How to Harvest and Store Winter Squash

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At the end of the growing season, it is time to pick winter squash and store them. But how do you know they are ready? Use these tips to harvest the fruit and provide the best storage conditions.

Growing melons? Find out how to know when watermelon is ripe for picking. They do not improve after harvest so timing is everything.

Winter squashes in the garden and after harvest.

The Difference Between Winter and Summer Squash

Before we jump in with the winter squash tips, let’s make sure we know which squash are in this group.

If you want to jump right to the harvest tips, click here.

All squashes (winter, summer) are in the Cucurbitaceae—also known as cucurbits or gourd family with over 965 species including cucumbers and watermelons.

We grow all of them during the summer, of course, but put them into summer and winter groups based on various characteristics.

Summer squashes are the softer-skinned varieties that grow quickly (45-60 days), often in bushes producing a lot of fruit. To avoid ending up with massive zucchinis the size of Goodyear blimps, it is best to harvest the fruit when moderate in size. This also encourages more fruiting.

Summer squashes have soft, edible skins.
Winter squashes have tougher skins and can be put in cold storage.

Winter squashes are slower growing (70-120 days) and have tougher skins. They grow on vines that sprawl across the garden and are harvested when mature at the end of the growing season before frost sets in. Not all winter squash are big like large Halloween pumpkins, but if they are, one vine may produce just one or a few. The little guys are more prolific.

Summer squashes are best eaten right away. Many winter squashes can be stored for the winter (if conditions are right) and improve with time.

One other distinction I grew up with is: would you eat the skin? If yes, it’s a summer squash. Too thick and tough? It’s a winter squash.

All the plants in the Cucurbitaceae family have similar needs and behaviors:

Optimal soil temperature for germinating seeds: 25-35°C (68-95°F).
Male flowers grow first. Female flowers form second and have tiny fruits at the base that require pollination.

Related: Are Halloween Pumpkins Edible?

Winter Squash Examples

If you look through seed catalogs, you will notice there are 3 main species.

Some varieties are open-pollinated (OP). Others are hybrids (F1).

1Cucurbita pepo

Smaller winter squashes including acorn squash do not store as well as larger, thicker skinned varieties. Be sure to eat them in the first month or two after harvesting.

Acorn
- Festival (85 days) – F1
- Mashed Potatoes (90 days) F1
- Reno (70-75 days) F1
- Table King (105 days) OP
- Table Queen (85 days) F1
Delicata (80-100 days) OP – also called Bohemian or Peanut squash
Sweet Dumpling (110 days) OP
Small Sugar Pumpkin (110 days) OP
Spaghetti Squash (90-100) OP

2Cucurbita maxima

Buttercup
- Burgess Buttercup (115 days) OP
- First Taste (85 days) F1
- Gold Nuggett (85 days) OP
- Kurinishiki Mini Kabocha (95 days) F1
- Shokichi Green Mini Kabocha (100 days) F1
- Shokichi Red Mini Kabocha (100 days) F1
- Sweet Mama (85-95 days) F1
- Turban Squash (100 days) OP
- Uchiki Red Kuri (80 days) OP

Queensland Blue Pumpkin (110-120 days) OP
Sugar Hubbard Squash (110 days) OP
Super Moon (90 days) F1

3Cucurbita moschata

These ones often taste best after several months of storage.

Butternut (110-120 days)
- Waltham (110 days) OP
- Tiana (95 days) F1
- Early Butternut (85-90 days) F1
- Victory (88 days) F1
Butterbaby (105-110 days) OP
Butterbush (75-85 days) F1
Fairytale Pumpkin (110 days) OP
Gold Nugget (85 days) OP

When to Pick Winter Squash

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I wish there was one tell-tale sign it’s picking time but there isn’t.

But, just like watermelon, there are clues, which, considered together, are a good indicator.

We want to pick winter squash when they are mature, which also means they are at their peak starch levels. During storage these starches covert to sugar. And it’s that sweetness that makes them delicious.

Signs Winter Squash is Ready to Harvest

1Days to Maturity

Let your seed packet be your guide.

How many days to maturity does the seed packet (or catalog) say it will take?

Has it had enough time? Were conditions favorable (sun, water, soil)?

Some years my squashes and watermelons are very slow to mature, other years they are ready right on schedule. A quick review of the weather often explains the speed or delay.

2Tough Skin

As winter squash mature, the skin hardens. Is yours thick and tough?

Some growers test for maturity with a fingernail: if you can easily mark the surface, it’s not ready. Or beginning to rot.

3Brown Stem

In an ideal growing season, the squash ripens on the vine and the stem starts to dry out and turn brown. That’s an easy tell!

But, many years do not go this way and, with frost coming, you may just have to pick it anyway.

4Matches Photos

Does your squash look like the photo in the seed catalog?

Size and color can be good indicators of maturity, although sometimes the fruit—just like humans—can appear mature before their time.

So, it’s just one more factor to consider.

Also check the field spot—that part of the fruit that rests on the ground in the garden. This will sometimes darken with maturity.

5Hollow Sound

Knocking on mature squash and watermelon can produce a hollow sound. There’s more of a thud when they are under and over ripe. I’ll leave it to you to conduct comparison tests. I do not have an ear for this.

As you can see, no one sign is going to guarantee timely picking, but, together they help us make an educated guess.