Cucurbit growing 2017

[sparrow100]

Uchiki Kuri (aka Potimarron)

I've only found out late last year, but they aren't the same squash. They are both forms of red kuri and look very similar, but Potimarrons are apparently a different strain with slightly larger fruits than Uchiki Kuri.

[Guest]

All my curcubits from MoreVeg say sow mid April onwards... - am I missing something with people saying they have sown already?

Melons need a long growing season. Also the fruit is best picked ripe from the plant. The flavour suffers if picked then left to ripen should the weather go bad.

Most of my seed is American and they say to sow 4-6 weeks before last frost date It is all a bit of trail and error in this country

[Thelma Sanders]

I've only found out late last year, but they aren't the same squash. They are both forms of red kuri and look very similar, but Potimarrons are apparently a different strain with slightly larger fruits than Uchiki Kuri.

That's interesting, where did you find that info, can you remember?

[Jay-ell]

So I've been sorting througn my seeds to decide which to grow.

Courgettes it's going to be Romanesco, had the best results from that last year.

I'm goint to grow Tromboncino. It started fruiting later than the Romanesco so can kick in to full flow after the romanesco has finished. I'm also thinking about where to plant these - they are great climbers so I'm thinking that I plant them next top the hedge and allow them to climb up it, they should poke their flowers out to the sun and hopefully not too many fruits will be hidded in the spiky rip your skin off hedge

Also thinking about putting some sweet dumpling and Little Gem squash in the hedge (do these climb OK) to see how they do. They have smaller fruit and might need hunting for as they're green rather than orange.

The competition pumpkin will be the same as last year - Atlantic Giant but only a couple of plants.

For winter squash I'm still indecisive as to which to choose, I've got Turks Turban, Jack O Lantern, Rouge vif d'Etampes and Uchiki Kuri - I think all of these are too big to climb the hedge Anyone have any ideas as to the best producers out of these 4?

I've also got Waltham Butternut which i a climber so that hedge is looking really busy right now (it's about 90' long on the North East side although I underplanted some with comfrey last year.)

Cucumbers I have Marketmore and Piccolo Di Parigi, which is a pickler. I've also got cucamelon seeds as the stored roots rotted away - these are for pickling as well.

Then There's cantaloup Charentis and Sugar Baby water melon. Going to give melons one more try (my first try gave 2 lovely sugar baby melons but I've had nothing else with the other attempts) - I'm going to sow these sooner than the rest as they takje Sooo long.

[Jungle Jane]

I sow individually into 3l pots in the conservatory.

Is that meant to be sow seed in 3 inch pots,3 litre pots are a bit big I would of thought? I water from below after germination,just have the pots on a tray & put a little bit of water in the tray,not loads just enough so that it's all gone in a few minutes if after five minutes there's water still in the tray pour it out. Any wetness in the bottom of the compost will be taken up by the roots,the stem & top of compost always staying dry.
I've got two melon "Malaga" on the go now started under my fish tank light,they're staying in my house next to the patio door. Also sowing soon-melon emir & watermelon sugar baby a couple of these might stay in the house too. I haven't had very good luck with melons outside,one got eaten by slugs when I went on holiday & other plants I've grown don't like our weather & stop growing,I've never eaten a home grown melon,I think people that have should be congratulated it's the most difficult thing in the world! Cucumbers are cucino & la diva again,they both do well outside in my raised bed. Here's a photo of the melon Malaga plants today~

[Chris11]

Like NG and Penellype, All Green Bush is my mainstay courgette.
It was the first courgette I ever grew so I use it as a benchmark now to compare other varieties.

[sparrow100]

That's interesting, where did you find that info, can you remember?

Nope - I will have a look back through my notes though. It came from a few sources as snippets in bigger articles, as much of this kind of stuff tends to, that I have then forwarded with a request for confirmation. So perhaps I am being a bit previous about saying they are 2 strains - but that would seem likely. This is one of them, which is from a Telegraph article in 2012 and was very easily re-found:

'The red onion squash, 'Uchiki Kuri’, is sometimes known as the orange hokkaido squash. It also crops well, even in cool summers, and in a hot season will produce eight fruits per plant. On average, fruits weigh just over 2lb, a good size for one meal.

