Quote:
Originally Posted by Bertie Doe
I grew 4 pumpkin plants this year and limited each plants to one fruit. The
3 that have turned a nice yellow have been lifted, but all 4 are quite
small, probably 1/3rd the weight of the parent. These were seed saved from a
monster purchased from Morrisons last October. Puzzling as the soil is good
and they were fed 3 times on Growmore.
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Seed taken from a pumpkin you bought in a shop are unlikely to give the same pumpkin from the one you took it from. Two reasons:
(1) Seed taken from a F1 hybrid never produces the same as the parent, and a lot of shop-bought veg are from are F1 hybrid plants
(2) Curcurbits are highly promiscuous and cross very easily with anything similar in the vicinity, whatever is on the insects feet, so unless special precautions have been taken to pollinate by hand and close off the flower to insects, the seed will often be a cross.
Only way to get reliable squash seed is to grow true varieties, not hybrids, and take the special precautions necessary to get non-crossed seeds, or buy the seeds from a seed specialist who knows what he's doing.