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scott_schluter

Cross Pollination

Scott Schluter
15 years ago

Hi,

I had great success with Zucchetta RampicanteTromboncino squash this year and would like to save some seed for next year. No SVB problems, plenty of production, and tastes better than zukes. My question is about cross pollination possibilities. I read the following from another site:

"As with all the members of the Curcubitaceae family, Tromboncino are insect pollinated and will readily cross pollinate with other varieties in the same species."

What would constitute "other varieties in the same species?" In the same garden I grew the following squashy type vegetables:

Eightball Zucchini

Sweet Meat Winter Squash

Lemon Cucumber

Scallop Sunburst Summer Squash

Table Queen Acorn Squash

Costata Romanesca

Green Striped Winter Squash

Would any of these have seed worth saving (not cross pollinated)?

TIA

Comments (7)

  • Scott Schluter
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Thanks! Looks like I am safe then, I want the Sweet Meat and Tromboncino seeds and possibly the Cushaw. I was going to save the acorn squash but I guess I won't do that. If I have this right, the eightball seeds for example could grow some kind of mongloid squash that could have characteristics of acorn, scallop and eightball?

  • remy_gw
    15 years ago

    Hi again,
    "If I have this right, the eightball seeds for example could grow some kind of mongloid squash" LOL! Yes sort of : ) Every year there are posts on various forums with people showing pics of odd squash wanting to know what it is that look like bloated mutant warty things because they grew a zucchini and an acorn or something similar.
    Last night I forgot to tell you something else about saving seeds though. Make sure you grow non-hybrids if you are interested in seed saving. Eightball is a hybrid and will not come true so it not worth saving the seeds.(Unless you want to do a big de-hybridizing grow out.) In the future, if you like the round zucchini, there are a couple old round varieties that you can save seeds from like Ronde de Nice.
    If a veggie is a hybrid, it will either say hybrid or have a F1 after the name on the pkt.
    Remy

  • Scott Schluter
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Thanks again. Most of my seed is coming from places like Park so I have good labeling. I'd love to try a non-hybrid round zuke (wife stuffs them with sausage and they are to die for). but if I grow other squashes in the same family it may not matter anyways. I've been migrating towards squashes that are SVB resistant because they are devastating around here and I don't use pesticides and don't have the time to try the manual control methods. I barely got a crop of eightballs.

    Very happy we can save the Tromboncino and Sweet Meat seeds, great veggies there. (Although it is very hard not to toast up them Sweet Meat seeds, they are sooo yummy!)

    I think tomatoes got me this year. I was given plants last year, Yellow and red and boy did they produce. I saved some seeds. Well this year I thought I had a bunch of reds and they turned out to be yellows. Unless I mixed them up (may be possible) I think the yellows and reds may have cross pollinated. Yellow spaghetti sauce all winter!

  • maj742 (zone 4-5) north-central WI
    9 years ago

    I saved a huge gold colored Trombonsino Zucchetta Cucurbita moschata. That year I also grew Waltham Butternut, another Cucurbita moschata, close by. I want to grow the seeds from the Zucchetta, but fear I will get an inedible cross between Zucchetta RampicanteTromboncino and Waltham Butternut. I love the zucchetta eaten as a green zucchini. I love the Butternut eaten in winter. I am having a tough time this spring finding one seed catalog company that carries every seed I want. It would be interesting to plant my saved Zucchetta seeds, but I have limited garden space to waste. Maybe I will buy new Zucchetta, as well as plant a few saved Zucchettas to see what happens.

  • remy_gw
    9 years ago

    Being those two varieties are moschatas you will most likely have crossing. Squash are very promiscuous. They are also closely aligned both with bulbous ends and long necks, so you will get probably get good edible off spring that looks like a combo of the two. BUT there is always a chance for clunkers and even odd looking babies. It is just like two people and their off spring.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Squash Seeds.

  • Yolanda
    9 years ago

    I have tried to pick the best of each class and only grow those: maxima, mixta, moschata, and pepo. many can be eaten small like a summer pepo would be, so I still grow a pepo for fall eating - a small sugar pumpkin type. If Wish the brassicas were this easy.

    Any recommendations for YOUR top picks in each class would be appreciated. Looks and taste are very important. So far I have chosen, Kikuza (moschata), red kuri/potimarron for maxima, a small sugar type pumpkin for pepo, and undecided about mixta so far. I need them small and long-lasting to some extent, too.