On Sat, 12 Jul 2003 15:38:36 -0700,
(dkra) wrote:

:x-no-archive: yes
:
:In article , Pat Meadows
wrote:
:
:snip
:
: Wouldn't it be more likely that this happened *last year*,
: i.e., that a bee pollinated a pumpkin or kabocha plant last
: year with zucchini pollen - and the seed you planted this
: year is a hybrid (mix)?
:
:snip
:
:Once a neighbor grew a "squash" that was a true hybrid of the zucchini he
:grew last year and the pumpkin we grew last year. The resulting plant and
:its fruit looked a little like each of those of its parent plants.
:
:If the plant doesn't look like a cross between the two kinds of vine but
:*exactly* like one or the other, I'd think the seed company made a mistake
:in identifying and packing its seed. I've heard of this happening before
:with tomato varieties.
:
:-- dkra

I've never purchased pumpkin seeds or kabocha seeds. The ones I grow
every year originally came up as volunteers, no doubt the result of
someone throwing the remains of their dinner preparations into the
compostables. This was when I had housemates. However, it's been 3 years
since I had housemates and I haven't bought zucchini seeds for many
years and never planted any here.

I think it is indeed likely that this happened last year and what looked
like a pumpkin contained seeds that would grow something that looked
very like a zucchini. Unfortunately, the plant isn't doing very well. I
should have thinned my plantings but decided to let the seedlings fight
it out. It's an interesting experiment but next year I'm going to thin
my seedlings.