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Post by horsea on Aug 31, 2018 11:28:28 GMT -5
OK. I am told there's 4 different classes of squash:
Moschata Mixta Maxima Pepo.
So far, so good.
This year I am growing my usual Pepo type, Jaspee. Doesn't look like much but exceedingly sweet & tasty.
I also seeded Kikuza squash, a Moschata, for the first time. Into August, and it still did not produce any flowers but finally produced one female and no males.
I didn't see any flower buds of any kind, so I pollinated that one female with pollen from my Jaspee, the Pepo.
Lo & behold, it "took". That one Kikuza is doing great, looks like she'll be ready in a couple of weeks.
So, I thought this was not supposed to happen. Was I incorrect about inter-class pollination, or what.
Help me out, folks...
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Post by spike on Aug 31, 2018 13:50:51 GMT -5
I am useless but hoping someone answers your question so I can know too!
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Post by pepperhead212 on Aug 31, 2018 14:51:18 GMT -5
All the species of squash will cross, which is why you can't save seeds when you have more than one growing out there (unless you isolate them). But you were lucky that they cross, since you had only the one female moschata. That squash should look like a kikuzza - if you save seeds from it, then you would get a hybrid, with some qualities from both varieties.
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Post by Gianna on Aug 31, 2018 16:59:46 GMT -5
In the past, I grew a hybrid squash that required pollination from another class (it was self sterile), or no fruits. Can't remember the details, but squash are notorious for being promiscuous. They've got separate male and female flowers and require insects as pollinators - and you just can't trust the bees to 'stay home'.
I prefer to use fresh seed for all squashes and pumpkins so I don't 'waste' a season growing who knows what. Though this year, I did harvest the seed from a nice zucchini that set before there were any other cucurbits blooming. I think.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Aug 31, 2018 19:40:24 GMT -5
I grew that hybrid, too, Gianna, some Japanese name - Tetsubuku, tetsukabuku, or something like that. It was a moschata x maxima cross, if I recall, and it was resistant to SVBs. Never grew it again, as it didn't produce as many squash as the butternuts, which is what I had that pollinated it, I assume. Polaris is a hybrid butternut that I grow every year. Best variety of any that I have tried; though I would like them slightly smaller, none of the smaller ones lasted as long - I still have some from last season here! I also get 7-8 squash per plant, 6-8 lbs each, which is a lot for a winter squash. And with all this wetness this season, no signs of disease at all. There are several totally ripe squash on each plant, and a bunch of immatures, of various sizes. And something I will be harvesting soon is some of those countless male blossoms.
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Post by horsea on Aug 31, 2018 20:54:06 GMT -5
Thanks v. much to all of you for your contributions. They've got separate male and female flowers and require insects as pollinators - and you just can't trust the bees to 'stay home'. Does anyone here rely totally on bees or other insects to pollinate winter squashes? I sure don't. I do the job myself, then close up the flower to make sure there's no mixing of 2 kinds of pollen from two different kinds of squash in those years when I am growing 2 or more varieties. You have to get up early in the morning, when it is still kind of chilly, before the bees come out, to pollinate the just-opened flowers!
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Post by pepperhead212 on Aug 31, 2018 21:02:08 GMT -5
I never have to hand pollinate winter squash - it seems like there are a lot of pollinators out there during the day. The bottle gourds, OTOH, flower at night, and the flowers are short lived, so hand pollinating helped with those, at least in the beginning.
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Post by Gianna on Aug 31, 2018 21:42:33 GMT -5
I grew that hybrid, too, Gianna , some Japanese name - Tetsubuku, tetsukabuku, or something like that. It was a moschata x maxima cross, if I recall, and it was resistant to SVBs. Never grew it again, as it didn't produce as many squash as the butternuts, which is what I had that pollinated it, I assume. Tetsukabuto. I loved that squash, perhaps too much. It grew very well here, and produced a lot, and over a very long period. Since no frosts here, it just kept going into November. It has a very good nutty flavor, the skin is edible and very good... and I ate some every day. Then I hit the Tetsukabuto wall, and just couldn't eat it anymore, lol. It is a local favorite in Brasil.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Aug 31, 2018 23:05:54 GMT -5
I was close to the name! lol. I always peeled the winter squash; you're the second one that says that you eat the skin. Would make it easier than peeling those irregular squash.
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Post by brownrexx on Sept 1, 2018 7:48:36 GMT -5
I have never heard that squash don't pollinate other squash of different varieties. As far as I know, squash will cross with just about anything in the family. They will cross with pumpkins, gourds, any squash and maybe even cucumbers or melons I think. This is why I never keep any volunteer squash. They could be really really good, really bad or totally tasteless and I don't like to waste space and time to find out.
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Post by Gianna on Sept 1, 2018 12:36:06 GMT -5
I was close to the name! lol. I always peeled the winter squash; you're the second one that says that you eat the skin. Would make it easier than peeling those irregular squash. Yes, you were very close.
The only two winter squashes I don't peel are kabochas and the tetsu's. It took awhile to get used to eating the peels, but only because of traditional resistance. But they are mildly, pleasantly chewy, and I can't imagine eating these squash without their peels.
When growing them however, it's preferable to keep the skins somewhat protected to make them more unblemished and hence, palatable. This means slipping a tile or board or something beneath them so they are not sitting directly on the ground or mulch or anything else chewing bugs live in.
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Post by Gianna on Sept 1, 2018 12:42:14 GMT -5
I have never heard that squash don't pollinate other squash of different varieties. As far as I know, squash will cross with just about anything in the family. They will cross with pumpkins, gourds, any squash and maybe even cucumbers or melons I think. This is why I never keep any volunteer squash. They could be really really good, really bad or totally tasteless and I don't like to waste space and time to find out. Yes they will cross with any other squash or gourd or pumpkin, but I don't think they'll cross with either cukes or melons - not closely enough related.
In the past I have kept volunteer squash only to be disappointed. But it was fun trying to figure out who the parents might have been. I'm pretty sure I had a zucchini/patty pan hybrid, which was interesting, but not good enough to eat. I suppose if one were starving....
That said, I am keeping some saved zucchini seed this year. I don't think anything else was blooming at the time this one set. And if I have to plant another round of verified seed and wait longer to get some zucchini fruits, so be it. It would only delay having to figure out what to do with them all, lol. Or more likely, instead of starting the replacements with new seed, go get a nice pony pack from one of the local nurseries.
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