Topic: Squash Volunteer?

[Jayb]

I spotted this little squash seedling which had germinated in a pot out side at the beginning of May, brave little thing! I didn't give it much hope as it was looking a little shrivelled and yellow around the edges. I moved it to its own pot in the greenhouse and noticed this morning it has perked up and grown two new leaves 

I thought it might be a summer squash - crookneck as I had several plants not far away to where I found this one last summer, but the compost heap is also quite close and the seed could have been carried from there. Any ideas what it is looking like, it's very small yet though?

[galina]

Is the underside of the true leaves scratchy?  That is a sign of c pepo - which could be a crookneck.   

[sparrow]

You'll have to let us know when it fruits....

[Jayb]

They are not that scratchy at the moment, I've just compared them to similar size ones on a Partenon courgette which are scratchy in comparison to the mystery one, though the leaves are older? But these little ones are not supersoft either!

You'll have to let us know when it fruits....

Will do.

Which reminds me I have a volunteer squash to use from last year, I've just been looking at it so far. I'm not all that hopeful for it's eating delights!

[sparrow]

I'm growing 2 mystery squash from loose seeds I found at the bottom of the seed boxes. Looking forward to seeing what they actually are. :)

[chriscross1966]

I have a couple of mystery cucurbits that have lost their labels (grr) suspect one is courgette (probably Firenze) and the other might be a pumpkin

[Jayb]

I'm growing 2 mystery squash from loose seeds I found at the bottom of the seed boxes. Looking forward to seeing what they actually are. :)

Lol, love a mystery! Have you an idea what sort of type they might be?

[Jayb]

I have a couple of mystery cucurbits that have lost their labels (grr) suspect one is courgette (probably Firenze) and the other might be a pumpkin

I'm just wondering how much space to give the one I have, does make a bit difference if it's a squash/pumpkin or a courgette. Hope yours turn out well.

[galina]

I have a couple of mystery cucurbits that have lost their labels (grr) suspect one is courgette (probably Firenze) and the other might be a pumpkin

I'm just wondering how much space to give the one I have, does make a bit difference if it's a squash/pumpkin or a courgette. Hope yours turn out well.

When faced with this problem, I have always gone up.  Most trailing squash are perfectly happy being trained upwards with a suitable trellis (I put garden obelisks on my birthday wish-list), but other structures are just as good, provided they are reasonably strong.  The 'footprint'  is the same, but the squash growing upwards also gets more sunshine.  Many maxima squashes produce smaller, secondary root systems from nodes.  This won't be happening with plants trained upwards, but extra feeding and mulching makes up for it.  Hope it turns out nice whatever it is.

[sparrow]

I'm growing 2 mystery squash from loose seeds I found at the bottom of the seed boxes. Looking forward to seeing what they actually are. :)

Lol, love a mystery! Have you an idea what sort of type they might be?

Nope, none, other than they were big seeds so I am guessing c.maxima.

[Silverleaf]

Can you tell what species it is from seeds? I have a couple of bags of "mystery" squash seeds from years ago that I didn't label, which don't really match what I remember growing at the time. One in particular is big fat chunky seeds.

I'd grow some out, but I have so many others I'm planning to grow this year!

[galina]

Can you tell what species it is from seeds? I have a couple of bags of "mystery" squash seeds from years ago that I didn't label, which don't really match what I remember growing at the time. One in particular is big fat chunky seeds.

I'd grow some out, but I have so many others I'm planning to grow this year!

Yes you can.  A photo would help.  As sparrow said c maxima are larger and can be brown or white, c pepo are smaller and flatter, beige or whitish, but green in the case of oil seed pumpkins because the seed skin is missing, c moschata are often greyish with a rougher surface.  Commercial seeds are often shinier than home saved.  Can you take a photo?
   
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cucurbita_maxima-seeds-Olinda.jpg

http://www.123rf.com/photo_4949243_pumpkin-sunflower-seeds-cucurbita-pepo-a-structure-the-invoice-them-gnaw-not-only-for-the-sake-of-an.html

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cucurbita_moschata_%22Anco%22_from_the_market_-_seeds_detail.jpg

[Jayb]

I still can't make my mind up how scratchy the leaves are, I'm just germinating my squashes so perhaps with some others to compare to I'll get a better idea.

