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FAMILY - CUCURBITACEAE
GENUS - Cucurbita
Common SPECIES - pepo, maxima, moschata and argyrosperma
GENUS - Cucurbita
Common SPECIES - pepo, maxima, moschata and argyrosperma
STORY BOARD
Jasmin Hill
15 July 21
When growing Cucurbita for Seed Saving you need to start with great seed! Purchased seeds from reputable seed companies, heritage seeds from knowledgable seed savers, or any seeds you are confident will not have been cross pollinated. Cross pollination isn't a bad thing, it's nature's way of creating new varieties.. but for this Seed Saving challenge we want to preserve each variety.
Cucurbita are very hungry plants and they Love growing from compost piles. Creating a highly nutritious start to our pumpkin patch will encourage big healthy plants and fruit. There are plenty of ways to build your Cucurbita compost pile utilising what is available to you. It is a great idea to start your pile early giving it time to get plenty of rain over winter and begin to break down and release some of the nutrients your pumpkins, squash or gourds will need during the season.
I live right on the south coast of the South island and have only a few minutes walk to my favourite beach where, after a big storm there are piles of bull kelp for me to help myself to.. the most amazing garden fertiliser and soil builder ever!
Chris loves going fishing when the sea's will let him and fortunately he has snuck out a few times over the past month and I have had a good few leftover fish frames to dig in to my compost piles..
So my Cucurbita compost pile has..
Cardboard down to stop the weeds/grass, dug in the centre some fish frames with garden soil and broken down bark chips, then a big pile of Bull kelp with some fresh water and a sprinkling of lime to encourage the breaking down process.. topped with some sheeps wool and I had some old dried up chicken poop from our local free range egg farm down the road that I sprinkled through before I piled up some more soil and broken down bark chips on top! I've also made a couple of other smaller piles with pretty much the same ingredients.
15 July 21
When growing Cucurbita for Seed Saving you need to start with great seed! Purchased seeds from reputable seed companies, heritage seeds from knowledgable seed savers, or any seeds you are confident will not have been cross pollinated. Cross pollination isn't a bad thing, it's nature's way of creating new varieties.. but for this Seed Saving challenge we want to preserve each variety.
Cucurbita are very hungry plants and they Love growing from compost piles. Creating a highly nutritious start to our pumpkin patch will encourage big healthy plants and fruit. There are plenty of ways to build your Cucurbita compost pile utilising what is available to you. It is a great idea to start your pile early giving it time to get plenty of rain over winter and begin to break down and release some of the nutrients your pumpkins, squash or gourds will need during the season.
I live right on the south coast of the South island and have only a few minutes walk to my favourite beach where, after a big storm there are piles of bull kelp for me to help myself to.. the most amazing garden fertiliser and soil builder ever!
Chris loves going fishing when the sea's will let him and fortunately he has snuck out a few times over the past month and I have had a good few leftover fish frames to dig in to my compost piles..
So my Cucurbita compost pile has..
Cardboard down to stop the weeds/grass, dug in the centre some fish frames with garden soil and broken down bark chips, then a big pile of Bull kelp with some fresh water and a sprinkling of lime to encourage the breaking down process.. topped with some sheeps wool and I had some old dried up chicken poop from our local free range egg farm down the road that I sprinkled through before I piled up some more soil and broken down bark chips on top! I've also made a couple of other smaller piles with pretty much the same ingredients.
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7 September 21
Cucurbita are a part of the Cucurbitacae Family -
Family - Cucurbitacae
Genus - Cucurbita
Species - pepo, maxima, moschata and argyrosperma
Varieties - Cocozelle zucchini, Crown Pumpkin .. etc
The Cucurbitacae family is quite big so for simplicity we have chosen to focus on Cucurbita genus for this Grow Down.
Many of the seed saving techniques we will be learning about in this years Grow Down are valid across the whole family of Cucurbitacae, including other Genera - (Genera is plural for Genus)
Citrullus lanatus (Watermelon)
Cucumis melo (Melons - Rockmelon, honeydew..)
Cucumis sativus (Cucumber)
Cucurbita are insect pollinated so it is important to learn about cross pollination and the difference between species and variety.. Plants are very smart!.. If they are insect pollinated plants, then their flowers release a chemical that makes that bee (or other insect) want to go out and find a matching flower (there is a scientific word for this?).. this is why the Seed Saving recommended isolation distance for insect pollinated plants is usually 2-3kms.. Because bees can fly up to 3 km's from their hive (but are unlikely to fly more than 2 km's).. I always wondered why the distance was so far! I mean what would be the chance of a bee wiggling in my pumpkin flower and then flying a kilometer away to my neighbours pumpkin patch! It turns out.. quite likely, especially when the bees live right in the middle of my gardens.
Cucurbita are a part of the Cucurbitacae Family -
Family - Cucurbitacae
Genus - Cucurbita
Species - pepo, maxima, moschata and argyrosperma
Varieties - Cocozelle zucchini, Crown Pumpkin .. etc
The Cucurbitacae family is quite big so for simplicity we have chosen to focus on Cucurbita genus for this Grow Down.
Many of the seed saving techniques we will be learning about in this years Grow Down are valid across the whole family of Cucurbitacae, including other Genera - (Genera is plural for Genus)
Citrullus lanatus (Watermelon)
Cucumis melo (Melons - Rockmelon, honeydew..)
