zxcvbob wrote:
(notice the followup header to r.g.e.)

How mature does a squash need to be for you to sucessfully save the
seeds? I let a volunteer squash vine grow in my garden this year
(actually I transplanted it from a path to a big bed where it could run)
and it turned out to be an odd variety that I've never grown before but
like very much. It's probably a cross between a Tatume that I grew a
few years ago and a yellow straightneck or crookneck. The vines run and
branch like a pumpkin vine (like the Tatume), but stay relatively short.

While I was out of town for 3 weeks, it set its first few fruits, and I
picked the big hard-shelled squash when I got back. The seeds are
full-sized, but the shell of the squash was still soft enough I could
scratch it with my thumbnail, barely. The plant has started bearing
good again, and I don't really want to let another fruit mature on the
vine and have the plant shut down again.

I still have one of those 4 big fruits that I haven't cut yet if the
seeds will continue to ripen off the vine fruit. It has been sitting on
the kitchen counter for 2 weeks and shows no signs of rotting, if that's
any indication how mature it is.

I suppose I could test the germination of the seeds that I saved, but I
don't know if they need a few months dormancy before they will sprout.

Thanks, regards,
Bob

Bob,
I would guess that the seeds are fine. If they look full size, are plump
and have a hard coat, they should grow.
I assume you realize that what you get, from those seeds, will not be
the same as what you are picking this year. Some may be similar, some
may resemble one parent, one may resemble the other parent. Some may be
short vined and some might be long. This is true even if the squash was
self pollinated this year. (You would have to grow out several seeds to
see the full range of possibilities.) If it got pollinated by yet
another squash or pumpkin, then just about anything is possible.
That doesn't mean you shouldn't try it. It IS kind of fun.

Steve