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Indoor summer squash starts #662025

Asked July 09, 2020, 3:18 PM EDT

I live in Hillsboro, in Washington county. I started some summer squash (Slick Pic YS 26 F1 from Territorial Seed) in peat pots on June 27th. They sprouted on the 5th day. I have them in a plastic starter kit (tray and clear dome) on a heat mat. They began to grow taller immediately. They are about 4 1/2 inches now, and are starting their second set of leaves. I'm keeping the soil moist, but 2 days ago they began to lean to he side, forming a long graceful "S" while continuing to point their leaves upward toward the grow light. My soil temperature outdoors is 62 degrees as of today. Are the plants telling me that they want to live outdoors now? Sorry for being long winded-- just don't want to needlessly kill plants. Thanks for your help. Dana

Washington County Oregon

Expert Response

 

Your squash plants will do very well outside now that the soil has warmed . You've given them a very good start in life.  However, you can certainly grow squash indoors.  You need a large enough pot, plenty of light, a bush type (not vining) plant and a way to water the soil without wetting the leaves.   The pot should be 24 inches or more across and at least 12 inches deep to give the roots enough room to function well.  Bigger is better, squash is less likely to dry out in hot weather with more soil.  You have yours under a grow light.  You may want to leave the light on 16 hours/day to give enough light to grow the squash.  Grow lights are great, but the light is not as intense as sunlight.   Bush type squash plants work much better indoors than vining plants that require trellising and are harder to manage.  Squash plants are large plants.  Wetting the leaves of squash while watering can lead to disease.  Find a way to water only the soil, maybe a soaker-hose type ring or bottles inserted into the soil.

When your squash plant blooms the first blossoms to appear are male blossoms.  They have long, smooth, even stems.  Later the female blossoms will appear.  These blossoms are on top of stems that are small squash.  If growing them inside you will need to fertilize the flowers by taking pollen from the male flowers and moving it to the female flowers.  You can do this by rubbing the female flower with the male flower, or taking pollen and sprinkling it, or painting it on the female flower.  Allow the squash to develop until it's of edible size.  Pick it when it is still tender, when it's hard it's not as flavorful.  This article gives a good overview on growing squash indoors, How to Grow Crookneck Squash Inside  https://homeguides.sfgate.com/grow-crookneck-squash-inside-34582.html.  This video shows how to grow squash indoors, How to Grow Yellow Squash Indoors  https://www.google.com/search?sxsrf=ALeKk00b0lUgkxiy2XMAVFVQcKmReJUelw%3A<personal data hidden>54&source=hp&ei=e_QJX5naDMbV-gTu_oPQDg&iflsig=AINFCbYAAAAAXwoCixnhAott1ik3b89sSC22lRM1xWCV&q=growing+squash+indoors+edu&oq=growing+squash+indoors+edu&gs_lcp=CgZwc3ktYWIQAzI
Anne, OSU Extension Master Gardener Replied July 11, 2020, 2:00 PM EDT

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