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squash

Vegetable Gardening: Harvesting Tips!

July 12, 2021

Your vegetable garden is likely approaching peak production time—but when and how to harvest? Even if you are a pro, here’s how to make sure those caring for your precious crops while you’re away know when to pick!

What matters about harvest time?

  • Harvest stage affects flavor and yields:
    • Picking too soon not only reduces the amount of food your garden produces but also may mean missing that perfectly ripened taste—although not all vegetables lose flavor after picking.
    • Waiting too long definitely means missing the best flavor—think sweet corn turned starchy—and your produce actually spoils. Crops literally go to seed have accomplished their goal and will stop producing!
  • Factors that affect harvest and storage.
    • Warmer temperatures after picking can affect flavor—crops like peas and sweet corn that turn starchy, for example, need immediate cooling. Joseph Masabni of Texas A&M Extension, advises “harvest these vegetables early in the morning or right before you intend to use them.”
    • Not all crops benefit from refrigeration, however! And humidity levels and air circulation are important, too! If you’re not going to use your bounty immediately, some crops, such as garlic, dry onions, potatoes, and tomatoes are best stored only at room temperature, according to UC-Davis Post Harvest Technology specialists (see below). They also recommend that cucumbers, eggplants, and peppers be refrigerated only for 1 to 3 days and then used as soon as you remove them from the cold.
    • Advise those harvesting in your absence how often you check your crops, and which are most time-sensitive!

 Things to look for when you harvest

Harvesting takes more time than you’d expect—look carefully for items to pick amongst all those leaves and vines. This makes harvesting a great time to give your garden plants a quick check-up!

  • Size matters!
    • Jokes abound about baseball-bat-size zucchini, but squash aren’t the only crops that can grow out of useful size.
    • If you intend to eat fresh beans rather than saving them to use dry, the beans need to just start to fill out their pods.

      These red noodle beans need picking!
  • Color changes are usually important, too.
    • Tomatoes turning red are an obvious example, but how red is the best time for picking? Maybe earlier than you think! Picking at the “breaker” stage rather than fully red means your tomatoes will continue to ripen indoors, taste vine-ripened, but won’t suffer sunscald, or damage from insects or birds.

      Tomatoes will develop full flavor ripened indoors if picked once they begin to show some color.
    • Cucumbers should still be uniformly green, not starting to yellow.

      Cucumbers are best picked green rather than starting to yellow.
    •  Eggplants should be purple (light or dark depending on the variety), but still glossy, not dull

      Pick eggplants while the skin is still glossy.
    • Watermelons, on the other hand, should develop a duller, rougher surface and the spot touching the ground should be yellowing, not white

      Ripe watermelon skin should be starting to dull and roughen and the ground spot turning yellow.
    • .Detecting defects may mean removing fruits before they take any more resources from the plant—think blossom-end rot on tomatoes or peppers—or harvesting while part of the crop is still salvageable—such as a nip out of an otherwise healthy tomato.
    • Damage may alert you to insect infestations—minimize or eliminate, by hand-picking the culprits—such as snails or slugs—or treating to prevent further damage—wash away aphids on greens or treating pickleworm infestations of cucumbers and squash with pesticides, for example. Learn which “bugs” you see are pests and which are helpful predators!
    • Harvest “helpers” will be more eager to volunteer if they pick at the right time—and you won’t find all your tomatoes gone despite their size or plants loaded with overripe items bringing production to a halt. Alerting you to any emerging problems is another bonus.

“Harvesting” spent plants?

While picking your crops pick off dead leaves, spent blossoms, and trim errant runners to keep plants looking good and productive. Knowledgeable helpers can perform these tasks.

In WNC, most vegetable garden plants are annuals, or treated as such, so when you harvest, evaluate when it’s time to pull the whole plant—it may be too risky to ask short-term caregivers to make this decision!

  • Is the plant diseased? If there are signs of disease, either do what you can to remove diseased portions, treat the problem, or remove the entire plant.
  • Is production slowing?
    • Review fertilizing or watering practices to improve yields. Most crops need an inch of rain a week to prosper—water established plants deeply once a week if rains are insufficient. Check your crops’ needs for fertilizer and the application rates recommended for the fertilizers you are using.
    • Extreme temperatures may interfere with fruit set or how your crops ripen. Be patient if better weather will solve the problem! Note, though, that spring crops that fade with high temperatures are long gone; so too, frosts will damage tender crops, so harvest these before freezing temperatures.
    • Once you’ve decided your plants have passed peak production, pull the plants and consider planting a fall crop. See the calendar below for all the crops you can plant in August for a bountiful autumn harvest!