'Kuri’ is Japanese for chestnut and 'Potimarron’ (another red kuri) means “chestnut pumpkin” in French. They are similar to each other, but 'Potimarron’ produces larger fruits of roughly 3lb each, but perhaps the flavour is not quite as good.'

Maybe we should grow them side by side and see what the differences are, if any, for ourselves?

[maverick451]

Is that meant to be sow seed in 3 inch pots,3 litre pots are a bit big I would of thought? I water from below after germination,just have the pots on a tray & put a little bit of water in the tray,not loads just enough so that it's all gone in a few minutes if after five minutes there's water still in the tray pour it out. Any wetness in the bottom of the compost will be taken up by the roots,the stem & top of compost always staying dry.

I did mine 3 litre pots, I dont like to transfer cucumbers so start them off in big pots and only water around the seedling and then from underneath.

[Thelma Sanders]

Thanks!
I've never grown them side by side, but never noticed a difference between the 2 types grown in different years, IYKWIM that's why I was surprised LOL

[polc1410]

All my curcubits from MoreVeg say sow mid April onwards... - am I missing something with people saying they have sown already?

Melons need a long growing season. Also the fruit is best picked ripe from the plant. The flavour suffers if picked then left to ripen should the weather go bad.

Most of my seed is American and they say to sow 4-6 weeks before last frost date It is all a bit of trail and error in this country

So I consider my risk of Frost to be mid May, so 4 weeks is reasonable for me.

The MoreVeg pack says harvest at 10-11 weeks if I recall correctly. If I assume I don't sow till end of April (I'm forgetful) That would only need till the End of July... I'm hoping the weather hasn't take a turn by then!

I've tried growing Curcurbits earlier and while I can get them germinated they really really really don't like being in a poly tunnel when it gets nippy and they get big fast. If I sew them now they will be too big for a windowsil by the end of April and I know I will get a sneaky frost at some point in May.

[Scoot]

I only grow courgettte's. All green bush variety. This year im going to sow one this month and then another in june to see if I can extend the courgette season.

[Snoop Puss]

Squashes are a bit of a weakness. My draft list looks silly, but I think it will all fit. Just. Some varieties might get swapped over, but here it is:
Baby Blue Hubbard, Black Futsu*, Chirimen, Cornell’s Delicata, Flat White Boer*, Japanese Pie*, Potimarron*, Shishigatani, Sibleys, Sucrette* (grown for HSL seed guardian scheme), Thelma Sanders*, Tonda Padana, Upper Ground Sweet Potato*, Whangaparoa Crown*, Waltham Butternut, Yokohama. PLUS first ever attempt at a Giant Pumpkin for entry into the site’s biggest pumpkin compy. Watch out Ruth…(mwah hahahahaha). Anything with a * is for seed saving this year, given I pretty much hand pollinate all the female flowers.

Having read that lot, I think I can afford to own up to mine!

Black Futsu, Marina de Chioggia, Galeux d'Eysines and two butternuts, Hunter and Chieftain (to see if I can tell the difference!).

As for when to sow them, I once read (possibly on here?) that cucurbits don't do well if they get pot bound. But I do like to sow them a bit earlier than recommended because they take a while and, if you're really lucky and have a late first frost, you might get a second flush of squash flowers and fruit. So, try a bigger pot than you might expect, keep them warm at night and transplant with care (bigger pots aren't so easy).

[Penellype]

Apart fro 1 cucumber which I will sow next week to go in the greenhouse, I will not be sowing mine until mid April.

I sow cucumbers 1 to a 9cm pot and courgettes 2 to a 9cm pot and transplant them into individual pots when they have 1 true leaf. I haven't had any problems with transplanting them.

[Chris11]

Have sown a few courgette seeds in small pots in basic heated propagator.

It's still quite early, so I've just started with a few old seeds that may or may not germinate.

[Snowwhyte]

I've only been gardening a few years but squash are my favourite things to grow since they are easy and productive. I just sowed everything today. I'm doing green bush courgettes, sunstripe courgettes, a random green courgette, fruit rond courgette, trombocino, sunburst patty pan, golden crookneck, Autumn crown, Waltham butternut, Hunter butternut, Jack o lantern pumpkin, random other pumpkin, cucamelon and zeina cucumber. I might have gone a bit overboard. Last year I did green and yellow courgettes, patty pan, trombocino and a butternut squash. The rest are new.