Thanks Galina up is always a good move, but I think I should have room in the squash patch for it, nice would be good!

[Silverleaf]

Yes you can.  A photo would help.  As sparrow said c maxima are larger and can be brown or white, c pepo are smaller and flatter, beige or whitish, but green in the case of oil seed pumpkins because the seed skin is missing, c moschata are often greyish with a rougher surface.  Commercial seeds are often shinier than home saved.  Can you take a photo?

Sorry for the delay, but yeah, here's a picture. I'm thinking maxima since they are tan and chunky. Could be Burgess Buttercup I suppose, but these seeds look much plumper and bigger than my original seeds.

[Jayb]

I don't think Burgess Buttercup, seeds aren't the right colour or shape. 

[Jayb]

What do you think, these are  some of the Burgess Buttercup  seeds I've got, assuming they are correct!

[galina]

Sorry for the delay, but yeah, here's a picture. I'm thinking maxima since they are tan and chunky. Could be Burgess Buttercup I suppose, but these seeds look much plumper and bigger than my original seeds.

Definitely a brown seeded maxima.  Buttercup is white seeded from memory.

Yes, just checked, this seems to agree
http://www.sherckseeds.com/pages/seeds/squash/burgess-buttercup-squash/
as does Jayb's picture of course.  Not all buttercup seeds are as slender as yours Jayb and there is no trace of 'cellophane' on them, I guess they are bought seeds, whereas I see some cellophane on Silverleaf's seeds.

Could be Uchiki Kuri or a Banana squash?  Again from memory (haven't got my box in front of me) Crown Prince or is another common brown seeded maxima, as is Queensland Blue.

I find that size and shape of maxima seeds can be variable and differs from year to year.  There is greater difference in maxima seed size/shape than in other squash species.  Yes, buttercup is a little flatter than, say, crown prince, reflecting the smaller size of squash, but not always.  With pepo squashes, the seed number (rather than shape) varies more from year to year, or often the number of flat seeds vs the number of filled seeds.   

Trying to think - usually seed coat is maternal material.  Assuming this was a cross with butternut and what you are holding were F1 seeds, I'm pretty sure, they would still be white. 
 

[Silverleaf]

This is the weird thing though - the only squash I've grown previously are Burgess Buttercup and various summer courgette/scallop types.

I don't remember the buttercup doing very well (my inexperience) and I can't remember saving seeds.

These are obviously home-saved seeds (yes Galina, they have cellophane). I don't think anyone gave me squash seeds and if they did they'd probably be labelled.

It's no good, I'll have to grow one. Don't know where I'll put it, but I'm too curious!

[galina]

This is the weird thing though - the only squash I've grown previously are Burgess Buttercup and various summer courgette/scallop types.

I don't remember the buttercup doing very well (my inexperience) and I can't remember saving seeds.

These are obviously home-saved seeds (yes Galina, they have cellophane). I don't think anyone gave me squash seeds and if they did they'd probably be labelled.

It's no good, I'll have to grow one. Don't know where I'll put it, but I'm too curious!

Might you have bought a squash and saved those seeds?  Uchiki Kuri appears on Farmer's markets and even occasionally in shops.  Asda had some Maxima labelled 'Kabocha' and I spotted several types in Waitrose too. 

I am suggesting this because one of your seeds looks  'netted', a characteristic that I don't see on my home saved seeds.  I have seen it on seeds inside bought squash (not that we buy them that often).  I remember seeing netting on seeds from a Kabocha which according to the label came from Turkey.  Could this have happened?

Summer squashes, courgettes and scallops are almost certainly cucurbita pepo, the seeds didn't come from those. 

[Silverleaf]

It's a mystery all right. I don't remember buying anything other than courgettes and the occasional butternut (of course also not maxima). I also don't buy them often. Not because I don't like them, but because they are expensive and I don't see them often.

I've sowed a couple of seeds in the prop, so with any luck we might get a clue from that!