Cucumis sativus (Cucumber)
Cucurbita are insect pollinated so it is important to learn about cross pollination and the difference between species and variety.. Plants are very smart!.. If they are insect pollinated plants, then their flowers release a chemical that makes that bee (or other insect) want to go out and find a matching flower (there is a scientific word for this?).. this is why the Seed Saving recommended isolation distance for insect pollinated plants is usually 2-3kms.. Because bees can fly up to 3 km's from their hive (but are unlikely to fly more than 2 km's).. I always wondered why the distance was so far! I mean what would be the chance of a bee wiggling in my pumpkin flower and then flying a kilometer away to my neighbours pumpkin patch! It turns out.. quite likely, especially when the bees live right in the middle of my gardens.
10 September 21
Latin plant names are an important key to understanding how cross pollination works, which is very important when learning how to Save Seeds!
I know, I know how boring.. it sounds like school again But it's not that bad really! You don't actually need to learn Latin.. it's just about understanding what the first second and third names are and how they correspond to the different plants varieties.. If you want to learn how to save seeds properly then you will need to understand their Latin names.
Cucurbita are a part of the Cucurbitacae family that include other vegetables like cucumbers and melons.
So.. For example, if I am planning to grow my Crown pumpkin seeds for seed saving.. their full latin name is -
Cucurbitaceae Cucubita maxima - Crown pumpkin
Family - Cucurbitaceae
Genus - Cucurbita
Species - maxima
Variety - Crown pumpkin
When I want to save my Crown pumpkin seeds to be true to type I need to look at the Genus and Species.
Genus - Cucurbita, can only cross pollinate within the same species.. so my Crown pumpkin will only cross with other varieties that are within the Species - maxima. This is why you will often see the Species name written on seed packets or listed on websites.
I am also growing Baby Bear pumpkins, their Latin name is -
Cucurbitaceae Cucurbita Pepo - Baby Bear pumpkin
So.. because they are from a different Species - C.pepo, then I don't have to worry about these two pumpkin varieties crossing. Members of the Cucurbitaceae family are randy cross pollinators with an isolation distance of 2+km, if you think there could be others growing nearby then it's recommended to isolate the flowers from the insects and hand pollinate them.
Latin plant names are an important key to understanding how cross pollination works, which is very important when learning how to Save Seeds!
I know, I know how boring.. it sounds like school again But it's not that bad really! You don't actually need to learn Latin.. it's just about understanding what the first second and third names are and how they correspond to the different plants varieties.. If you want to learn how to save seeds properly then you will need to understand their Latin names.
Cucurbita are a part of the Cucurbitacae family that include other vegetables like cucumbers and melons.
So.. For example, if I am planning to grow my Crown pumpkin seeds for seed saving.. their full latin name is -
Cucurbitaceae Cucubita maxima - Crown pumpkin
Family - Cucurbitaceae
Genus - Cucurbita
Species - maxima
Variety - Crown pumpkin
When I want to save my Crown pumpkin seeds to be true to type I need to look at the Genus and Species.
Genus - Cucurbita, can only cross pollinate within the same species.. so my Crown pumpkin will only cross with other varieties that are within the Species - maxima. This is why you will often see the Species name written on seed packets or listed on websites.
I am also growing Baby Bear pumpkins, their Latin name is -
Cucurbitaceae Cucurbita Pepo - Baby Bear pumpkin
So.. because they are from a different Species - C.pepo, then I don't have to worry about these two pumpkin varieties crossing. Members of the Cucurbitaceae family are randy cross pollinators with an isolation distance of 2+km, if you think there could be others growing nearby then it's recommended to isolate the flowers from the insects and hand pollinate them.
I have limited space for growing seedlings so this year I have pre germinated all of my Cucurbita seeds in ziplock bags with a wet paper towel on top of a heat pad. It's been great! I have germinated all of the seeds I had and only used the best seeds and those that germinated the fastest. I am aiming for the best possible seeds I can so I am growing FAR to many plants to choose from the very best. I also live in windy coastal southland so I need back up plants incase we get a late storm or two.
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14 September 21
The weather has been absolutely terrible here on the South coast, hail storms and insane winds, I sure do hope it warms up a bit or I won't be growing many pumpkins!
Cucurbita don't like being transplanted very much, I transplanted my plants last year but the weather killed most of them.. the ground temperature here is far to low in spring so I don't feel like I can direct sow.. So I will be sowing my seeds in to root trainers so that hopefully I can avoid transplant shock.
The weather has been absolutely terrible here on the South coast, hail storms and insane winds, I sure do hope it warms up a bit or I won't be growing many pumpkins!
Cucurbita don't like being transplanted very much, I transplanted my plants last year but the weather killed most of them.. the ground temperature here is far to low in spring so I don't feel like I can direct sow.. So I will be sowing my seeds in to root trainers so that hopefully I can avoid transplant shock.
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27 September 21
It's super cold down here in Southland, we have had lots of hail storms and so much rain it's a mud pond outside!
