When are honey bear squash ripe?

First year growing this variety, but how do I tell when they are ripe?

 

Not for ages yet. They need to be a deep, dark green colour and harden their skin so they store well. Keep the plant watered and give it an occasional liquid feed to help the fruits mature. If you have slugs or snails or lots of rain, lift each fruit up on a brick or something similar to help prevent being chewed or rotting.

When you do harvest the fruits, make sure you have a good stem which will also help prevent the fruits rotting when stored in a cool, airy place.

 

I've never grown squashes but I tend to think they are similar to pumpkins and only really ripen at the end of the season.

 

ripe squashes tend to finish when the vine dies, usually it turns yellow and starts to dry, especially the tendrils. then you cut it high up on the stem. to store it do not remove the stem that connects to the squash as it doesnt have skin underneath it.

 

Were once advised that you harvest such just one day before the first frost...... so around Oct 20th but be prepared.
Agree that you should cut with a 'inch or three' of stalk to prevent injury that may result in initiating rot. Store in a cool dry frost free dark airy space with a gap between fruits. Inspect at intervals once stored for mould/soft spots, use immediately.

 

Thank you everyone. No idea why, but I was wrongly thinking of summer squash such as courgettes which need picking early to prevent them becoming massive. I was hoping for a regular crop of honeybear through the summer, but I now realise I will likely have a glut in Autumn that I can store. I'm looking forward to trying them though.

 

Honeybear is a winter squash. You might try to find varieties like yellow squash, patty pan which have softer skins to fill you need for summer/autumn cropping. Its space that limits not choice !

 

Thankyou infradig. I do also have a patty pan, shooting star, tromboncino and round yellow 'summer holiday' varieties already growing. It is likely a good thing the honey bear is a winter squash because we can only eat, give away, pickle so much.