And you thought this might be an article about getting rid of surplus zucchini? Read on.
Why, oh, why do all three of my zucchini plants have male flowers but no female flowers? I can tell because none of the flowers have the little baby, undeveloped squash at their base. I’ve tried to find the reason for the absence of female flower, using one of several university Extension websites, including the WSU.edu site. From these, I have learned that male flowers are always the first to bloom, followed later by female blossoms. Several Extension sites from around the country scolded me to be patient, that the female flowers will come. Before frost, I wonder?
I have other squash in my garden — pumpkins, cucumbers and yellow squash (which are bearing fruit). They are all planted in one long row. I like to grow squash, because all I have to do is create a mound, scoop out a place for seeds, cover, then water and wait. Squash aren’t the first seeds to go into my vegetable garden. I wait till the soil temperature is above 60 degrees.
What we call “squash” are in the genus Curcubita (Latin for “squash”). Within that genus are three species that contain most of the squash we grow and eat. The pepo species includes “field pumpkin,” zucchini, and acorn squash, to name a few.
The maxima species has as its members pumpkins, banana squashes and some others.
The squash in each of these families cross-pollinate within their species, so who knows what could sprout the next year if I were to save seeds. My zucchini (if they ever bear) and the summer squash might cross-pollinate, giving me a strange new variety.
The good news is that squash plants do not pollinate across species.
Let me say, though, that there is also a risk that my yellow squash could cross with the pumpkin I am growing. That is because pumpkins are found in both genuses, the pepo and the maxima. Nearly all the pumpkins we grow for Jack o’ Lanterns belong in the pepo family.
If you take pride in growing a monster pumpkin that will win a county-fair blue ribbon, you are most likely growing one that is part of the maxima species. No worries—you won’t find it playing footsie with your summer squash.
Mary Shane, a Master Gardener since 1998, lives in the Val Vista area west of Montesano.
