We inherited a fresh squash from a friend who was given it by a friend. We
had never tasted squash before and duly roasted and ate it with Sunday
dinners. It was delicious.

I have never grown squash before, but many other veg. succesfully. Are the
seeds I have saved from the said squash likely to be suitable for planting
next year and so being sure of producing the same variety (about 30cm / 1ft
long and pale brown in colour?

If so, are there any special considerations I should make when storing the
seeds and planting them - presumably initially in pots, in the greenhouse,
next spring?

Thanks in advance for any help,

Keith

"Keith (Dorset)" wrote in message
...

We inherited a fresh squash from a friend who was given it by a friend. We
had never tasted squash before and duly roasted and ate it with Sunday
dinners. It was delicious.

I have never grown squash before, but many other veg. succesfully. Are the
seeds I have saved from the said squash likely to be suitable for planting
next year and so being sure of producing the same variety (about 30cm /
1ft long and pale brown in colour?

If so, are there any special considerations I should make when storing the
seeds and planting them - presumably initially in pots, in the greenhouse,
next spring?

Thanks in advance for any help,

Most commercially produced squash seed for gardeners tends to be F1 hybrid.
this means that each seed has a 1 in 4 chance of coming true if it self
fertilised and even less chance if it was fertilised by a nearby but
different strain. It dependents on how much space you have got to grow
squash plants, which tend to be quite large. If you were thinking of growing
just one or two squash plants I reckon your best bet would be to ask your
friend for the name of the variety and spring for the aprox £2 it will cost
you to buy the seed. If you have a lot of space and a few years to spare,
it can be quite fun breeding your own seeds to run true to type. I have
never tried it with squash although I have with courgettes which are a
similar type of plant. In this case I found that cool (5-10 degreesC) dark
and dry (dessicator) answered well. They don't seem to need to vernalise,
but maybe someone on the group has actually tried squashes and can tell you
more.

Gill M

Gill Matthews wrote:


"Keith (Dorset)" wrote in message
...

We inherited a fresh squash from a friend who was given it by a friend.
We had never tasted squash before and duly roasted and ate it with Sunday
dinners. It was delicious.

I have never grown squash before, but many other veg. succesfully. Are
the seeds I have saved from the said squash likely to be suitable for
planting next year and so being sure of producing the same variety (about
30cm / 1ft long and pale brown in colour?

If so, are there any special considerations I should make when storing
the seeds and planting them - presumably initially in pots, in the
greenhouse, next spring?

Thanks in advance for any help,

Most commercially produced squash seed for gardeners tends to be F1
hybrid. this means that each seed has a 1 in 4 chance of coming true if it
self fertilised and even less chance if it was fertilised by a nearby but
different strain.

This is not correct. F1 hybrids are produced by crossing two inbred strains.
They thus contain genes with a high level of "heterozygosity" that is to say
that many of the pairs of genes contain copies that do not match.
This phenomenon creates "hybrid vigour" and is due to the interaction of
many genes. The one in four figure you quote would be the case if only one
pair of differing genes were involved.


Neil Jones
http://www.butterflyguy.com/

"Keith (Dorset)" wrote in message
...

We inherited a fresh squash from a friend who was given it by a
friend. We
had never tasted squash before and duly roasted and ate it with
Sunday
dinners. It was delicious.

I have never grown squash before, but many other veg. succesfully.
Are the
seeds I have saved from the said squash likely to be suitable for
planting
next year and so being sure of producing the same variety (about
30cm / 1ft
long and pale brown in colour?

If so, are there any special considerations I should make when
storing the
seeds and planting them - presumably initially in pots, in the
greenhouse,
next spring?

Without a bit more info it's rather hard to be of help. Was it a
winter squash or a summer squash? Winter squash are pumpkins, gramma
etc and summer squash include zucchini/courgettes, vegetable marrows
etc. Can you ask your friend to find out what it was?

