PlantSowGrow
How to grow Winter Squash (Crown Prince)
Cucurbita maxima
Steel-blue squashes with sweet, dense orange flesh that store for months — the best-tasting winter squash for roasting and soup.
At a glance: Sow late April to mid May, harvest from late September.
When to sow, plant and harvest
Timed for a typical UK garden (last frost mid-April). The app uses your own town's frost dates.
Growing Winter Squash (Crown Prince): what it needs
- Light
- Full sun · 6+ hours a day
- Watering
- Water regularly in dry weather
- Soil
- Fertile, well-drained soil
- Spacing
- 1.5 m
- In pots
- Best in the ground
- Feeding
- A general feed before sowing or planting
- Harvest
- About 70 days from sowing
- Hardiness
- USDA zones 3–9
- Difficulty
- Easy
Step by step
- Late April – mid May · 2 weeks after the last spring frost
Sow Seeds Outdoors
Sow thinly in drills where they are to grow. Sow seeds on their edge, 2 cm deep.
- 5–10 days after “Sow Seeds Indoors” · Early May
Check Germination
Seedlings should appear in 5–10 days. If sown outdoors, thin to 1.5 m apart when big enough to handle.
- 45–60 days after “Plant Out” · Mid June – early July
Limit the Fruits
Once 3–4 squashes have set, pinch out the trailing stem tips so the plant ripens those.
- 14–21 days after “Limit the Fruits” · Early July
Lift Squashes off the Soil
Slip a tile or piece of wood under each squash so it does not rot.
- Late September – mid October · 3 weeks before the first autumn frost
Start Harvesting
Cut with a long stalk when the skin is hard and the stalk has cracked, before the first frost.
- 14–44 days after “Start Harvesting” · Mid October – mid November
Finish and Clear
Cure in the sun (or a warm room) for 10 days, then store somewhere cool and dry — they keep until spring.
