Acorn Squash

Acorn squash is a versatile and nutritious winter squash that is easy to grow in a home garden. Its small size, sweet flavor, and nutty undertones make it popular for roasting, stuffing, and adding to soups.  Growing acorn squash can be a gratifying endeavor for your garden, yielding tasty and nutritious vegetables that can be preserved for enjoyment during the winter. 

Varieties of Acorn Squash

Numerous acorn squash varieties exist, each offering unique textures and flavors. Below is a list of acorn squash varieties that are simple to grow in a home garden.

Table Queen

  • Features: An heirloom variety, this squash is smaller in size, with a dark green rind and deeply furrowed ridges.
  • Taste: The flesh is sweet and nutty with a fine texture, making it great for roasting and baking.
  • Resistance: Susceptible to common squash pests like squash bugs and vine borers. Regular monitoring and companion planting (e.g., with nasturtiums) can help control pests. Prone to powdery mildew in humid conditions.

Jade Queen

  • Features: Known for its larger size and jade-green rind, this variety is bred for high yields and consistency in shape.
  • Taste: Mildly sweet and creamy, suitable for baking and stuffing.
  • Resistance: Offers good resistance to powdery mildew and certain viruses that affect squash plants. Regular crop rotation and organic pest control methods can help minimize insect damage.

Carnival

  • Features: A hybrid variety with a colorful rind (green, orange, and yellow speckles), this squash is both decorative and edible.
  • Taste: Slightly sweeter than other acorn squash varieties, with a nutty flavor and a smooth texture. Great for roasting or adding to soups.
  • Resistance: Resistant to powdery mildew, but can still attract squash bugs and vine borers. Beneficial insects like ladybugs can help with pest management.

Honey Bear

  • Features: A compact variety ideal for small gardens or container gardening, with dark green skin and a smaller size.
  • Taste: Very sweet, with a rich, nutty flavor. Excellent for roasting or steaming.
  • Resistance: This variety has been bred with resistance to powdery mildew, which is a common issue with squashes. Still needs protection from common pests like aphids and cucumber beetles.

Celebration

  • Features: Another hybrid variety, the Celebration squash has a mottled rind with vibrant yellow and green patterns. It is slightly smaller than traditional acorn squashes.
  • Taste: Slightly sweet, with a mild, nutty flavor and firm flesh. Works well for stuffing, roasting, or mashing.
  • Resistance: Resistant to some diseases, particularly powdery mildew. However, it is still susceptible to insect pests like squash bugs and vine borers, so regular inspections are necessary.

Tuffy

  • Features: Tuffy squash has a tough, deep green rind with a pronounced ribbed structure. It is larger than some other varieties, making it ideal for large meals.
  • Taste: Mildly sweet with a nutty flavor, and the flesh remains firm when cooked, making it great for stuffing or soups.
  • Resistance: This variety is somewhat resistant to powdery mildew but still requires attention to potential pest problems like cucumber beetles and squash vine borers.

Golden Acorn

  • Features: True to its name, this variety has a golden-yellow rind and is slightly smaller than the traditional green acorn squash.
  • Taste: Sweeter than green acorn squash, with a buttery texture that makes it perfect for roasting or pureeing.
  • Resistance: Generally resistant to powdery mildew, but like all squash varieties, it can attract pests such as squash bugs and aphids. Neem oil or insecticidal soap can help manage these issues.

Autumn Delight

  • Features: This newer hybrid variety has a dark green rind with deep ridges. It’s bred for high productivity and uniformity.
  • Taste: Mildly sweet and nutty, with smooth flesh that is excellent for roasting and baking.
  • Resistance: Offers better resistance to powdery mildew than many traditional varieties, but it still requires monitoring for insect pests, including squash vine borers and aphids.

Autumn Frost

  • Features: A hybrid variety with a frosted-looking, light tan-orange rind, this squash is known for its unique appearance and cold tolerance, making it a good late-season option.
  • Taste: Exceptionally sweet and rich, with a velvety texture. Great for roasting, baking, or in soups.
  • Resistance: Offers good resistance to powdery mildew and is more tolerant of colder temperatures than other acorn squash varieties. Still requires attention to common pests like squash bugs and vine borers.

These acorn squash varieties vary in flavor, size, and resistance to pests and diseases. Selecting the right variety for your growing conditions, combined with good gardening practices, can help ensure a successful harvest.

When to Plant Acorn Squash

Acorn squash is a warm-season crop that should be planted after the danger of frost has passed and the soil has warmed to at least 60°F (16°C). In most regions, this means planting in late spring, usually from mid-May to early June, depending on your local climate. For gardeners in cooler climates, starting seeds indoors 2-4 weeks before the last frost date can give plants a head start. Once the seedlings have 2-3 true leaves and the soil temperature is adequate, you can transplant them into the garden.

Time to Harvest Acorn Squash

Acorn squash typically takes between 70 to 100 days from planting to harvest, depending on the variety and growing conditions. As a winter squash, it needs time to fully mature on the vine. The fruits are ready to harvest in the fall, usually around September to October, when the vines begin to die back and the squash develops its characteristic hard rind and deep color.

How to Know When to Harvest Acorn Squash

To ensure that your acorn squash is fully mature and ready for harvest, look for the following signs:

  1. Color and Texture: The rind of the squash should be hard and deep in color, usually dark green, with some varieties developing orange or yellow patches. The rind should be tough enough that you cannot puncture it with your fingernail.
  2. Vine Health: The vines will start to die back and turn brown as the squash reaches maturity. This is a natural sign that the plant is focusing its energy on the fruit.
  3. Stem Check: The stem of the squash should be dry and hard, often turning brown or tan. A dry stem indicates that the squash has stopped drawing nutrients from the vine and is ready to be harvested.
  4. Frost Timing: Acorn squash should be harvested before the first hard frost. A light frost can enhance the flavor of the squash, but a heavy frost can damage the fruit and shorten its storage life.

When harvesting, use a sharp knife or pruning shears to cut the squash from the vine, leaving about 1-2 inches of stem attached. This helps prevent rot and extends the shelf life of the squash during storage.

Pests

Acorn squash plants are vulnerable to numerous pests that can impede their growth and diminish yields. Common pests include squash beetles, vine borers, cucumber beetles, leaf miners, and cutworms.