Squash
Cucurbita spp. · Gourd family
Plant portrait
Edible squashes carry broad leaves, tendrils and widely varied fruits.
Harvested part
The fruits of edible vegetable varieties.
What to watch for
Follow flowers and then fruits; shape and colour depend on variety rather than the model.
Growth stages of the squash
Plotilo illustrates the squash in 7 stages in 3D: seed, small sprout, young plant, growing, flowering, developing fruit and harvest. The models show typical shapes; they do not predict how long growth takes.
- Seed
Starting from a seed. It is shown on the surface to make it visible in this illustration.
- Small sprout
A short first stem and its first small leaves emerge.
- Young plant
The young plant carries more leaves and starts to take its own shape.
- Growing
Leaves and stems develop. Their shape depends on the species.
- Flowering
Flowers are shown before fruit begins to form.
- Developing fruit
Fruit begins to develop on the plant.
- Harvest
An illustration of the harvested part. Roots are made visible for clarity; this image does not confirm actual maturity.
Same botanical family
Same botanical family as the squash (the gourd family): the courgette, the cucumber, the pumpkin, the bottle gourd, the melon and the watermelon. Gardeners usually avoid growing the same family in the same spot several years in a row: that is the idea behind crop rotation.