SQUASH, Crookneck, straight neck, spagetti, acorn, butternut

[Gary350]

Wife's family grew several different types of squash she learned how to cook them all. My family only grew yellow crook neck squash it is the only squash I know how to cook.

Yellow crook neck vs yellow straight neck squash. I have grown crook neck many times but every time I grow straight neck I have problems. Is the problem ME? OR is crook neck easier to grow? Do they taste the same?

Wife cooks the most awesome spaghetti squash wow I didn't know squash could be so good.

Wife cooked butternut squash tonight wow it was so good there were no left overs.

We had acorn squash few weeks ago wow it was good too.

I grow zucchini squash sometimes wife makes, zucchini bread, zucchini muffins, zucchini cake, zucchini pancakes, fried squash, wow it is all GOOD.

I have never been interested in growing squash because I never tasted good cooked squash. I have been refusing to eat squash for years now I learn it is "GOOD" if the cook knows how to cook it. I don't know how to cook. LOL

Has anyone grown any of these squash? I think, butternut, spaghetti, acorn, all grow on vines?

[pepperhead212]

Butternut is all that I can grow, due to SVBs. I grow a bunch of it every year, and the Polaris stores great, though the smaller varieties I've tried have not stored well. I wish I could grow others. I'm glad you are finding ways you like them cooked - they are very versatile.

[digitS']

If I was in a better squash growing area, I'd grow Pink Banana (Candy Roaster). It's one we had in southern Oregon when I was a kid.

C. maxima squash are a favorite. Finding varieties that mature well here is difficult. Storage improves their flavor but they need to reach some stage of maturity or we may be faced with too many to eat of limited flavor and quality in too short a time. I WANT squash for all the months of fall and winter .

I grew acorn squash a number of times but was disappointed by flavor some years - still don't know what went wrong with them. We have other C. pepo squash as summer squash.

The C. moschata squash have been fairly uncommon in my garden. Butternut doesn't do so well unless it's the Early variety. For a couple of seasons I have had Autumn Crown. This winter, I decided to keep several of those on basement shelves well into February and even the first few days of March. They did fine!

Back to C. maxima : The smaller Hubbards have done okay but with limited production. Burgess Buttercup has been a regular for many, many years. However, I don't know if I have ever had one into February without decay setting in. Oops!

Kabocha definitely have the flavor that I'm looking for . After several tries without proper maturing through the season, I have decided that Cha Cha has really performed the best. Seed doesn't seem to be widely available, however. It's a hybrid and that availability could get me into trouble ... I hope not. Even though the squash patch takes up quite a bit of room and is difficult to weed, I think that I will still be growing several varieties. Winter squash is SO good!

Steve

[Gary350]

I did a search for winter squash I get pictures of many different types of squash. These all grow on vines so I assume if it grows on a vine it must be winter squash. Are pumpkin squash too? Neighbor lady gave us 2 small orange/yellow squash last fall they were both the size of a grapefruit shaped like small pumpkins we had no clue what to do with them, we though maybe they are some type cross breed small pumpkin. I see lots of squash picture I never see in the grocery store. I have room to grow 1 or 2 type squash in May then after corn is gone I will have room to plant more squash in July but not sure I can keep July squash alive with no establish root system in 98 degree weather plants will need water every day. I read online plants that never have bugs are good companion plants for squash because they give off a toxic gas that squash bugs do not like. I ordered radish seeds to plant with squash I will find out if it works.

Are squash in these pictures all winter squash?

Why are they called winter squash?

[applestar]

Front-center dark orange with pointy stem end is Red Kuri — it’s a C.maxima and related to Hubbard. I can’t remember the name of the other striped ones you asked about, but they a C.pepo and related to the long striped delicata squash. They are hybrids if I remember right.

Technically pumpkins are subset of winter squash, but all I remember is there are some criteria they have to meet to be able to be called pumpkins.

[Gary350]

Front-center dark orange with pointy stem end is Red Kuri — it’s a C.maxima and related to Hubbard. I can’t remember the name of the other striped ones you asked about, but they a C.pepo and related to the long striped delicata squash. They are hybrids if I remember right.

Technically pumpkins are subset of winter squash, but all I remember is there are some criteria they have to meet to be able to be called pumpkins.

I have never seen Red Kuri & Hubbard are they good to eat?

Question. Do squash vines make roots full length of the vine like watermelons?

