Crop fact sheet · Warm season · frost tender
Summer Squash (Yellow & Zucchini)
Not in season right now in Houston. Dates below.
Your dates in Houston
| Window | Order seed by | Start indoors | Plant | First harvest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring 2027 | Feb 1 | — | Feb 22 – Mar 15 | from Apr 13 |
| Fall 2027 | Aug 5 | — | Aug 26 – Sep 16 | from Oct 15 |
Worked out from AgriLife planting windows (days before/after average frost) and Houston's average frost dates. "Order seed by" is our own 3-week heads-up, not an AgriLife date.
The numbers
- How to plant
- Sow seed directly 1" deep, 27" apart, rows 48" apart.
- Days to harvest
- 50–60 days
- Yield per 10 ft of row
- about 15 lb (150 lb per 100 ft of row)
- Keeps producing
- about 5.7 weeks
- Sun
- Full sun
- Family
- Cucurbitaceae (for rotation)
Water
Water enough to prevent wilting, at least once a week in very dry weather. Sandy soils need water more often than heavy clay.
Feeding
- At planting: 2 to 3 lb of 10-10-10 per 100 sq ft, or 2 to 3 tablespoons per hill worked into a 2 x 2 ft area.
- First blooms: About 2 tablespoons around each hill, kept off the plants, then water.
Not sure what your soil needs? Get a soil test first.
Texas heat
The AgriLife sources fetched give no specific heat guidance for squash. They stress that squash grows poorly in cool weather, so plant after frost, and that plants need water at least weekly in very dry weather to prevent wilting.
Pests to watch
- squash vine borer
- squash bug
- cucumber beetles
- aphids
Diseases
- powdery mildew
- downy mildew
- viruses
What to do about them: pest sheet · what's wrong with my plant?
When it's ready
Pick while fruit and seeds are small; cut rather than pull from the vine. Harvest regularly to keep plants producing.
Storing it
Refrigerate about a week.
Texas tips
- Sow 5 or 6 seeds about 1 inch deep per hill and thin to 3 plants when 3 to 4 inches tall.
- Squash grows well in all areas of Texas; a few plants feed a family.
- Use Bt as a preventive for vine borer; larvae inside the stem cannot be controlled.
- E-502 table lists seed depth 1/2 inch; the Easy Gardening squash sheet says about 1 inch.
Varieties that do well in Texas
Dixie, Early Prolific, Goldbar, Multipik, Senator, Tigress, Zucchini Elite, Sunburst, Cashflow, President