2015 Grow-Along Challenge: Squash Wars - Roll Call!

Emcars, wow such a wonderful website! Thank you for sharing it with DG readers. I definitely will book mark it for future reference. Gotta go to the Gym will post more later.

Smooth skin luffa I picked young and cooked like fried squash, back in the early 80's, mine fell apart too ez as sponges later, but were fun as the kids rattles...

My Luffa sponge. .. among my harvest. 😃The vegetables will be our side dish for super tonight.

My squash plants are not doing anything. I think the heat has them at a standstill. I'll keep watering and hopefully they will get a growth spurt when the temps go down some! Might give them a dose of fish fertilizer too.

Here in Southern Illinois, I emptied 5 inches of rain from the rain gauge yesterday morning and woke to heavy downpour this morn. Just maybe Ocean Springs, MS will get rain before long..... Hope so... I'm sure there are cux's, squash, onions, peppers, green tomatoes,flowers and dill that could be harvesting from my gardens and no telling what else. I would have to go barefoot and I'm not that excited about getting mud between my toes this morn. I'd rather go fishing - hummmmm. Glad I've already made pickles 3 times, otherwise I would probably be out there picking pickles

Here are some photos of my Amazonka winter squash. The first one is planted in the straw bale and really starting to run. It has set fruit as well. The last photo taken is one planted in my raised bed and doing very well too, but just starting to blossom and has not set fruit. Please ignore the weeds. I need to get out there and do lots of weeding but we have been very busy with the holiday and all. Especially need to (try) to control that old dreaded wild morning glory vine. I hate it but it loves me.
My lemon summer squash (not pictured) has just put on it's first bloom. It was very late last year, too, but worth the wait. We have eaten several Englischer Custards and they are delicious. Tonight I am making our favorite zucchini casserole using 4 cups of sliced Speedy Zuc. We have had lots of it because it is early and prolific....and huge. Lots for the chickens, too.
My very last one is a photo of my Blue Lake bush beans in straw bales. I got them in very late but they look great now and will bloom before long.

Beebonnet, you have talked me into trying English custard next year. How long is the maturity period? I may still have time to start some now since we have such a long growing season!

All of my squash plants are setting fruit now! The first picture is of my Dark Green Heirloom Zucchini, which don't seem to mind the cucumber beetles at all and are very healthy and hardy. The second is of one of my organic butternut squash, and boy are there going to be a TON of them. The third is a picture of a new baby on one of my Heirloom Candy Roaster Squash! I am excited to see how much more fruit they will set (there are 4 of them) :) Now I just need my cantaloupes and watermelon to set fruit.

This message was edited Jul 10, 2015 11:08 PM

Sorry I missed the birthday wishes. Thanks bunches. This thread has become so long it takes time to load on my tablet. I hesitate to post photos and have been waiting to see if part two will appear.

My squash are chugging along. The zucchini plants are huge. Tromboncino is on the roof of the 7' arbor but no girlie flowers yet. Something got one spaghetti squash at the root line. Small girls forming on the two butternuts and no girls on the longpie pumpkins but lots of fliwers.

Good news, bad news from my squash. Good news is the zuke continues to make large fruit. Bad news is pickle worms attacked both 'Horn of Plenty' squash fruit, and 'Black Beauty' zuke fruit. I am getting a good look at those worms, and pics. are here to share for newbies.

All is quiet on the squash wars front. so I will break the silence. Took some photos this afternoon which are kind of more of the same except they have grown. My Amazonka winter squash resemble yellow basketballs, only smaller. Maybe a yellow volleyball. My Speedy Zucchini is producing way more than we need. Perhaps I should make my Zucchini Relish. The chickens help me and whoever dares to comes through the gate. I have two of them so I am considering uprooting one to plant a winter veggie in that space. Englischer Custard continues to be my favorite for flavor and for the fact that it is not so rambunctious. My lemon summer squash has still not produced, but it was the same last year. Very late. However, it went on into the fall and I really liked the flavor of that one too. Haven't had one yet this year, though. I have several Delicata set on now and they (2 plants) are from my own seed. So that is a report for now on my 5 entries in the Squash Wars. More photos later if my battery doesn't give out like it did today. LOL

My Black Futsu has started setting flowers but Hilo Laotian is still growing like crazy. The Ambar continues to do good also. I have some pics but haven't had time to download them.

