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When to plant Winter Squash (Butternut)

Computed from land-grant Extension planting-window rules (cited below), localized to real ZIP-level median frost dates, not a single national guess. These are national-generic rules by hardiness class; individual state Extension offices layer their own regional adjustment on top (earlier in the Deep South, later in the Upper Midwest). Enter your ZIP for your own dates, or read the four representative locations below.

Planting windows and crop timing here are computed from USDA/NOAA climate data and the university extension sources cited below, not a site visit or soil test. Treat this as a starting point: local conditions vary, and a local nursery or extension office can advise on your exact site. See our full Disclaimer.

Representative timing, by climate band

When to plant Winter Squash (Butternut) in four US climates

Each column is the most nursery-dense location in our directory within that USDA zone band, computed from that location's own real median frost dates, not a made-up example.

Stage Zones 1-5 (cold winters)
Fort Plain, NY 		Zones 6-7 (temperate)
McMinnville, TN 		Zones 8-9 (warm)
Apopka, FL 		Zones 10-13 (hot, frost rare or absent)
Loxahatchee, FL
Start seed indoors Apr 15–Apr 22 Mar 17–Mar 24 Feb 3–Feb 10 –
Direct-sow outside Not available Not available Not available –
Transplant outside May 20–Jun 3 Apr 21–May 5 Mar 10–Mar 24 –
Fall planting Not available Not available Not available –
Expected harvest Jul 4–Sep 11 Jun 5–Aug 13 Apr 24–Jul 2 –

Zones 10-13 (hot, frost rare or absent) (Loxahatchee, FL): Frost is rare here (about 359 frost-free days a year); most years see little or no hard freeze. This is a very tender crop. In climates like this one, tender and very-tender crops typically go in before the hottest months arrive, not on a frost-relative schedule.

Butternut winter squash transplants two to four weeks after your last frost. Colorado State University Extension and Purdue Extension both classify it very tender (Fact Sheet 7.212; HO-186-W) and agree exactly on a 60°F minimum soil temperature.

Days to maturity split sharply by counting convention: NC State's transplant-based figure runs about 45 to 67 days, while both Colorado State's 100 days and Missouri Extension's butternut-specific 100 days are counted from direct seed and agree closely with each other. The from-seed figure, 100 days, is the more typical single number to use if only one is needed, since two independent sources agree on it exactly; the shorter, transplant-based figure is reported alongside it rather than dropped.

As a very-tender crop, a cold-winter climate needs the full two-to-four-week buffer past frost before soil reaches 60°F; a mild-winter climate applies the same buffer against an earlier frost date.

Winter squash is sold both as seed for direct-sowing, the more common route given the 100-day from-seed timeline, and as transplants in cell packs for a head start in a shorter growing season.

Frost hardiness

Very tender. Killed by even light frost or cold soil. Plant well after the last frost date, once soil has warmed.

Minimum soil temperature

60°F

For direct sowing/germination, where an Extension source stated it.

Days to maturity

45–100

Sourcing notes

CSU and PURDUE agree: very_tender. DTM convention differs sharply by source: NCSU's 42-67 is from transplant; CSU's 100 and MOEXT's butternut-specific 100 are from direct seed. Reported combined range, from-seed convention (100) is the more typical single figure to use.

Related crops

Growing zones for this crop

Nurseries near these locations

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Sources