 Article by Buncombe County Extension Master GardenerSM Volunteers

 For more information:

When to harvest specific crops: https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/extension-gardener-handbook/16-vegetable-gardening#vegetableharvestingguidelines

https://agrilifeextension.tamu.edu/library/gardening/harvesting-handling-vegetables-garden/

Ripening after harvest:

https://gardenprofessors.com/ripening/

https://www.johnson.k-state.edu/lawn-garden/agent-articles/vegetables/harvest-ripen-tomatoes.html

Storing produce:

http://postharvest.ucdavis.edu/files/230110.pdf

Planting times for WNC:

https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/western-north-carolina-planting-calendar-for-annual-vegetables-fruits-and-herbs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Categories Vegetables & Fruits Tags beans, cucumbers, eggplant, Harvest, squash, tomatoes, vegetable gardens, watermelon

Vegetable Garden Pests: Beware the Pickleworm!

August 21, 2019

Just inside from harvesting vegetables, I heard yelling from the kitchen. She was staring at a freshly washed cucumber in the sink. Sprouting from it were green projections that were alive and wriggling! This was our introduction to the insect pest with the unique name of pickleworm.

These critters are the larvae of the pickleworm moth (Diaphania nitidalis), which overwinters in Florida and becomes a late summer pest of cucurbits (not only cucumbers, but summer and winter squash, pumpkins, cantaloupe, and watermelons) in Western North Carolina.

Adult Pickleworm Moth

Life cycle

Once the moths arrive in our area, they lay eggs on cucurbits, which hatch, go through several larval stages, pupate in the plants’ leaves or in the leaf litter, and become adults in less than a month! This short life cycle means we may see two or even three generations of pickleworms a year.

Damage

The larvae can feed on flowers, leaves, and vines, as well as fruits. Larvae eating blooms can prevent fruit set. Like squash borers (Melittia cucurbitae), in the worst-case scenario, pickleworm larvae feeding on the vines can kill your plants. You may see pickleworm excrement (frass), or simply small holes in your fruits. In both cases, your crop is ruined once the larvae are feeding because the damaged areas with start to rot. According to University of Florida’s John L. Capinera, cantaloupes, with their thick skins, may have external damage called “rindworm.”

Pickleworm Larvae and Damage to Squash

Management

  • Early planting. Plantings that mature before the moths arrive are likely to escape pickleworm damage.
  • Resistant varieties. Some squash varieties that are more resistant: summer squashes Early Prolific Straightneck, Early Yellow Summer Crookneck, and Summer Crookneck; and Butternut 23 winter squash.
  • Floating row covers. Using row covers at night can prevent the night-flying moths from egg-laying, while still allowing pollinators to visit the flowers by day.
  • Garden clean-up. Removing damaged fruits and vines can prevent further generations in the same gardening season.

Learn more:

Pickleworm, University of Tennessee Publication # W206:

https://extension.tennessee.edu/publications/Documents/W206.pdf

University of Florida Featured Creatures:

https://entnemdept.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/veg/pickleworm.htm

Insect Management on Cucurbit Vegetables in North Carolina

https://entomology.ces.ncsu.edu/cucurbit-insect-management-in-north-carolina/

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Categories Pest Management Tags cucumbers, insects, IPM, pickleworm, pumpkins, squash, vegetable gardens, watermelon

Vegetables: The Cucurbits—Squash, Pumpkins, and Gourds

July 17, 2018

Summer squash is my favorite vegetable, and despite the jokes about gardeners inundating their neighbors with unwanted zucchini, it isn’t always easy to get a good crop! Squash, pumpkins, and some gourds are members of the Cucurbita genus that makes up one branch of the Cucurbitaceae family. Which can we grow in our Western North Carolina gardens? 

Squash plant
Squash plant

Understanding the family tree
There are hundreds of cucurbits! Those grown in vegetable gardens belong to just a few species.

