How big should my acorn squash be for picking?

[vfem]

I really don't want to pick them yet, they are still kinda small... but I've had a bad time with mildew and its taking over the plant... even after the plant SURVIVED a vine borer attack where I removed nearly 12 borers from the vine, and it lived to keep producing.

I have 2 that seemed to have stunted growth but are dark green, and 2 that are ripening to dark green now.

When should I pick for storage, and if I have to pick early due to mildew would they store in the fridge for longer then a month? Or should I eat them right away!

 

[hoodat]

When the vine begins dying back the first stage is usually mildew. I'd just leave them till the vine is dead at the roots, providing you don't get a heavy rail that could cause them to rot on the ground.

 

[vfem]

Now they are all sitting nicely on mulch, and look to be decent... very firm. So I couldn't expect rot. This is the first time I've ever grown storage squash!

These are the fabulous acorn squash you sent at the end of June beginning of July. So we're at about 80 days I think?

 

[wifezilla]

I got one squash from a volunteer vine. I just picked it because the vine looked horrible. No other squash or even any blossoms. Just one lone acorn squash. Not sure if it is technically ripe, but the bottom was turning orange.

 

[bills]

As I mentioned on another thread, immature squash, although not as colorful as the mature squash, still tasted great.

Rotting in the wetter weather is my concern. If they are sitting up on hay, or mulch the chances are a lot less. That powdery mildew can affect the stem of the fruit, so your squash could have a very short storage life if left to long.
If you have a dry fall, and the vines are simply drying up and dieing back you probably don't have to worry as much...

 

[hoodat]

As soon as I see that first mildew on a played out vine I withold water till it dies back. That normally stops the mildew before it reaches the stem. My big advantage there is that in San Diego I have complete control of how much water a plant gets except in our Winter rainy season.

 

[RDRANCH]

Anybody ever have one totaly orange acorn squash on a plant with several normal ones?

 

[hoodat]

I've never seen one on the same vine as green ones but there is a golden acorn variety.

 

[RDRANCH]

As a sales rep for two seed companies, I have heard from a few of my customers some strange reports of things growing in a manner that is not "normal".

The best one was delicata squash that grew as a bush, but it five feet tall and self supporting. I feel that with the weather being a bit on the strange side in many parts of the world, odd things can happen to crops grown for seed.

I don't mean to say that things are changing drastically, but maybe a few plants in a field could develope an anomally that is trasnfered to the seeds on a very limited basis, and these few seeds end up in a packet to sell. Nature is always in charge, and we are the audience.

 

[vfem]

Funny you all say this... I would blame it on the weather... but I've read a strange article in Mother Earth this month about what they are injecting in seeds. If the seed doesn't say organic on it there is a LIST of chemical compounds they are putting in them. Other then weed and pesticide protection, I'm sure they have other side effects too.

The article is not available on the website yet... but I think I will look it up when they release it online for you to read here and tell me what you think?