Squash - Yellow Crookneck seeds

Squash (Pumpkin/ Winter Squash) Yellow Crookneck - 10 Seeds & 5g, 10g

Gardener's favourite. This traditional variety is well known for its buttery flavour and firm texture. Big plants are late to begin bearing but then yield abundant fruits consistently over a long picking period with graceful necks that are famous for flavour. Best picked small, 10-12cm long. Larger fruits will have a bumpy appearance.

Care & Growing Notes

Squash (pumpkin) needs full sun, rich fertile soil and warm temperatures. Best germination result at 21-35oC soil temperature.

Start seeds inside during early Spring. Suggest using a seedling heat mat or artificial warmth source or cover the seed tray with cling wrap, if you are living in temperate and cold zones of Australia (e.g Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Adelaide, Hobart and 200-300kms surrounding areas). Even if you are not living above areas, follow the weather, if it remains cooler than the given range, you are suggested to use provided approach.

Failure to maintain provided soil temperature result in delayed or failed germination.

Plant outside only when the weather is warm and settled and night temperatures stay above 17oC to 20oC consistently. Make slightly mounded growing hills 2 to3 feet apart. Sow seeds 15-20cm deep, 120cm apart, 4 seeds in clump. Thin seedlings to leave the 2 strongest plants per hill so vines will have room to grow and mature.

Harvest & Use

Squashes can be harvested as soon as the stem begins to dry and the skin becomes too hard to pierce with a fingernail. Because cold weather can damage squashes, they should be harvested before the first frost. Cut the stem with a sharp knife, leaving a 6-10cm length. Do not carry the squash by the stem; if the stem breaks off, use it as soon as possible, since this causes the squash to deteriorate quickly. Cure the squashes in the sun or a dry location until the stem shrivels; do not wash the ones you intend to store.