Seeds from shop bought Butternut Squash

[lozza_9]

Evening all

Just cooking dinner and having a butternut squash and just taken the seeds out.

Can I use these seeds to grow my own? is so whats the process?

or will they not work and should I just buy new seeds from the shops.

Cheers
Loz

[veg4681]

The problem with using seeds from bought vegetables is that you don't always know the variety and whether it's a F1 hybrid. More likely they're going to be F1 which means the seeds will not be much use as the veg won't be true to type, possibly mongrel looking even. If you have enough space in your garden to experiment growing them by all means go ahead just to see what it turns out . To use the seeds, clean them and just let them dry off.

[bobleponge]

Lozza, a lot of people wont use seeds from shop bought stuff as you never quite now what you're going to get.
I always save seeds from things and give them a go, just to try. To dry the seeds, I simply clean off as much flesh as possible and put them onto tissue paper for a few days, until they are dry. Remove them and put them into clean tissue, into a labeled envelope and stick them with the rest of your seeds in the fridge. Good luck

[lozza_9]

thats what I was worried about.

I think I will try a few from the shop bought squash and buy a packet of seeds.

thanks for the responses

Loz

[vegnut]

If you do use the seeds, then leave them in a cup of water overnight. The floating ones you throw away and the sunken ones should all germinate. It doesn't matter what they turn out like, they should all be edible.

[Phreddy]

Evening all Can I use these seeds to grow my own? is so whats the process? or will they not work and should I just buy new seeds from the shops. Cheers Loz

Hi Loz,
This is what people have been doing for-ever or at least until someone invented 'seedsmen' and made it all complicated and mysterious. So plant and see. It is what I have done in Bulgaria for the last two years and will do again this year. Not been disappointed yet
The problem (I) is only if you want to produce 'exactly' that variety and would be unhappy with one similar but not the same.
Cross polination could lead to your squash being slightly different. Chances are that it grew in a field with zillions of others and they have all crossed and are all the same as the original.
Problem (2) is if F1 seed was used you could be disappointed.
If that happens, I will send you some seed next year from one of the many varieties I am growing this year.

[smallblueplanet]

If you do use the seeds, then leave them in a cup of water overnight. The floating ones you throw away and the sunken ones should all germinate. It doesn't matter what they turn out like, they should all be edible.

Useful tip. One of the reasons I hesitate to try to grow 'shop bought' veg seed, is as you say 'they should all be edible'; is it possible to grow inedible fruit from edible fruit seed, or just fruit that tastes different to the original?

[Farmer_Gyles]

last year i planted seeds from shop bought butternut squash - the plants grew (only 2 of them), but no fruits - could have been something i did wrong as i was a beginner and didn't really know what i was doing??

[veg4681]

Hi Loz,
This is what people have been doing for-ever or at least until someone invented 'seedsmen' and made it all complicated and mysterious. So plant and see. It is what I have done in Bulgaria for the last two years and will do again this year. Not been disappointed yet
The problem (I) is only if you want to produce 'exactly' that variety and would be unhappy with one similar but not the same.
Cross polination could lead to your squash being slightly different. Chances are that it grew in a field with zillions of others and they have all crossed and are all the same as the original.
Problem (2) is if F1 seed was used you could be disappointed.
If that happens, I will send you some seed next year from one of the many varieties I am growing this year.

Agree with you on that about the emergence of seeds trademans that we should only buy from them . I guess cross-pollination between two different variety of butternut squash can't be that disasterous, take one big size and the other a baby size = medium size. What would you get if you cross pollinate a Turks Turban squash with a Butternut squash ?

[bobleponge]

Squashed Turks nuts?

[veg4681]

Squashed Turks nuts?

I knew somone would give up with something rude but made me laugh just the same. I had my own ideas of what it would look like, you know a tall one .

[bluemoon]

I kept the seeds from a shop bought pumpkin that I carved for Hallowe'en with my grandson. The plan is to let him sow them to grow this year's. Don't know what will happen, but I have this notion that if we select seeds from the biggest each year then he'll always have a pumpkin originating with that first one and that as he gets bigger his pumpkins will increase in size along with him - you develop these mad ideas when grandkids come along, just ignore me.

[jeannine]

That's a great idea Bluemoon - might try that with the nephew!

Re butternut squash in particular though, it's notoriously tricky to get a good crop in the UK unless you plant them really early under cover and choose a variety that is bred to mature early.

If you have the room it might be worth a try, but I'd be tempted to err on the side of caution and buy seeds of a variety that is suited to our climate and bred to mature early, as you'll be going to all the effort of planting and watering for months and may not get anything to show for all your trouble.

[lozza_9]

If you do use the seeds, then leave them in a cup of water overnight. The floating ones you throw away and the sunken ones should all germinate. It doesn't matter what they turn out like, they should all be edible.

Cheers Vegnnut,

Placed them all in water, been a few hours now and they all seem to be floating

well atleast it saved me wasting my time of them. Will wait till tongiht and see if they approve but not holding out much hope to be honest

Loz

[vegnut]

Your welcome Guy's, although i must admit, i never thought of using that method on chilli seeds. So nice one piskieinboots. As far as i'm aware, there aren't any poisonous squashes that have ever been used in the production of what we all now buy as seeds, that is F1 or otherwise. So, any that we save will be edible, depending on the strain is wether it's palatable or not. My guess is, they will all be reasonably good, but some will be sweeter than others etc etc.
Don't give up yet lozza 9, they take a fair while to sink, in some cases 24 hours.
As for last years Squashes. You can definately blame the weather in 2007, to wet and to cold to get a decent crop. So dont get despondent, grow some more this year, just in case we get a good summer ( i don't believe i just said that)