  • Cucurbita pepo: This species includes most of our summer squashes—yellow, pattypan, spaghetti squash, zucchini—as well as acorn and delicata winter squash, miniature and “Jack-o-lantern” type pumpkins, and many ornamental gourds (yellow-flowered—white-flowered gourds belong to the genus Lagenaria).
  • C. maxima: Includes the giant pumpkins, buttercup, Hubbard, kabocha, and turban winter squash.
  • C. moschata: Tromboncino, often eaten as a summer squash, and butternut winter squash.
  • C. argyrosperma: Cushaw squashes/pumpkins.
  • C. ficifolia: Fig-leaf gourds, eaten as a summer squash. 

Choosing varieties
Think about the space you’ll need for your cucurbits before choosing varieties. Although many summer squashes have a bushy growth habit, some—as well as most all winter squashes, pumpkins, and gourds—take up a lot of space. Cucurbits need warm weather and lots of water to prosper, so look at the dates needed from planting to maturity and be sure you can provide a site in full sun that you can keep irrigated. North Carolina State University periodically evaluates cucurbit varieties. For detailed observations, see the NCSU webpage Cucurbit Cultivar Evaluations & Variety Trials. 

Planting
Planting squash, pumpkins, and gourds from seed is often easier than transplants if you allow sufficient time from seeding to harvest. Although there is no need to plant in hills, this may be an efficient way to organize your garden. To save space consider using supports, such as A-frame trellises, for small-fruited cucurbits. Thin to two or three plants if you use hills, or follow seed packet spacing.

Pollination
Cucurbits typically have male and female flowers—you can see an immature fruit at the base of the female flowers. You will often see flowers for a while before fruits form, or you may see immature fruits that don’t develop. Often the first flowers are all male, or the first female flowers may open when there are no male flowers open. If you don’t see insects pollinating your plants, you can pick a newly opened male flower and swirl the center structure (stamen) on the inside of open female flowers.

Squash blossom
Squash blossom
Immature squash fruit at base of female blossom
Immature squash fruit at base of female blossom

Maintenance
Water. Keep your planting moist until seeds sprout. It is typical for leaves to wilt midday, but if they are wilted in early morning or evening, they need water! Water plants at the base, close to the soil—avoid handling and working when plants are wet.
Mulch helps moderate soil temperature and moisture and keeps down weeds, but if you want plants to form additional roots along their stems, allow for some bare ground! Additional roots can help your planting survive insect attacks.
Weed. Remove weeds as soon as they appear so you don’t damage stems when rooting out larger weeds once the vines start to run.
Fertilizing. Cucurbits are heavy feeders, so prepare to fertilize regularly throughout the growing season.
Insects and diseases to watch for. Squash beetles, bugs, and—especially borers—can spell trouble for the longevity of your plantings. Striped cucumber beetles can introduce both bacterial wilt and cucumber mosaic. Cucurbits are susceptible to both downy and powdery mildew.

Harvesting
The North Carolina Extension Gardener Handbook advises for summer squash:

Harvest when the fruit is soft, tender, and 6 to 8 inches long (3 to 4 inches across for patty pans). The skin color often changes to a dark, glossy green or yellow, depending on cultivar. Pick every two to three days to encourage production…. Harvest pumpkins and winter squash before frost and after the vine dries, the fruit color darkens, and the skin surface resists puncture from a thumbnail. Avoid bruising or scratching the fruit while handling it. Leave a 3-inch to 4-inch portion of stem attached to the fruit and store in a cool, dry location with good ventilation.

Note that winter squash may look ready to harvest well before they have matured! Gourds in the Cucurbita genus are soft-shell rather than hard-shell gourds; harvest before frost, and dry indoors. Note that you can also harvest squash blossoms for culinary use when they are about to open.

I am already enjoying my summer squash this season, but you can continue planting until late July! Wait until next year for planting winter squash, pumpkins, and gourds.

Article written by Debbie Green, Extension Master GardenerSM Volunteer.

More information
Garden Planting Calendar for Annual Vegetables, Fruits, and Herbs in North Carolina
by North Carolina State University Cooperative Extension

Growing Gourds
by NC State Extension

Growing Pumpkins and Winter Squash
by NC State Extension

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Categories Vegetables & Fruits Tags cucurbits, gourds, pumpkins, squash

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