Mystery pumpkin

[ina]

Well, I'm sure the picture on the packet of seeds showed yellow pumpkins, but now I've a load of light green, slightly stripey little balls on the plants - never seen a pumpkin like it! Anybody any ideas what that might be?

Ina

[2steps]

they sound like gourds (sp)

Didn't get anything on my punkin plants there green and healthy looking but only about 6 inches tall with no flowers or anything. They've been that size for weeks

[Wombat]

Either that or they will change colour as they mature...................perhaps

Nev

[ina]

That's what I was wondering - but I've never had pumpkins with changing colour before! And I've got some other ones, from seeds kept from a shop bought pumpkin, and they are perfectly yellow. Or, I was wondering, if maybe it was a hybrid and the seeds split up in the next generation!

Nevermind, I shall wait and see. And hope for a bit more sun. I did plant them early this year, and had grown them in pots indoors before I did so, but still, the "balls" are not much more than golfball size now. Even the ones in the polytunnel.

Ina

[Millymollymandy]

Ina, my butternuts are pale green and white stripey - some have now matured to the right colour thankfully!

[ina]

So there's hope yet - thanks, Mandy! They look quite attractive, actually.

Ina

[diver]

Ina, I've got small round squashes which are a creamy/ yellow colour with light green stripes. they are about 4 or 5 inches in diameter ...they are not butternuts as I have them as well and they are a different colour and shape...they are also much bigger. They are definitly squashes but I don't know their name as someone gave me their seeds but I had them last year and they are delicious roasted or in stews or casseroles. They have a very hard skin and are difficult to peel especially if they are quite small...but they are worth it...I've got 20 stored all ready and they will keep right through the winter as long as the frost doesn't get at them. Mine are in the cellar

[alcina]

My Jack'o Lantern pumpkins started out dark green with pale vertical stripes, then all of a sudden they started to go orange and are now bright orange. I actually harvested them a couple of weeks ago because the vines were clearly dying (actually, they were virtually dead!), I presume that's normal (never grown squash before!)

Both pumpkins resulted from the same squash husbandry effort! Every other attempt to pollinate the female flowers failed. Obviously it was a good day for pumpkin rumpy pumpy!

Alcina

[Millymollymandy]

I picked most of my pumpkins yesterday even though most of the butternuts aren't ripe yet. However the bit attaching them to the plant was dried out and rock hard so I reckon there is no more growing to be done or goodness coming from the plant - nearly needed loppers to cut them off.

I put them out in the sun yesterday and left them there last night (too lazy to bring in) and guess what - it is really raining buckets this morning! Yippee, first proper rain in a month.

Anyone know if butternuts should sound hollow when ripe? My two 'ordinary' pumpkins sound hollow when tapped already.

I'm already thinking pumpkin pie, soup, roasted, curried .....

[ina]

... mash, jam, chutney, cake, bread... Our family used to kind of pickle them, with vinegar, sugar, cloves and cinnamon - I hated them like that, although I like pumpkins in all other versions!

Butternuts are a lot more solid than the ordinary, great big round monsters, so I suppose they wouldn't necessarily sound hollow when tapped.

My little green balls are still green, and bit larger, but not really a lot - maybe I can eat them like courgette. We could do with more sun, but the weather has turned rather autumny. Don't have a lot of courgette this year, either, and the goats ate half a pumpkin plant yesterday (complete with small fruit)...

Ina

[alcina]

Don't have a lot of courgette this year, either,

Me neither! In fact I've had precisely none! Not a single one of my courgette husbandry attemtps worked. And leaving them to themeselves didn't produce any babies either. Maybe it's been a bad year for courgettes.

Sorry...I've just hijacked the squash thread!

Alcina

[Millymollymandy]

Shame I couldn't have sent you some! I've just made what I hope is the last pot of courgette soup and there are still a few coming on - though more slowly now and the leaves are white with mildew. I must have had 20kg at least. Note to self - don't plant 5 courgettes next year.

[Sue]

So am I the only one who has fifteen miles of HUGE pumpkin plant that is looking triffid like with only one tiny ball fruit on it! and now frost so assume I've no chance of getting a huge pumpkin head for Halloween
I won't be doing the Gardeners World (BBC) free trail next year - it takes too much room!
Looking at planting carrots and garlic soon though - if the pumpkin doesn't spread another three feet by tea time!

[ina]

Don't worry, Sue - you are not the only one...

Even my pumpkins in the polytunnel are tiny. The fruit, not the plant. I've actually chopped them off a bit here and there, to prevent the plant putting all the energy into more green, and more tiny fruit, but still - no Halloween pumpkins here, either.

Ina

[alcina]

Well...you're not the only one that had 15 miles of triffid taking over the garden! My those plants know how to grow! And mine had sharp little spiky things on them Out of all my plant I only got two pumpkins - they're about the size of smallish footballs (I did start mine off well before the Gardener's World trial started so maybe that's why mine are ahead of yours?). They may still ripen; one associates pumpkins with Halloween and the ones in the shops at that time look pretty fresh (the stem is still green - my stems are now brown), so it's feasible they can still ripen through October.

I have to say I wasn't impressed with the fruit load to plant space ratio of the pumpkins! Much better for me were the aubergines this year. Lots of fruit, small and VERY pretty plant. Definitely a goer for next year.

Alcina