Squash plant

Athome1

I am new to this forum so please be patient with me if this question has arisen before in a diffent guise!:o

Early this year I bought a supermarket squash and planted some of the seeds, they all sprouted and I planted out the 3 best ones. they have grown very well and are (eventually) fruiting but the fruits are different to each other! Some are a big round, green, pumpkin shape, some are a green marrow shape and some are a yellowy bell shape. Is this usual? The seeds all came from the same squash, the only thing we've come up with is, could cross pollination from courgette plants make a difference? Of course we're still going to eat them and I'm looking forward to seeing if there is any difference in taste but I am puzzled, so please can anyone explain it to me??:D

Thanks :beer:

hungrynurse_2

see what happens, mine havent even got any fruits on yet!

MRSTITTLEMOUSE

I planted the free squash seed we all got from the BBC ages ago.
Trouble is they have just sprouted now,taken months considering the carrots and beetroot planted at the same time have all been eaten this week.
The plants are now growing quite fast and the leaves are quite large now,although they only have two sets of leaves each.
Is it worth letting them grow or by the time they get large enough to produce fruit will the frosts get them.
I don't know why they've taken so long to germinate.

aurorahelios

The original squash was probably a F1 hybrid, so the seeds it produced will not reproduce the same kind of squash but will revert to previous genetic traits. Farmers often use F1 seed because although the seed is more expensive it produces more uniform results allowing easier harvesting and ensuring more of the crop will be suitable for the strict supermarket weight/size ranges. So growing anything from supermarket saved seed is usually a gamble. The cross pollination is also a possibility squash are known to cross pollinate and can produce odd looking crops.

Is each plant producing differences or are the differences between each plant?

aurorahelios

I don't know what the free seeds were but if they are summer squash you may be lucky and get some fruit. If the plant is winter squash and hasn't fruited yet it is unlikely you will get any usable fruit before the frosts ruin the plants. Our climate isn't really conducive to growing many of the winter squashes as they need quite a long growing period to produce good results. Personally I've found most of my attempts at growing them have produced disappointing results.

enrich100

MRSTITTLEMOUSE wrote: »

I planted the free squash seed we all got from the BBC ages ago.
Trouble is they have just sprouted now,taken months considering the carrots and beetroot planted at the same time have all been eaten this week.
The plants are now growing quite fast and the leaves are quite large now,although they only have two sets of leaves each.
Is it worth letting them grow or by the time they get large enough to produce fruit will the frosts get them.
I don't know why they've taken so long to germinate.

The squashes the bbc gave away were Hunter and you still stand a chance once the squashes start growing there is no stopping them, they need to be harvested before the first frost, it may pay to limit the number of squashes on each plant to 4 or less to give you the best chance of getting mature fruit

Athome1

aurorahelios wrote: »

The original squash was probably a F1 hybrid, so the seeds it produced will not reproduce the same kind of squash but will revert to previous genetic traits. Farmers often use F1 seed because although the seed is more expensive it produces more uniform results allowing easier harvesting and ensuring more of the crop will be suitable for the strict supermarket weight/size ranges. So growing anything from supermarket saved seed is usually a gamble. The cross pollination is also a possibility squash are known to cross pollinate and can produce odd looking crops.

Is each plant producing differences or are the differences between each plant?

What a very good question! I've jut been out and looked and each plant is producting a particular shape, so I assume the reason is as you stated. Many thanks, puzzle solved.:T

Athome1

hungrynurse wrote: »

see what happens, mine havent even got any fruits on yet!

I planted then in March and kept them in the greenhouse until May when we planted them out. They took about 8 weeks to settle and really start growing and then there was loads of male flowers but no females but eventually it all came together and now we have squashes!

Another question please, can we cut them now or should we wait until Sept/October?

serena

The squash seeds don't even have to be F1 to start with. Squashes are terribly promiscuous, they all cross with each other. That doesn't matter for the first year, but if you sow saved seed the next year you'll get all sorts of fruits - although of course one type for each individual plant.

To keep them true, they'd have to be grown in isolation from other plants of the same family.

MRSTITTLEMOUSE

Just wondering but do squash usually take so long to germinate?.
Must admit I have'nt a clue about growing veg but I've grown some great stuff just for the hell of it in pots this year.
Never grown any veg before,so I'm quite pleased with myself.
I'll be more prepared for next year and think things through well beforehand.

Zazen999

MRSTITTLEMOUSE wrote: »

Just wondering but do squash usually take so long to germinate?.
Must admit I have'nt a clue about growing veg but I've grown some great stuff just for the hell of it in pots this year.
Never grown any veg before,so I'm quite pleased with myself.
I'll be more prepared for next year and think things through well beforehand.

Squash usually take 24 hours to germinate; 48 to show if they were sown in pots.