Planting guide

When to plant squash

Pattypan, crookneck, spaghetti and delicata types; compact, quick and good for small plots. In Melbourne it goes in Dec.

Start as: Seed, sown in place or Seedling
Ready in: 7–14 wks
Spacing: 90 cm
Depth: 2.5 cm
Sun: Full sun (6+ hours)
Water: Regular
Effort: Some care
Frost-tender: Yes, plant after the last frost

When it goes in

● means squash can go in that month, ○ means wait. Worked out from each town's real monthly temperatures, not a zone map. Pick your town for the full list for that month.

Australian towns and cities
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sydney	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Melbourne	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
Brisbane	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Perth	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Adelaide	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
Gold Coast	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Newcastle	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Sunshine Coast	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Canberra	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Central Coast	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Geelong	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Wollongong	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
Hobart	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Townsville	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Cairns	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Toowoomba	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Darwin	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Ballarat	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Mandurah	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Bendigo	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
Launceston	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Mackay	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Rockhampton	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Coffs Harbour	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Blue Mountains	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Bunbury	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
Bundaberg	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Alice Springs	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Mildura	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Port Macquarie	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●

Around the world
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Auckland	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Wellington	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Christchurch	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
London	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Manchester	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Edinburgh	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Dublin	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
New York City	○	○	○	○	○	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Los Angeles	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Chicago	○	○	○	○	○	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Seattle	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Austin	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Toronto	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Vancouver	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Cape Town	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Johannesburg	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Singapore	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Mumbai	●	●	●	●	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Paris	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Berlin	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○

How to plant squash

Sow 2.5 cm deep once frost has gone.
Give each plant a square metre.
Water at the base; hand-pollinate if few fruit set.
Pick summer types small; leave winter types to harden.

Squash varieties

Classic varieties are the reliable, widely grown ones. Adventurous ones are heirlooms, odd colours and rarities.

Yellow CrookneckClassicheirloom · bush · heavy-cropper · 7–9 wksButtery yellow summer squash; cut young
Golden ScallopiniClassicbush · kid-favourite · 7–9 wksPatty-pan type, tender and sweet
SunburstClassicbush · colourful · kid-favourite · 7–9 wksBright yellow button squash
Vegetable SpaghettiClassicstorage · kid-favourite · 13–16 wksCooked flesh pulls out in spaghetti-like strands
DelicataClassicstorage · sweet · 13–14 wksStriped, cream-and-green, eat the skin
HokkaidoAdventurousstorage · sweet · 13–16 wksOrange-red teardrops with chestnutty flavour
Kamo KamoAdventurousheirloom · heavy-cropper · 13–16 wksNZ Maori squash; nutty
Turk's TurbanAdventurouscolourful · kid-favourite · 14–17 wksTurban-shaped, ornamental and edible

Where to buy seeds

Search on The Diggers Club Search on Seeds of Plenty Search on Happy Valley Seeds Search on Amazon

Shop links may earn us a commission. It never changes what we recommend.

Shops shown are for Australia. The chooser picks shops for your country.

Good companions

Corn, Bean, Nasturtium

Squash by month

Jan · Feb · Mar · Apr · May · Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct · Nov · Dec

More to plant

Pumpkin · Watermelon · Rockmelon · Honeydew melon · Luffa

Not sure squash is right for your space? Answer a few taps and see everything that can go in this week.

Find what else you can plant now →