mystery garden item

[Godsgrl]

I gave up on my garden long before it gave up on me, apparently. I found this growing despite my neglect. Any ideas what it is? Honeydew, pumpkin, or ????? Thanks for any input you might have.

 

[Biologrady]

Mystery squash?
If its something you started from seed, I can't ID it, but I had something similar sprout from my garden one year....I think a yellow squash,or zucchini ended up betting fertilized by something else on the neighborhood. Then when one of my squash got composted and ended up sprouting the following spring I had a weird hybrid. They were big , green to orange, ovals like a spaghetti squash, but the flesh was stiff, more like a gourd. Inedible but a good conversation piece.

 

[Godsgrl]

I appreciate your input. It is something started from seed-I had thrown in pumpkin and honeydew, but this doesn't look like either of those. I guess I'll keep watching it and see what develops. Your hybrid squash thing sounds very interesting, I didn't know that could happen.

 

[Biologrady]

Yeah, I was told that a lot of the common commercial stuff we get in seed packs are sterile hybrids, but with the influx of "heirloom" variety in the mix now they often grow as fertile plants and you can get multiple generations that will germinate in your garden. I don't even bother planting cherry tomatoes anymore, they just reseed themselves for me now, and sometimes sprout in the darnedest places! Like the gutters if I don't clear them often!?!?!?

 

[ChickenPeep]

It's an alien squash!! Run! Run before it's too late!

 

[Godsgrl]

It's an alien squash!! Run! Run before it's too late!

 

[Godsgrl]

Yeah, I was told that a lot of the common commercial stuff we get in seed packs are sterile hybrids, but with the influx of "heirloom" variety in the mix now they often grow as fertile plants and you can get multiple generations that will germinate in your garden. I don't even bother planting cherry tomatoes anymore, they just reseed themselves for me now, and sometimes sprout in the darnedest places! Like the gutters if I don't clear them often!?!?!?

Interesting! Hmmm...cherry tomatoes in my gutters...I'll have to give that a try~

 

[mandelyn]

Not sure what it is! Definitely not a pumpkin, they don't really have a green phase. They start round and yellow, and get orange from there. A squash of some kind, doesn't look melon-esque. Could have been deposited by birds. (which is usually how tomatoes get into gutters, birds or squirrels)

My husband threw seed in an area, cucumber, squash, watermelon, and pumpkin. Spent some 2 months trying to figure out what actually started. Turned out to be pumpkin. It choked out with cucumber (which also had some sort of fungus and died) crawled over another pumpkin, shot up the fence in 3 places, and escaped into the yard some 15 feet off two arms. All that green growth, and it's only making one pumpkin.

Bought 4 tomato plants. Was gifted another 22. Then all my volunteers started! Cherry, Stripey, German Queens, Roma, and something else. Over run with tomatoes!

Got a nice bed of Asparagus and strawberries going, but it looks like we might be moving soon. I'm digging a lot up and taking it with!

 

[Bunnylady]

I appreciate your input. It is something started from seed-I had thrown in pumpkin and honeydew, but this doesn't look like either of those. I guess I'll keep watching it and see what develops. Your hybrid squash thing sounds very interesting, I didn't know that could happen.

It probably wasn't a hybrid, at least not in the true sense of being a cross between two species. Some squash and gourds are actually the same species, so they can cross-pollinate. This is why there is an old gardener's rule about not growing squash and gourds close to each other. The plants you planted will produce the type of fruit you were looking for, but if you save the seeds, the next generation could be really off!

(Beets and Swiss Chard are also the same species. Neat, huh?)