pumpkin, squash and gourd seeds (coming true)

 Happened to be in Kew on Sunday when they were flogging all the
multi-coloured pumpkins, squashes, gourds etc that were in their Autumn
displays. Will be eating them for weeks.

I assume that the seeds will all come true if I plant them next year. Or am
I being foolishly naive?

Any tips would be very welcome.

will

 

Well, they don't (always) cross between branches of famiglia cucurbita, but
within their own, well let's say "easy virtue" is an understatement.   If
this weren't the polite and refined newsgroup we love, I'd go for "wantonly
licentious hedonists."  Chances is that the seeds will produce interesting
offspring.  I could tell you tales of an apparently demure spaghetti squash
plant for instance...


Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at www.albany.net/~gwoods
Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1200' elevation. NY WO G

 gwoods@spamfree.albany.net (Gary Woods) wrote:


Oh yes. I had two Vegetable Spaghetti "Tivoli" plants this summer out of
the same packet of seed. One did what it says on the tin. the other gave
me a stripy marrow. And it claims to be an F1 hybrid!

Steve Harris - Cheltenham - Real address steve AT netservs DOT com

 On Mon, 3 Nov 2003 22:52:55 -0000, will wrote:


You are being foolishly naive. I was just reading "Plant
Breeding" the other day, by Bailey and Gilbert, ca. 1914, and in
it they mention hybrids between squashes and gourds. The taste
was something truly dire, it appears, even when the plants
*looked* like squashes.


--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
change "invalid" to "net" to respond

 On Mon, 3 Nov 2003 22:52:55 -0000, "will"


You might have seen my post a couple of months ago about my "Pumpows"
which were supposed to be pumpkins grown from last year's saved seed,
which were orange but marrow shaped.  Tasty but no good for
Hallowe'en.
I now know they will cross but if you are not after a specific thing
you could have some interesting specimens.

Pam in Bristol