Fruit set and development will continue throughout the season if older fruit are removed. Average summer squash yields are 5 to 8 tons per acre. Winter squash and pumpkins. Winter squash generally need a 120-day growing season for fruits to reach maturity before harvest. Fruit quality and storage life are reduced if the fruit are harvested before maturity, but fruit quality is also reduced if fruit are left in the field until frost.
Winter squash are mature when the rind resists thumbnail pressure.
A field is normally only harvested once. Squash are cured for ten days at 80 to 85 degrees F with 80 to 85 percent relative humidity to harden the rind. It is better to plant in July than to try to hold pumpkins in the field or in storage for Halloween. If pumpkins must be harvested a long time before sale, they should be washed, dipped in a 10 percent bleach solution and stored in a dry place to reduce postharvest rots. Storing in the shade also reduces rots.