How to Grow and Care for Acorn Squash

The photo above is of the last acorn squash plant we grew before we left Canada. We grow it in a raised garden bed that we made ourselves. In the garden bed we had two acorn and two small white pumpkin plants. We made made a trellis out of string an let them grow up the wooden fence and were able to sit beside them and watch them grow. It was very beautiful especially when the yellow flowers blossomed. We hope this information helps you grow beautiful acorn squash as well. Happy growing!

Sun
Acorn squash love full sunlight and although they can tolerate some shade in our experience they don’t grow as well, and sometimes will flower but won’t produce squash.

Soil
Well draining lose soil is the best soil for acorn squash. We used a soil mix from a farm near our house which was high in organic matter.

Spacing
Acorn squash roots grow to a depth of about 8 inches deep and plants need to be space at least 12 inches apart. They have shallow roots and can be grown in containers but you need to make sure to loosen the soil at lest 8 inches. We like to loosen the soil a little deeper than 8 inches just in case the root grows a little deeper or the seedling gets pushed down which would also make it grow deeper.

Water
The roots of acorn squash need both air and water to grow so it is important not to over water them. They need about an inch of water a week to insure that water gets 8 inches down to all of the roots. A good way to insure the plant dries out enough but also gets enough water is to fully soak the plant about once a week.

Food
If your soil is full of organic matter, your plant receive rain water, and is growing in a raised bed in the ground you may not need to fertilize the plant at all. If it has been a very rainy growing season, your plant is growing indoors, or growing in a pot and your worried that all the nutrients has been washed away or absorbed by the plant you can fertilize it when it starts to grow blossoms.

Annual or Perennial
To the best of my knowledge acorn squash is an annual plant that can held fruit twice in a growing season.

Climate/Hardiness
Well established acorn squash plants can be tolerate tempters in as low as 60°F/15°C and tend grow best in warmer weather.

Harvest
Acorn squash will be ready to harvest between 70-100 days after planting from seed depending on weather and sunlight.

Transplant
Acorn Squash does not like to be transplanted and for this reason should be sown where it will grow or started in biodegradable starter pots that will degrade as the plant grows.

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