Summer Squash Care and Maintenance: A Gardener’s Guide

Summer squash is one of the easiest and most rewarding vegetables to grow in the home garden. With the right care and attention, you can harvest tender, flavorful squash all summer long. Summer squash comes in a variety of shapes, colors, and sizes—from classic green zucchini and golden zucchini to yellow crookneck, straightneck, and scalloped pattypan types. Whether you’re growing compact bush varieties or sprawling vining types like Tromboncino, each has its own growing habit but similar care needs. In this post, I’ll walk you through how to care for summer squash from the moment seedlings take root to when the plants slow down in late summer.

I’ve been growing summer squash for over three decades in my California garden—both bush and vining types. These tips come straight from hands-on experience and trial and error, season after season.

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Why Summer Squash Needs Consistent Care

Summer squash—zucchini, yellow crookneck, pattypan—grow fast and produce heavily, but they’re also prone to issues like powdery mildew, squash bugs, and poor fruit set. Giving them proper care means:

More squash per plant
Better-tasting fruit
Fewer disease and pest issues

Let’s dive into the essentials.

Watering Summer Squash

What works best:
Squash needs deep, consistent watering to thrive, especially during its flowering and fruiting stages. Aim to provide 1 to 1.5 inches of water per week, delivered slowly to soak the root zone thoroughly. The flowering and fruiting stages are when squash plants are actively producing blooms and developing fruit, which requires extra energy and resources. During this time, consistent moisture is critical to support healthy flower formation, successful pollination, and steady fruit growth without stress or deformities.

Tips from my garden:

I water early in the morning 2–3 times per week.
Use drip irrigation or a soaker hose to avoid wetting the leaves, which can invite disease.
Mulch with straw or compost to retain soil moisture and reduce weeds.

Feeding Summer Squash

These fast-growing plants are heavy feeders. Feeding summer squash is essential because it’s a heavy feeder that rapidly draws nutrients from the soil to support its fast growth and fruit production. Without sufficient nutrients, plants may develop smaller leaves, fewer flowers, and poor-quality fruit. Regular feeding ensures strong vines, steady flowering, and a continuous harvest of tender, flavorful squash.

My method:

I mix compost into the planting hole before transplanting.
Once flowers appear, I side-dress with a balanced organic fertilizer like 5-5-5, and repeat every 3 weeks.
If leaves are pale or growth slows, I give them a fish emulsion boost.

Supporting Summer Squash

Bush varieties of summer squash grow in a compact, mound-like shape, staying close to the ground with thick, self-supporting stems. Because they don’t spread far or climb, they don’t require additional support to grow upright or stay productive.

Vining varieties, on the other hand, grow long, sprawling stems that can stretch several feet across the garden. These benefit greatly from support like trellises, A-frames, or vertical netting. Providing support keeps the vines off the ground, improves air circulation (which reduces the risk of disease), makes harvesting easier, and saves valuable garden space—especially in small plots or raised beds.

Purning Summer Squash

Pruning summer squash helps improve airflow, reduce disease, and keep the plant focused on producing healthy fruit. As the plant grows, older leaves near the base can become crowded, yellowed, or mildew-prone. Removing these leaves with clean, sharp pruners opens up space around the plant and directs energy toward new growth and fruit production. To prune, snip off only the lower, older leaves or any that show signs of disease—never remove the main growing tip or healthy upper foliage. Regular light pruning every week or two keeps the plant vigorous and manageable throughout the season.

How I prune:
I snip off older leaves at the base once they yellow to improve airflow and reduce the chance of mildew.

Summer Squash Pest and Disease Management

Summer squash is highly susceptible to pests like squash bugs, cucumber beetles, and aphids, as well as diseases such as powdery mildew and bacterial wilt. Because these issues can appear quickly and spread fast, it’s important to stay vigilant throughout the growing season. Regularly inspecting leaves—especially the undersides—helps catch problems early, when they’re easier to manage. Healthy, well-cared-for plants are more resilient, but even strong plants need close attention to stay productive and disease-free.

Common pests:

Squash bugs
Cucumber beetles
Aphids

What works for me:

I check under leaves daily and hand-pick squash bug eggs.
I companion plant with nasturtiums and marigolds to deter pests.
If aphids appear, I spray with a mix of water and a few drops of neem oil.

Diseases to watch for:

Powdery mildew – Remove affected leaves and apply a 1:10 milk-to-water spray.
Bacterial wilt – If a plant suddenly wilts, remove and dispose of it (don’t compost).

Encouraging Fruit Production: Pollination

Squash plants rely on pollination to produce fruit, and that starts with two types of flowers: male and female. Male flowers appear first and grow on thin stems, while female flowers have a small, immature fruit at the base—this is what develops into squash after successful pollination. Bees and other pollinators transfer pollen from male to female flowers, so attracting them is key. Planting pollinator-friendly flowers nearby—like borage, marigolds, or zinnias—can help draw bees to your squash plants. If pollinators are scarce or fruit isn’t forming, you can hand-pollinate by using a small paintbrush or cotton swab to transfer pollen from the center of a male flower to the stigma of a female flower. Hand pollination is best done in the early morning when flowers are open and fresh.

Sometimes squash plants flower but don’t produce fruit. That’s usually a pollination issue.

Here’s how I fix it:

I plant flowers like borage and zinnias nearby to attract bees.
I hand-pollinate by transferring pollen from male to female flowers using a small paintbrush.

Bonus Tips from My Garden

Harvest often: Pick squash every 2–3 days. This keeps plants productive and ensures tender fruit.
Rotate crops yearly: Avoid planting squash in the same spot two years in a row to reduce disease pressure.
Start new seeds midseason: In long growing seasons, I start a second round of plants in July for a fresh crop into fall.

Related posts you might find helpful:

Summer Squash

Winter Squash

Squash Planting and Care