I have a few of my early Cucurbita seeds germinated and happily growing in root trainers inside where it's warm I am going to germinate more seeds over the next couple of months as we head in to summertime
I'm not very confident about planting out in springtime here in Southland, last year my pumpkins got shocked and really didn't recover at all. I was chatting with Leila Macbeth earlier about how cold it is here and she recommended that I cover my Cucurbita compost beds with black plastic to heat up the ground a bit before planting out So I added some more chicken poop and compost, watered my piles well and covered them with black plastic.
It's super cold down here in Southland, we have had lots of hail storms and so much rain it's a mud pond outside!
I have a few of my early Cucurbita seeds germinated and happily growing in root trainers inside where it's warm I am going to germinate more seeds over the next couple of months as we head in to summertime
I'm not very confident about planting out in springtime here in Southland, last year my pumpkins got shocked and really didn't recover at all. I was chatting with Leila Macbeth earlier about how cold it is here and she recommended that I cover my Cucurbita compost beds with black plastic to heat up the ground a bit before planting out So I added some more chicken poop and compost, watered my piles well and covered them with black plastic.
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13 October 21
How many plants are you growing for Genetic Diversity?
Recommendations
Genetic diversity (GD) - Cucurbita
Viable Seed - 1 plant
Variety Maintenance - 5-10 plants
Genetic Preservation - 25 plants
I'm aiming for about 10 really good plants of each variety that I want to save seeds from for this challenge.. I will keep planting seeds until I run out and hopefully I will have some nice strong plants to save seeds from.
I got my first packet of Tromboncino seeds from Kathy who grew them last year and had great success! So even though Kathy was not completely sure if these seeds were saved properly, she has grown them herself and they have grown true to type so I'm happy to use them. I have also purchased Tromboncino seeds from Running Brook seeds so I will be able to compare the different genetics of the same variety.
I have also managed to find some Ronde de Nice seeds, I've been told they are a great tasting favourite of a few friends of mine so I am excited to be growing them this year and saving their seeds!
I am germinating my second run of Cucurbita seeds now, C. moschata - Trombonchino, C. pepo - Ronde de Nice & Baby Bear , C. Maxima - Crown B.
How many plants are you growing for Genetic Diversity?
Recommendations
Genetic diversity (GD) - Cucurbita
Viable Seed - 1 plant
Variety Maintenance - 5-10 plants
Genetic Preservation - 25 plants
I'm aiming for about 10 really good plants of each variety that I want to save seeds from for this challenge.. I will keep planting seeds until I run out and hopefully I will have some nice strong plants to save seeds from.
I got my first packet of Tromboncino seeds from Kathy who grew them last year and had great success! So even though Kathy was not completely sure if these seeds were saved properly, she has grown them herself and they have grown true to type so I'm happy to use them. I have also purchased Tromboncino seeds from Running Brook seeds so I will be able to compare the different genetics of the same variety.
I have also managed to find some Ronde de Nice seeds, I've been told they are a great tasting favourite of a few friends of mine so I am excited to be growing them this year and saving their seeds!
I am germinating my second run of Cucurbita seeds now, C. moschata - Trombonchino, C. pepo - Ronde de Nice & Baby Bear , C. Maxima - Crown B.
20 October 21
I have lots of seedlings growing at different stages and more seeds germinating now too.. I have been frantically extending my garden beds and starting new ones, hoping to fit in more plants! I am going to try to grow a couple more varieties I can't help myself!
I have lots of seedlings growing at different stages and more seeds germinating now too.. I have been frantically extending my garden beds and starting new ones, hoping to fit in more plants! I am going to try to grow a couple more varieties I can't help myself!
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25 October 21
I decided to wait until my moon clock recommends planting before I plant any out.. I will continue to plant all of the seeds that I have for all the varieties I want to save seeds from so that I get the best possible choice for nice strong plants. I am considering over planting too, so that if a few plants struggle I can take them out..
I decided to wait until my moon clock recommends planting before I plant any out.. I will continue to plant all of the seeds that I have for all the varieties I want to save seeds from so that I get the best possible choice for nice strong plants. I am considering over planting too, so that if a few plants struggle I can take them out..
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5 November 21
An absolutely stunning day here in Southland today and I am ready to start planting some of my Cucurbita. It's not quite the right time on my moon clock but the oldest plants Leaves were starting to yellow and it was the right time for me so in they went. I made the big trip to town yesterday and splashed out on a trailer load of compost and some pea straw lifted off the black plastic and the ground was nice and warm! Added a layer of compost and planted the first 8 plants of MANY! I think the dog might be getting some marrow in her dinners this year I am loving the root trainers and so are the plants! They are much happier than the ones in PB bags. I would like some better quality root trainers but I should get a few years out of these if I'm careful with them.
An absolutely stunning day here in Southland today and I am ready to start planting some of my Cucurbita. It's not quite the right time on my moon clock but the oldest plants Leaves were starting to yellow and it was the right time for me so in they went. I made the big trip to town yesterday and splashed out on a trailer load of compost and some pea straw lifted off the black plastic and the ground was nice and warm! Added a layer of compost and planted the first 8 plants of MANY! I think the dog might be getting some marrow in her dinners this year I am loving the root trainers and so are the plants! They are much happier than the ones in PB bags. I would like some better quality root trainers but I should get a few years out of these if I'm careful with them.
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Leila Macbeth
20 November 21
Composting for cucurbita - By Leila Macbeth
The poor Costata Romanesco have had a hard time in the wind. I've just had chicken mesh over them and a cloth slung over that. I made them a really rumply windbreak fence, hopefully the gales are done because it won't stand much of a chance.
