When to Pick Winter Squash

When is it time to pick winter squash? How can you tell your squash is ripe on the vine? Along with the required days to maturity, there are some other signs to help you decide it is harvest time.

From there, the next step is curing and storing winter squash properly so they last as long as possible in cold storage.

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Winter Squash

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Contents

1. When to Pick Winter Squash
2. Signs Winter Squash is Ready to Harvest
3. Winter Squash Examples
4. The Difference Between Winter and Summer Squash
5. Resources

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When to Pick Winter Squash

As a new gardener it is not always obvious when our crops are ready for harvesting. We’re often just thrilled that we grew something—and we should be. It’s wonderful to be able to grow our own food.

But learning how to time harvests right to catch foods at their peak is the next skill to learn.

With winter squash, one of the problems is they can appear ready for picking before it’s time.

Unlike summer squash like zucchini that we eat when the skins are soft and the plant is still immature, winter squash is picked at maturity when the rind (usually inedible) has toughened up. You could eat winter squash before maturity but you would miss out on that sweetness we know and love. You can read more about these two squash groups here.

The number one guideline for picking winter squash is knowing the days to maturity. This is the number of days we know it takes the plant to grow and mature in the garden. Check the information with your seed company to confirm whether this is from germination to harvest or from transplanting to harvest. They are two different things and can mean the difference of many weeks.

Either way, there is no working around how long it takes each type of vegetable to grow. The days to maturity is a basic guide that says if conditions are met, it should take about this long to harvest mature or ripe fruit.

If you’re in that timeframe, it’s very likely harvest time. For many of us in cold climates, this is around August, September, or perhaps into October. The other tips listed below can also help your decision.

Winter squash is picked when mature because that’s when starch levels peak. From there, we cure the fruit to allow the starches to convert to sugar. That’s when they are delicious and can be used right away or placed in cold storage. Depending on the variety, they may store safely for weeks (acorn squash) or months (butternuts) if conditions are right.

How to Cure & Store Squash covers everything you need to know after harvesting.

Related: When to Harvest Potatoes and How to Store Them

Signs Winter Squash is Ready to Harvest

1Days to Maturity

This is your number one tip. And it’s going to be different for every type of winter squash you grow.

Let your seed packet be your guide.

I have listed the days to maturity for many types of squash below.

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)?

Has there been enough time since the fruits started forming? This stage alone can take 50 to 60 days.

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.

Do not, however, wait to harvest until frosts set in. The flavor becomes unpleasant once the temperatures really drop and there is no getting it back.

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 it’s getting too late and 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, the late summer or fall weather may have other ideas 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.

The Difference Between Winter and Summer Squash

All squashes (winter, summer) are in the Cucurbitaceae family—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. We pick and eat summer squash when it is immature. 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?

Resources

Cookbooks

The Pumpkin Lovers Cookbook

New England Soup Factory Cookbook: More Than 100 Recipes

Creative

If you have squashes you won’t be storing or eating, you can use them as fall decor. See these no-carve ideas for pumpkins.

~Melissa the Empress of Dirt ♛