Striving to grow things as naturally, simply, and cheaply as possible!
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Striving to grow things as naturally, simply, and cheaply as possible!
My YouTube channel
Striving to grow things as naturally, simply, and cheaply as possible!
My YouTube channel
Jan White wrote:Do you have any galeux d'eysines in your mix? Squash grow without problems here, so I have no idea how it stands up to any of your challenges. The ones I've grown have been huge, vigorous plants that put down extensive roots at each node, though. Might be part of what you're looking for.
Striving to grow things as naturally, simply, and cheaply as possible!
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Lila Stevens wrote:I will have to remember not to save those seeds... I should probably make those particular fruit somehow. Any tips on marking them?
greg mosser wrote:
Lila Stevens wrote:I will have to remember not to save those seeds... I should probably make those particular fruit somehow. Any tips on marking them?
letters or symbols inscribed in the rind while it’s still soft with a fingernail or similar, tend to heal well and stay legible.
Lila Stevens wrote:Sounds great! I have heard squash can be challenging where I am too (Central Texas) for all the same reasons, and had the thought to do the same as you are doing. Basically I just planted a whole lot of winter squash and will save seeds from ones that do well/ we like. Are Maxima varieties better than Moschata ones in this regard? I have planted both, but I did pay attention to species and tried to plant Maxima near each other, and Moschata near each other.
What varieties did you plant? For Maxima, I planted Candy Roaster, Jarrahdale, and Kabocha. For Moschata, I planted Seminole, Butternut, Honeynut (mini butternut), Musquee de Provence, Black Futsu, Thai Kang Kob. Looking at that list, it seems more of the Moschata ones are adapted for hot, humid, pest-filled climates. But maybe that is why you are trying to make an improved maxima, because the need exists? I'm fairly new to all of this landrace stuff, but super enthusiastic to learn.
When I used to live in a very rainy part of Hawaii, kabocha was basically the only squash people grew there. I think that was because all other squash would get ruined by fruit-flies that would lay their eggs inside the immature fruit, and then the maggots would tunnel through the fruit and destroy it. My understanding was that the kabocha was somehow immune to this; maybe a harder shell for the very beginning. Or maybe all winter squash would have been fine in that regard, but we grew kabocha because it was better adapted to the wet. Anyway, it did great in our extremely wet, humid environment. It was not particularly hot there, though; rarely hitting 90 degrees in summer. It also seemed to live a long time; over year, I think, because there was no winter chill to kill it. I can't say for sure though; it is surprisingly hard to keep track of such things when there are virtually no seasons.
We get an earlier start down here, and the first seeds I planted are starting to vine out and flower. Oddly, two different butternut-shaped ones are only putting out female flowers. With no male flowers around, I had to pollinate them with a patty-pan squash flower. I just couldn't stand to let those adorable female flowers go to waste. I will have to remember not to save those seeds... I should probably make those particular fruit somehow. Any tips on marking them?
Striving to grow things as naturally, simply, and cheaply as possible!
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Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. -Proverbs 4:7
We can green the world through random acts of planting.
Grace Underwood wrote:Jarrahdale are an amazing addition to your breeding crop! We had a horrific drought (for this are, the Ozarks) a few years ago. Months without rain, temps over 100, Japanese beetles in plague proportions.
I had a Jarrahdale that shrugged it all off. I watered it a few times, but mostly left it to its own devices. It spread 50+ feet in each direction and gave me 30 squashes. Vine borers couldn’t keep up with the growth. It just put down roots at the nodes and kept on going. I was so impressed.
Zone 6, 45 inches precipitation, hard clay soil
Grace Underwood wrote:Jarrahdale are an amazing addition to your breeding crop! We had a horrific drought (for this are, the Ozarks) a few years ago. Months without rain, temps over 100, Japanese beetles in plague proportions.
I had a Jarrahdale that shrugged it all off. I watered it a few times, but mostly left it to its own devices. It spread 50+ feet in each direction and gave me 30 squashes. Vine borers couldn’t keep up with the growth. It just put down roots at the nodes and kept on going. I was so impressed.
Striving to grow things as naturally, simply, and cheaply as possible!
My YouTube channel
Beverly Howard wrote:Here in Austin, TX Tatume is said to do well. I'd like to try Seminole too.
Striving to grow things as naturally, simply, and cheaply as possible!
My YouTube channel
Striving to grow things as naturally, simply, and cheaply as possible!
My YouTube channel
Striving to grow things as naturally, simply, and cheaply as possible!
My YouTube channel
Striving to grow things as naturally, simply, and cheaply as possible!
My YouTube channel
Striving to grow things as naturally, simply, and cheaply as possible!
My YouTube channel
Striving to grow things as naturally, simply, and cheaply as possible!
My YouTube channel
Grace Underwood wrote:Jarrahdale are an amazing addition to your breeding crop! We had a horrific drought (for this are, the Ozarks) a few years ago. Months without rain, temps over 100, Japanese beetles in plague proportions.
I had a Jarrahdale that shrugged it all off. I watered it a few times, but mostly left it to its own devices. It spread 50+ feet in each direction and gave me 30 squashes. Vine borers couldn’t keep up with the growth. It just put down roots at the nodes and kept on going. I was so impressed.
Steve Thorn wrote:This first plant has the most squash currently with 3 good sized fruit despite no watering, and a month and a half of no rain, and uncharacteristically high temperatures for this early in the year averaging in the low 90s and going up into the 100s some days.
The fruit started off white or cream colored and has been developing a bluish green coloration that seems to be spreading across the fruit, and I'm guessing will probably eventually cover it. It has an attractive shape and is flatter with distinct ridges. It has been completely bug and rot resistant so far.
The plant has also been extremely disease and pest resistant, and is amazingly vigorous. It also has no appararant damage from either squash bugs or vine borers. It seems to have the wonderful characteristic of putting down vigorous roots at every node that touches the soil, so I'm sure that helps strengthen the plant and help with its awesome vigor. This should also almost make it completely immune to vine borers as each leaf and squash will be in effect its own plant with its own roots. It is currently by far the most vigorous plant with its size alone being at least 18 feet (6 meters) long and 9 feet (3 meters) wide and appears to just be getting started. It has put out a lot of new fruit with the recent rain and seems like it is going to be extremely productive! I can't wait to see how this one progresses!![]()
I'm guessing this one will be a large part of the landrace genetics due to its productiveness and also putting out a lot of male flowers to pollinate the other squash. I may offer seeds for it later this year and will try to put a link here if anyone is interested.
Zone 6, 45 inches precipitation, hard clay soil
Striving to grow things as naturally, simply, and cheaply as possible!
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Aaron Pate wrote:Last year I got one Seminole Pumpkin to maturity, so I'm trying again this year.
I've struck out the few times I've tried growing maximas though. Luckily, it seems I read somewhere long ago about the maximas having trouble in the South, so I didn't take the failure personally.
Josh Mayfield wrote:And we can't really grow Maximas either; we've planted several the past couple years and can only get a couple to full maturity.
Striving to grow things as naturally, simply, and cheaply as possible!
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Dirty hands + a sweaty handkerchief = hope for the future.
Striving to grow things as naturally, simply, and cheaply as possible!
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Steve Thorn wrote:Hey Cy, I was surprised that they turned out a lot better than I expected!
I'll try to get together all the photos and post them soon.
I hope yours turn out well!
Striving to grow things as naturally, simply, and cheaply as possible!
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