Squash and Pumpkin – What They Are and What Can Go Wrong
Despite the fact that their taste and appearance are very different, squash which comes in two major types, winter and summer, are very closely related and are cultivated and grown basically in the same way. Squash and pumpkin belong to the gourd family, along with cucumbers and melon, in which all members of the family need a lot of room to grow.
Summer squashes are generally grown as sprawling bush plants and they are harvested long before they are mature, that is while their skins are still very tender and can be eaten. For the most part winter squashes grow as vines, which require even more space than summer squashes. We leave these squashes on the vine until they are fully mature; by then, their skins are tough and generaly inedible. If winter squashes are stored properly, they can be kept throughout the winter.
Pumpkins are just another kind of squash, some of them will grow as bushes, and others on vines. They are allowed to fully mature before harvesting, the same as winter squashes.
The varieties of squash seem endless. Some summer squashes include the yellow squash, it can be either “crookneck” or “straightneck”; zucchini, which is a green squash; and white or pale green scallop squash. Most of the summer squash varieties can be harvested within 50 to 60 days after planting.
The acorn and butternut squash, the earliest-maturing winter squashes, are generally ready to be harvested in 75 to 85 days. The buttercub squash, which is shaped like a turban, will mature in about 100 days. Green or slate-gray Hubbard squash, which can grow to a mammoth size, will be ready for harvest in about 110 days. Pumpkins, on the other hand, will ripen in 100 to 120 days. All squashes need a loamy, rich soil that will retain moisture, and they will grow best when nutrients are added to the soil in the form of humus or fertilizer.
Things That Can Go Wrong
Squash and pumpkin, along with cucumbers and melons, are subject to the same diseases. The striped cucumber beetle can spread a bacterial disease that will cause the plants to wilt and then die. You can destroy the beetles by spraying the plants with methoxychlor. Squash vine borers will hatch from eggs that are laid at the plants’ base and will tunnel into the stalks. The most effective treatment is to spray around the base of the plant with methoxychlor, but if these borers hatch and start to tunnel into the plants, you need to cut them out with a knife.
There is no treatment for fusarium wilt, which is a fungous disease, but the best prevention is by crop rotation or by sterilizing the soil with metamsodium. If a powdery mildew should appear on the leaves, cut off the affected shoots only, and spray the plants regularly with Benomyl.
Barbara E. Volkov and her husband Gene are a retired couple who enjoys the at home time and also tinkering around in the garden. We are always learning new things to do for our garden and enjoy sharing the information with others. Come visit our website http://www.gardenersgardensupplies.com for more interesting tidbits on gardening.
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