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Post by littleminnie on Dec 6, 2014 19:56:59 GMT -5
I have a lot of the Moschata Joseph landrace squash, as pictured in my profile pic, every year in my garden. They are hard to get off the vine and retain the stem at harvest and in the handling afterward and storage for months. So I have been finding quite a bit of rotten ones as I go through them every couple weeks, and the rotting is starting at the missing stem. Does anyone have any suggestions? I should have given those ones out right off the bat!
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Post by flowerweaver on Dec 7, 2014 15:05:22 GMT -5
I lost my biggest harvested squash to rot after the stem fell off, and I wondered if that contributed. If memory serves me right, I've seen some in the grocery stores down here with stems wrapped in some kind of clear plastic.
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Post by steev on Dec 7, 2014 23:32:29 GMT -5
Do you pull the fruit off the vine? I always use clippers.
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Post by oxbowfarm on Dec 7, 2014 23:41:36 GMT -5
I usually clip moschata stems off extremely short, 1-2 cm~1/2 inch. Pretty much right were the stem slims down away from the squash. They never fall off after that. I usually harvest them a little longer and then re-trim them for storage. It helps to re-trim while the stems are still green so they cut clean. If you wait till they are dried brown they can be very brittle and will sometimes snap off and leave a really sharp edge that cuts up the other squash very easily.
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Post by ottawagardener on Dec 8, 2014 17:17:54 GMT -5
So if I get this right, you are getting rotting where the stem is gone because the stem has fallen off? I actually clip my squash (almost all of them) around the vine where the stem attaches so as not to lose the stem and start rotting. I find that if they dry down well then that's not where rotting starts unless stem gets knocked off and yeah, moschatas can be a challenge to harvest.
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Post by paquebot on Dec 9, 2014 1:38:14 GMT -5
If properly treated before storing, doesn't matter if stems are on or not. Prepare a solution of 10% bleach and wash the entire squash with it. They will keep a lot longer.
Martin
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Post by littleminnie on Jan 3, 2015 19:54:33 GMT -5
Thanks. I will use a clippers.
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