s Porch Day” (August 8) the right way by mastering the art of growing zucchini, crookneck, and other summer squashes that boast perfectly tender skin and luscious summertime flavor. In this guide, you’ll learn everything you need to know to grow zucchini and summer squash from seed, how to keep these plants in containers or your garden, and how and when to harvest zucchini to maximize yields!
Note: All types of summer squash require very similar care and the tips in this guide can be applied to zucchini, yellow summer squash, crookneck squash, pattypan squash, and more.
Harvesting
When to Harvest
Most varieties of zucchini and summer squash take about 60 days after planting to start bearing fruit and those fruits are usually ready to be picked about a week after flowering. That said, there is some variabiliy in harvesting times, so always check seed packets for more exact information.
For best flavor and texture, harvest zucchini and squash when the fruits are about 6 to 8-inches long. Larger fruit can look impressive, but it has little flavor and the skins get quite tough. Once fruiting begins, check zucchini plants regularly and often as it’s easy to overlook a hidden zucchini and wind up with massive, but tasteless, fruit!
How to Harvest
When harvesting, cut zucchinis off the vine with a sharp knife and leave about 1-inch of stem attached to each fruit. Resist the temptation to harvest zucchini by pulling on the fruit as this can damage your plant.
If your zucchini are producing too well, you can slow down production by harvesting the fruit when it’s still small or removing all the male flowers. Zucchini flowers are perfectly edible and can be used as salad toppers or stuffed, battered, and fried. Towards the end of the season, harvest all remaining zucchini before frost hits as the plants and fruit won’t survive a cold spell.
Storage
Fresh zucchini and summer squash has a relatively short shelf life and can be stored, unwashed, in a plastic or paper bag in your fridge’s crisper drawer for about 10 days. If you end up with more zucchini than you can use straight way, you can also pickle it or blanch and freeze it for up to 3 months.
Types
Zucchini come in bush-type forms, which are best for containers and growing in rows, or vining-type plants that can be grown on trellises. Here are popular picks and what makes each stand out.
- ‘Cocozella (di Napoli)’: A heirloom zucchini with dark green, slender fruits and excellent flavor.
- ‘Goldbar’: A yellow summer squash variety with a sweet and nutty flavor.
- ‘Ronde de Nice’: A funky, French heirloom, this plant produces globular fruits — and lots of them!
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Comments
Yes, lack of blooms is generally due to excess nitrogen. You could sprinkle some superphoshate around the plants. It may not work this year, but you can try it. What will be important is that you get a soil test before you plant next year. There are home gardening soil tests you can get from your local cooperative extension or from local places for a small fee. Then adjut the soil as needed.
Hi, Gracey: The puzzle here is that it is only one of your plants. It's possible that there is some sort of pest involved (see Pests above), so do some exploring of the dimples. Sometimes these can be the result of damage when the zukes are young, but this would not seem to apply. Another thing that can cause this is a quick temperature change that causes the moisture content near the skin to vary. But all the fruit on only one plant? Readers?
We plant our squash seeds in mounds from the start. Once the seedlings are 2 inches tall, you can add mulch. And feel free to add more mulch as they grow.
This "may" help with the squirrels. The only real defense for small critters is a fence. Also, you can use safe repellents when the seeds are young and vulnerable. Ingredients in repellents may include animal predator urine, blood meal, garlic, sulfur or hot pepper, among others. Spray around your vegetables, not on them. Once the plants are past the tender seedling stage, they tend to fare better.
The number of winter squash per plant will depend on the kind and the variety, as well as the health of the plant, the soil, the weather, vine length, pollination, spacing, any techniques that you might be able to do to increase yield, etc. On average, an acorn squash might produce up to 5 per plant; butternut, 4-5; pumpkin, 1 to 3; others, up to 7 or more. In general, the larger the squash, the less fruit will form per vine (although there are exceptions). Check the seed packet to see if it mentions the average yield for that variety.
Some people do remove new flowers, or prune the growing tip of the vine, once there are about 3 to 5 good-sized fruit growing, to encourage the plant to focus its energy on growing fewer but larger fruit (such as pumpkins). Some don't do anything, and let the plant grow as it will. Your strategy will depend on whether you'd like lots of smaller fruit, or fewer but larger fruit (such as for exhibition).
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Powdery mildew most often attacks the leaves, but in severe cases, can also attack the fruit. Do you notice any white spots on the leaves? If it is powdery mildew, it's best to remove infected leaves and fruit, especially if there are other leaves and fruit that are showing no signs yet. Improving air circulation helps combat the disease. Fruit with powdery mildew might still be edible, but most likely the flavor and quality would be off. For more information, see:
http://extension.umass.edu/vegetable/diseases/powdery-mildew-cucurbits
White growth on fruit might also be Pythium, or fruit rot. The fruit is infected when it rests on wet soil, and may form cottony white growth, especially in humid weather. In severe cases, it is not edible due to poor quality. For more information see:
http://extension.umass.edu/vegetable/diseases/pythium-fruit-rot