Squash or melon

[Urbansage_gardener]

Found this plant growing next to my tomatoes cage and been taking care of if but I thought it was a squash plant with the flower buds but they are coming out round instead of it elongated help me identify this plant so I can take better care

[Lonesomedave]

well...can't swear to it, but i believe what you have there is a summer squash.....more precisely, some type of zucchini.... i await correction by others....

[AnnaIkona]

I'd say it's a squash as well. Could you take a picture of the leaves as well?

[Urbansage_gardener]

Sorry it took so long here are the leaves

[AnnaIkona]

Yup, it's definitely a squash! I'm 100% sure now

[imafan26]

There are a number of round squash, not allof them are zucchini. Only time will tell.

[KitchenGardener]

Is it a volunteer from last year's seed, or is it a total fluke that its growing there? Either way, its awesome. It looks like a Ronde de Nice Zucchini, but its true that it could be any kind of round squash. It'll be fun to watch your squash adventure unfold.

[Lindsaylew82]

Punkin!!!! But definitely not a melon!

[digitS']

Be aware that Jack o'lantern pumpkins and summer squash are the same species. Bees happily help with cross pollination and the result may be completely not what is hoped for.

The neighbor and I share the same "tractor guy" for tilling. We both grow summer squash and pumpkins. The volunteers that showed up one year were even scattered through where I planted squash and pumpkins. I had a difficult time distinguishing which was which!

The result from having some of those vines amounted to a waste of garden space. The fruit was more like a gourd than anything else.

Steve

[imafan26]

Digits, don't discount all gourds. We eat more gourds than squash here because they are so much more productive and easier to cut through.

We grow winter melons or wax gourds usually for winter melon soup, upo (long gourd), hyotan. Some are round and some are long, some are smooth and others are hairy. The young ones are eaten mostly in soups. They will produce over 20 gourds on a vine. I get maybe three pumpkin if I am lucky. Older gourds can be dried and made into hats and and containers.
http://www.kitazawaseed.com/seeds_gourd.html

[jal_ut]

Yes, the squashes freely cross pollinate and if seed is saved or you get volunteers, the fruit next year is not likely to be like the fruit the seed came from. This is not necessarily bad, I have had some volunteers make some very nice flavored fruits. It has also went the other way. For me, I just rip out volunteer squash plants. The seed doesn't cost much and by planting known seed, I get what I wanted. Hey, where its already making fruit, you may as well try it out?

[Urbansage_gardener]

Just an update on the plant. I'm having second thoughts on it being a squash being that it gotten so huge over the weeks...

[Lindsaylew82]

PUNKIN!!!

[jal_ut]

Ya, I think Lindsay nailed it.

[Lindsaylew82]

Yaaaaaaaaaaaas! LOL