5 Signs Your Butternut Squash are Ready for Harvest
After growing butternut squash for nearly 20 years, I’ve found several signs for when to harvest butternut squash. If you get the timing right and cure the squash properly, you’ll have richly flavored squash that can last 6-9 months at room temperature!
How long Do butternut Squash Grow Before Harvesting?
Butternut squash are a type of winter squash. It’s fruit has a pear shape and when mature it has firm flesh, hard skin and a tan to deep tan color. Most varieties of butternut squash need 100-110 days to reach maturity.
Another important note about butternut squash is it belongs to the family Cucurbita moschata. This squash family is a great choice if you want to get rid of squash bugs naturally since it’s very resistant to this awful pest as well as squash vine borers.
Signs your Butternut Squash are Ready for Harvest
#1 Color – Tan or burnt orange with little to no green remaining
When butternut squash first form they are a light green color with white streaking. As the squash begin to mature, the green lightens as it starts to fade to tan.
Finally, the butternut squash is fully mature when it’s entirely tan or burnt orange in tone. The color will be deep and rich.
What about green streaks near the stem?
The best case scenario is to wait until ALL the green is gone. However, some varieties like Waltham Butternut Squash often have green streaks near the stem for a long time after it looks ready.
If you can wait a bit longer to harvest that is ideal. It is not ready to eat until all the green is gone. But if you have lots of wet, cool weather in fall or a frost is imminent, then harvest even if there are some green streaks near the stem.
#2 The Skin is tough and hard
Take your fingernail and press into the squash. Did it go into the squash or make a small impression? If your fingernail poked into the squash, it’s not ready.
A light impression or none at all after pressing in your fingernail is a sign the butternut squash is mature. That is because as the squash ripens the skin will get very tough!
You can take your fingernail and test multiple squashes so you get an idea of when a skin is tough and ready and which ones aren’t.
#3 The butternut squash stem is hard and brown
Another great way to tell when to harvest butternut squash is to look at the stem. When it is mature it will start to turn greenish-brown or tan. This shows the squash is curing in place and no longer needs the water and nutrients from the plant.
I usually have a range of stem colors from greenish-brown to more of a tan when mature. The difference in color can be due to several factors like whether or not that part of the plant was in sun leading to a more tan/brown stem.
I’ve also noticed that a stem is less green and more brown when the surrounding leaves are a little diseased or suffering from squash bug damage.
Any stem in that color range, helps determine if a butternut squash is ready to pick. When looked at in combination with all the other tips you’ll be able to know for sure.
Usually the stems get so tough you can’t remove them with just your hands without destroying the vines on the rest of the plant. The reason that happens is because the vines are soft and the stem is super tough!
You’ll need a sharp knife to cut the stem away from the vine if you are wanting to save the vines and let other squash mature.
#4 Your nearing the days to Harvest for the type of Butternut Squash Your Growing
My favorite type of butternut squash to grow is a small but very sweet variety called Honeypatch. The days to maturity is 110 days. That means on average it takes 110 days from planting a seed to harvesting a mature squash.
One of the most popular varieties of butternut squash is Waltham which is 105 days to maturity. As long as you took notes on when you planted you should get a rough idea of when to harvest.
The image below is an example of what Waltham butternut squash looks like in my garden calendar. If direct sowing in June, the harvest dates would be around the end of September.
The days to maturity is not an exact science, it is an estimate. Cool weather and cool nights will add days and hot weather often makes the squash mature more quickly. Even the amount of sun and daylight hours can affect maturity dates.
So calculate the days to maturity and then start looking around then. If the squash isn’t showing readiness based on the other indicators like a fingernail test, tough stem, and beige color, it’s not ready.
Not all butternut squash mature at once, so the days to maturity is the number of days until the first harvest, not the entire harvest.
# 5 A frost is in the forecast
Even if your squash isn’t quite ready, you need to harvest all of it before a frost. Frost will damage the squash and destroy all your hard work!
You’ll want to harvest only the butternut squash that are mature or very nearly mature. As mentioned above, this is one time where if there are a few green streaks on the butternut it’s still ok to harvest as long as you let the squash cure inside in a warm place.
Another tip to help your squash mature faster if you’re getting close to your average first frost is to remove all squashes that are small and green.
This will help the plant focus its energy into the fruits that are nearly mature.
How to Harvest and Cure Winter Squash
Butternut squash should be harvested with a sharp knife or pruning shears cutting the stem just below where it attaches to the vine.
The stem should be left as long as possible and kept on the squash to increase storage time.
According to Johnny’s Seeds, winter squash can sun cure by exposing fruits for 5-7 days. Alternatively, they can cure indoors by keeping squash at 80-85°F/27-29°C and 80-85% relative humidity (RH) with good air ventilation.
How to Store Butternut Squash after Harvest
The ideal storage conditions for butternut squash is 50-55ºF/ 10-12ºC with 50-70% relative humidity and lots of ventilation. If you don’t have those conditions, don’t worry. You can still store them at room temperature but the warmer temperature will shorten the shelf life a little.
Be cautious of storing them below 50ºF. Repeated exposure to temperatures below 50°F/10°C may cause chilling damage.
Butternut squash does not ripen after storage but it can be further cured to increase longevity of storage time if it hasn’t fully cured outdoors.
Here’s where you can find more information on best practices for storing garden vegetables.
How long does a Butternut Squash Last?
After harvesting, there is a 1-2 month storage period, then from 3-6 months post harvest the flavor and texture of butternut squash is at it’s best. After that the quality starts to diminish little by little. I personally have eaten butternut squash about 9 months post harvest and found it still tasty but not in prime condition.
Important note: Mini varieties of butternut squash like Honeynut and Honeypatch only need one month of curing time and should be eaten in months 2-3 post harvest.
The mini varieties don’t last as long as the large varieties of butternut squash and are more likely to go bad after that timeframe has elapsed.
Wondering about how to store other varieties of winter squash? Here is a great chart for how long each winter squash variety lasts from Johnny’s Seeds.
Butternut Squash Recipes
Butternut squash can be a prolific producer! In winter, I personally enjoy eating butternut squash soup with apples and sausage stuffed butternut squash.