1. My second sowing of squash vines; they're now begin to produce both male and female flowers.
2. Busy bee works on the sweet nectar from the male flower that of 'Casper' pumpkin.
3. Day #2 after pollination; 'Casper'.
4. Day #3 after pollination; 'Casper'.
5. 2 mature fruits, nearly ripe of 'India Long' calabash.

Correction; #2 above bee in female flower.

Amazing photos, Lily. Especially love those India Long calabash. And your 2nd sewing vines are fantastic.

Thanks Bee. :) It has been very unusual for bug damage pattern this year. They appear to all congregate in the ground squash this year and spared those that were planted in containers. Knock on woods. Those are my containers are doing so well this year.

Hi everyone! My endeavor in growing Candy Roaster squash has hit a speed bump. I only have 1 fruit that is healthy and growing. All of the other little babies didn't get pollinated (I'm assuming) and fell off. I have taken this as a cue to hand pollinate. The bee population near my home seems to be low. We have had such a wet summer so far, maybe that has something to do with it. My zucchini is really taking off and we have had a decent harvest so far. My butternut squash seems to be having the same problem as the Candy Roaster. They are in the same garden together (I have 3 gardens). I will get some pictures soon and post them. Fingers crossed that my hand-pollination efforts pay off, or that the bees starting making their way to my garden.

Good lucks to both Bee' and emcars, by far, I noticed perhaps the winter squash are harder to get natural pollination versus the summer squash? All my Pumpkins and Calabash alike required hand pollinated, and my 'Spineless Beauty' zukes and 'Horn of Plenty' squash were easily pollinated naturally.

Lily_love- I had a small harvest of winter squash last year, but I thought it was because I got everything in the ground kind of late. Maybe the pollinators just have a thing for summer squash! Maybe they'd be more inclined to pollinate my winter squash if there weren't zuke plants tempting the heck out of them :)

Okay, here's a picture of my baby Roaster! Also pics of Candy Roaster vine and a new baby Roaster.

Those look great!

Yes, they do look great. How big is Candy Roaster supposed get? Don't know that I have ever seen one before now, that is.

So - too - Candy Roaster - What is the best way to prepare this beauty?

There are three versions of Candy Roaster. All are variants of the Banana squash. The Georgia Candy Roaster is a giant version of the Pink Banana which can reach 60 lbs. The North Georgia Candy Roaster is a small version of the Pink Banana around 10 lbs. The North Carolina Candy Roaster , about 15 lbs, has irregular coloring like a cross between the Pink and Blue Banana squash.
Good baking and pie squashes. Similar to Hubbards in flavor but easier to handle.

Most interesting about the Candy Roaster - Thank you. That 60# pink banana would be a little tough to get from vine to dine.

May have to give the Candy Roaster a try one of these summers, but I think I would try for the 10 - 15 pound ones.

Very interesting about the various varieties of Candy Roaster, I've got my eyes on that one as well. :)

I am so glad DG is hosting this squash competition. I'm VERY new to gardening (I just started this spring) and I happened to plant three varieties of squash, so this thread has been very informative.

Lily_love, did you ever figure out if using 24-hour-old pollen from a closed bloom would work to pollinate a female flower? I've been hand-pollinating all of my blooms because my garden is... in the middle of a blasted heath that does not invite nice bugs to play (though I have definitely come nose-to-nose with a bumblebee or two in the course of pollinating my zucchini), and because I'm trying to avoid cross-pollination. But I'm afraid of running into the same problem with my sweet pie pumpkins - I would hate for my one female pumpkin flower to fade away because I don't have a male to help it fruit.

