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MD

Does cross pollination affect the pumpkin or does it only affect the offspring of that pumpkin?

I'm growing a Ciliberto 9 something and a Dill 6 something. I forget exactly what i ordered and won't know until I get the seeds.

3/31/2002 7:21:08 PM

Webster, NY

Cross pollination affects the offspring. It does not affect the pumpkin that is grown this year.

3/31/2002 7:28:05 PM

Lake Stevens, WA, USA

This question was asked last year, and the general response you will get is that people do not think that pollination affects the actual fruit being grown..........but I disagree with this.

I firmly believe that the fruit is affected. My reason is simple, as I will explain. Every year I grow spaghetti squash in my garden. Two years ago I planted the spaghetti squash in close proximity to my AG'S. Much to my surprise, some of the spaghetti squash got EXTREMELY large (for spaghetti squash anyhow) and more importantly, many (but not all)of the spaghetti squash grew in strange color patterns, exhibiting green stripes (kinda like a watermelon)and splotches. I know it wasn't the seeds that the spaghetti squash plants came from because I had several green striped, and several completely normal squash all on the same vine, so my only conclusion is that the spaghetti squash was cross pollinated with the AG's. So, with what happened to my spaghetti squash, I would say that pollination can have an effect on the fruit being grown (at least in color).

My two cents........
David

3/31/2002 8:29:12 PM

Indiana

David,
The only way pollen can effect a growing fruit is if it does note pollinate properly. Maybe your squash do do what you say, but they are not C. maxima to my knowledge, so they cant pollinate with AG's.
Tom Beachy

3/31/2002 8:39:06 PM

Webster, NY

David, My two cents (and I could be wrong) is that your squash was cross pollinated the year before affecting that years squash. The seeds might not have been pure spaghetti squash seeds.

4/1/2002 7:52:17 AM

Utah

interesting.
my first thought was to agree with Dave that the
spaghetti was cross pollintated the year before.
but maybe Tom is right- in certain plants the current
pollination does affect the outcome in the same year.
maybe spaghetti is this kind. i guess we need a
spaghetti squash expert to answer this.
but for AG's is shows up next year.
like tom said only incomplete pollination can affect
the current year growth- usually manifesting itself
by odd shaped fruit.

4/1/2002 12:14:10 PM

Riverton, WY

I've been growing spaghetti squash from store bought seeds for about 5 years. A couple years ago, 1 of the 4 plants produced all striped, slightly grayish green fruit. All fruit on the other 3 plants were normal spaghetti squash. My conclusion is a wayward bee wandered into the seed company's spaghetti squash patch.

4/3/2002 10:13:56 PM

bloomington IN.

first off, are squash and pumpkin related? They must be to pollinate in any manner. My first intuition would be that they were not pure squash seed. Even if they were store bought, mistakes do happen. In any case, did the odd looking squash taste ok? I once read an article about botanist trying to cross marijuana and the hops plant because the are very closely related. They crossed the hops flowers onto the marijuana plant successfully, but they could not put dope buds on the hops plant. If that were possible than there would probably be a huge surge of hops grown.

4/4/2002 6:49:10 PM

Greencastle, PA

Bones,
Pumpkins and squash are both related. They are members of the cucerbit family. AGs are C. maximas which are winter squash, not pumpkins.
Tom

4/4/2002 7:01:42 PM

bloomington IN.

i see farmer tom. I love to garden anything i can but am not too educated about whats related. That answers my ?s.
By the way tom, congrats to maryland basketball. They deserved it. But look out for those hoosiers. They got a couple of top 10 recruits coming in next year and almost the whole team back. (who cares about jared jeffries) not me. he can go pro early.

4/4/2002 7:06:27 PM

Greencastle, PA

Bones,
The hoosiers put up a good fight though. The turnovers were unbelievable. The hoosiers will be good next year, some of the terps best players graduated. Also, AGs being maximas they can't successfully pollinate a C. pepo (feild pumpkins) or other Cucerbits other than other maximas or visa versa.
Tom

4/5/2002 6:29:01 PM

Western Pa.

Tom,

You sure know a hell of a lot, and freely dispense a lot of information and growing tips for someone who's grown a "personal best" of 30#! My advice to all you "newbies": Get advice from someone who's grown a giant SUCESSFULLY!

