Kitchen Garden Forum

I bought a nice little squash from the supermarket, variety 'onion squash' grown in the uk and thought i would have a go at growing some of the seeds later in the year. But then I thought what if they were grown from a F1? would the seeds not grow at all or would they grow and just not fruit, hence wasting a lot of time and space in my growing plan? what does happen if you sow seed from F1's?

Hi Mandylew

If you sow seeds produced by an F1 plant, you can get very variable results. They usually germinate and do the biz, but you won't get the same squash as the one you bought. Could be different but nice. Could revert to be more like one of the parent varieties, or some latent genetics can come out and you get some semi-wild bitter old weed.

If you want a reliable crop, buy new seeds and choose a non-F1 if you want to have a go at seed saving.

Sue

Hi Mandylew,
What Sue has said is basically true of all seeds from F1 plants.
I bought a Galia Melon from the supermarket and there were all these wonderful seeds and I simply could not resist growing half a dozen (I have plenty of space) and would you believe that the net result, although it was not a Galia by any stretch of the imagination, I preferred it to the Galia. It ripened well and was wonderfully sweet but was not as big as the Galia. Now I know that I was extremely lucky to have managed that and it really is best as Sue says.
If you want to save your own seed it is best to buy open pollinated seed and then keep seed the progeny.
It would appear that Robinson Seeds include an Onion Squash which is not listed as an F1. If you go to their website there is a picture. If what is pictured there is what you bought from the Supermarket you may well be on to a winner

Very bright orange skin, onion shaped fruit with firm flesh. Stores well. Trailing habit. Packet contents: 7 seeds. Price: £2.00. Onion Squash ...

www.mammothonion.co.uk/shop/5/index

Best of luck.
JB.

thats exactly the one JB thanks, I'll have a go with a couple of saved seed and perhaps buy a packet too!

Mandy

Hi Mandylew,
I think that you are going to find that the actual name of the squash is Uchiki Kuri and that Onion Squash is just a sales name. I may be wrong but they are very very similar.
JB.

Of course if it isn't an F1 it is very likely to come true because as a commercial crop a lot will have been grown together making cross pollination less likely.

Oh dear i hope its not uchiki kuri, i had no sucess with these a few years ago, a couple of golf ball sized fruits, no flesh on them at all!

Just a couple of points on all this.

a) I tried Uchiki Kuri a couple of years ago (having been told how good it was). Planted late and only got two fruits from 2 plants. The flavour of mine wasn't anything special, but they may have deserved better attention than I gave them.

b) It was interesting to note that many of the varieties on http://www.mammothonion.co.uk/shop/5/index cost around £2 for 5-7 seeds. I guess this quantity ought to be enough for many plots, but doesn't seem brilliant value for money.

c) One from this website that has worked well for me before is Sweet Dumpling. They're only small but seem to have a sweet, chestnutty flavour. We found that 5-6 mins in a microwave was all they needed.

Good luck with your search!

Colin

Hi Mandylew,
A few years ago I grew a small squash called Little Gem and the fruits were about the size of one and a half tennis balls. Not a very imaginative description I know but I cant think of anything else
to give you an idea of the size.
It was very fleshy with few seeds and like Colin's Sweet Dumpling it cooked in about the same time in the micro-wave.
JB.

I've tried sweet dumpling and too small/ hard, not sure about little gem, but i do like big squash, cos i like it best of all roastred in chunks or in a huge pot of curry.

Mandylew - try Crown Prince. Lovely big fruits with a grey/blue skin. Usual orange flesh, but really dense and great flavour. They store for months as well.

They are good to roast, or BBQ wedges and take curry spice and chilli perfectly.

Sue

I aagree with you, always grow crown prince and blue hubbard too, my other always grow is rouge vif detampes, huge and stores for months. Tried golden hubbard last year no sucess, but last year was a bad year for all my squash.