Any gardening experts out there.

[acropolite (Phil)]

Anyone know what sort of pumpkin this is, it's growing rapidly, around 300mm in size already (one of 2 the same in the veggie patch) and nowhere near ready to harvest.

HRH Liz, (Gardener extraordinaire) has been unable to identify the beast and fears it may be inedible.

[Kunama]

I know nothing at all about gardening but maybe someone sent you seeds for a Dill's Atlantic Giant ......

[mental4astro (Alexander)]

Sorry, I don't know what type of cucurbit it is.

Inedible? Only way to know is to let it ripen and harvest only once the stem to the fruit has dried out - farmer background in my family. Harvest before then and that can have the fruit unpalatable as it hasn't reached absolute full maturity. It is also when the pumpkin will store for longest.

Did it start bright yellow in colour? There are so many different types of pumpkin, and many start a different colour to when they reach maturity. Gonna be a waiting game. I'm keen to find out how your pumpkins turn out to be

I've got pumpkin vines growing in my suburban backyard, butternut and 'halloween' types. I have them grow over the back awing and chook pen and this helps tremendously to make the back verandah cooler in summer, and shades the chooks. I've now got pumpkin fruit growing over the verandah. One good year I've harvested 24 pumpkins from the on top of the awning, the smallest was 2kg. The halloween one started dark green, and changed to bright orange not long ago. But the stem is still very much green so not harvesting it until the vine has dried out. The butternuts I grow are as sweet as honey! The halloween one, I have no idea how it'll be to eat, but I'll find out in a few months time. I scavanged the seeds from a pumpkin last halloween. Huge vine! No one I've asked knows anything about these pumpkins. Even the fruiterer knows nothing about them, . There are several types of 'halloween' pumpkins, some of which are unpalatable, but others not. Oh well, only one way to find out which this one is!

EDIT: Even is unsure about the fruit, you can still eat the flowers - same way as zucchini flowers. YUM!!! And pumpkin vines produce a damn lot of flowers.

[Ric]

Hi Phil

Do you have any squash growing nearby?

Squash and Pumpkins can cross pollinate and result in some strange hybrids. I never had it happen to me but a few market gardeners in my area have mentioned seeing it happen.

Food for thought.

[AstralTraveller (David)]

Originally Posted by Ric

Hi Phil

Do you have any squash growing nearby?

Squash and Pumpkins can cross pollinate and result in some strange hybrids. I never had it happen to me but a few market gardeners in my area have mentioned seeing it happen.

Food for thought.

But is it food for people?? And which is better, the squakins or the pumpash??

I've heard of crosses, I think it was pumpkin and watermelon, producing a hybrid which 'even the pigs wouldn't eat'.

[mental4astro (Alexander)]

I've pollinated one of the female butternut pumpkins with the male flowers of the halloween type I have growing to see what I get. Won't have any results for another year until the new seeds I get are sown. The fruit is developing nicely.

I've been growing tomatoes for several years now too, collecting seeds as I go. Many different types of tomatoes and plenty of bees around, I've now got some new hybrids developing. Some really nice, others, well, just tomatoes. One particular hybrid is just awesome, and I named it after my wife, big, red and juicy and very sweet - the tomato, not the wife... Another hybrid I got from my mum - tremendously vigorous vine, and many kg's of walnut size sweet fruit.

I did grow a French heirloom pumpkin one time. The fruit was fine, just very watery compared to the types of pumpkins we get at the shops here in Oz. Not as sweet either. I prefer the butternut type.

[Wavytone]

Interesting. We prefer queensland blue pumpkin (the one with a blue-grey skin) for baking - butternuts are too watery IMHO.

Golden nuggets are goos but small, with 3 keen pumpkin eaters they don't go far.

[DarkArts]

Well, just don't sleep next to it, in case it's a pod.

[Somnium (Aidan)]

can i just add, you know this is a science type of forum because the units were given in mm not cm. having said that, i would have been impressed if it was 3x10^-1m

[acropolite (Phil)]

Probably too many varieties in the one plot, as Liz planted seedlings of Kent, seeds of Butternut and a couple of volunteers from compost pile - not to mention a few seeds of Peter Cundalls "specials" (donated by ABC radio Gardening talk-back), also growing nearby are zucchinis and cucumbers; so perhaps the "mystery pumpkin" is the result of cross-pollination!

[doppler (Rick)]

Originally Posted by DarkArts

Well, just don't sleep next to it, in case it's a pod.

Loved that movie the original was creepy, and the later remake was ok too.

[RB (Andrew)]

Originally Posted by acropolite

Probably too many varieties in the one plot...so perhaps the "mystery pumpkin" is the result of cross-pollination!

Not too unlike your growing collection of 'Black' Canons, huh Phil?

[h0ughy (David)]

Originally Posted by RB

Not too unlike your growing collection of 'Black' Canons, huh Phil?

oohhh now there would be some hybrids in that lot

[acropolite (Phil)]

Originally Posted by RB

Not too unlike your growing collection of 'Black' Canons, huh Phil?

don't mention the war.....

[doppler (Rick)]

Originally Posted by acropolite

don't mention the war.....

War? The one between the lenses and the mirrors?