But, even with that proviso, I'll take a punt and assume it's a winter
squash given that you roasted it and you obviously can get/see some
seeds in the thing so it's less likely to be a summer squash which are
usually eaten before seeds appear. Don't expect too much from the
seeds as winter squash need a fairly long isolation distance to avoid
cross pollination and if it was grown in the city or close to
neighbours winter squashes then a mongrel from the seed is a possible
outcome, but worth trying if you've found one you like

The normal way to save seeds for a winter squash is to let the squash
sit around for a few weeks to allow the seeds to mature, to then cut
the thing up for eating and to scoop out the seeds and to either put
them on a piece of paper towel to dry out completley - the kitchen
bench is a good spot (they usually get a very thin papery skin on the
seed and when you can rub it off between yor finger and thumb they are
dry enough to store) or to put them in an envelope and hang them
somewhere safe and warmish to dry out completely. Just store the
seeds in a dry place, no special needs other than that.

If it's a pumpkin of some sort then the seed will be viable for about
10 years and I've found (as have others) that seed a few years old is
better than fresh seeds.

On Sun, 15 Oct 2006 09:27:45 +0100, "Gill Matthews"
account I no longer have wrote:


"Keith (Dorset)" wrote in message
...

We inherited a fresh squash from a friend who was given it by a friend. We
had never tasted squash before and duly roasted and ate it with Sunday
dinners. It was delicious.

I have never grown squash before, but many other veg. succesfully. Are the
seeds I have saved from the said squash likely to be suitable for planting
next year and so being sure of producing the same variety (about 30cm /
1ft long and pale brown in colour?

If so, are there any special considerations I should make when storing the
seeds and planting them - presumably initially in pots, in the greenhouse,
next spring?

I tried saving seed from a good pumpkin, a few years ago.
The following year, the resulting plant produced a pumpkin-coloured,
pumpkin-fleshed, but marrow-shaped fruit.
I had grown courgettes alongside the pumpkin from which I saved the
seed!

Pam in Bristol

"Pam Moore" wrote in message
I tried saving seed from a good pumpkin, a few years ago.
The following year, the resulting plant produced a pumpkin-coloured,
pumpkin-fleshed, but marrow-shaped fruit.
I had grown courgettes alongside the pumpkin from which I saved the
seed!

Pam in Bristol

This year I've grown traditional 'straight' courgettes alongside some
'round' variety of courgettes. I'd been thinking of keeping some seeds from
the round ones. However, am I likely to get plants which are hybrids of each
type or even something not very productive or good to eat?
--
David
.... Email address on website http://www.avisoft.co.uk
.... Blog at http://dlts-french-adventures.blogspot.com/

"Neil Jones" wrote in message
...
Gill Matthews wrote:


"Keith (Dorset)" wrote in message
...

We inherited a fresh squash from a friend who was given it by a friend.
We had never tasted squash before and duly roasted and ate it with
Sunday
dinners. It was delicious.

I have never grown squash before, but many other veg. succesfully. Are
the seeds I have saved from the said squash likely to be suitable for
planting next year and so being sure of producing the same variety
(about
30cm / 1ft long and pale brown in colour?

If so, are there any special considerations I should make when storing
the seeds and planting them - presumably initially in pots, in the
greenhouse, next spring?

Thanks in advance for any help,

Most commercially produced squash seed for gardeners tends to be F1
hybrid. this means that each seed has a 1 in 4 chance of coming true if
it
self fertilised and even less chance if it was fertilised by a nearby but
different strain.

This is not correct. F1 hybrids are produced by crossing two inbred
strains.
They thus contain genes with a high level of "heterozygosity" that is to
say
that many of the pairs of genes contain copies that do not match.
This phenomenon creates "hybrid vigour" and is due to the interaction of
many genes. The one in four figure you quote would be the case if only one
pair of differing genes were involved.

You are quite right of course Neil. The point that I was trying to make (I
really should leave figures out of my arguments) is that there was not much
chance of the saved seed coming true to type, and therefore if it was that
particular type of squash they were after, they would be better off buying
the same type of seed than trying to grow it from saved seed unless they had
a lot of space to play around with.

