Summer Squash

The home-garden joke writes itself: a single summer-squash plant produces more food than a family can eat. The gardener who plants four ends up leaving zucchini in coworkers’ cars in August. Choose your number of plants carefully.

How to grow

• Direct seed after last frost when soil is 70°F+; or transplant 3-week-old seedlings
• Sow depth: 1 inch
• Spacing: 2–3 feet between plants (zucchini and bush types); 4–6 feet for vining types
• Soil: rich, well-drained, pH 6.0–7.0; benefits from compost
• Water: deeply and consistently; squash dislikes drought stress, especially during fruit set
• Mulch: heavily; conserves moisture, suppresses weeds
• Plant 2–4 plants for a family — one is usually too few (pollination problems), six is too many

Harvest

• Pick when small — 6–8 inches for zucchini and yellow crookneck; 3–4 inches for pattypan
• Pick every 1–2 days during peak production — fruits double in size within 48 hours during warm weather
• Don’t let one get huge — large fruits stop further fruit set on the plant
• A neglected plant produces 3–5 baseball-bat-sized squash and then nothing further; a regularly-picked plant produces continuously
• Yield: 4–8+ pounds per plant over the season

Climate notes

• Warm-season crop: frost-tender; don’t germinate cool
• Heat-tolerant: produces through hot summers
• Tolerates short-season climates — many varieties mature in 45–55 days
• Doesn’t tolerate cool wet weather during fruit set — flowers drop, fruit rots

Varieties

• Black Beauty Zucchini — classic dark green; productive; standard
• Yellow Crookneck — yellow with bumpy skin and curved neck; old American type
• Cocozelle — Italian heirloom; striped; firmer texture
• Pattypan / Sunburst — flat, scalloped-edged; attractive
• Eight Ball — round zucchini; great for stuffing
• Lebanese (Magda) — pale green; nutty flavor
• Trombetta di Albenga — Italian heirloom; vining; long curved fruits; can be harvested young (summer squash) or mature (winter squash use)

Pests and disease

• Squash vine borer — moth larva burrows into stem; can kill plants; major Eastern US pest. Row cover early; choose resistant varieties (Tromboncino, Cucuzzi)
• Squash bugs — brown shield-shaped bugs; suck sap; can kill plants. Hand-pick adults and egg clusters; trap under boards at night
• Cucumber beetles — transmit bacterial wilt
• Powdery mildew — late-season; resistant varieties available
• Blossom-end rot — calcium deficiency from inconsistent water

Pollination

Summer squash flowers are unisexual — separate male and female flowers on the same plant. First flowers are usually male (no fruit behind them); female flowers (with tiny fruit at the base) appear later. Pollination is by bumblebees and other large bees; honeybees less effective.

A common new-gardener concern: “my squash has lots of flowers but no fruit.” Usually one of:

• Only male flowers showing so far — wait
• Female flowers but no pollinator activity — encourage bumblebees, hand-pollinate
• Blossom drop from heat stress — provide consistent water

In the kitchen

• Grilled or roasted with olive oil
• Sautéed with onion, garlic, tomatoes — basis of countless Mediterranean dishes
• Stuffed (eight-ball, pattypan, larger zucchini) — with grains, meat, cheese
• Sliced raw thin in salads (carpaccio-style)
• Zucchini bread and chocolate zucchini cake — when there’s too much
• Stuffed blossoms — male blossoms (without fruit) stuffed with ricotta and fried
• Frozen sliced for winter use in soups and casseroles

See also

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• Subset of: [[gardening]]
• Shares approach with: [[winter-squash]]
• Member of: [[plants]]

Sources

• The Compleat Squash by Amy Goldman
• Various Extension publications on cucurbit production

Rooted in life.