grow acorn squash is an excellent agency to enjoy the benefit of your summer gardening long into wintertime . An easy - to - grow winter squash variety , the acorn squash is versatile and can be used in sweetened and savory dish aerial . For a beginner nurseryman or an experienced gardener growing acorn squash for the first meter , it can be difficult to bang when to pick your squash .
What Does Acorn Squash Look Like?
To know whether your acornsquashis advanced , you first need to know what a mature fruit looks like . Acorn squash vine is called such because it does resemble an acorn , at least in figure . Through the growing season , the squash starts out as a pallid green - yellow color . As they mature , the fruits turn a deep green colouration .
Additionally , a ripe acorn squash often has a vibrant yellow or orangish streak or splotch somewhere on it . However , not all acorn squash varieties have this splash of color , so its absence seizure is not a immense concern .
Keep Track of Days Since Planting
Along with other wintertime squash like spaghetti andbutternut , acorn squash has a retentive grow season . Take greenback of the solar day you planted the seeds , then look forward 80 days . Once you hit that date on the calendar , you should start see the acorn squash day by day to supervise the ripening process .
Some types of acorn squash can take as many as 100 days to fully ripe , so they may not be entirely ready at the 80 - twenty-four hour period scratch . If you are not certain what variety you plant , you should be able to look on the back of the seed packet to see how long the grow time of year is .
steer : Remember that even amongst plants from the same batch of seeds , the squash vine will maturate at dissimilar rates .
Other Signs that Harvest is Approaching
There are other style you may tell if your acorn squash is almost advanced enough to pick .
Tip : If you make out across a squash that has fallen off the vine , go ahead and cull it . If the weather condition is still warm , the lack of stem can make the yield rot quickly .
How to Pick Acorn Squash
When it is time to harvest the acorn squash rackets , arm yourself with a sharp knife and some gloves . Grab each stem about two inches from the yield and cut through it . If you happen to disregard too close to the actual squash rackets , be certain to employ it up before the rest . A too - close swing can grant bacteria to enter the acorn squeeze and cause spoil .
Once you have harvested the advanced squash fruits , pass on the residual on the vine until they are also fully grown . As long as the weather stay ardent enough , the squash vine will keep to mature , and the Dominicus will cure them .
As you pick the squash vine , sweep them liberal of malicious gossip and plant debris . They can be launder and manipulate right on forth , or you could store them for the wintertime .
How Long Can Acorn Squash Stay in the Field?
Acorn squash racquets is one of the few winter squash miscellany that does not proceed to ripen after you turn off them from the vine . Therefore , it is essential to leave them attached and in the field of study as long as potential . If there is a frost in the forecast , you may quickly report the plants with a plastic tack or other frost guardian and allow them to remain exposed during the warm surrender day .
Once you have taste the first few fruit from your acorn squash plants , you will be glad that you decided to embed this hardy winter squash . Then , as the wintertime month take out nigh , you will be even gladder when your shelf is full of them !
