Last edited on January 16, 2015. View history
Gem Squash
A variety of Cucurbita pepo
How to sow gem squash: Direct seed indoors or outdoors
Sun requirement for gem squash: Plant in Full Sun
Squash is a genus of herbaceous vines that have large edible orange flowers that mature into gourds or cucurbits. Squash are commonly divided into two main groups: summer and winter. Summer squash have shorter growing times, a bushy growth habit, tender skin, and are quite prolific. Common types include cucumbers, zucchini, and pattypan squash. Winter squash take longer to mature, have a more sprawling growth habit, and produce gourds with thicker skins that can be stored for a few months. Common winter squash are pumpkins, butternut squash, acorn, and delicata. Most squash transplant poorly. If starting from seed indoors, use peat pots that can be directly transplanted into the soil to reduce root disturbance. More growing information is available in individual species entries.
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Gem squash facts
Lifespan
Crop cycle
Max altitude
Optimal light
What are growing degree days?
A plant grows with warmth, not with days. A growing degree day is one day's worth of useful warmth: how many degrees the day's average temperature is above the lowest temperature the crop grows at. Add them up from planting and you know how far along the crop is, whatever the calendar says.
Say that lowest temperature is 10°C. A day averaging 17°C gives 7 growing degree days. A day averaging 8°C gives none, as it is too cold for the crop to grow. That is why the same lettuce takes about 50 days in a summer and 90 in an autumn: it needs the same total warmth either way.
For gem squash, the FAO EcoCrop database gives a lowest growing temperature of 6°C and a shortest growing cycle of 40 days at its best temperature, about 700 growing degree days to a first harvest.
Where you've told us where your garden is, we use this and the weather there to predict when your gem squash will be ready to harvest. We don't use it for how long a plant lives or when it finishes: we go by what members have logged for that.
Plant gem squash with
chives
Video
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Time to harvest
If sown now, expect a first harvest in about 40 to 100 days.
From the growing cycle in the FAO EcoCrop database, which is the same wherever it is grown.
Ecological requirements
Data from the FAO EcoCrop database for Cucurbita pepo L.
| Family / Taxonomy | Magnoliopsida Dilleniidae Violales Cucurbitaceae |
|---|---|
| Life form | herb, vine |
| Life span | annual |
| Habit | climber/scrambler/scadent |
| Optimal soil depth | medium (50-150 cm) |
| Optimal soil texture | medium, organic |
| Optimal soil fertility | moderate |
| Optimal soil drainage | well (dry spells) |
| Optimal soil salinity | low (<4 dS/m) |
| Photoperiod | short day (<12 hours), neutral day (12-14 hours), long day (>14 hours) |
Learn more about gem squash
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