Spaghetti Squash looks like a Zucchini - Please Help ID?

[grrlgeek]

I have two plants growing of what I thought was spaghetti squash. I triple checked my seed order and, no, I didn't order any seeds for zucchini or squash that look like what I've got, so it wasn't a mix up when I planted. My suspicion is that either a stray seed got into the spaghetti packet, or a cross pollination took place in the seed crop. Either way, no big deal, and I'm looking at it as a surprise bonus plant.

Both plants have the same leaves and growth habit and they are distinctly different than my melons, cukes, the yellow crookneck, and the costata romanesco zuke (too much plant for such tiny little zukes, btw! )

Plant 1, definitely looks like spaghetti squash:

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Plant 2, not so much:

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I am not sure how to approach harvesting of the fruit, since I don't know how big it should get.

Anyone care to venture a guess what it might be? When would you pick it?

[applestar]

Since zucchini and spaghetti squash are both C. pepo it's possible that plant 2 is a cross. If you have multiple plants and fruits, you could pick the zucchini skinned one young and treat it like zucchini?

[grrlgeek]

I did a fingernail test on both the spaghetti-looking ones on the other plant, and both of the zuke-looking fruits. The spaghetti was soft and scraped easily. The zuke, while smaller, had a tougher rind. It was still scrapable, but noticeably more hardened. After standing over the plants for 5 minutes with the pruner in hand, I couldn't make up my mind, so I cut them both off.

My reasoning:

1. There are two more that have been pollinated on the zuke-looking plant, so I get another chance to test them. Plus I have at least 5 fruits on the (other) plant that is making the actual spaghetti squash.
2. If it's a cross, and stronger in zuke genes, that big one is way too big, and it's going to tell the plant to stop producing. If it's more spaghetti-like, the small one will be so young, and probably tender, I'd never be able to tell if it's more spaghetti or more zuke, and I'd still be at a high risk of leaving a too-mature zuke on the vine.

Here's what I got:

This is the bigger one. I tasted it raw, and it was okay. Kinda reminiscent of pumpkin. Didn't taste much like zuke or spaghetti. It's a little stringy, like spaghetti. The rind was soft enough to eat. It didn't rate eating as a zuke/summer squash though. I can get more tender and tasty zukes at the market. I was too bubbleheaded to think to weigh it. I grated it and stuck it in the freezer for a couple days until I have a day off to make some quickbreads.

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The smaller one. Looks like a zuke inside. Tastes like a zuke. Stirfried and steamed like a zuke. And yes, it was fairly tasty.

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I am going to harvest the rest that come along young, but leave the last one on the vine to grow until the vine dies and then try to cook that like I would cook a spaghetti squash. I'll try to remember to post an update.

Thanks, applestar, for the suggestion to pick it young. It's like I now have a completely different squash in my garden for summer eating!

[McKinney88]

I have some spaghetti squash plants too and my stuff on them looks just like the #2 plant you showed. One of them turned white and is now almost fully yellow. I also have a bunch of squash that look like your number 1. But mine are supposed to be crook neck.