[digitS']

Probably any squash species that can be kept some time after harvest, without refrigeration, could be called a winter squash. Pumpkins, of varieties advertised as Jack o'lantern, have occupied my basement shelves for months. Several months of storage like that has been okay for them. Their flavor has not measured up to very high standards but some pumpkin varieties have been very easy for me to grow. They are C. pepo. Zucchini is in that same species and are not commonly grown to maturity and for storage. By the way, you should try the fruit of winter squash at earlier stages of development to learn whether they have qualities you can appreciate.

I am not a gardener who can do a comparison with watermelon. I didn't grow them on the northern California coast and don't remember them in the family garden in Oregon. Here, even an early maturing one like Blacktail Mountain has failed for me. This is despite the fact that a 20 mile drive would put me at the foot of the mountain for which that variety is named.

I have read that the C. maxima squash was only found in a small area of South America in Native American gardens. As they were more widely grown, a remarkable number of varieties were developed. Red Kuri and the several Hubbards are wonderful!

We don't seem to have Squash Vine Borers here. For that, I have to be thankful. C. moschata varieties are supposed to be resistant. They also have a reputation for good storage qualities. They certainly deserve to be in home gardens and should be the subject of plant breeders for the development of more varieties.

Steve

[applestar]

I remembered this morning - I think it’s ‘Carnival’

Carnival Squash Information and Facts
https://www.specialtyproduce.com/produc ... sh_998.php

Carnival squash is a relatively new variety, being a hybrid of the sweet dumpling and acorn squash

...squash vines can set down roots from each leaf node along the vines if you bury or the ground level stays humid/moist. This can aid in resisting SVB infestation if the satellite root systems are sufficiently established when the main trunk of the vine is cut off.

[okie dodger]

I've grown several varieties of winter squash, but harvested few. Those danged squash bugs keep me busy all summer, and seem to get worse every year. Last year I did harvest 22 large Waltham Butternut squash that are delicious! I've read that the butternut has a higher resistance to damage caused by the bugs. I started with four plants on a 7'x18' trellis, but ended with 2 plants that completely covered the trellis. (Vine borers got 2 of them). This year I am going to skip the winter squash and will only grow summer squash. Several years ago I grew bush acorn and bush buttercup winter squash. There are several bush varieties that are good for those with small garden space and want to grow winter squash. I don't remember having a real bad problem with squash bugs when I grew these, maybe I need to try these again.

[pepperhead212]

Gary, I tried that radish thing to ward off the SVBs, and it probably worked better than any of the other methods I tried, though eventually, the SVBs would show, and kill the plants. I planted a large patch of seeds for radish greens, and planted the zucchini right in the middle. I got 5 or 6 squash per plant, before they succumbed to the SVB. Usually, I'd get 1 or 2, before the plants died. This is why I only plant moschata squash now. Fortunately, the other bugs that normally attack squash, aren't found in this area.

[Gary350]

Gary, I tried that radish thing to ward off the SVBs, and it probably worked better than any of the other methods I tried, though eventually, the SVBs would show, and kill the plants. I planted a large patch of seeds for radish greens, and planted the zucchini right in the middle. I got 5 or 6 squash per plant, before they succumbed to the SVB. Usually, I'd get 1 or 2, before the plants died. This is why I only plant moschata squash now. Fortunately, the other bugs that normally attack squash, aren't found in this area.

Some years SVB = Squash Vine Bugs are worse than others. Last year I made sure my squash plants were in full sun all day. I pulled the leaves back on the south side then put wooden stakes in the soil to hold the leaves back so the stalk and roots got lots of hot sun. We have so much rain and wet weather from Nov to May I was hoping to help soil be dryer I was thinking wet soil and wet stem might attract SVB. But now I think about it maybe the hot sun kept the bugs away? I will do more experiments this year to see what I can learn. I read information online that said, gourds have no bugs they give off a toxic gas that repels all bugs if you plant gourds with squash you will have no bugs.

About 20 years ago I planted bird house gourds in the garden. I kept smelling something that smelled like road kill. Week after week the road kill smell got stronger and stronger. I crawled through the garden on hands & knees looking for something dead. I soon learned gourd vines smelled like road kill. Gourds vines got out of control vines were in the tomato cages, beans, corn and other plants. That year garden had no bug problems, no mites or blight on tomatoes either. I though it was and exceptionally good year for no bugs but now I think maybe gourds might be why there were no bugs. Birds refused to live in those gourd bird houses and after hanging in the trees for several years birds still refused to live in those gourds. I wish I know what type gourds they were I would grow some this year to see if they keep bugs away.

[pepperhead212]

I don't grow those types of gourds, but two edible gourds I do grow - bottle and bitter gourds - and seem to have no bugs at all on them.