Any comments Jeannine, on the information below?:-
In the last edition of Organic Gardening answers, it stated that cross-pollination of the various species of curcurbits was not possible. However, I have come accross a paper which suggests that cross-contamination between some different species of the curcurbits is possible.
This is the html version of the file [www.ag.purdue.edu].
Google automatically generates html versions of documents as we crawl the web.
Page 1
ACH-31 CROSS POLLINATION IN CUCURBITS Cross pollination generally occurs only among members within the same species. However some crossingbetween species occurs in the genus Cucurbita, among pumpkins, squash and gourds. C. pepo will cross with C.mixta and C. moschata: and C. maxima will cross with C. moschata. C. pepo will not cross with C. maxima.Cross pollination does not occur between melons, cucumbers or other species. See the chart below for abreakdown of the Cucurbit Family by species. From: The Ortho Book "All AboutTHE CULTIVATED MEMBERS OF THE GOURD FAMILYVegetables," pg. 86.
I will try to add the link
http://www.ag.purdue.edu/counties/allen/Documents/Hort%20ACH31%20Cross%20Pollination%20in%20Cucurbits.pdf
Yes, this is becoming more and more in the news, I first heard about it three years ago and thought it a mistake but from the info I have been receiving ,and it is a lot, we have to accept it. I also have info that the plants resulting from these crosees need a pollinator to grow.. but have not had so much info on this.
I have not had it happen and I have not tried to do it.. I don`t think it is an easy thing to do if my received data is correct but I guess we will see more and more done commercially, it was said it had to be done in a lab but I think that has been dissproved.
XX Jeannine
Thanks Jeannine for that.
Three years ago, I was growing a butternut in the greenhouse and there were female flowers first and no males. So I went outside and picked a male flower from my outside Winter squash, probably maxima or pepo, and hand fertilised the butternut. It set 2 fruits this way. When I came to use them, there were no viable seed in the cavity. So it would seem possible to force it.
Then of course, there is the commercially available Squashkin, a cross between a butternut and Crown Prince.
i was told never to grow cucumbers in the same greenhouse as melons, they would cross now i hear its OK too as they belong to diffrent family's which is right?
cucumbers(Cucumis sativus) and cantaloupes(Cucumis melo) do not cross it is an old wives tale of same caliber of feeding milk to pumpkins. Even if they did cross it would not effect the currents seasons crop. There is only one crop where the current season crop is affected by pollenation. What surprises me is how many times since I started answering garden related questions I have had to debunk this same question. lets just say more then 30 times. I will keep my opinion of people that continue to perpetrate this one to myself.
As for squash I have chart somewhere that list what crosses with what in squash family.
30 times Plainleaf.. gosh I do more than that in one season..questions on corn and squash come up all the time but that is just fine,there was a time, long long ago when I planted my first squash seed too.
So roll on in with your questions folks, if you need to ask go right ahead, if Plainleaf is all tuckered out answering there are still others who will.
I can't think why you are surprised Plainleaf, squash and even corn is realtively new to the UK and still folks are growing it for the first time, there are hundreds of question I have answered over the years but folks need to ask so I never get tired of answering , it is important to them and sometimes learning about something new takes a while.
Just a short while ago we all answered that species of squash don't cross, now we know they do sometimes, there are going to be many more of these posts.
I have posted charts with what will and won't cross many times, and although the interpsecies crossing is defying them a wee bit as a general rule the old chart is good. I do have a chart which shows the interspecies crosses but I see no point in posting it, it will just confuse folks, the info is out there if anyone is in a scientific mood as this post clearly shows.
Plainleaf, I am curious, I know you grow a lot of tomatoes but I can't remember you ever telling us about your squash, which ones do you grow?
XX Jeannine
Jeannine i grow squash sparingly due to fact that there is large population of squash bugs and squash vine bores.
Sorry to hear that, it must be frustrating..
XX Jeannine
Well plainleaf may be you should ignore any threads about cucurbits :) and save your expertize for other questions ;D
brown thumb just because i have bug problem does not mean I don't know what I am talking about. I do grow squash quiet successfully.
but only grow what can handle with the pest pressures.
That and I prefer to deal with giant pumpkins.
plainleaf i wont dare for a moment to suggest that you did not know what you was talking about sorry if it came over that way it wasnt meant to only as you said in your reply answering the same old questions about the same old toppet eg 30 odd times was be coming tire some I thought may be you should pass them over and answer others which interest you more sorry again for any misunder standing
Quote from: realfood on September 01, 2011, 20:06:22
Thanks Jeannine for that.
Three years ago, I was growing a butternut in the greenhouse and there were female flowers first and no males. So I went outside and picked a male flower from my outside Winter squash, probably maxima or pepo, and hand fertilised the butternut. It set 2 fruits this way. When I came to use them, there were no viable seed in the cavity. So it would seem possible to force it.
This may be due to a different mechanisms altogether.
Many cucurbita have a tendency to set fruit with imperfect pollination and even without pollination. Seedless courgettes have been bred recently (seedless is called parthenocarpic and the latest seedless courgette is called Parthenon F1!). Seedless cucumbers are commonplace. If the pollen is not quite right here for some reason, especially when pollination happens on a cool day, I often get parthenocarpic fruit from courgette type squashes (c pepo) and from butternut type squashes (c moschata). These have flat seed cases without a germ inside. The female flowers have been tricked into thinking they have been pollinated.
I think you did get seedless fruit because of imperfect pollination rather than ability to cross. Yes, you can force them and the resulting seedless fruit often stores just as well as normal seeded squashes. If you had had a genuine interspecies cross, there would have been some fat, viable looking seeds inside.