The big plants are from my seed started in root trainers. I direct-sowed the commercial costata romanesco seed Jasmin sent me, so they should mature in time to cross pollinate but hopefully be behind enough to have zucchini coming on later.
I need loads of plants for seed saving, aside from the genetic diversity benefit, as soon as you leave a fruit on the plant it basically stops producing.
The pumpkins I planted out the front of my house were mostly killed by blackbirds while I was away, I've sowed more seeds there now but I have probably missed the boat this season.
20 November 21
Composting for cucurbita - By Leila Macbeth
The poor Costata Romanesco have had a hard time in the wind. I've just had chicken mesh over them and a cloth slung over that. I made them a really rumply windbreak fence, hopefully the gales are done because it won't stand much of a chance.
The big plants are from my seed started in root trainers. I direct-sowed the commercial costata romanesco seed Jasmin sent me, so they should mature in time to cross pollinate but hopefully be behind enough to have zucchini coming on later.
I need loads of plants for seed saving, aside from the genetic diversity benefit, as soon as you leave a fruit on the plant it basically stops producing.
The pumpkins I planted out the front of my house were mostly killed by blackbirds while I was away, I've sowed more seeds there now but I have probably missed the boat this season.
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23 November 21
I put blackbird protection over the pumpkins. Sticks won't actually stop them but makes it a lot harder to get a good scratch going.
I put blackbird protection over the pumpkins. Sticks won't actually stop them but makes it a lot harder to get a good scratch going.
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Jasmin Hill
23 November 21 Those pesky blackbirds have been digging up my fresh new gardens and my White Marrow's have been taking the brunt of it.. I laid rocks and pieces of wood around but those birds are going to town in this garden bed. I have decided to leave this garden for them to dig away in, I may lose my White Marrows but for the most part the birds are leaving the other garden beds alone.. |
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26 November 21
My new friend Tamsin has started buying truckloads of the most amazing organic compost and she is selling it on by the metre to gardeners around the area. I was around there yesterday picking up my first trailer load and wow it looks great! I decided to save my white marrows and I have filled up and packed in new fresh compost all around them and covered that with my lawn clippings.. so far the black birds have left them be :) .. I have also gone around each of my beds, lifted up the pea straw mulch and added more compost. Most of my Cucubita are looking good to average, there has been a bit of wind around lately and they really don't like the wind. I haven't been able to gimme up extra wind break.. I have a second run of plants that are still in the glasshouse that I will plant out in the gardens soon. It will be interesting to see the difference between the early and the late planting times.
My new friend Tamsin has started buying truckloads of the most amazing organic compost and she is selling it on by the metre to gardeners around the area. I was around there yesterday picking up my first trailer load and wow it looks great! I decided to save my white marrows and I have filled up and packed in new fresh compost all around them and covered that with my lawn clippings.. so far the black birds have left them be :) .. I have also gone around each of my beds, lifted up the pea straw mulch and added more compost. Most of my Cucubita are looking good to average, there has been a bit of wind around lately and they really don't like the wind. I haven't been able to gimme up extra wind break.. I have a second run of plants that are still in the glasshouse that I will plant out in the gardens soon. It will be interesting to see the difference between the early and the late planting times.
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Leila Macbeth
27 November 21 Things are happening with my Costata Romanesco! It's pretty unusual that the first flowers are female or that they would produce fruit. I usually get male flowers first. They better produce male flowers soon or these flowers won't be pollinated. |
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Russell Benington
28 November 2021
Spaghetti squash finally in the ground, where we ripped out a row of cherry trees. Also bottle gourds and sugar baby watermelons.
28 November 2021
Spaghetti squash finally in the ground, where we ripped out a row of cherry trees. Also bottle gourds and sugar baby watermelons.
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Jasmin Hill
5 December 2021
I am impressed with the Ronde de Nice so far they are strong looking plants. I still have more plants to go in next week sometime for a late planting.
5 December 2021
I am impressed with the Ronde de Nice so far they are strong looking plants. I still have more plants to go in next week sometime for a late planting.
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11 December 2021
I spent a beautiful day out in the garden today with my friend Niki, we achieved lots of much needed weed pulling! I also planted out the last of my Cucurbita plants. They are all starting to take off now, soon I will have more squash than I know what to do with! I'm excited to learn about hand pollinating, it's still a bit too early for me yet though.. the first Ronde de Nice squash are forming now, I have 8 plants growing for GD.. I will let them get nice and big before choosing which plants to sacrifice for growing the marrows to save seeds from. When you stop harvesting your zucchini and let one grow into a marrow then the plant will pretty much put all of it's energy into the seeds and not produce many more.
I spent a beautiful day out in the garden today with my friend Niki, we achieved lots of much needed weed pulling! I also planted out the last of my Cucurbita plants. They are all starting to take off now, soon I will have more squash than I know what to do with! I'm excited to learn about hand pollinating, it's still a bit too early for me yet though.. the first Ronde de Nice squash are forming now, I have 8 plants growing for GD.. I will let them get nice and big before choosing which plants to sacrifice for growing the marrows to save seeds from. When you stop harvesting your zucchini and let one grow into a marrow then the plant will pretty much put all of it's energy into the seeds and not produce many more.
