table queen acorn squash
Cucurbita pepo
Last edited on 8 Oct 2019. View history
Acorn Squash
Curcurbita pepo
Cucurbita pepo var. turbinata
Also known as
pepper squash (en)
Des Moines squash (en)
A variety of Cucurbita pepo
How to sow acorn squash: seeds
Sun requirement for acorn squash: Plant in Full Sun
Dark green and/or orange to yellow patterned rind with longitudinal ridges. Acorn-shaped, generally 4-7 inches long. Sweet, yellow-orange flesh inside. Belongs to the same species as summer squashes like zucchini and crookneck squash.
- 4
- plantings
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- harvests
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- seed packets
Acorn squash facts
Lifespan
Annual
living and reproducing in a single year or less
Height × spread
30cm × 150cmRow Spacing
60cm
Optimal temperature
17–30 °C
Absolute temperature
6–40 °C
FAO EcoCrop
Optimal rainfall
600–1500 mm/year
Absolute rainfall
300–2800 mm/year
FAO EcoCrop
Optimal soil pH
5.5–6.8
Absolute soil pH
4.5–8.3
FAO EcoCrop
Crop cycle
40–100 days
FAO EcoCrop
Max altitude
1000 m
FAO EcoCrop
Optimal light
very bright
FAO EcoCrop
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 acorn 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 acorn 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.
How members grow acorn squash
Sunniness
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Planted from
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Varieties of acorn squash
Plant acorn squash with
borage
corn
chives
Video
Where acorn squash grow
Only plantings by members who have set their locations are shown.
What people are saying about acorn squash
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Who's planted acorn squash
- dukeleto Filbert Street Farm · Portland, Oregon
- fox_silvermoon Front Flowerbed
- neotoma Container Garden · Silver Spring, MD
- MeaganW 2013 Bed2 · Waterloo, ontario
dukeleto
Acorn squash harvests
Nobody has harvested this crop yet.
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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) |
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