Mystery Squash!!!
Posted: Sat Oct 19, 2019 11:06 pm
I need some help identifying some mystery squash, please! So, last Fall I got busy and didn't wrap any of my cucurbit seeds in tinfoil, and the mice got into and ate them all over winter, leaving nothing but two pumpkin seeds. 
So I had to buy zucchini seed, and last Spring I ordered a packet of Black Beauty Zucchini seeds from Baker Creek, and started and grew them all, along with the two lonely pie pumpkin seeds, in a very separate plot. I mention the pumpkin seeds so as to establish that I didn't have a seed mix-up or accidental hybridization. Pumpkin seeds and most of the zucchini seeds grew true, but three plants that should have been zucchini are definitely not Black Beauty, and two definitely aren't zucchini at all! I think At least two are obvious hybrids and NOT from heirloom seed. Methinks one of rareseed.com growers had a bit of a mixup. Or three 
.
All 3 of the weird squashes had a "bush" growth like zucchini, instead of trailing vines like most squash.
I'd like some help with possible names/varieties if anyone recognizes!
#1:
The first one appears to be a hybrid mini pumpkin, and is the only one I've been able to narrow down somewhat:
It grew two small squash, VERY early: at the same time as zucchini early! And then crapped out completely in July. These little pumpkin-types are light orange inside and smell and taste very much like pumpkin. Some similar varieties I have found are Flame, Blaze, and Lil Pump-ke-mon. All three of those named varieties are F1 hybrids, and not something a heritage/open pollinated seed company would stock. So, it's likely to be an oopsie cross, but of WHAT?
#2:
This one appears to be some sort of acorn or dumpling squash...? It starts out ivory/light green and gets dark green stripes as it gets larger. I have no idea if they change colour when allowed to cure. This was a VERY VERY prolific bush, and I took 19 squash from it. 1st one done just a hair later than zucchini, but this plant was the Energizer Bunny on steroids. It was still very healthy and making new squash when frost hit! No powdery mildew, no blight, and vine borers passed this one right by!!!
My picture makes the inside look as orange as the mini-pumpkin type, but it is lighter, more like dark yellow: however, it definitely has a pumpkin smell to it. I haven't tasted it...a lady at work has been snapping them up as fast as they grew, and I'm not a huge squash fan in any case.
#3:
This one is zucchini shaped, but doesn't get quite as large. The skin colours are identical to #1 mini-pumpkin. Skin is thicker and harder than my regular zucchini: I made zucchini boats for supper out of one, and had a heck of a time halving a fresh one. Despite very juicy and greasy filling, we had to scrape flesh out and discard the skin.
Crappy photography skills AGAIN (pretty sure I'm hopeless with a camera) but the inside of this squash isn't orange AT ALL, but is an ivory/light yellow colour and has a zucchini smell and taste...however texture is stringier, more like pumpkin. Maybe a Delicata cross?
Any ideas and insights as to type are welcome. In the meantime, I have temporarily named the acorn type "Jans Heart", and the zucchini type "Jans Delight". I haven't called the mini pumpkin anything, because I know that thing probably already has a name lol
So I had to buy zucchini seed, and last Spring I ordered a packet of Black Beauty Zucchini seeds from Baker Creek, and started and grew them all, along with the two lonely pie pumpkin seeds, in a very separate plot. I mention the pumpkin seeds so as to establish that I didn't have a seed mix-up or accidental hybridization. Pumpkin seeds and most of the zucchini seeds grew true, but three plants that should have been zucchini are definitely not Black Beauty, and two definitely aren't zucchini at all! I think At least two are obvious hybrids and NOT from heirloom seed. Methinks one of rareseed.com growers had a bit of a mixup. Or three .All 3 of the weird squashes had a "bush" growth like zucchini, instead of trailing vines like most squash.
I'd like some help with possible names/varieties if anyone recognizes!
#1:
The first one appears to be a hybrid mini pumpkin, and is the only one I've been able to narrow down somewhat:
#2:
This one appears to be some sort of acorn or dumpling squash...? It starts out ivory/light green and gets dark green stripes as it gets larger. I have no idea if they change colour when allowed to cure. This was a VERY VERY prolific bush, and I took 19 squash from it. 1st one done just a hair later than zucchini, but this plant was the Energizer Bunny on steroids. It was still very healthy and making new squash when frost hit! No powdery mildew, no blight, and vine borers passed this one right by!!!
#3:
This one is zucchini shaped, but doesn't get quite as large. The skin colours are identical to #1 mini-pumpkin. Skin is thicker and harder than my regular zucchini: I made zucchini boats for supper out of one, and had a heck of a time halving a fresh one. Despite very juicy and greasy filling, we had to scrape flesh out and discard the skin.
Any ideas and insights as to type are welcome. In the meantime, I have temporarily named the acorn type "Jans Heart", and the zucchini type "Jans Delight". I haven't called the mini pumpkin anything, because I know that thing probably already has a name lol
