Hubbard Squash

Hubbard Squash is raised as a warm-season annual, sown directly or started indoors three to four weeks before the last frost and then transplanted once danger of frost has passed. Seed is set about half an inch to an inch deep in hills spaced three to five feet apart, and germination is fastest once soil has warmed to around 70°F, typically emerging within one to two weeks.

The vines trail across the ground or climb using tendrils, so plants need generous room or a sturdy structure to scramble over. They do best in full sun and in loose, well-drained, moderately acidic soil enriched with organic matter, with consistent moisture kept up through the growing season; plants generally reach maturity in three to four months from sowing.

Hubbard Squash can be troubled by a range of insect pests, including aphids, spider mites, striped cucumber beetles, squash bugs, and squash vine borers, along with slugs. Handpicking, hosing off soft-bodied pests, and using row covers over young plants are among the ways gardeners are advised to keep populations down, while destroying old vines and infested plants at season's end helps limit carryover.

Disease pressure includes powdery mildew, bacterial wilt, scab, downy mildew, and viral diseases. Watering at the soil level rather than wetting the foliage, and spacing plants to allow air to move freely between them, are recommended ways to reduce these problems.

Hubbard Squash is left on the vine until the fruit reaches full size and its rind resists denting with a fingernail, a sign the shell has hardened enough for storage. Harvested fruit keeps best held at 50-55°F, and its tough rind allows it to be stored for several months after picking.

Hubbard Squash is grown chiefly as a food crop. Its flesh has a mild flavor and is used in soups, stews, pasta dishes, and baked goods, and its long storage life makes it a squash that can be drawn on well past the growing season.

Winter squash such as Hubbard Squash traces to South America, where Cucurbita maxima was first brought into cultivation. Native peoples of the Americas have grown squash of this kind for many thousands of years, and the crop's tough, inedible rind was already valued for allowing fruit to be kept in storage over long periods.