Any Squash, Pumpkin Experts? Results and Pics Added

JaneG · Post by **JaneG** » Jul 27, 2007 11:52 am

I have a mystery plant growing in my garden. It was a volunteer that came up right at the edge of the garden. When it was young I recognized by the leaves that it was some type of squash/gourd/pumpkin so I let it go.

Now it's HUGE!!! The vines have gone 16 feet and are still crawling across the garden, crushing the pepper and tomato plants in it's path. It has fruit that is a foot in diameter, starting out light green and turning dark green. It's heavily grooved like a pumpkin, and now I guess it's a pumpkin. But I don't know how. I've had volunteer squash grow from seeds that were thrown out from squash I cooked. But I've never grown pumpkin here so I don't know where the seed came from. In my garden at the old house I grew pumpkins one year, but they never grew like this monster!

So here's the question . . . do pumpkins get very dark green before turning orange in the fall? Is there any other very large squash/gourd/pumpkin-type plant this could be?

When it stops raining I'll take some pics and post them.

***EDIT - PICS ADDED***

pretends_to_garden · Post by **pretends_to_garden** » Aug 01, 2007 11:39 am

I'm not an expert, but they look kinda like acorn squash.

Theresa

JaneG · Post by **JaneG** » Aug 01, 2007 1:28 pm

Hi Theresa! Yes, in the picture these look kind of like acorn squash. However, I planted acorn squash and they are doing great, but are in another part of the garden.

Although the picture doesn't show it, these are about 4 times as big as an acorn squash.

At this point I'm pretty confident they are pumpkins due to the size and the heavy ribbing on them. Just have to wait and see if they change color.

newtohosta-no more · Post by **newtohosta-no more** » Aug 01, 2007 8:22 pm

The first pic looked a bit like an acorn squash, but if they are that much bigger then I vote for a pumpkin. You'll know come late September into October!

party_music50 · Post by **party_music50** » Aug 10, 2007 5:46 am

Since it's a volunteer, it could be even be an acornkin squash. ;^) (the result of cucurbits that cross-pollinated in your garden last year)

There are many sites with detailed info regarding which cucurbits can cross, but I found this to provide the simplest explanation:
http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/hortnews ... sspol.html

JaneG · Post by **JaneG** » Aug 10, 2007 11:23 am

Interesting . . . . I could come up with something entirely different, huh? I've had various squash here in the past, so perhaps.

Right now, a few of them are beginning to get a peachy-orange cast to them, so I'm pretty sure I'll end up with pumkins, or some odd cross-breed of pumpkins . . . pumpcumbers, quashkins, or some such oddity!!

Thanks Party Music!!

eastwood2007 · Post by **eastwood2007** » Sep 11, 2007 10:36 am

Maybe it's a cucumpkin...

JaneG · Post by **JaneG** » Sep 11, 2007 11:07 am

They are big and orange, so whatever it is, there is some pumpkin in it!

Violet_Skies · Post by **Violet_Skies** » Sep 17, 2007 11:24 am

Very cool, Jane! I had a monster squash plant develop from my compost bin this year, it quickly grew all around it and up and over it, hiding it nicely and it was very pretty. It turned out to be buttercup squash, yum! I have only the vaguest memory of having bought some of that at the farmers market last year, I guess I threw the guts into the compost. I am surprised that I would have thrown the seeds in, since we generally roast and eat them...but one must have escaped. It was a beautiful end to a generally disappointing gardening year since we had drought and then flooding here this summer.

A peek at a growing mystery (at the time):

The eventual mystery solved:

What do your pumpkorn squash look like now...?

JaneG · Post by **JaneG** » Oct 22, 2007 4:59 pm

Violet, yours are so cute!!

Well, I'm pretty sure I ended up with a cross between an acorn squash and a pumpkin. They are the shape of acorn squash (but 3 times as big) and started out deep green like acorn squash, but then slowly turned speckled and then orange.

Here is a picture of both. The acorn squash on the left is one that I planted in the garden. The one on the right is a young fruit on the volunteer vine. You can see they look similar with the dark green color and heavy ribbing, but size is different.

I picked 11 of them this weekend to place in the gardens and around the house for autumn decoration. Here are picture of two of them, one a bat and one a spider. DH made the wooden shapes and put nails in them to stick into pumpkins. Cute, huh? The problem with them is that the blossom end is pointy like an acorn squash, not rounded and 'tucked in' like a pumpkin, so they don't stand up.

eastwood2007 · Post by **eastwood2007** » Oct 23, 2007 12:02 am

Those are great, Jane!

nanny_56 · Post by **nanny_56** » Oct 24, 2007 9:41 am

Love the bat!!! Very cute!