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16 December 2021
The beautiful Ronde de Nice courgettes are fattening up, I'm looking forward to trying my first ones Soon to be inundated with gazillions of them! How's everyones Cucurbita going? I wonder what these will look like as marrows there has been some crazy winds the past few days here but my Cucurbita plants are holding up nicely, only a few damaged leaves. The blackbirds are doing the most damage with all of their digging, I am going to put some food out for them today to see if that stops the digging. |
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Hester Rose Jackson-Skizott
26 December 2021 Interesting to see that 1 of my 4 ronde de nice squash plants has different leaves to the other 3 - the leaves are similar to my plants last year whereas the others look more like standard zucchini/pumpkin. So far the embryonic fruit appear the same so I guess time will tell whether they’ve been cross pollinated or it’s just variation within the seed line. |
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Melissa Bradford
29 December 2021 Bagged my first pumpkin flower today. Now just have remember to pollinate it when it opens. |
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Troy Boyer
2 January 2022
Butternut squash (waltham), cucurbita moschata.
Hundreds of babies around, seen a few male flowers so time will tell what's set so far!
2 January 2022
Butternut squash (waltham), cucurbita moschata.
Hundreds of babies around, seen a few male flowers so time will tell what's set so far!
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Jasmin Hill
8 January 2022
Hand Pollinating Cucurbita flowers for Seed Saving! Pumpkin, Squash and Gourds.
I decided 2 days ago to head out to the garden to isolate a few of my Ronde de Nice squash flowers for our Seed Saving grow down. I have lots of different varieties of Cucurbita growing in my gardens so I definitely need to be isolating and hand pollinating to avoid cross pollination.
Yesterday was full of distractions and I couldn't get out to the garden to check on my flowers so I got out there this morning before the bees got to excited and I pollinated my first 2 flowers.
Cucurbita plants have both male and female flowers so you need to isolate both types of flowers before they open up, I used little organza bags..
My female flowers were filling up the bags ready for pollination. I clipped 2 of my isolated male flowers from 2 other plants of the same variety and removed the petals to expose the anther's that were covered in fresh pollen. I then opened up my isolated female flower and wiggled the anthers around on the stigma distributing the pollen all around the inside of the female parts. I then got some string and tied the flower closed and re-bagged it so no pollinators can get in there and mess with my freshly pollinated flowers.
8 January 2022
Hand Pollinating Cucurbita flowers for Seed Saving! Pumpkin, Squash and Gourds.
I decided 2 days ago to head out to the garden to isolate a few of my Ronde de Nice squash flowers for our Seed Saving grow down. I have lots of different varieties of Cucurbita growing in my gardens so I definitely need to be isolating and hand pollinating to avoid cross pollination.
Yesterday was full of distractions and I couldn't get out to the garden to check on my flowers so I got out there this morning before the bees got to excited and I pollinated my first 2 flowers.
Cucurbita plants have both male and female flowers so you need to isolate both types of flowers before they open up, I used little organza bags..
My female flowers were filling up the bags ready for pollination. I clipped 2 of my isolated male flowers from 2 other plants of the same variety and removed the petals to expose the anther's that were covered in fresh pollen. I then opened up my isolated female flower and wiggled the anthers around on the stigma distributing the pollen all around the inside of the female parts. I then got some string and tied the flower closed and re-bagged it so no pollinators can get in there and mess with my freshly pollinated flowers.
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Melissa Bradford
11 January 2022 Don't forget to remove your net bags, had to chop 2 off today . Was too busy at work last week to check on them. BTW both the pumpkins had grown to a point that they had split the bags so not really reusable at that point. |
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Jasmin Hill
11 January 2022 Out in the garden again this morning hand pollinating my Red Kuri, I found 3 perfect bagged male flowers that were ready to go and one female that was definitely ready! And all of them were from different plants :) |
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31 January 2022
I have isolated and hand pollinated 2 Ronde de Nice and one of them has survived and is growing beautifully!
I also hand pollinated 2 Red Kuri and both of them have taken
I still haven't been able to pollinate any Tromboncino unfortunately, there just haven't been any good male flowers to use.. and I've been very busy so I haven't been able to check every day.
I did isolate a White Marrow too but I can't seem to find my tag on any of the fruit so I will have anoter go at isolating this one again in the next couple of days.
I'm pretty happy with 2 good quality, good GD variteties of Cucurbita so far.. and hopefully I can get the White Marrow as well
I have another pumpkin I have isolated and hand pollinated too but my labeling went astray so I'm not sure what it is yet.. I think it's a Crown pumpkin.. we'll see when it gets older.
I have isolated and hand pollinated 2 Ronde de Nice and one of them has survived and is growing beautifully!
I also hand pollinated 2 Red Kuri and both of them have taken
I still haven't been able to pollinate any Tromboncino unfortunately, there just haven't been any good male flowers to use.. and I've been very busy so I haven't been able to check every day.
I did isolate a White Marrow too but I can't seem to find my tag on any of the fruit so I will have anoter go at isolating this one again in the next couple of days.
I'm pretty happy with 2 good quality, good GD variteties of Cucurbita so far.. and hopefully I can get the White Marrow as well
I have another pumpkin I have isolated and hand pollinated too but my labeling went astray so I'm not sure what it is yet.. I think it's a Crown pumpkin.. we'll see when it gets older.
