Volunteer Leaves Safe

[Quatie]

There is actually a bit you can still plant in the fall. Lettuces are a popular one. They prefer the cooler temperatures. Carrots can be planted later. Some people even say the fall crop tastes better. I know there is more. I am going to try and plant fall crops this year, but I haven't looked into exactly what I can plant in my area.

 

[SmiYa0126]

One other thing. You spiked my interest in this so I ended up watching several videos on this subject. One man suggested pruning some (not all) of the male flowers so the plant will put more energy into making new flowers. I'm going to try this. Any chance you know if the male flowers are safe for the ducks to eat? I'll look it up before I prune them but the last thing I'd want to do is hurt my ducks.
This plant seems to grow a lot overnight

Squash flowers are not toxic, you can feed to ducks.

I've also read that you can prune squash plants a foot above their roots to help prevent disease.

 

[SmiYa0126]

You want to know how confused I get whenever this thread comes up?
"A volunteer for what?" Why would they leave a safe? Who would trust guarding of a safe to a volunteer?!"

Me too! Lol

 

[T-R-O-U-B-L-E]

Yay! I'm trying to grow pumpkins!

 

[HeatherKellyB]

One other thing. You spiked my interest in this so I ended up watching several videos on this subject. One man suggested pruning some (not all) of the male flowers so the plant will put more energy into making new flowers. I'm going to try this. Any chance you know if the male flowers are safe for the ducks to eat? I'll look it up before I prune them but the last thing I'd want to do is hurt my ducks.
This plant seems to grow a lot overnight

 

[Quatie]

Im sure they would if they could, but no such luck for them Taking a close look today, I did find a few female flowers just starting. They're super tiny and the flower is merely a bud. In your understanding, at what point should I hand pollinate? I need a flower to open before I can pollinate right? It'd be pointless to attempt to pollinate the bud, right? I don't know how deep the roots go so I'm planning on digging a couple of holes around the roots and use the water bottle tip shown in the video. I've been looking for ways to use plastic bottles anyway because my daughter drinks bottled water and I drink tea in individual sized bottles, so needless to say, we make way too much waste! I've started keeping the more firm bottles in an effort to reduce litter and this is a wonderful way to use a couple of them. Gotta start somewhere, right? Thanks again for everything I really appreciate you

Yep, until they are blooming, otherwise it is not worth trying to pollinate them. Hopefully that will help produce zucchini. I was thinking it is also possible that it is some hybrid squash and not very fertile.

The bottle trick is pretty cool. I haven't used it yet but want to in the future. With the drought here, it would also help reduce water usage. I have been using a lot of bottles as little planters lately. I am trying to propagate some plants around my yard, so I needed a lot of pots for cuttings.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

This plant is growing out like crazy! It's about 8ft long by 7ft wide. I'm seeing more and more female sprouts, but no female flowers yet. I watched a video that suggested removing some of the male flowers (maybe the one you posted) and I'm going to do that. I'm thinking about pruning it back some too. It's just too large. Maybe if it's pruned back a bit it will be able to focus more of its energy on these female sprouts. I think the problem with thag is most of the female sprouts are the ones that are the fartherest out from the original root. Maybe this is typical with it being a volunteer It's just so huge

 

[HollowOfWisps]

It's been blooming for at least 2 weeks now, probably more. I am seeing more and more females sprout but still none blooming. I'll look into getting some calcium added to the soil. I'm guessing this isn't just the typical fertilizer? Thank you so much for this information. I apologize that I missed it for so long. The ducks aren't able to reach any more of the leaves now, which they're not happy about. My free ranging roosters don't bother the plant at all. I'm also seeing some volunteer corn stalks shoot up

Thank you both for all of your time and input. I really appreciate it

Usually if it's advertised as a tomato feed/fertilizer it has calcium or a "rot stop" works. I like Bloom City "Cal-Mag" and Bonide "Rot-Stop".

 

[NanaK]

Have you ever gave the birds pumpkins?
This plant looks similar to my pumpkins. Different varieties will have minor differences in the leaves. You still need female flowers but they do take a while to start. More than 2 plants per hill is usually recommended to increase chances of fruit on anything in the squash/melon family. (summer squash, zucchini, cantaloupe, watermelon, etc)

Pumpkins

 

[HeatherKellyB]

Have you ever gave the birds pumpkins?
This plant looks similar to my pumpkins. Different varieties will have minor differences in the leaves. You still need female flowers but they do take a while to start. More than 2 plants per hill is usually recommended to increase chances of fruit on anything in the squash/melon family. (summer squash, zucchini, cantaloupe, watermelon, etc)

Pumpkins
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View attachment 3185082

They did get pumpkin guts from my daughter's pumpkin carving. Hmmm! Interesting. I think this thing grows almost a foot each night! It's huge! I see more and more female sprouts but none of them are blooming.