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xxx1angel3xxx

what kind of squash hybrid is this thing

xxx1angel3xxx
14 years ago

ok let me start out with a little back story. last year I saved seeds from a yellow straight neck squash didn't bag the blossom because I didn't intend on saving any seed we let it get way to big and I thought let's not waste it let's keep the seed for next year, well after bad seed save practice they started to mold (didn't let them dry good) so I grew one out that same year it came up just like it's mother now this year I grow one and it is something completely different it was the shape of a zuke the growth habit of a winter squash and a slight yellow color what do you think is the other parent of this hybrid here are a couple of pics to give a look see

here's one of the fruit

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here's one of the entire plant

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it even has them curly things that hold on to things to climb any ideas what it crossed with oh I sure first plant wasn't a hybrid that I remember

Comments (9)

  • weirdtrev
    14 years ago

    It likely crossed with another C. pepo there is no way to tell which one. It is still edible regardless of what it crossed with. My guess would be some sort of zucchini crossed with the yellow straightneck.

  • iam3killerbs
    14 years ago

    What a pretty thing you've got there with the green and gold coloring.

    Does it have the normal texture and flavor of a zucchini or yellow squash of that size and age?

  • xxx1angel3xxx
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    weirdtrev I really just am looking for guesses anyway glad to hear it's likely still edible that's more or less what I was looking for

    iam3killerbs I don't know yet thinking I will try it tonight and see will post back with what I think

    if it's good then how would one go about growing it out to get a stable hybrid I also think it's a cool looking thing and if it has a taste to match then I would love to keep it around I have a long enough season to grow out two a year is it like tomatoes where you do it to an f3 or f4 is it longer shorter

  • iam3killerbs
    14 years ago

    If its good you'd need to hand-pollinate it from its own flowers and grow it a number of them again to see what you get.

    Then you'd need to cross those on each other and grow them out again, choosing the best plants to propagate.

    If you go for it, I'd be happy to trial some seed for you next year because I've been wondering if a vining summer squash would be more resistant to the dreaded borers because of the ability to root at the nodes.

  • ania_ca
    14 years ago

    It is pretty. Let us know how it tastes.

    Looks like Zucchini x straightneck yellow. My mom had something like that pop up in her garden last year. She also had what we think is Butternut x straightneck and she said it was the most delicious squash she has ever eaten.

    Ania

  • xxx1angel3xxx
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    iam3killerbs it's a deal if it taste alright I'll grow the rest of the fruits out to seed, I know all about hand pollinating I started some zukes very early this year before the honey bees had started to work for the year I will also close the bloom once done to keep out anything else so after the first grow out then you cross it with others like it carrying the desired traits right then grow out again how many generations will it usually take to stabilize the hybrid into an op version

  • iam3killerbs
    14 years ago

    Thanks. That would be cool.

    I have to learn do that too for my unknown "pie pumpkin" plants. If we're both successful and you like winter squash we can trade.

    I have no experience with actually trying to stabilize a cross. I think I've read that you can get fairly decent stability in 3-4 generations but I expect that, as always, theory and practice are not necessarily identical.

  • xxx1angel3xxx
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    it tastes a lot like a zuke maybe a little softer texture I cooked it in a little butter and garlic it was really good it's well worth the effort to stabilize it so I shall give it a go iam3killerbs I will grow the next one out to seed and dry them and I will send half of them if you want i like winter squash I am growing a few this year and would love to try some pumpkin pie squash I'm guessing you can make pie out of them and that would be great just remember that as an unstable hybrid results may very from plant to plant until the desired traits or nailed down and it my take a couple of years to do that i wish that I had a greenhouse so that I could do it all year round but oh well I don't so I will just do two a year until it's stable

  • iam3killerbs
    14 years ago

    Thanks a lot. That should be a fun project to work on. I'll reserve some of next year's garden for it.

    My "pie pumpkins" are almost certainly a moschata like the butternuts. They may be a varient of the Long Island Cheese and I'm eagerly awaiting fruit so I can see them. See my thread about Old Seed Resurrected.

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