I was thinking the same thing except there were two other zucchini plants on either side of the “golden child” that lost nearly all their leaves. The roots and stem did survive but they were set way back and one is still struggling.
My pepos definitely handled the frost way better than my maximas, which took a huge hit. My moschatas probably somewhere in between.
That works out because I’m trying to get my summer squash (pepo) in the ground early. The winter squashes I don’t mind waiting.
We’ll see what happens in the fall. Are the same genes responsible for spring frost tolerance and fall frost tolerance? Will my “golden child” survive the first frost?
Either way I will probably save its seeds separately and plant plenty of its offspring next year. It would be so wonderful to not have to worry about freak late frosts in the future.
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That sounds like a worthy question but I don’t have relevant experience.
I have major pest issues in the early spring and therefore my direct sowing germination rate for most large seeds at the beginning of the planting season is terrible. By a few weeks later I can start my squash plants in an unheated space, but doesn’t help me at the very beginning of the season when it still might frost
In other words, I have so few squash plants at the beginning of the season that I don’t know how they perform.
When differences are in 0.1 degrees whether there is damage or not, small differences in grounds shape, location, moisture content etc can have huge differences. You should try to get to see the area when it’s still frosted over. Or some other place. I remember going berry picking in the fall and frosty ground can be really patchy. In many cases frost also has been really hard, but there are still differences and somewhere is the line between mostly frosted and mostly not frosted.
Did you have those plants right next to each other? If they are sown close to be later culled to the strongest, the one in the middle is slightly protected be the ones on the side. If they are a bit futher, then they are far enough that there can be enough difference in temperature. Still it worth saving, but wouldn’t expect there to be huge leaps. Personally I’m thinking it more in terms culling weakest rather than choosing the strongest. Luck is such a big factor, but when you repeatedly cull bottom X % the cream will rise to the top. The harder selection the better, but within reason.
When I think moreabout this, I would think plant that has had damage, but pulls through is maybe even more interesting. I tried some time ago to find any studies about frost tolerance in cucurbits, but couldn’t find any evidence that would back it up. Thus I would think that they will get damage pretty much immidiately, which makes those that visibly are damaged and survive it more likely to be better suited to survive frosts. But like I said earlier, there are other factors and those plants can easily die in wet conditions without temperature going under 5C.
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Yes, it’s definitely possible that the frost was just patchy in that area but I’m still hopeful I have something special. I guess I won’t know for sure until next year.
When growing winter squash, is it best to leave the squash on the plant as long as possible or pick it once it is ripe?
I have a short season so I have always needed to leave the squash right up until frost but this year I have some Butternut type squash that appear to be ripe now. Solid cream color, hard skin, hollow sounding.
Is it best to just leave them on the vine as long as I can? Or will picking them allow to plant to focus energy on other fruit?
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Is the stem starting to dry and turn brown? If so, you can harvest it and let it continue maturing off vine. If the stem is still green and you want to save the best seeds possible, I would probably leave it on the vine a bit longer.
It’s a positive sign even if they can just tolerate temps down to just above freezing, especially with moschatas. I have had more southern moschatas die protected with temps well above freezing and at the same time plants from my own seeds have leaves burned by frost with no other apparent affect on growth. Personally I don’t find frost tolerance that usuful trait in squash as generally last frost happens before ground is warm enough for squash to germinate or grow fast. Frosts in general ar so erradic that it’s quite hard to test frost tolerance of something. One year it might be just barely below and on other well below. Squashes with soft watery stems just seem so badly suited to be bred to survive frosts.
Better pick them if you know they are ripe. Once they are ripe the changes that some bad spots develop is greater. Also better go and check them once they start to be close to ripe to see if a bad spot is developing. Especially if you are in a climate where late season there is dew in the mornings. Dry climates might not make that much difference.
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The vine is turning yellow but not brown yet so I guess I’ll leave it on a little longer. Thanks!
We do have dew in the mornings but no bad spots yet. I will keep an eye out for that. Thanks!
In the PDF files I could not find any information about pruning squash vines.
There is a lot of broscience in the Internet, so I am wondering if you have any recommendation, especially regarding tipping off maximas and moschatas in order to get them focus on fruit production rather than on vegetative growth. It is supposed to give fruits a bit earlier, which is important here in zone 6. Therefore, many gardeners cut the main stem off above 12th leaf. Please share your experiences and practices on this topic.
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We’ve had several mild frosts now, and most of my pepo squashes are still trucking. In fact, I’ve noticed several new baby fruits on them since I harvested all the fruits a week ago! 
This even with half of their leaves dead from frost damage. Well done, plants!
We’re due for our first hard freeze tonight, so I’ll find out whether they can handle that. My guess would be no. 
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How did your pepos do with those hard freezes, Emily? I have a compost volunteer that seems to be starting strong in a very up-and-down spring… I protected it when it was going under 32F, but maybe I shouldn’t have, just to see.
It’s quite different thing with full grown plants as with seedlings. The leaves slow down the loss of warmth and so it can be a lot warmer there. Same effect happens close to trees. Also those seedlings are closer to the ground and will be exposed to the coldest temperatures. Even 50cm up it can be several degrees C warmer. So I would keep them protected. Small frosts might not kill them, just burn some leaves, but estimating how cold it’s going to get is really hard. 1 degree C lower and everything dies. Plus mature plants you aren’t risking that much. Even if the plant is killed, you can still salvage fruits.
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If I recall correctly, all my pepos died in that first hard freeze, which has — I believe — also always been the case before in my garden. A lot of phenotypes survive light frosts with only a little damage to the edges of their leaves, though. So I would say many pepos are hardy to light frosts, but I haven’t seen any that are hardy to hard freezes yet.
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