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Re: squash/pumpkin pollination

Square Foot Gardening List - http://www.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html

In a message dated 99-07-09 12:15:00 EDT, you write:
<< Patti, I had to look it up too. Pumpkins belong to the species Cucurbita
 mixta and zucchini to Curcurbita pepo. Never the twain shall cross,
 according to Suzanne Ashworth's "Seed to Seed." your information is indeed
 correct, but this changes the playing field somewhat. Margaret L>>

     Sorry, but the above information is, for the most part, incorrect. 
Although, I admit, the taxonomy of squash and pumpkins is kind of cunfusing.
     Regular pumpkins (the most common), which are really just a type of 
summer squash, (such as Connectitcut Field and Kentucky Field) are C. pepo. 
The very large "pumpkins" (such as Atlantic Giant) are not really pumpkins 
(summer squash) at all, and are considered more in the winter squash type. 
These belong to the species maxima (C. maxima) as do a few summer squashes. 
(I said it was confusing)
     Granted, a few pumpkins belong to the C. mixta species......Cushaw, 
Tennessee and Sweetpotato. These aren't widely used around here, but these 
few that *are* in the C. mixta species may be what to grow when cross 
pollination is a concern and one would like to grow pumpkins along with 
squash and not worry about hand pollination (if you can find the C. mixta 
types....I haven't seen any in my seed catalogs). 
    Nearly all summer squash are C. pepo...including zucchini as well as any 
yellow squash. All decorative gourds are also C. pepo. Winter squash belong 
to three different species: C. pepo types such as acorn squash; C. moschata 
types, such as butternut squash; C. maxima types such as Hubbard, Marrow, 
Banana, Turban and Turks. There are other fruits sometimes called "gourds," 
or thought of in the same species....such a Luffa (Luffa spp), bottle gourd 
(Lagenaria spp), and others. These aren't even in the same genus as the 
others and crossing isn't a worry.
     And, yes, all of the above in the Curcurbita pepo species *will* cross 
with another C. pepo. Everything in the C. mixta species will cross with 
another C. mixta. Everything in the C. maxima species will cross with another 
C. maxima. And so on and so forth. C. maxima will *not* cross with C. pepo. 
C. pepo will *not* cross with C. moschata. C. moschata will *not* cross with 
C. maxima....and so on and so forth.
     Trust me, I know. One year, we planted our usual field of Cennecticut 
Field pumpkins (C. pepo) and also zucchini (also C. pepo) in the vegetable 
garden....and decided to save the seeds from the best pumpkins (I love 
growing pumpkins and we always have a roadside stand in the fall). What we 
got from those saved seeds (this was quite a while ago) were definitely 
"squashkins." Most were the ugliest, weirdest looking things you've ever 
seen, although some were kind of interesting (all different shapes, some half 
orange and half green...some speckled...not one was a true pumpkin shape, 
though). Our usual customers started coming by that year and all we heard 
was, "Gee, uh, what happened to your pumpkins? Free? No, that's OK....we'll 
come back next year." That's when I started learning about seed saving! 
     Timing, hand pollinating, and *knowing which species you're growing* 
makes it possible to save pure seeds, though.
     Legumes are easy as they're self pollinated and resist crossing...as do 
tomatoes. Peppers need only about 25 ft. of separation. Corn is wind 
pollinated and needs a *lot* of isolation (about a half mile) to get pure 
seeds (although you can hand pollinate corn as well).

Lisa Viger


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