Gill M

"Keith (Dorset)" wrote ...

We inherited a fresh squash from a friend who was given it by a friend. We
had never tasted squash before and duly roasted and ate it with Sunday
dinners. It was delicious.

I have never grown squash before, but many other veg. succesfully. Are the
seeds I have saved from the said squash likely to be suitable for planting
next year and so being sure of producing the same variety (about 30cm /
1ft long and pale brown in colour?

If so, are there any special considerations I should make when storing the
seeds and planting them - presumably initially in pots, in the greenhouse,
next spring?


Sounds like a Butternut Squash to me, slightly bulbous one end and that's
where the seeds are? Lots of good orange flesh to roast and so sweet after
cooking.
I saved seeds from commercially grown fruit many year ago and got good
plants/fruit the next year, but that was because they were probably in a
large field of the same plant and any cross pollination was done within the
field. Saving a seed from a plant grown next to other different
squashes/cucurbits could easily result in something completely different.
Buy some proper seed to be sure, I intend to.

--
Regards
Bob H
17mls W. of London.UK

Hi Gill and others,

Many thanks for your commnets.

The 'said' squash cane to me.... dare I say it as 'second-hand' produce and
from a 'well-to-do' lady who will have had her gardener grow it!

This is why I have not followed the usual route and asked what the type is.
I may however go to that trouble if necessary as we enjoyed the thing so
much.

I would prefer to buy fresh seed every time, and appreciate the 'need' to do
this with F1s.

Some very interesting perspectives though, which will prompt me to look into
the subject in greater depth and sow some squash - of one or more varieties
next year.

Best wishes,

Keith


"Gill Matthews" account I no longer have wrote
in message ...

"Keith (Dorset)" wrote in message
...

We inherited a fresh squash from a friend who was given it by a friend.
We had never tasted squash before and duly roasted and ate it with Sunday
dinners. It was delicious.

I have never grown squash before, but many other veg. succesfully. Are
the seeds I have saved from the said squash likely to be suitable for
planting next year and so being sure of producing the same variety (about
30cm / 1ft long and pale brown in colour?

If so, are there any special considerations I should make when storing
the seeds and planting them - presumably initially in pots, in the
greenhouse, next spring?

Thanks in advance for any help,

Most commercially produced squash seed for gardeners tends to be F1
hybrid. this means that each seed has a 1 in 4 chance of coming true if it
self fertilised and even less chance if it was fertilised by a nearby but
different strain. It dependents on how much space you have got to grow
squash plants, which tend to be quite large. If you were thinking of
growing just one or two squash plants I reckon your best bet would be to
ask your friend for the name of the variety and spring for the aprox £2 it
will cost you to buy the seed. If you have a lot of space and a few years
to spare, it can be quite fun breeding your own seeds to run true to type.
I have never tried it with squash although I have with courgettes which
are a similar type of plant. In this case I found that cool (5-10
degreesC) dark and dry (dessicator) answered well. They don't seem to need
to vernalise, but maybe someone on the group has actually tried squashes
and can tell you more.

Gill M

"David in Normandy" wrote in message
...
"Pam Moore" wrote in message
I tried saving seed from a good pumpkin, a few years ago.
The following year, the resulting plant produced a
pumpkin-coloured,
pumpkin-fleshed, but marrow-shaped fruit.
I had grown courgettes alongside the pumpkin from which I saved
the
seed!

Pam in Bristol

This year I've grown traditional 'straight' courgettes alongside
some
'round' variety of courgettes. I'd been thinking of keeping some
seeds from
the round ones. However, am I likely to get plants which are hybrids
of each
type or even something not very productive or good to eat?

If they were flowering at the same time, I think you'd get mongrels.

My butternut squash plants did not develop much "fruit", even though
they flowered.
Does any action need to be taken to fertilise the flowers, please?