When to harvest butternut squash

Butternut squash are fantastic to grow in the garden and you can end up with some fantastic results. They require them to be kept weeded and watered while they are growing through out the summer and autumn. The more you look after your butternut squash the better the crops you will get on your plants. They will not like fighting against the growing weeds as they take all the nutrients and the water from the soil – hence this will affect your crop growth. When you have lots of butternut squash on your plants you will want to know when to harvest butternut squash?

You can store butternut squash right the way through winter for when you actually need them. You can just put them on a wooden shelf until needed in a dry cool room. Butternut squash are part of the winter squash family. It has some fantastic health benefits to it. It is a great source of potassium, beta carotene and iron.

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When to harvest butternut squash?

You need to leave the butternut squash on the vine as long as possible so that the butternut squash skin (rind) is as hard as possible. You should be able to pick them from early October. But you need to make sure that you pick the butternut squash before the first frost as this will damage the crop if you leave them on when a frost occurs and you might not be able to store them. Keep your eyes peeled on overnight temperatures and if you notice it getting colder at night get the butternut squash picked and stored away.

How to harvest butternut squash?

So your butternut squash are now ready to pick, the rind is hard and the temperature is getting colder at night so you need to harvest your squash before the frost comes. You can now harvest the squash by cutting the squash from the plant. To do this get a sharp knife and cut the stem off. Leave around 3-4 inches of the stem on the squash though as this will stop the butternut squash from rotting. If you end up cutting the full stem off you will end up letting bacteria into the squash – this then causes the rotting of it – which you do not want after you have spent so long growing the butternut squash.

When you harvest your butternut squash you need to inspect them to make sure that none of them are damaged, bruised or you have not left enough of the stem on the plant. If any of your butternut squash are damaged you can use these first as they will not store for long. If any are not worth saving you can chuck these on your compost heap.

How to store butternut squash

Once you have harvested your butternut squash and inspected them for the ones that can saved for storing you are ready for the squash to be cured. This means when you harden the squash skin and make sure it’s fully ripe. To do this you have to put your squash in a room that the temperature is room temperature which is usually classed as around 20 degrees. Leave them at room temperature for two weeks. You are now ready to leave them for storing.

To store butternut squash you need to move them to a dry cold room which is around 7 degrees. Do not put the squash in a room where they will freeze as this is not good for them. If you store your butternut squash at the right temperature you can actually store them from three to six months.

Purchase Butternut Squash Seeds

Now you have read about Butternut squash why don’t you purchase some butternut squash seeds and try growing your own. These can be grown in the ground or in pots.

Do you want to know how to grow Spaghetti Squash? Find out with all our tips and advice here or would you like to learn how to grow butternut squash? Find out here.