4/5/2002 7:20:11 PM

Tipp City, Ohio

There is a book called "The Perfect Pumpkin". It has a chart for cross pollination.

The Maximas Cross easily with the Moshata family but rarely with the Argyrosperma and Pepo families.

The Argyrosperma easily cross with the Moschata family.

The Moschata crosses easily with the Pepo and Maxima.

The Pepo crosses with the Argyrosperma and Moschata families easily, and the Maxima rarely.

So according to this book, the Maximas rarely cross with a pepo (field pumpkins), but it can happen.

4/5/2002 8:13:43 PM

western Kentucky

if and when they do cross... will the seed germinate AND produce pumpkins?

4/6/2002 1:49:21 AM

western Kentucky

to clarify things... i was wondering when the maximas crossed with the pepo or pepo w/maxima if it produced fertile offspring... because if it does or did or what ever,,,, that would make them the same species... i believe, unless somewhere along the line my teachers have lied to me.. lol which happens

Thanks justin

4/6/2002 2:02:20 AM

Greencastle, PA

kilr,
Heat stress and vine borers have a great effect on one's success, especially when they come all at once. I had no idea what I was doing last year, but I have been reading anything I can about growing giants and hopfully can do much better this year.
Tom

4/7/2002 3:45:48 AM

Lake Stevens, WA, USA

Bantam, Farmer Tom was correct about one thing (wow)AG's are classified as winter squash. Spaghetti squash is also a winter squash. That fact alone does not mean that they could cross pollinate, but it doesn't mean that they can't either. Does the book you mentioned state what family a spaghetti squash is (ie. Moshata, Maxima etc.)? I have been unable to find this info anywhere I have looked. I have also decided to do an experiment this year. I am growing spaghetti squash again and will attempt to cross it with my AG's. Should be interesting........

David
4th year grower
Personal best = 359lbs

4/7/2002 4:33:23 AM

Lake Stevens, WA, USA

One other comment.......IF the spaghetti squash seeds were pollinated by something else the year before, AND I therefore had a "bad" seed, then how is it possible that I had normal spaghetti squash AND green striped spaghetti squash on the same vine of the same plant? Wouldn't they all be the same? If it were a "bad" seed, then I would expect that all of the spaghetti squash on that plant would have been green striped, and would have probably also made me think that something was up with that plant / seed (if they had all been green striped). It is the fact that I had "mixed" squash on the same vine(s) that makes me think that it was due to pollination.

David

4/7/2002 4:41:00 AM

Rush, NY

David, there could be another cause of the green stripes and splotches you described. Its "cucumber Mosiac Virus" Three years ago a Yellow summer squash plant had normal fruit at first. Then the fruit all got greenish stripes and blotches. A short distance away was an Atlantic Giant plant. The first fruit on the plant was good color and reached a little over 700 pounds and stopped growing by the end of August. At that point I quit pruning and didn't remove the little fruit. Several got to be 25 to 50 pounds and they all had green-yellow stripes and blotches. I took one to a plant Specialist and he said it was "cucumber mosiac virus". I was concerned about what might happen the following year, so didn't plant anything in the areas where the problem plants were and fortunately didn't have the problem again.

4/7/2002 5:58:53 AM

Tipp City, Ohio

David, The book that I mentioned was borrowed from the local Library. I do not remember what that book stated as far as the Spag. Squash, but A seed catalog, that I use, stated that they were a C. Maxima.

Different looking fruits from the same plant sounds interesting. Mother Nature does some weird things sometimes. Should be interesting on what you find out with your crossings. If you are able to cross the two and recieve fruit from it, the seeds might give an interesting combination for the next year...Tom

4/7/2002 8:43:11 PM

Lake Stevens, WA, USA

Can anyone else confirm weather or no Spaghetti squash is a member of the C. Maxima family? Right now in this string of postings there is one "Yeah" and one "Nay". Please reply if you know, and also state your source for information.

Thanks,
David

4/7/2002 11:13:21 PM

Ga.

http://waynesword.palomar.edu/ww0503b.htm

4/8/2002 4:08:29 AM