Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: scousemouse on August 23, 2009, 01:13
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I'm a second-year allotmenteer and I've got a query about the pumpkins I'm growing.
I got some Hallowe'en pumpkins - an F1 hybrid, can't remember the exact variety - to grow from T&M and when they fruited I was very proud and they're very definitely pumpkin shaped. However, they're still green and stripey! A friend of mine took some thinking they were round courgettes and cooked and ate them as if they were. Normally I'd ignore this, but her mother who ate them is a botanist by trade!
So after about a month the size is coming along nicely, but they're still green and stripey with no sign of going orange.
So what could they be? Pumpkin or courgette? I will say that the pumpkins are in the same 3m raised bed as the courgettes and I wondered if they could've cross-pollinated?
I'll try and take some pics and upload them tomorrow for you experts here to look at. The thing is, if they ARE round courgettes then that means we've got about 8 courgette plants in total! Eeeek!
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My pumpkin started off green and and stripy(ish) but went yellow, however Beetroot queen had a problem with her squashes from T&M :
http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=42816.0
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Thanks for pointing me to that thread. Much appreciated. Mine don't look like that one - they're a dark green, possibly a little darker than the courgettes.
I'll take some photos and post them so everyone can see. I'm going up to the plot tomorrow.
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If they are still green they are still growing. What you need is some sun and warmth. Leave them on the plants. The leaves will die down and the pumpkins will ripen. Make sure you take them in before the first frost. When you eventually cut them take them in to the house for a couple of weeks and the skins will harden so they keep well. They will colour up more in the warmth of the house.
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I've just cracked into a huge, freshly picked Boston Squash (due to surprise guests for a Sunday Roast).
Texture and flavour wise, it's just like a big courgette.
I've cut it into eight long wedges and then scooped out the slightly seedy pithy centre as half moons which I'm roasting separately around the chickens.
I might even be able to pass them off as a different veg (they look great).
My point is that I have a feeling that there's not a lot of difference between winter and summer squash until they've been ripened on the vine and cured.