I've created a new variety

[Dorothy rouse]

Think I've created a 'new variety!' I planted Crown Prince and Patty pan squash, had harvests fro both, and then between the two this plant grew, bearing 3 'fruit'!

Should I let Monty know?

[veggiechicken]

Looks like either a Crown Pan or a Patty Prince to me

[TrixC]

For it to be a cross it would have had to grow from a seed from one of the ripe squashes, off either parent plant. Squashes cross very easily, I grow lots of different ones and normally have several random crosses popping up on my compost heap.

[Mr Bones]

Nice one Dotty, taste it before you cook it though, crosses can sometimes be quite bitter.

[Zelenina]

Very interesting Dotty. The one in the middle does look as if it could be from a cross between the other two. But don't get too excited because there are several things that don't tally with that explanation.

First, as TrixC said, the only way you could get a cross between those two varieties this year is if you grew the same two varieties near each other in a previous year and saved and planted the seeds.

Second, squashes do cross very easily if they are the same species, but your two varieties are different species. Crown Prince is Cucurbita maxima and Patty Pan is Cucurbita pepo. I've read that it is possible for them to cross but I don't think it happens very often.

Third, even with a cross it wouldn't be possible to have all three different kinds of fruit on the same plant. The one on the left looks exactly like a Crown Prince and the one on the right looks exactly like a Patty Pan. You can see that their stalks are different too which shows they are different species. There's no blending of the genes from the two varieties. The one in the middle is interesting because it's different from both, though it seems to have the C. pepo type of stalk.

If you still have the plant, I suggest you carefully trace its vines to the roots to find out if it really is all one plant. It seems more likely to me that the vines from three different plants went astray and got mixed up with each other. Or possibly two or three seeds got accidentally planted together. Also see if the leaves look the same on all of the vines. Post a photo of it here if you can.

But what about the middle one? It has a C. pepo type of stalk and could be the result of a cross of the Patty Pan in the seed producer's field or garden, though more likely a cross with another pepo variety rather than Crown Prince.

Or it could be a stray seed of a different variety that ended up in the wrong packet. It happens quite often. And there are a few white varieties that look similar e.g. Casper.

[Dorothy rouse]

Wow, thank you for all the info.

It wasn't saved seed, 2 new packets of seed this year, planted next to each other, and ordinary courgette, and unfortunately I have now pulled up what was left of the plants, and cleared the ground.

So maybe we will never know, I will post a photo when I cut the 'new variety' up, but as you say could have been a stray seed.