This year I'm growing several different kinds of squash also cucumbers. I was planning on saving my own seeds . I save seeds from some of my other veg. The original seeds are from Seeds of Change and are all open pollinated. If I save seeds from the squash am I going to get plants true to type or will squash cross pollinate? What about things from the cabbage family? We have two hives in with the veg so I know the bees have been busy in there.
I can't say about your cabbages, but squash most assuredly will cross pollinate. I also like to plant lots of kinds of squash, and came up with some really funny stuff off some of the plants this year. Next year, I will definitely be starting with new seed. mary
I've heard squash and gourds have to be separated by nearly 300' to avoid cross pollination, or else bag the female blooms before they open and hand pollinate with a q-tip from a male flower and let that particular fruit mature for saving seed.
That's the way to do it. Make a bunch of cloth bags, big enough to go over the female flowers. Choose a nice male blossom and just rub it gently into the female after she opens. You can do more than one female with same male. Then rebag until the blossom shrivels. That way you know the blossom hasn't had a bee visitor. Be sure and mark which ones you pollinate. A twist tie or bright piece of yarn on the stem works. Just make sure it doesn't get too tight while the fruit ripens.
Hey, hey, hey - they don't all cross with eachother! There are 6 different species, the most common being Cucurbita pepo, C. moschata, and C. maxima, that don't cross polinate between families. In other words, a c. pepo will not cross with a c. moschata, or whatever. I can't remember all the types and who belongs to which group off the top of my head. It's lined out in plenty of references, such as "Seed to Seed", and even some catalogs like Fedco Seeds. If you grow just one C. pepo, one C. maxima, etc, you can safely save seeds.
If the seeds are hybrids, you will not get plants true to type, you will get one or the other of the two that made they hybrid. But, in my experience, lotsa plants the squash category(all squashes, gourds, cucumbers, all melons, pumpkins) will cross pollinate if they are planted too close to one another. I kept them about 10" apart last year and had no problem, but I have limited space, and did not feel safe about planting too many varieties....I'd be happier with 25'...Kathy
Ray....I don't think 300' sounds right. I did them 10' apart...and had no crosses, but I'm pretty sure 25' is the proscribed distance.
Sorry, I just now read the question. That's right if you look closely at the base of the flower you will see what looks like a tiny squash fruit on the female blossom. The male blossoms don't have this.
