How to Grow Squash: When to Plant Summer Squash in the US

Updated October 2026

Summer squash and zucchini are fast and generous, plant them in the cooler shoulders and stay ahead of the borers.

What it looks like as it grows

Squash crops in as little as 50 days, so it suits Florida's spring and fall windows. The challenge is not growing it, it is keeping squash vine borer and pickleworm off it.

🌱 Plant profile: Squash, with sowing times for your region, companion plants and common pests.

When to Plant Squash in Your Region

Summer squash, such as yellow crookneck and straightneck, follows the same calendar as zucchini in our data: once after the last frost in the North, twice in North and Central Florida, the Gulf South, the low desert and Texas, and from September to March in South Florida. These are the planting months for each of our 18 regions, with each region's frost window. Each region links to its full vegetable planting calendar, and the Squash plant page shows the calendar for any region you pick.

The Pacific Northwest, the Northeast and New England, the Midwest, the Upper Midwest and the Mountain West plant squash in May and June. North Florida and the Gulf South plant squash in March and April, and August and September. Southern California and Northern California plant squash between March and July. The Mid-Atlantic and the Southern Plains plant squash between May and July.

When to plant in Florida

Varieties

• 'Early Prolific Straightneck' and 'Yellow Crookneck': classic yellow squash.
• 'Black Beauty' zucchini: reliable and productive.
• Seminole pumpkin: if borers defeat you, this Florida native shrugs them off.

How to grow it

• Full sun, rich soil, steady water; direct-sow once warm.
• Succession-sow every 3-4 weeks so a younger plant is always coming on.
• Hand-pollinate (transfer pollen from male to female flowers) if young fruit shrivels.

Pests & problems

Squash vine borer (sudden wilt, sawdust frass at the base) and pickleworm (holes in fruit) are the big ones; powdery mildew arrives in humidity. Mound soil over the vine, inject Bt or use row cover until flowering, and plant resistant types.

Harvest

Pick young, 6-8 inches for zucchini and small for crookneck; daily picking keeps plants producing for weeks.

Source: UF/IFAS Florida Vegetable Gardening Guide (SP 103).

Squash at a glance

The planting figures for squash from our plant data, converted to inches and Fahrenheit.

Sowing squash

Sow two seeds per mound, about 3/4 inch deep, once the soil is warm, then keep the stronger seedling. Our plant data gives squash a soil temperature range of 68 to 90°F, a little warmer than zucchini, and about 8 days to emerge. Allow about 31 inches per plant, water deeply at the base and keep the leaves dry to limit mildew.

Growing squash in containers

Bush squash grows in a container at least 16 inches across. Pick a compact bush variety for a pot rather than a sprawling one.

How long does squash take to grow?

Our plant data allows about 65 days from sowing to the first fruit. Pick summer squash young and tender, while the skin still dents under a fingernail, and cut it with a short stem. Fruit left to mature slows the plant down.

Frequently asked questions

When to plant in your region

Pick your region to see the planting months for squash where you garden.

See also: Squash in the plant library →

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