It’s About Thyme
by CHRIS WINSLOW
One of my favorite vegetable plants to both grow and eat is squash.
This is a warm season crop (spring, summer and fall) that comes in a multitude of colors and shapes. The two main groups are summer squash and winter squash.
Summer squash is generally planted after the last frost of spring. The Texas A&M gardening calendar suggests planting from mid-March through the first week of May.
For a fall crop, squash can be replanted from the second week of July until the first week of September.
Summer squash is harvested young, while the fruit is still tender and the seeds inside are immature. If you allow the fruit to mature and harden, it becomes almost inedible.
Recommended yellow summer squash varieties for our Central Texas region are Dixie, Early Prolific, Early Summer, and multipic. Recommended zucchini varieties are Aristocrat, President, Zuccini green and Zuccini grey.
Winter squash can be planted from mid-March to May and again from the second half of June until August 1.
Winter squash differs from their summer cousins because you have to allow them to grow to full size and become hard and dense. Winter squash has a longer crop time.
Both winter and summer squash should be harvested before the first frost or freeze of the fall.
Like all vegetables, squash needs a sunny, well-drained location to thrive. Working lots of organic matter such as compost with a balanced slow release organic fertilizer into the squash bed will insure success. We mix blood meal, bone meal, and cottonseed meal into the bed at planting time.
Remember, squash is a vine and can take up a lot of room. It only takes a few plants to feed a large family.
Plant your squash in hills that are 3 to 4 feet apart. Three to four seedlings per hill will make a good showing.
Pests to look out for are squash bugs and squash vine borers. The borers are particularly devastating: they bore through the stem of the plant and it then wilts and dies. Organic Spinosad and B.T. sprays are effective on these borers when used on a weekly basis.
Unfortunately squash is also susceptible to a leaf disease called powdery mildew. This leaf disease is mostly cured by careful watering. Wet leaves at night will certainly bring on mildew.
Water early and allow the leaves to dry before nightfall. If the problem persists, a spray of Serenade organic fungicide will help to slow the spread of this disease.
Good luck, and happy squash gardening!
If you have a gardening question, send it to [email protected]. (Please put ‘Ask Chris Winslow’ in the subject line.) Or: Ask Chris Winslow. It’s About Thyme: 11726 Manchaca Road, Austin, TX 78748
