Pumpkin & Squash seedlings

[mommytotwo]

How do you tell the difference between each one? My kids and I planted both pumpkins, and squash, and the seedlings are so similar that I am not able to tell the difference of which plant is which.

[PrincessInOz]

Not sure if this is going to be of any help at all....

I've grown zucchini, squash and pumpkin. I can tell the difference between zucchini and the other two....leaves are a greener colout. But with squash and pumpkin....I can't tell until after several weeks. The squash I grew flowered a lot quicker and once the flower started to bulge into fruit, then I could tell. The pumpkin just put out lots of growth and kept spreading out. Took a while for it to flower.

I took this picture about 3 weeks ago. "This" was growing 'wild'; we had dug in our bokashi bin food scraps here some time ago and this plant just sprang up. I figure it is pumpkin. All it's done in the last 3 weeks is keep growing and spreading.....

[bobbiwoz]

I've only grown zuchinni and pumpkins and the pumpkin plants almost immediately look larger.

[mommytotwo]

Originally Posted by PrincessInOz

Not sure if this is going to be of any help at all....

I've grown zucchini, squash and pumpkin. I can tell the difference between zucchini and the other two....leaves are a greener colout. But with squash and pumpkin....I can't tell until after several weeks. The squash I grew flowered a lot quicker and once the flower started to bulge into fruit, then I could tell. The pumpkin just put out lots of growth and kept spreading out. Took a while for it to flower.

I took this picture about 3 weeks ago. "This" was growing 'wild'; we had dug in our bokashi bin food scraps here some time ago and this plant just sprang up. I figure it is pumpkin. All it's done in the last 3 weeks is keep growing and spreading.....

Wow that is a nice picture. Hope you get alot of yummy veggies from that plant. And thank you for the info.

Originally Posted by bobbiwoz

I've only grown zuchinni and pumpkins and the pumpkin plants almost immediately look larger.

I keep checking my plants, and they are still too small to tell. I don't want to plant the pumpkins where it will spread out. Do zucchinis spread out as well or grow tall? I have never grown them before, and want to handle the plants correctly from the start. Also planted two other varieties of zucchini today, and marked them accordingly.

[bobbiwoz]

Zucchini definitely do not spread as quickly. They tend to grow higher and spread slower.

[mommytotwo]

Originally Posted by bobbiwoz

Zucchini definitely do not spread as quickly. They tend to grow higher and spread slower.

How much space do you think is needed for the zucchini plants? Do I need to space out the seedlings? And a dumb question...is squash and zucchini the same?

[PrincessInOz]

Originally Posted by mommytotwo

How much space do you think is needed for the zucchini plants? Do I need to space out the seedlings? And a dumb question...is squash and zucchini the same?

If you have really good soil for the zucchini plants, you might need a radius of about 2 - 3 feet, maybe a bit more. Before I put in the orange plant, this was the space where I could grow one zucchini plant. This flower bed is about 0.5 - 1 m wide (which is close on 3 feet). I would put one in front of the orange plant and then plant one one the other side of the bushes (before the lemon tree that you can see towards the back). There would be about 10 feet between the two plants....but that is only because of the way the other plants are spaced.





My idea of squash is those yellow skin squashed vegetable about the size of a small apple. Zucchini is green skin, thin and long. Is squash the same in the US?

[mommytotwo]

Wow, these veggies will take up alot of space. Never realized it. Is there a way to contain them or have them grow upwards like beans or tomatoes?

[PrincessInOz]

Originally Posted by mommytotwo

Wow, these veggies will take up alot of space. Never realized it. Is there a way to contain them or have them grow upwards like beans or tomatoes?

In my garden, I've managed to train squash plants upwards. I don't know if the squash plant liked it much; but I didn't get a lot of produce from that plant. Pumpkin is probably way too prolific for training upwards, unless you've got a fence to encourage it over.

Zucchini grows outwards from a central "head". In really good conditions, the leaves are even bigger than pumpkin leaves, which is what takes up the space.

Cucumber plants - those need to grow upwards.

[mommytotwo]

Thank you for the info. I will have to figure out which plants are which, and see if I can figure out a place to plant these.

[bobbiwoz]

My garden area is larger than we need now, so this year, I planted some pumpkin seeds near the compost pile, and they have taken over every square inch of space. They are keeping down the weeds, which is a plus. So far, I can see 2 nice sized pumpkins. I want them for decoration, not eating.

We've had a good cucumber crop, and NOW, in late August, my tomatoes are getting ripe. I really have to do better next year.

[mommytotwo]

Originally Posted by bobbiwoz

My garden area is larger than we need now, so this year, I planted some pumpkin seeds near the compost pile, and they have taken over every square inch of space. They are keeping down the weeds, which is a plus. So far, I can see 2 nice sized pumpkins. I want them for decoration, not eating.

We've had a good cucumber crop, and NOW, in late August, my tomatoes are getting ripe. I really have to do better next year.

What type of pumpkins are these?


I wish we could grow our own jack-o-lantern pumpkins.

[bobbiwoz]

Originally Posted by mommytotwo

What type of pumpkins are these?


I wish we could grow our own jack-o-lantern pumpkins.

Yes, they are the jack-o-lantern type!

[mommytotwo]

Originally Posted by bobbiwoz

Yes, they are the jack-o-lantern type!

If you could, could you take pictures. It doesn't have to be now, as they get bigger or such.

[bobbiwoz]

Originally Posted by mommytotwo

If you could, could you take pictures. It doesn't have to be now, as they get bigger or such.

Right now, there's a patch of the vine that insects have gotten to, and so there is an exposed pumpkin. I've taken a picture, but DH is in TX and when he comes home, I'll ask him to put the pictures in the computer and I'll post one. I don't know how to transfer yet.