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Leila Macbeth
7 February 2022
Powdery mildew experiment
The costata romanesco zucchini plants got powdery mildew (pm) ages ago and it’s not something I worry about too much-it generally turns up at the end of the season when plants are old, and stressed by lack of rain.
It’s arrived early this year-that’d be the no rain in January thing…
The mature plants are for seed, and as they’d all produced a giant marrow or two each they’d mostly long since stopped production.
I’ve had the odd zucchini to keep me going, and I have young plants just coming into production now.
7 February 2022
Powdery mildew experiment
The costata romanesco zucchini plants got powdery mildew (pm) ages ago and it’s not something I worry about too much-it generally turns up at the end of the season when plants are old, and stressed by lack of rain.
It’s arrived early this year-that’d be the no rain in January thing…
The mature plants are for seed, and as they’d all produced a giant marrow or two each they’d mostly long since stopped production.
I’ve had the odd zucchini to keep me going, and I have young plants just coming into production now.
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I was merrily ignoring the terrible pm when I suddenly clicked the melons which are right next to the zucchini will catch it, and I need them to last as long as possible to ripen my preciousss…
Yes this is my first ever time growing melons and I’m ridiculously pleased with them-I didn’t expect success in Lower Hutt! So I did a screeching u-turn on my casual attitude, and I made up a random foliar spray potion. |
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Into the foliar spray went:
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Sprayed on everything but unless the badly affected zucchini show lots of clean new growth I think it’s more about protecting things that are currently ‘clean’ or only just showing signs now.
I’ll make up batches every week or so, depending on how results go.
This is a live mixture and not something that can sit around.
Off topic but interesting to me…
I have costata romanesco seed from a couple of sources, and one has plain leaves, one silver patterns.
I’ve noticed that the plain-leafed one seems to have much worse pm. Any similar experiences?
I’ll save seed from all the plants this season but in the future I’ll start pulling super susceptible plants.
I’ll make up batches every week or so, depending on how results go.
This is a live mixture and not something that can sit around.
Off topic but interesting to me…
I have costata romanesco seed from a couple of sources, and one has plain leaves, one silver patterns.
I’ve noticed that the plain-leafed one seems to have much worse pm. Any similar experiences?
I’ll save seed from all the plants this season but in the future I’ll start pulling super susceptible plants.
Plain and patterned in happier times
Jasmin Hill
28 February 2022
I have 3 successful fruit ripening for seed saving! Way less than I would have liked but life has been crazy busy and I couldn’t find time to do a second run of hand pollinating.
I have two Red Kuri pumpkins, wow they are so beautiful and way bigger than I thought they would be.
I also have one successful Ronde de Nice.. the plant completely died so I bought it inside.
I’m feeling a little bit lucky this year so fingers crossed because today I hand pollinated 5 more flowers to see if I have enough time for them to mature..
White Marrow x2, Yellow crookneck, Trombonchio and another Ronde de Nice.
Sometimes, randomly we get a really late season here in Southland.. It started quite late so I am hoping for another 4-6 weeks of nice ish weather. I also cut off any other fruit that were on the same branch to give my pollinated fruit as much energy as possible. I will fertilise them all tomorrow with some liquid kelp and my home made greens Fert to give them a little boost.
28 February 2022
I have 3 successful fruit ripening for seed saving! Way less than I would have liked but life has been crazy busy and I couldn’t find time to do a second run of hand pollinating.
I have two Red Kuri pumpkins, wow they are so beautiful and way bigger than I thought they would be.
I also have one successful Ronde de Nice.. the plant completely died so I bought it inside.
I’m feeling a little bit lucky this year so fingers crossed because today I hand pollinated 5 more flowers to see if I have enough time for them to mature..
White Marrow x2, Yellow crookneck, Trombonchio and another Ronde de Nice.
Sometimes, randomly we get a really late season here in Southland.. It started quite late so I am hoping for another 4-6 weeks of nice ish weather. I also cut off any other fruit that were on the same branch to give my pollinated fruit as much energy as possible. I will fertilise them all tomorrow with some liquid kelp and my home made greens Fert to give them a little boost.
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23 March 2022
I have been fermenting my first Ronde de Nice seeds, we have thoroughly enjoyed eating them! I hand pollinated 2 fruit early in summer but only this one survived so a few weeks ago I decided to do a late hand pollination to try to get some more seeds and some more genetic Diversity. I'm so glad I did this because there is not a huge number of viable seeds in this one and as I wished for a late summer, my wish has been granted and my second zucchini is growing beautifully.
I have been fermenting my first Ronde de Nice seeds, we have thoroughly enjoyed eating them! I hand pollinated 2 fruit early in summer but only this one survived so a few weeks ago I decided to do a late hand pollination to try to get some more seeds and some more genetic Diversity. I'm so glad I did this because there is not a huge number of viable seeds in this one and as I wished for a late summer, my wish has been granted and my second zucchini is growing beautifully.
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26 March 2022
It's been 3 days and I can definitely smell the fermentation has started. I gave them a good stir up to break away the pulp from the seeds. There's a few floating that I scooped out, I had lots of immature seeds too.. I don't think this is the best example for seed saving but there's still quite a few good seeds here and I still have another Ronde de Nice ripening in the garden that I hand pollinated late.
