Thought you might be interested in seeing a squash plant that popped up out of my compost pile. Seems it thinks it's Jack's beanstalk and is putting out 20 ft runners that are climbing into cutting beds, over hibiscus plants and into everything. The female blossoms are forming now. I remember putting seeds from a butternut squash in there.
Squash or Jack's beanstalk?
Here's one that thinks it is a hibiscus.
Aren't volunteers great? The ones I planted on purpose didn't do that well. LOL.
Karen
Oh - what a fun surprise, Mothernature. You can grow a fall crop in FLA, right? I just found a tomato plant volunteer with a tiny tomato and 2 more blossoms on it! I think it's a Homestead, which does really well around here in the summer - it's too hot for it to be setting, so it must be a winner!
Glendale - too true - the ones I've planted AND raised from seed are way behind.
Look what we found!!! I have no idea what kind of squash this could be. Said before, it volunteered in my compost pile. It is huge, and it is now setting these lovely squash or maybe a gourd. I cut this one and it cut easily. I think it was immature because the seeds are a long way from being the size of squash seeds. The meat is tender and sweet. I believe we will eat it tonight unless someone hollers.
This message was edited Sep 15, 2007 8:24 AM
Well, we ate half of it for supper last night and it was indeed delicious.
Then it wasn't a gourd. Gourds are pretty much tasteless and blah. Save the seeds for next year.
My volunteer tomato turned out to be the best I've tasted in years. I saved lots of seed from it for next year.
Karen
Thanks for the advice. Seems this one didn't have any mature seeds, but we'll leave the next one on longer.
Wow glendale - you may have just discovered a new and fabulous tomato. You won't know what it crossed from, but that will be part of the fun to maybe figure it out. Be sure to post your results on the tomato forum - especially when you try it out again in the spring.
bookworm28
No, I have no idea where it came from. It came up next to a raised flower bed in hard red clay soil and mostly shade. My daughter kept referring to it as my "green tomato" plant because we figured there was no way the tomatoes would ripen. They did ripen and they were wonderful. I can't remember when I've had tomatoes as good.
One thing is that it should come true from seed, though, since even if its parent was an F1 of some kind, this one is at least an F2. I was very careful to follow the instructions here on DG for saving tomato seeds. I definitely will post next spring how it comes out. I'm so looking forward to growing them next year, too.
Karen
I've just got to learn my tomato terms and get into the genetics of them. Very interesting stuff. I'll be sure to watch for your post to see how they do.
bookworm28,
Hybrids work the same whether it is flowers or vegetables or any other kind of plants. This is what I learned from Farmerdill:
F1 - hybridized by crossing two specific parent plants. Seeds from this are called F2
F2 - seeds will not produce plants like the F1 but like one of the parents or possibly something completely different. There will be many variations when these seeds are grown. Seeds from this are called F3.
F3 - these will produce plants like themselves as will succeeding generations from them. These seeds would be referred to as open pollinated.
Now, because it was a volunteer, I know my tomato is not an F1. Even if it was a seed from the fruit of an F1, my volunteer would still be at least an F2, making my saved seeds at least an F3. The same applies to MotherNature4's squash.
Hope this helps. I am new at learning this stuff myself, and I still have to stop and think about how this works.
Karen
LOL.... I was just thinking as I read your post for the 3rd time... I'm going to have to stop and think about this. Thanks for sharing that with me.
OK, so my volunteer that I "think" is a sweet million (hybrid) baby is really going to be like one of its parents. That plant is an F2, and seeds from that plant will then be and F3. Did I get it right?
Nancy
bookworm28,
I know what you mean about thinking it through -- I had to do that several times to be sure I was telling you correctly. It can be very confusing.
Yes, you got it exactly right. Unless you spilled F1 seed on the ground and it came up from that (highly unlikely), a volunteer cannot be an F1 hybrid. It must be a least an F2, and its seeds will be F3. To be the same every time, F1 seeds have to be specially bred and the pollinization carefully controlled. That last sentence pretty much sums up all I know about producing F1 seeds. LOL.
MaineMan has a really neat thread going in Annuals regarding his hybridization of zinnias. He explains in some detail how he goes about doing the pollinization of the zinnias and the various results that he gets from the crossings. Fascinating!
When you get to taste the tomatoes from your little volunteer, if you like them then save as many seeds as you can for next year. There is an article on DG that explains how to treat your tomato seeds for saving. It's called fermenting and is really easy to do, but it's not essential if you don't want to bother.
Saving seeds for the next year from the "best tasting" of the vegetables is a tradition that's been going on for a very long time. My grandmother's generation always did that. They also saved flower seeds that they considered better -- taller, shorter, flowered more, nicer fragrance, or a different color.
Cheers,
Karen
I'll check out the thread by MaineMan - this is something I've never thought to do. I'm hoping the volunteer produces before we get any frost. I've seen the threads about saving and fermenting seeds, and if I like the results I'll do it for sure. Thanks for your great information, Karen!
Nancy
bookworm28,
You're welcome.
Have a good week,
Karen