man@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
said:
>
>
>On Sat, 05 Jul 2008 06:52:35 -0400, Pat Kiewicz
><kiewicz@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>:
>:"Tetsukabuta" is kabocha-type squash variety that is exceptionally
>:productive per vine. It is a hybrid between two species of squash,
>:Cucurbita maxima and C. moschata, and should be grown along with
>:either a standard kabocha or buttercup (C. maxima) or a butternut
>:type (C. moschata) for best fruit set. Seeds available from Pinetree
>:Garden Seeds (in the Around the World > Asian section) .
>:
>:I grow this every year, along with a butternut, and it definitely
>:produces multiple squashes per plant for me, where most other
>:large fruited squash produce no more than one (maybe two) per vine.
>
>If I get Tetsukabuta seeds and grow them, will the seeds of its squash
>produce more Tetsukabutas or do I need to always plant seeds provided by
>a seed provider? Being a hybrid, I believe this is a concern if not a
>certainty. I had an onion in the garden for several years, the seeds of
>which steadfastly refused to germinate. I finally destroyed the plant a
>couple of months ago in retaliation! The strip of earth it grew on is
>now fallow, but I figure I'll need onion seeds or sets for my next foray
>into onion growing, should I decide to resume it.
No, you would need to repurchase seeds at intervals.
>
>I assume you are saying to grow Tetsukabuta "along with
>either a standard kabocha or buttercup (C. maxima) or a butternut
>type (C. moschata) for best fruit set" for pollination advantages? Will
>it render the Tetsukabuta's seeds viable and useful?
I don't know how viable the next generation seeds would be. There's
no telling what (if anything) would result from them.
It occurs to me that the C. moschata parent of "Tetsukabuto" might
be a squash very much like the variety "Black Futsu." Now, this one
would breed true and could be seed saved (if you were growing it
in isolation from other C. moschata squash). And it should be more
productive than any C. maxima variety could dream of being...though
perhaps a bit smaller than "Tetsubabuto," it looks like, with a slightly
larger seed cavity.
http://www.ghorganics.com/BlackFutsuSquash.htm
http://www.territorialseed.com/product/1123/221
It's not carried by any of my favorite sources, but maybe I should order
some seeds next year.
>
>I typically have pollination problems early in the season. Every year (I
>think there was only one exception in recent years) the first flowers
>are all female and there are no males to pollinate. As soon as a male
>appears (maybe 2 or more weeks later) I use a haiku brush to manually
>pollinate all females I can find. The first males are always small and
>nearly devoid of pollen, but subsequent males are progressively better
>endowed. This year I'm finding the bee population rather sparse and I've
>been continuing to manually pollinate all females just to be sure they
>are pollinated.
I lose a lot of the first male flowers as tiny buds. It seems that they
start
forming at just about the time the starlings give their young ones the
final boot, and the inexperienced birds tend to peck at what they think
might be a bug (or something). Either that, or it's random vandalism
after they tank up on mulberries. They snap at the first small zuchinnis
and eggplants, too (the beak marks are pretty obvious on these).
I'm lucky enough to have plenty of bees around once I do get flowers,
though.
>
>This year one "standard" orange pumpkin has managed to sneak into the
>crop, and there are at least two plants the nature of which has me
>pretty much flumuxed. The fruits are almost kabocha-like, but are
>cream-white and slightly narrower near the stem. I searched my local
>market for verisimilitude and the only thing that looks similar
>(although not a perfect match) were (I think) butternut. I have no clue
>how they got into my garden. The largest of these (there are two
>diminutive ones) is the size of a good-sized cataloup or a small
>honeydew, and you can see it here:
>
>http://fox302.com/userdata/Muse/files/Muse_jpgs/MysterySquash.jpg
No, that looks more like an unripe "Red Kuri" or one of the varieties
they sell as "miniature Hubbard" squashes. Butternuts have very
distinctly angular stems.
There are jumbo "pumpkins" which are actually C. maxima squash
(rather than being C. pepo). Maybe you've gotten pollen from something
like that, or maybe even "Red Kuri" pollen accidentally brought in.
>I've gotten into the habit of raiding my neighbors' green yard waste
>bins with my wheelbarrow. I have a very impressive heap of compost going
>already. The garden is going great guns this year but next year may be a
>real eye-popper.
I generally leave the summer-generated yard waste alone, but come
autumn, we make multiple car trips to bring back leaves. Lots and
lots and lots of leaves.
>
>BTW, I'm in Berkeley, CA, the winters rarely reach freezing temperatures
>and weather warm enough to start growing summer vegetables occur
>sometime in March, early March if I'm lucky, last week if unlucky.
>Summers are moderate with occasional heat waves when it gets in the 90s.
>With luck, I get full sun all day, but there are always spates when the
>mornings are foggy and there are always a few days that remain cloudy.
I've been to Berkley, MI but never the similarly named and more famous
California town.
I will be in California next week at this time, going out with my mother
to see her brother in Sacramento. (Been watching the air quality and
fire stories with some concern.)
--
Pat in Plymouth MI ('someplace.net' is comcast)
After enlightenment, the laundry.
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