When to Pick Zucchini Squash

Last updated: 03/12/21

I love zucchini, or as it is also known, the summer squash. I know a lot of people don’t like it but I think it is tasty if picked at the right t.

This type of squash is a great way to get more veggies into your diet during the summer when all the berries are gone and there is nothing to do but cook and eat zucchini.

Growing Zucchini squash needs to start from seed each year. The crops of zucchini plants die at the end of each season.  As a summer squash plant, you can pick it all summer long as long as the female flowers continue to have fruit production.

You will learn how to pick zucchini when they are ready to be picked.

Let’s get picking!

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Is Zucchini Ready To Be Picked?

Most zucchini varieties are ready to be picked when they are about as long as an average adult hand. The zucchini should be at least 8 inches long with a diameter of about 2 inches or more.

It’s not much good for anything if it is too small. It’s not like corn where you can just cut it off and cook it, no matter how small it is.

Zucchini squash does change its skin color when it is ripe. The zucchini will turn from a light green color to olive green color. This is the best time to pick this tasty green fruit.

Zucchini plants that are dark green color are not ready to be picked because they will be bitter.

If your zucchinis’ skin is turning yellow in color , then it is probably too late.  the kin will become woody and it may not taste as sweet or delicatable.

You should pick them off and add them to your compost pile.

You could also save the seeds once they reach full maturity to plant them in the garden next year.

picking zucchini the best time

Best Size To Pick Zucchini

As mentioned above, when picking zucchini squash, you want to pick it when it is at least 8 inches in length. That is when the zucchini is ready to be picked.

Zucchini squash can grow thoroughout the summer if the temperature is right and there is sufficient water, good soil nutrients & no visits from the squash vine borer. It can grow up to 20 inches in length and even more than that.

The diameter of the zucchini grows much more slowly than the length. A perfect zucchini size for cooking is about a diameter of 2 inches or larger.

Just make sure that there are no squash bugs in it when you do pick it because they will ruin your dinner if they are in there.

Squash blossoms or the female flowers that fall off are perfect to cook with.  You want to harvest the fragile flower as soons as you can see they are ready to fall off.

How Often Should Zucchini Be Picked

It is very important to pick your zucchini regularly. That means picking them at least once a week.

Baby zucchini will grow and grow rapidily. If you don’t pick them, they will get way too big and you won’t be able to cook them.

You can pick them all at one time but it’s better to pick a few here and a few there so that the plant has time to recover before it starts growing again.

It is also important not to pick them too often. If you pick them every day, then the plant will waste its energy on growing zucchini and not growing blossoms flowers and more zucchini.

Pick the zucchini when they are ripe. If it’s not ripe, make certain you wait until it is.

Is Zucchini Ready To Be Picked?

Most zucchini varieties are ready to be picked when they are about as long as an average adult hand. The zucchini should be at least 8 inches long with a diameter of about 2 inches or more.

It’s not much good for anything if it is too small. It’s not like corn where you can just cut it off and cook it, no matter how small it is.

Zucchini squash does change its skin color when it is ripe. The zucchini will turn from a light green color to olive green color. This is the best time to pick this tasty green fruit.

Zucchini plants that are dark green color are not ready to be picked because they will be bitter.

If your zucchinis’ skin is turning yellow in color , then it is probably too late.  the kin will become woody and it may not taste as sweet or delicatable.

You should pick them off and add them to your compost pile.

You could also save the seeds once they reach full maturity to plant them in the garden next year.

Best Size To Pick Zucchini

As mentioned above, when picking zucchini squash, you want to pick it when it is at least 8 inches in length. That is when the zucchini is ready to be picked.

Zucchini squash can grow thoroughout the summer if the temperature is right and there is sufficient water, good soil nutrients & no visits from the squash vine borer. It can grow up to 20 inches in length and even more than that.

The diameter of the zucchini grows much more slowly than the length. A perfect zucchini size for cooking is about a diameter of 2 inches or larger.

Just make sure that there are no squash bugs in it when you do pick it because they will ruin your dinner if they are in there.

Squash blossoms or the female flowers that fall off are perfect to cook with.  You want to harvest the fragile flower as soons as you can see they are ready to fall off.

what is the best time to pick zucchini

How Often Should Zucchini Be Picked

It is very important to pick your zucchini regularly. That means picking them at least once a week.

Baby zucchini will grow and grow rapidily. If you don’t pick them, they will get way too big and you won’t be able to cook them.

You can pick them all at one time but it’s better to pick a few here and a few there so that the plant has time to recover before it starts growing again.

It is also important not to pick them too often. If you pick them every day, then the plant will waste its energy on growing zucchini and not growing blossoms flowers and more zucchini.

Pick the zucchini when they are ripe. If it’s not ripe, make certain you wait until it is.

How To Pick Zucchini

The best time to pick zucchini is in the morning or before noon when the sun is hottest because then they are less likely to wilt and become bitter.

If you leave it in the garden all day, it will be too hot and you may get bitter zucchini.

  • You can pick them by hand. Just twist off the zucchini and throw it in a bucket or container.
  • Another way to pick zucchini is to cut it off with a sharp knife

Storing Zucchini Tips

If you have a lot of zucchini in your garden and it is ready to be picked, you will need to store it to save for later. Zucchini squash can last up to a week in the refrigerator if you use the right technique.

The best method for storing zucchini squash is probably the same thing that works best for storing most fruits and veggies – bringing them inside on a very nice day so they can cool off and then putting them in the crisper drawer of your refrigerator.

If you do this, you can use your zucchini squash right up until it starts getting bad.

You don’t want to store zucchini squash near apples because their ethylene gas will rot your zucchini squash faster than anything else. Keep them away from onions because they emit a gas that will make your zucchini squash go bad faster too.

You can always blanch them and freeze them for later or what I love to do is make zucchini bread.

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Final Thoughts

Picking zucchini squash is very easy. You just go out to the garden and look at the zucchini squash and if it’s big enough, you can pick it.

When picking zucchini squash, don’t wait too long because they will start to get bitter and wilt if they sit in the garden all day.

If you have lots of zucchini squash in your garden, make sure that you store them correctly, store them as frozen zucchini, or have a zucchini party.

Related Questions

Will a zucchini ripen off the vine?

Yes, a zucchini will ripen off the vine. The best way to do this is to cut the zucchini off and then let it sit in an open container for a day or two in the sun. It will start to get softer and sweeter as it ripens.

How big can zucchini get and still be good?

As mentioned above, zucchini can get pretty big. The best size for cooking is 2 inches in diameter. A zucchini that is 8 inches long and 2 inches in diameter will be a very good size for cooking.

If you want to actually grow it to the size of a baseball bat then you need to keep the zucchini growing by giving it water, sunlight and fertilizer.

Green Thumb Gardener
zucchini plant when to pick
Jeremy Starke

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