purportedly it ’s a child’s play to grow crush in Florida . It ’s one of the comfortable to grow vegetables according to a few horticulture record .
Growing squash racquets in Florida is easily done if engraft during the former spring and downslope clip . South Florida can even constitute in the “ wintertime ” meter . Good varieties of squash for Florida are Chayote , Crookneck , Black Beauty , and Waltham .
I say supposedly up top because I ’ve in person never had really good chance with grow squash .
I ’ve tried both winter and summer squash without much portion , My plant normally get hit with mildew issue or worms .
Do n’t let me discourage you .
You might have no problem at all growing squash , read on to line up out more varieties , specific planting times and how to engagement pests and diseases you may see .
Florida Friendly Squash Varieties
Let ’s set about by break squash into two disjoined radical .
Summer and Winter .
summertime squash is commonly grow as a George Bush and has tenuous - skinned vegetables . wintertime squash is usually grown as a vine and has thick - skinned fruit .
When you hear summer mash think of things like zucchini and when you hear winter squelch you should think of things like pumpkins .
The most democratic veggie in the summer squash mathematical group has to be the courgette . Black Beauty , Chayote , Cocozelle , Spineless Beauty are all courgette varieties .
Chayote is probably the lesser - cognize squash on this list but it grows quite well in Florida . It is really the only summer crush on this list that grows as a vine .
The Seminole squash is suppose to be one of the easiest vegetables to grow in Florida . It was grown by the aboriginal Americans here and it produces loads of yield and does n’t require much care .
It ’s a wintertime type squash so expect the flora to be a Viner and one that make thick - skinned yield .
When To Plant Squash In Florida
The best time to plant squash in Florida is during the other spring and again in the Fall . For those that endure in South Florida , you’re able to even plant during the “ winter ” metre .
Just because the name suggest summer and winter , that does n’t mean that you should plant them during those clock time .
Squash does not enjoy our intense Florida summer , only a few vegetables do .
Where To Plant Squash In Florida
Plant squash in an area that get plenty of sunlight . the plant needs at least 6 - 8 hour of sunshine in gild to be productive .
You want the plant to be in compost - rich , well - drain soil . If you are establish directly into the shit . I always recommend at the very least adding compost and a thick stratum of mulch .
Mulch goes a long fashion when continue your plant happy .
If you are planting into a pot or a arouse bed I ’ve always had full luck with a intermixture like this :
Most of these thing can be detect at your local computer hardware store . The mykos and the coco coir will probably be a snatch backbreaking to find .
you could always replace the coco coir with peat moss . I like coco coir better because it does not make your soil acidic over time like peat does . And the agriculture practices of peat moss are also unsustainable .
Mykos is not 100 % necessary but I ’ve picture right results with it . It aid your soil have good fungi in it . This create a web of nutrient portion out good .
Fertilizing
Fertilize crush with something like Tomato - tone(Check monetary value ) , a canonical vegetable fertilizer . It ’s a 3 - 4 - 6 fertilizer .
The three routine that you see are the Nitrogen(N ) , Phosphorus ( atomic number 15 ) , and Potassium(K ) values . Each food in your fertilizer does something dissimilar for your plant .
Nitrogen helps your plant farm dark-green leafy growth . Phosphorus helps your plant with root increment and flower production . Potassium is a good overall health takeoff booster .
Harvesting Squash
wintertime squash grows much slower than summer squash . Typically , wintertime squash will take anywhere from 85 – 120 days to grow to maturity . summertime squash normally takes 40 - 50 day in club to be fully ripe .
When harvesting crush you should also apply a full pair of shears or a sharp tongue .
You need to avoid pulling and buck the fruit from the industrial plant .
fit in to Robert Bowden , generator of Florida Fruit And Vegetable Gardening , Squash that has at least an inch on radical go forth will store for longer full stop of time .
For other horticulture books that I find helpful check this out .
Pests And Diseases
I ’ve had plenty of experience with this section . It seems like every time I adjudicate to develop squash they got strike by mildew issues . Downy Mildew on squash plant
Squash is most commonly affected by downy and powdery mildew .
Another very mutual problem with squash is stem borers . They are worm that delve into the hollow stems of squash plant life .
If you spray your plant with eminent - calibre neem oil ( Check price)you should avoid most of these problems . Neem oil has been known to help with downy and powdery mildew . It ’s also known to deter pests and often kill them if assimilate .
Stem borer can still be a problem if they bore into the stem before eating the sprayed industrial plant . to blockade stem borers after they have already chewed their direction through you must cut off the infected part of the plant .
If the remaining stem that is still attached to the plant is freehanded enough , try plant it into the ground . this should tell the plant to produce roots on that stem .
