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Questions tagged [squash]

One of four species of genus Cucurbita; also known as marrows.

One of four species of genus Cucurbita, also known as marrows in some countries. The four species of squash are:

  • C.maxima: Hubbard squash, Buttercup squash, and some varieties of prize pumpkin
  • C.mixta: Cushaw squash
  • C.moschata: Butternut squash
  • C.pepo: Acorn squash, summer squash, , and most

In North America, squashes are also loosely grouped according to season.

Squashes were first cultivated in Mesoamerica over 8000 years ago, and was one of the cultivated by Native Americans.

Botanically, squash are fruit because they contain the plant's , but are cooked as savory .

Use this tag for all questions about growing squashes.

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Why are my squash shrivelling?

I put squash seeds in with my compost at the end of last year, and apparently it didn't get heated up enough to kill everything. I now have Delicata plants with dinner-plate sized leaves growing out of it. One of the plants has nice, healthy, 4…
baka
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Why are my courgettes enormous, and my pumpkins puny?

Typically in August/September I get vigourous courgette plants but if I don't catch and harvest the fruits quickly I end up with enormous useless marrows. At the same time my pumpkins are doing the opposite, that is growing to size of large oranges…
Tea Drinker
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Why are my squash's leaves drooping?

This past growing season (2011) I was growing squash. Often I would find that the leaves had drooped (lost rigidity). Watering the plant seemed to help; but I'm not sure if there is a causal link there. The season was a particularly dry and hot…
Om Patange
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What type of squash is growing out of my compost pile?

I didn't turn my compost pile this spring, and had an unexpected surprise that's been growing for the last few weeks. Can anyone identify what it is? I'm almost 100% sure it's some type of squash, but I don't know enough to tell what variety it is.…
Doresoom
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Can grafting increase fruit size, productivity, and ease of growth?

I've been considering the possibility of grafting a giant watermelon variety (such as Carolina Cross) onto a giant pumpkin/squash/gourd rootstock (such as Atlantic Giant pumpkin, Weeks NC Giant, Zucca gourd, or Kikinda Competition Strain Edible…
Brōtsyorfuzthrāx
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How can I stop vine borers from killing my squash?

A few of the squash plants in our garden started wilting for no discernible reason late last week. We lost three sweet meat squash plants before we figure out that vine borers were attacking the squash. At this point, most of the squash plants have…
Doresoom
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What's the best way to control squash bugs

Help! I need to get rid of squash bugs. I know Sevin will kill them, but I would like to use a less toxic method. I have been destroying them manually, but I am losing the battle.
Mark Arnott
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Zone 4b: When should I start planting vegetable garden seedlings?

When should I start planting seedlings for the vegetable garden that we're going to start this year? As the question says, I live in zone 4b and we're planning on zone specific vegetables & gourds, but want to know the best time to start growing…
Rebecca Dessonville
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Can you help identify the kind of squash?

My neighbor shared some of his produce and we both think it is some kind of squash but don't know the exact kind. The reason he doesn't know is, the seed packet said its pumpkin and he was thinking he's growing pumpkin until he got his produce :)
yasouser
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What is this vegetable in my garden?

I planted butternut squash and this is what has been growing. They are between 12 and 13 inches long and 12 to 14 inches around at the largest point. They have not turned tan at all. Please let me know what these are so I know how to harvest and…
Kay
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Squash or gourd? Monster plant growing from mulch put on empty bed

Please help me identify this monster plant. It grew by itself late July. Yellow flower, somewhat a rounded star shape, indented leaves, some with whitish patches, yellow round smooth "fruit", small 3-4in.
Elizabeth
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What kind of grow lights do I need for a butternut squash?

I just potted a butternut squash seedling. The way my patio is situated, it doesn't always get a lot of sunlight - and I think butternut squash requires ~6 hours of it. I was going to go ahead and get a grow light - I've been meaning to get one…
user21298
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What's the name of this small, round, light green squash?

This is a small, round, slightly flattened, light green squash. The average size is a bit bigger than a round plum (cirruela in Spanish). It looks quite distinct from Round zucchini but it might be just a variety of the same group (Cucurbita pepo…
Fructibus
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Will my squash ripen off the vine?

I'm a first time gardener so I'm not sure how this works - I may have picked my squash too soon, I also think I may have mixed squash together which would have made a hybrid (from my understanding). Will my squash ripen over time now that it's…
Rebecca RVT
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Cucumber with bacterial wilt, what to do to save other plants?

On Saturday, my cucumbers looked perfectly healthy. On Sunday, half of one of my cucumbers had very wilty leaves. On Monday, the other half of the cucumber's leaves were all wilty. I have seen cucumber beetles on my cucumber plants before, and…
NeutronStar
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