I also took a crack at planting some Waltham butternut squash (I planted what I thought would be delicious...) but while both my zukes and my pumpkins are flowering, my butternut seems... stunted. I'm in zone 5a (and I'm sad that Karen never got her seeds! I was looking forward to seeing how hers grew, and when they did what), and I planted directly from seed on June 1st, so I don't know if this is normal (it's been... 54 days since planting, and I think... 45 days since germination, give or take), but the plants just... don't look as though they're really thriving. I water deeply once a week, and I've very gently amended my soil a bit more, adding compost and beefing up the hills themselves so watering gives the plants more nutrients, but while they're alive and look reasonably healthy, there's minimal vining and no flowering. Any thoughts? Should I give them a boost of some phosphorous?

I realize I'm not part of the competition, but I DEFINITELY have the squash bug (though fortunately, not the kind that eat my plants!) and thought y'all would be the best people to ask.

Hi JessJess, to answer your question; no I didn't. The morning that I intended to hand pollinate the female flower. Luckily, a male flower presented itself. So I didn't try using the previous day's bloom. I would think a boost of phosphorous rich fertilizer would help, yes.

Interesting read about Candy Roaster, Farmer Dill. Thanks for chiming in. This is a great informative thread. I didn't know about boosting with phosphorous rich fertilizer, either, although I don't think I need to.

Sorry for the long response time everyone! It has been quite an exhausting week :) My Candy Roaster is from heirloom seeds out of North Carolina. I am not sure how large they will get, but the description on the site that I purchased them from said up to 50#. We'll see. I'd love to walk out back to a fifty pounder sitting in my garden! I bought them from Sustainable Mountain Agriculture http://www.heirlooms.org/other-heirlooms.html
I plan on using them for pies this holiday season and potentially canning pie filling made from them to gift. They'll probably make an excellent curry squash soup, too. I am also looking forward to presenting family and friends with giant squash as gifts, haha. Thanks for the compliments, too. I am pretty excited about these babies!

Maybe we could do a little seed trading after this years harvest. :)

emcars, as I understand that hybrid plants don't usually produce offspring that's true to its heritage. So seeds of your veggies may not yield the same produce as the year before?

Update on my squash; I just harvested the largest of Zuke I've ever seen. One more 'Horn of Plenty' and also found some squash bug's eggs!

Looking good, girls! My squash are just hibernating until this heat cools down. I'm afraid that the pumpkins won't have enough time to produce fruit before a Halloween harvest. Do you think if I moved them to the North or East side of my house that they might start growing again? East side gets morning sun and afternoon shade. Thanks for any advice!

My pumpkins will never make it - they have been drowned out at least 4 times. The ground where I planted them has been way tooooo wet this year.

I now have squash bugs on my Hilo and I've seen shield bugs on my tomatoes. I've been trying to just use dish soap but I have a feeling it's not gonna be enough.

Foggies girl....Are your plants in containers or in the ground? I have never heard of moving squash plants that have been planted in the ground. I know cucumbers wouldn't stand for it and they are all in the same family. I think I would just leave them where they are and let them ride it out until cooler weather. Good luck. There is still lots of growing time between now and Halloween.

I too have noticed that seeds that were sown after mid June appear to be stunned. Seedlings just sit there and refused to grow. (Those are in containers ).

Lily, mine are in containers. Ground gets too wet. I've noticed new growth on them, so maybe they are ready to grow again! :)

How's everyone doing with our growing season tapering down. I have not checked my zucchini or squash lately. But I have this update : 1st 'Casper' pumpkin. The next two are younger fruits that were sown middle June.

On the post above. The picture shows 'Casper' which is slightly oblong in shape. The green round one is 'Lattoo' calabash in which I didn't enter in this "war". 😃