Crops

Pumpkin, Squash, and Gourds

Summer squash are frequently direct seeded, but for early markets it may be profitable to transplant, especially expensive hybrid seed. Do not plant squash or pumpkin until daily soil temperatures are at least 60°F.

Transplants may be used to ensure uniform or complete stands, increase yield and to increase the likelihood of early harvest. Prior to transplanting, the plants can be hardened by placing them outside in a protected location.

Seed about 3 weeks before transplanting into the field at the 3-4 leaf stage. Those transplanted from the greenhouse before the frost-free date should be covered with hot caps or row covers or protected with irrigation (see Irrigation, page 18) to avoid freezing injury.

Pumpkin and squash require bee activity for good fruit set. Fruit set in winter squash and pumpkin takes place largely over a two to three week period, hence the importance of bees. Inadequate pollination results in poorly shaped fruit, as well as excessive blossom drop. One hive of bees per acre is recommended. The practice of saving squash or pumpkin seed for planting the following year is not recommended. Since bees can carry pollen for a mile or more, isolation of fields from other types of squash or pumpkin is rarely possible in the New England area.

Gourds can be grown on the ground or can be trained to grow on a trellis, fence or arbor. For commercial production they should be grown in rows or hills like squash and pumpkins. Gourds can be grown in a wide range of soil types but mature earlier and color better on sandy soils or sandy loams that drain well and warm up early in the spring.

For Current information on production methods (including varieties, spacing, seeding, and fertility), weed, disease, and insect management, please visit the New England Vegetable Management Guide website.

Below you will find additional information on managing this crop, including photos of insects and diseases in this crop, fact sheets, articles, and power point presentations, when available.

Insect List

• Aphids
• Cucumber Beetle Spotted
• Cucumber Beetle Striped
• Cutworm Black
• Cutworm Veriegated
• Seedcorn Maggot
• Spider Mites
• Squash Bug
• Squash Vine Borer (SVB)
• Slugs

Disease List

• Alternaria
• Angular leaf spot (Pseudomonas lachrymans)
• Anthracnose (Colletotrichum)
• Cucurbit Viruses: CMV, WMV-II, PRSV-W and ZYMV
• Bacterial Wilt (Erwinia)
• Black Rot (Didymella)
• Downy Mildew

                      -Downy mildew forecasting website

• Fruit Abortion (summer squash)
• Fusarium
• Plectosporium
• Phytophthora Blight and Fruit Rot
• Post-Harvest Fruit Rot (Various Fungi)
• Powdery Mildew (Pseudoperonospora cubensis)
• Scab (Cladosporium)
• Zucchini Yellow Mosaic Virus (ZYMV)

Articles

• Phytophthora Watch in Peppers and Vine Crops...And Other Diseases of Vine Crops
• Management strategies for striped cucumber beetle & bacterial wilt in pumpkin, 2001 & 2002
• Phytophthora Blight of Cucurbits, Peppers and Tomatoes
• Managing Insects and Diseases in Pumpkins and Winter Squash
• Pumpkin Diseases
• Striped Cucumber Beetle and Bacterial Wilt Management in Vine Crops
• IPM Guidelines for Pumpkins
• Using Sandea Herbicide in Vine Crops
• Cucurbits: Herbicide Update
• Pumpkin and Winter Squash Harvest and Storage
• Perimeter Trap Croping Works in Butternut Squash
• PPT on Perimeter Trap Croping in Butternut Squash
• Fruit Rots of Pumpkin
• Bacterial Wilt
• Scab of Summer Squash and Other Cucurbits
• Fusarium Diseases of Cucurbits
• Cucurbit Yellow Vine Disease