It's been 3 days and I can definitely smell the fermentation has started. I gave them a good stir up to break away the pulp from the seeds. There's a few floating that I scooped out, I had lots of immature seeds too.. I don't think this is the best example for seed saving but there's still quite a few good seeds here and I still have another Ronde de Nice ripening in the garden that I hand pollinated late.
Silvia Mellen - Momel
27 March 2022
My first time growing butternut and it hasn't gone well at all :( Things I have learned: sow seeds later than Labour weekend, Wellington is still cold. Build some sort of wind barrier and water more often. I have one small and lonely butternut, all the other plants have died or are about to now thanks to mildew. Even the strawberry corn is tiny!
27 March 2022
My first time growing butternut and it hasn't gone well at all :( Things I have learned: sow seeds later than Labour weekend, Wellington is still cold. Build some sort of wind barrier and water more often. I have one small and lonely butternut, all the other plants have died or are about to now thanks to mildew. Even the strawberry corn is tiny!
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Melissa Bradford
2 April 2022
My Jarradale, it only has that squashed bit in the middle coz I forgot to take the mesh bag off it soon enough and had to cut it off. I got all excited and thought I was harvesting my first hand pollinate pumpkin. The stem in the circle is dead… but it died after the pumpkin. The otherside is still perfect green, so hopefully it will get a bit bigger.
2 April 2022
My Jarradale, it only has that squashed bit in the middle coz I forgot to take the mesh bag off it soon enough and had to cut it off. I got all excited and thought I was harvesting my first hand pollinate pumpkin. The stem in the circle is dead… but it died after the pumpkin. The otherside is still perfect green, so hopefully it will get a bit bigger.
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These are my Cucurbita for seed saving .. today I am making Cucurbita soup with the all the damaged ones that won't store well, and I thought I would open up my second Ronde de Nice to ferment some more seeds. Sadly there are very few mature seeds in this one, I have counted 19 that might be ok, I have definitely opened this one up way to early! :( I will grow them again next season for seed saving, I plan to have only one of each species next season so that I don't need to worry about hand pollinating and I will also have a lot more fruit to choose from to keep for seed saving.
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15 June 2022
Today I decided to cut into my Trombonchino to see what seeds I might have inside.. These were the only C. moschata I had growing in my gardens and I'm fairly sure my neighbours were not growing any C. moschata squash so I am quite happy to believe they were not cross pollinated.. but alas.. they were barely pollinated at all! Out of these three nice mature fruit I have maybe half a dozen seeds that look big enough to possibly be viable.. total fail. I did notice while they were growing that very few of them were being pollinated because there just weren't any male flowers on any of the plants.. I had about 8-10 plants growing for genetic diversity but there really wasn't many male flowers at all.. no wonder these had no seeds.
Today I decided to cut into my Trombonchino to see what seeds I might have inside.. These were the only C. moschata I had growing in my gardens and I'm fairly sure my neighbours were not growing any C. moschata squash so I am quite happy to believe they were not cross pollinated.. but alas.. they were barely pollinated at all! Out of these three nice mature fruit I have maybe half a dozen seeds that look big enough to possibly be viable.. total fail. I did notice while they were growing that very few of them were being pollinated because there just weren't any male flowers on any of the plants.. I had about 8-10 plants growing for genetic diversity but there really wasn't many male flowers at all.. no wonder these had no seeds.
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29 June 2022
Who would have thought that growing Pumpkins for Seed Saving would be so challenging! But finally I have had some success!! Woohoo go Red Kuri
Today I decided to open up my Red Kuri seed pumpkins and I was excited to find lots of nicely developed seeds. I Popped them in a jar to ferment with a little water for a few days.
Who would have thought that growing Pumpkins for Seed Saving would be so challenging! But finally I have had some success!! Woohoo go Red Kuri
Today I decided to open up my Red Kuri seed pumpkins and I was excited to find lots of nicely developed seeds. I Popped them in a jar to ferment with a little water for a few days.
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4 July 2022
My seeds floated in their fermenting jar, I was hoping to see them all sink to the bottom as I know that seeds that is what viable seeds tend to do.. but it turns out that's not always the case. Even though it is a great initial test, the real test is in a germination test which I tried when they were still wet from fermentation.. I tested with 4 seeds and had a 50% (2 out of 4) success rate. that's not too bad, I will do another test again from dried seeds.
My seeds floated in their fermenting jar, I was hoping to see them all sink to the bottom as I know that seeds that is what viable seeds tend to do.. but it turns out that's not always the case. Even though it is a great initial test, the real test is in a germination test which I tried when they were still wet from fermentation.. I tested with 4 seeds and had a 50% (2 out of 4) success rate. that's not too bad, I will do another test again from dried seeds.
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12 July 2022
Today I cracked open my last Cucurbita for seed saving..
the big fat White Marrow, C pepo.
I only managed to hand pollinate one good fruit from my patch of White Marrow plants, there were about 6 plants in total and I managed to get 2 perfect male flowers to pollinate this ladies flower. I was impressed at how fast these grew and how prolific the plants were! I have had a medium success with this one, it looks like I'll get 20 or 30 nice seeds.. enough seeds to go towards another seed saving effort.
