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Cucurbita moschata
Last edited on 27 Jan 2021. View history
Cucurbita Moschata
A variety of squash
How to sow cucurbita moschata: Direct seed indoors or outdoors
Sun requirement for cucurbita moschata: 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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Cucurbita moschata facts
Lifespan
Annual
living and reproducing in a single year or less
Optimal temperature
20–30 °C
Absolute temperature
10–40 °C
FAO EcoCrop
Optimal rainfall
600–1600 mm/year
Absolute rainfall
300–2800 mm/year
FAO EcoCrop
Optimal soil pH
5.5–7.5
Absolute soil pH
4.5–8.3
FAO EcoCrop
Crop cycle
80–140 days
FAO EcoCrop
Max altitude
2400 m
FAO EcoCrop
Optimal light
clear skies
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 cucurbita moschata, the FAO EcoCrop database gives a lowest growing temperature of 10°C and a shortest growing cycle of 80 days at its best temperature, about 1200 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 cucurbita moschata 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.
Growing cucurbita moschata
- Sow seeds in pots 4 weeks before planting out
- Dig a pit and fill it with compost 2 weeks before planting out
- Harden off the seedlings 1 week before planting out
- Set or refill beer traps for slugs and snails at planting out every week
- Water deeply at the base 1 week after planting out every week
- Mulch around the plants 3 weeks after planting out
- Hand pollinate the female flowers 6 weeks after planting out
- Check leaves for powdery mildew 8 weeks after planting out every 2 weeks
- Lift fruit onto a tile or board 4 weeks before first harvest
- Pick fruit regularly at first harvest every week
- Pull out finished plants 8 weeks after first harvest
Varieties of cucurbita moschata
Plant cucurbita moschata with
chives
Photos
PhotosCucurbita moschata crops
Cucurbita moschata plantings
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Ecological requirements
Data from the FAO EcoCrop database for Cucurbita moschata Duch ez Poir
| Family / Taxonomy | Magnoliopsida Dilleniidae Violales Cucurbitaceae |
|---|---|
| Life form | vine |
| Life span | annual |
| Habit | climber/scrambler/scadent |
| Optimal soil depth | deep (>>150 cm) |
| Optimal soil texture | medium, organic |
| Optimal soil fertility | high |
| Optimal soil drainage | well (dry spells) |
| Optimal soil salinity | low (<4 dS/m) |
| Photoperiod | short day (<12 hours), neutral day (12-14 hours) |
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