Harvesting Squash

[dasantillo]

Hi,

After trawling the net and wearing Google out trying to find an answer, I thought I'd try the forum of one of the magazines I get :-)

I saved some seeds from a squash labelled kabocha from Tescos, planted them in the spring and now I have orange fruits (they were green in the shop but I shan't dwell on that). One is more advanced than the rest and is big enough to sit in the palm of my hand, although it's a lot smaller than the supermarket one - it's been a poor season weather wise though... There's some slight slug damage on the stem and is sat on polythene with holes in as it's on the ground.

My question is, when should I pick it? I don't want to leave it on there too long in case it rots. It's my first year at growing veg and I'm somewhat of a beginner. The pumpkins and butternut squash failed, due to the weather I think.

I read a while ago that you have to store kabochas for 3 months to improve the taste, but cannot find any mention of that now. Any thoughts?

Thank you for your help :-)

Dan.

[scarey55]

Hello Dan and welcome to the Vine.

Not sure how much help this will be but I have checked on Google and found this http://www.squashgrowingtips.com It seems that Kabocha squashes should be about 3 to 5 lbs in weight. I am guessing yours isn't quite that big but at this time of year frost may be threatening and I read somewhere that squashes don't like frost. If you plan to leave it on the vine perhaps you could put some straw underneath it to keep it off the ground.

I also read that they need about 3 months for the sweetness to develop.

I have red Kuri squashes here and I have just harvested them but I think they might be a bit bigger than yours (about the same size as Pigletwillie's - see his blog).

Just one other thing. If you do get them to the right size - save some seeds and do a swap next year, I'm sure there are lots of us here who would like to have a go at growing them
Hope this helps a bit,
Good luck,
Clare

[JennieAtkinson]

Hello Dan -and welcome to the Vine. Can't help you with your question though, just wanted to say hello.

[dasantillo]

Thanks for the welcomes

Clare, thanks for the website - you must have better observational powers then me as I thought I'd Googled well... It's a really useful website. I'm glad it wasn't just me who read about the 3 month thing too. I had to pick the squash yesterday as I noticed the underside not looking as healthy as the top side so bit the bullet and picked it. I weight it, but don't laugh - it was only 12 oz/380g. It'll be enough to feed two of us a couple of mouthfuls now, just got to wait 3 months... I shall see if I can get a photo of this mammoth squash and post it here

[scarey55]

Well done Dan,

As you say, 12 ounces is enough to give the 2 of you a taste and, assuming you like it you can save the seeds, next years will be bigger and better - you haven't exactly had the best of weather this year.

Please do post a photo of your massive baby if you get the chance, it's always good to see pics.

Clare.

[rustylady]

Squash store well in a cool shed, providing they are ripe when picked and have good airflow round them. You can hang them in netting bags, or in wire hanging veggie baskets - I use both.

[dasantillo]

Attached is a photo of my squash - if only I'd ironed the background

I was going to store it under the stairs with the potatoes and shallots. The shed dips below zero in the winter, which I guess isn't good for it?

[Dobby]

make shore you have a look and a feel every outher day we had a pumpking colaps in the back bed room luckly I had a tray under the stand (not pland just hadnt moved it)
Did not smell to nice

[scarey55]

Hello again Dan,
Thanks for posting the pic. I have grown Red Kuri squashes this year and yours looks remarkably like mine. (see attached pic)
Mmm, I wonder if the seed somehow hadn't come true to type. Just a thought, don't really understand much about this area but I am sure there will be a more knowledgable grape will be along to explain it.

[vegnut]

Hi Dan. Scarey55 is probably on the right track. If it was from a food store, then it was probably an F1 hybrid or something like that. So the seed would not give you the same as the parent plant. None the less, you can still eat them and enjoy the growing process, just don't expect the same results as the shop bought ones. They could be bigger, smaller, green, orange, or even a different shape . None of this matters.
Enjoy them anyway
Regards
Dave