How to Grow Zucchini and Summer Squash: Your Complete Guide
Spring is in the air and you may be wondering whether you should try growing zucchini or summer squash. Apart from looking for tips on how to grow summer squash, you may be wondering whether they’re difficult to grow. You’ll be happy to know that they aren’t – as long as you grow them in the right way. Let’s begin with a bit of general info on this rewarding crop before taking a deep dive into growing tips.
Summer Squash and Zucchini: Origins and Differences
Summer squashes were among the first plants to have been domesticated in tropical America. Archeological evidence from Mexico shows that their fruits were already being enjoyed in 8000 BC. No surprises: this crop was enthusiastically adopted in Europe during the Renaissance and has since achieved popularity all over the world.
But, you may ask, what’s the difference between summer squash and zucchini? Technically, zucchini is just one of the many types of summer squash. It earned its own name thanks to the shape of its fruit and its distinctive green color. Other summer squashes that have earned their own unique names include patty pans, tromboncino (one of the few vining summer squash variants), crookneck squash, and straightneck squash.You’ll find a greater variety of colors too, ranging from green to yellow and even orange-yellow.
Despite the many names and shapes out there, almost all summer squash plants share the same genus and species: Cucurbita pepo.
Ideal Climate for Summer Squash
Unfussy and adaptable, summer squash will grow in almost all warm season conditions. It actually performs better in areas with cooler summers than other cucurbits do. Summer squash loves hot summers, but there’s a lower chance of it being affected by viruses in areas with lower summer temperatures. Although it matures a little more slowly, it delivers better yields. The bottom line? Once the danger of frost has passed and soil temperatures rise, it’s time to get out there and sow these babies!
Ideal Soil for Summer Squash
Like so many other plants, summer squash thrives in well-drained, rich soil. I’ve grown some surplus plants in poor soil with reasonable success, but the same variety in a rich soil is an altogether different beast. As for drainage, it’s a must.
Compost, Drainage, and Water Retention
Whether your soil is light or heavy, compost is the start of your journey towards success with summer squash. If your soil is heavy and you don’t have raised beds, adding compost improves drainage. It also increases soil volume, so you can easily build up the soil level to make your beds higher – and that improves drainage too.
If your soil is light, compost helps it to hold enough water to keep your plants happy while adding its share of nutrients. Remember, naturally well-drained soil is awesome, but nutrients wash through it pretty quickly, so you’ll need to feed your plants more often.
Soil pH for Summer Squash
To absorb nutrients efficiently, plants are adapted to specific soil pH ranges. For summer squash, that’s a pH of 5.8 to 7. You can get it just right by using lime to “sweeten” acidic soils and using sulfur or acid-forming compost to lower the pH. Of course, you could just try your luck without knowing your soil pH, a lot of gardeners do, but optimal soil pH is a good predictor of success.
Planting Summer Squash
Temperature and Sun Exposure
Full sun all day long is best for summer squash, but 8 hours of direct sunlight a day should be sufficient.
Wait until you’re reasonably sure there’ll be no more frosty nights or start your seeds in pots indoors about a month before the last expected frost. Summer squash needs soil temperatures of around 70 degrees to germinate. Don’t have a soil thermometer? A meat thermometer will do the job!
Sowing Depth and Spacing
If you’re sowing directly into the beds where your plants will grow, build little mounds to serve as planting stations. With a little hollow scooped out on top, you’ll have a great way to target your watering to the spots where your seeds are. Space them 24 to 30 inches apart and plant your seeds about an inch deep, sowing two seeds per planting station. You don’t need a lot of plants. These little guys are productive!
If you choose to sow your seeds in pots for later transplanting, monitor them carefully. You don’t want to leave them in small pots for too long, but the roots should be well established so that soil cakes don’t crumble when you transplant. Want to grow summer squash or zucchini in containers all the way to harvest? 5 gallon pots or grow bags are a good size to choose.
Watering
Keep your summer squash seeds moist but not wet. This instruction drives many gardeners crazy, so here’s a quick rundown. When you water, water well! Make sure that the water is going into the soil and yep, it’s going to be on the soggy side. Now, don’t water again until the soil is dry on top, and just barely moist beneath. You can check this by pressing your finger about 2 inches into the soil. If it feels moist, it isn’t time to water yet.
Caring for Summer Squash
Watering and Mulching
Summer squash likes moist soil. As the roots develop, you’ll reduce watering frequency, but your summer squash still needs about one inch of water per week. You can help the soil to hold moisture better with mulch, and it will also keep your developing fruits off the ground.
Mildew can be a problem. Ideally, it’s good to keep water off the leaves by using drip irrigation, or even a watering can. Remember, you aren’t going to have all that many plants so it’s not hard work. If you do choose to spray your plants with water, do so in the mornings so that the leaves can dry quickly.
Feeding
If you planted your summer squash in rich soil, you may not have to feed your plants at all. However, if you’d like to help them along, a slow-release organic fertilizer or liquid feed will give them the full range of nutrients they need. Choose a balanced formulation like a 10-10-10 fertilizer worked into the soil before planting time.
Weeding
Need we say it? Weeds take nutrients and water away from your crops and if they seed, you’ll have hassles for years to come. A good layer of mulch will keep most weeds down, and the few that pop up are easily pulled by hand.
Pests and Diseases
You can go through a whole growing season without having pest or disease problems – or they can attack your crops in a mini-armageddon that wrecks all your hard work. Look out for striped or spotted cucumber beetles, squash vine borers and squash bugs.
You can help prevent pest problems by rotating crops or by protecting them with netting – but if you do the latter, you may have to pollinate the female flowers by hand. If you encounter beetles or bugs, you can repel them by using a homemade chili and garlic spray. It works! Alternatively, choose a low impact, natural pesticide like Neem. For borers, it’s best to remove the affected stems completely.
Fungal diseases, particularly mildew, but also anthracnose, leaf spots and rots can cause problems. The best way to avoid them is to choose disease resistant varieties, care for your plants well, and water them correctly.
Watch even more Squash Growing Tips!
Harvesting Summer Squash and Zucchinis
Here’s one of the nicest things about summer squash: they can start bearing in as little as 60 days after sowing! After that, they just keep producing.
Don’t worry if not all flowers result in squashes. There are male and female flowers, and males are often the first to appear. Even without the males, you’ll be amazed at how many squashes you can get from a single plant over the course of a summer.
Once they start to bear, check your plants frequently. Those squashes develop at an amazing rate – I’m not exaggerating when I say you can almost see them growing! Your mission is to harvest them when they’re big enough to eat but not so old that their skins begin to toughen. Missed a couple? I’ve had great success with huge oven-baked zucchinis after I accidentally left them on the vine too long.
Because they’re tender, you can easily damage your summer squash during harvesting. Grasp them with a soft cloth and twist them to snap the stems – or cut them off if you’re worried about being too rough.
Preserving Surplus Summer Squash
Grew way too many summer squash plants? It’s an easy mistake to make even if this isn’t your first rodeo with them. There’s no need to waste. You can pickle, can, dry, or freeze summer squash leaving you with a supply to see you through the winter.
To freeze summer squash, slice them about half an inch thick and blanch them in boiling water for 30 to 60 seconds. Dunk them into an ice bath, leave them to drain, and pop them in the freezer.
Summer squash will adapt itself well to your favorite pickling recipe. Play around with seasonings like mustard seed, dill, chili peppers, garlic, and onion. A simple pickling liquid consists of equal parts of vinegar and water with sugar and salt to taste.
