Last edited by shiny on 7 Nov 2026. View history
Turban Squash
A variety of cucurbita maxima
How to sow turban squash: Direct seed indoors or outdoors
Sun requirement for turban 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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Turban squash facts
Lifespan
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 turban squash, the FAO EcoCrop database gives a lowest growing temperature of 9°C and a shortest growing cycle of 80 days at its best temperature, about 1280 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 turban 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.
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chives
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Ecological requirements
Data from the FAO EcoCrop database for Cucurbita maxima Duchesne
| Family / Taxonomy | Magnoliopsida Dilleniidae Violales Cucurbitaceae |
|---|---|
| Optimal temperature | 20 - 30 °C |
| Absolute temperature | 9 - 38 °C |
| Optimal rainfall | 600 - 1000 mm/year |
| Absolute rainfall | 450 - 2700 mm/year |
| Optimal soil pH | 5.5 - 7.5 |
| Absolute soil pH | 5.0 - 8.5 |
| Crop cycle | 80 - 140 days |
| Max altitude | 2000 m |
| Life form | vine |
| Life span | annual |
| Habit | climber/scrambler/scadent |
| Optimal soil depth | deep (>>150 cm) |
| Optimal soil texture | heavy, medium, light, 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), long day (>14 hours) |
| Optimal light | very bright |
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