Gardening the Garden

Question:

Hi – Still two months or more before I can start planting a garden – but I have a question on Buttercup squash seeds.  Can you plant ( and get fruit) from the seeds from last years crop of squash. For some reason it is really tough to find buttercup squash seeds in the stores here – so we were wondering if we could use our seeds from the squash we harvested last fall. Any replies appreciated.  Thanks.  Janet

Response:

For some reason it is really tough to find buttercup squash seeds in the stores here – so we were wondering if we could use our seeds from the squash we harvested last fall.

    Squash must be cross pollinated with another plant by bees (so your seeds have a "daddy" and a "mommy").  You picked the squash from the mommy, so your problem is to determine if the daddy was of the same variety.     Did you or your neighbors within a half mile or so have any other variety of squash (or pumpkin)?    If only buttercup was grown in your area, the seeds will come pretty much true. If others were grown, you will have a lottery. And there may be more than one daddy for the seeds from any one fruit. The Pollination Scene:  http://users.aol.com/pollinator/polpage1.html Jan’s Sweetness and Light Shop    (Varietal Honeys and Beeswax Candles) http://users.aol.com/SweetnessL/sweetlit.htm

Response: