Planting guide

When to plant squash

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

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 climate zone and season, the way planting guides do it. 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 Crookneck Classicheirloom · bush · heavy-cropper · 7–9 wksButtery yellow summer squash; cut young
Golden Scallopini Classicbush · kid-favourite · 7–9 wksPatty-pan type, tender and sweet
Sunburst Classicbush · colourful · kid-favourite · 7–9 wksBright yellow button squash
Vegetable Spaghetti Classicstorage · kid-favourite · 13–16 wksCooked flesh pulls out in spaghetti-like strands
Delicata Classicstorage · sweet · 13–14 wksStriped, cream-and-green, eat the skin
Hokkaido Adventurousstorage · sweet · 13–16 wksOrange-red teardrops with chestnutty flavour
Kamo Kamo Adventurousheirloom · heavy-cropper · 13–16 wksNZ Maori squash; nutty
Turk's Turban Adventurouscolourful · 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