Sunday, January 24, 2016

Saving seed from Blue Hubbard squash

There are five families of cucurbits , The 5 families do not cross pollinate, but members within the sub family will. So it is necessary to recognize what family the squash belongs to and then only plant one of members. Separate different squash varieties in the same species by at least 1/2 mile to ensure purity. (Some crossing between C. mixta and C. moschata has been reported recently. If you plan to save the seed, pick one flower on the plant and hand pollinate. Make sure you cover it till it starts to develop fruit. Then mark it so you know this is the one to save for seed. The cucurbits are a family of vining plants that includes cucumbers, squash, pumpkins, watermelon, luffa, melons.and gourds All edible plants from this family are actually fruits, deriving from the ovary of a pollinated flower, even though we might call them a ‘vegetable.’Many of the plants contain separate male and female flow Cucurbita (Latin for gourd)] is a genus of herbaceous vine in the gourd family, Cucurbitaceae, also known as cucurbits, There are five domesticated species are Cucurbita argyrosperma, C. ficifolia, C. maxima, C. moschata, and C. pepo. All of these can be treated as winter squash because the full-grown fruits can be stored for months; however, C. pepo includes some cultivars that are better used only as summer squash. The hobard falls in the Cucurbit maxima family whish includes Buttercup Banana Golden Delicious Atlantic Giant Hubbard Turban marrows Cucurbita maxima varieties with large, hairy leaves, long vines and soft, hairy stems Cucurbita mixta varieties with large, hairy leaves, long vines and hard, hairy stems and include the cushaws Cucurbita moschata varieties similar to C. mixta with flaring stems at the fruit and large, green sepals surrounding the flowers and include: butternuts Cucurbita pepo varieties with prickly stems and leaves with a hard, five-angled stem and include: acorn squashes, cocozelles, pumpkins, crooknecks, scallops, spaghetti squashes and zucchini.

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