Today I cracked open my last Cucurbita for seed saving..
the big fat White Marrow, C pepo.
I only managed to hand pollinate one good fruit from my patch of White Marrow plants, there were about 6 plants in total and I managed to get 2 perfect male flowers to pollinate this ladies flower. I was impressed at how fast these grew and how prolific the plants were! I have had a medium success with this one, it looks like I'll get 20 or 30 nice seeds.. enough seeds to go towards another seed saving effort.
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Cucurbita Grow Down Participants
Jasmin Hill
C. moschata -
Tromboncino squash (Running Brook Seeds)
C. maxima -
Crown B (Barry Malsen)
Red Kuri (SSL)
C. pepo -
Ronde de Nice (Unknown source)
Yellow crookneck (Running Brook Seeds)
White Marrow (Running Brook Seeds)
C. moschata -
Tromboncino squash (Running Brook Seeds)
C. maxima -
Crown B (Barry Malsen)
Red Kuri (SSL)
C. pepo -
Ronde de Nice (Unknown source)
Yellow crookneck (Running Brook Seeds)
White Marrow (Running Brook Seeds)
Alice Le Brun
C. maxima - Jarahdale, Turks Turban & Triamble
C. moschata - Musquee de Provence & Honeynut
C. pepo - Small sugar
C. maxima - Jarahdale, Turks Turban & Triamble
C. moschata - Musquee de Provence & Honeynut
C. pepo - Small sugar
Andrea Graham
Species -
Species -
Brooke Thomas
C. maxima - Buttercup pumpkin (Koanga)
C. maxima - Buttercup pumpkin (Koanga)
Donna Fowles
Site #1
C. maxima - Red Kuri (Koanga)
C. moschata - Walthams butternut (Seed Library)
C. pepo - Cocozelle bush (Koanga)
Site #2
C. maxima - Crown kuri (Koanga)
C. moschata - Butternut (Koanga)
C. pepo - Austrian hulless (Koanga)
Site #1
C. maxima - Red Kuri (Koanga)
C. moschata - Walthams butternut (Seed Library)
C. pepo - Cocozelle bush (Koanga)
Site #2
C. maxima - Crown kuri (Koanga)
C. moschata - Butternut (Koanga)
C. pepo - Austrian hulless (Koanga)
Eleanor Machiela
C. moschata - Butternut (Koanga)
C. pepo - Kamokamo (Koanga)
C. moschata - Butternut (Koanga)
C. pepo - Kamokamo (Koanga)
Ella Pick
C. pepo - Cocozelle (Setha's seeds)
C. pepo - Cocozelle (Setha's seeds)
Fiona Moorhouse
Varieties -
Varieties -
Hazel Vickers
C. pepo - Cocozelle (Kings seeds)
C. pepo - Cocozelle (Kings seeds)
Hester Rose Jackson-Skizott
C. pepo - Ronde de nice
C. moschata - Musquée de Provence
C. pepo - Ronde de nice
C. moschata - Musquée de Provence
Joyce Berg
C. pepo - African Gem squash (Kings Seeds)
C. pepo - African Gem squash (Kings Seeds)
Louise Margaret Va'auli
C. pepo - Kamo kamo (85 year old heritage seed from Ursula Patterson Ellis)
C. pepo - Kamo kamo (85 year old heritage seed from Ursula Patterson Ellis)
Melissa Burbery
C. moschata - Musquée de Provence
C. moschata - Musquée de Provence
Melissa Bradford
C. maxima -
Orange Dawn squash
Marina di Chioggia
Jarrahdale
Turks Turban
C. moschata -
Butternut Rugosa
Long Island Cheese
Musquee de Provence
C. pepo -
Small sugar
Baby bear
Striato D'Italia
C. maxima -
Orange Dawn squash
Marina di Chioggia
Jarrahdale
Turks Turban
C. moschata -
Butternut Rugosa
Long Island Cheese
Musquee de Provence
C. pepo -
Small sugar
Baby bear
Striato D'Italia
MJ Winter
C. pepo - Black Beauty (Kings seeds)
C. pepo - Black Beauty (Kings seeds)
Momel Momo
C. moschata - Waltham Butternut (Kings seeds)
C. moschata - Waltham Butternut (Kings seeds)
Troy Boyer
Butternut Waltham Pumpkin- C. moschata
Butternut Waltham Pumpkin- C. moschata
Roxy Hart
C. pepo - Cocozelle
Ronde de Nice
Austrian oil seed
C. maxima - Buttercup
C. moschata - Butternut chucks winter
Musquée de Provence
C. pepo - Cocozelle
Ronde de Nice
Austrian oil seed
C. maxima - Buttercup
C. moschata - Butternut chucks winter
Musquée de Provence
Russel Benington
C. pepo - Spaghetti squash
C. argyrosperma - Bottle Gourds
C. pepo - Spaghetti squash
C. argyrosperma - Bottle Gourds
Vesna King
C. pepo - Cocozelle (Setha's seeds)
C. maxima - Golden Hubbard (Grow Yours)
C. moschata - Waltham Butternut (Grow Yours)
C. pepo - Cocozelle (Setha's seeds)
C. maxima - Golden Hubbard (Grow Yours)
C. moschata - Waltham Butternut (Grow Yours)