So what do I do with this monster (random squash)?

[1Bee]

It was supposed to be a Crown Prince, but clearly isn't. I've had to harvest it because the slugs have bored the stalk, so I don't think it'll keep.

Oddly, I found another one just like this on a Vine post years old, and apparently it was too sweet and not too nice for eating, but I guess I'm going to find out.

Any tips on preventing this happening in future? I've grown CP with other curcurbits around before without issues. :-/

[Thelma Sanders]

Looks like CP to me, just one that didn't get very fat
For a lot of us it's been a bad year for squash, hopefully next year will be better

(My worst squash harvest for 9 years )

[Zelenina]

Hi 1Bee. Did you grow the plant from home-saved seed or from a seed company packet?

If it was from bought-in seed, you can sometimes be unlucky to get an off-type plant, or a stray seed of the wrong variety, or even a completely mislabelled packet. Or sometmes fruit doesn't develop the expected shape for environmental reasons e.g. unfavourable temperatures, lack of water or nutrients, or not being fully pollinated.

Growing other squash varieties around it could lead to cross-pollination. But that would only make a difference to the shape of the fruit on the next generation of plants, if you grew them from the crossed seeds that you saved. The present generation would not be affected, because in squash, like most plants, the form of the fruit and seeds is decided by the mother plant's genes. Corn is an exception to that.

If it was grown from home-saved seeds, then it's possible that some cross-pollination took place, and your squash is a new hybrid with a different shape from its parents. But that usually only happens with squash varieties from the same species. There are three main ones.

Crown Prince is Cucurbita maxima so you could grow it quite safely with C. pepo varieties (e.g. courgettes or delicatas or acorns ) and C. moschata varieties (e.g. butternuts or Musquee de Provence), and expect the seeds to be true to type. Although you need to watch what your neighbours are growing too.

But if you were growing it near other C. maxima varieties e.g. Blue or Pink Banana, Blue Ballet, Hokkaido, Red Kuri, buttercup or kabocha or hubbard types, and you wanted to save pure seeds, you would need to tape or bag the flowers and hand pollinate.

Another thing is that Crown Prince is described as an F1 hybrid by some suppliers. Others don't list it as a hybrid so I'm not sure if it's true. But if it is a hybrid, then seeds saved from it, even if not crossed with anything else, are likely to produce variable results, not necessarily like the parent plants.

[Thelma Sanders]

Zelenina, the chart I have from purdue university (find the pdf here)
https://api.ag.purdue.edu/api/depotw...hx?t=f&i=13891
says that c.maxima can cross with moschata

Cross pollination generally occurs only among members within the same species. However some crossing
between species occurs in the genus Cucurbita, among pumpkins, squash and gourds. C. pepo will
cross with C. mixta and C. moschata and C. maxima will cross with C. moschata. C. pepo will not cross
with C. maxima.

[1Bee]

That's really good info, thank you! I bought it as a plant, mail order, from a company I wasn't 100% happy with the rest of their order, so I suspect they've saved their own seed from a plant which had been cross-pollinated.

Next year I'm sowing my own, and I won't be seed saving.

Thelma, it's massive! Last time I grew CP, it was in large pots, so I only got a couple of small ones, but they were that classic squashed round shape of CP and the lovely blue shade. This one is much greener and hasn't developed that squashed shape, although it was still getting bigger quite recently.

[Lisasbolt]

It does look very similar to one of my blue hubbard´s. I was growing BH along side with spaghetti squash, crown prince and apparently muscled de provence which gave no fruit, my butternut which might as well done nothing. Then finally normal carving pumpkins that went mad and i had loads.

This was my supplier of most of my squash seeds and my BH SQUASH - BLUE HUBBARD - 40 SEEDS | eBay must say although normally very good i have had a few mislabeled seeds, but it is very hard to argue for the price you pay.

[Guest]

I currently an issue with moreveg. Guatemalan Blue that looks like a Blue Hubbard

[Small pumpkin]

Carve it for the vine pumpkin/squash carving competition at the end of the month
I don't know if there is a competition this year. You will have to ask one of the big bosses !
Probably not the sort of advice you were after......sorry

[1Bee]

I might just do that, Small Pumpkin - it should last that long, at least. Hmmm... *thinking*

[1Bee]

Heh, Lisasbolt! That really does look my squash! Interesting.... Thank you!