Naked Seeded Squash Breeding

[Walk]

Hi Everyone,

I'm new to this forum - I was referred by a fellow SSE member who thought this might be the place to find info on Naked Seeded Squashes. I just read the older posting on the rankenloser olkurbis pumpkins. I'm hoping to try crossing Kakai, a green-seeded variety from Johnny's Seeds with Squisito, a spaghetti squash from Fedco. The Kakai has quite stringy flesh already, but I'm hoping that it can be bred into something more palatable. Anyone else working on this type of thing?

[jonnyyuma]

There are many naked seeded types. I believe they are all pepo. Seminis had a couple of naked seeded pumpkins, but I don't know where you can get any seed as they are only through dealers. There is also two listed in a book I have, Styrian Hulless and Lady Godiva. The pepo aren't known for great flesh in winter squash types.

Jonny

[mjc]

Sandhill had three listed in 2009...Lady Godiva (grew it...very nice, lots of seeds with very good flavor; the kids want me to grow a lot more of them next year. And no, the flesh was not worth much...chickens liked it.), Naked (that's it...) and Styrian.

Snackjack, Baby Bear are a couple of the more 'pumpkin' like ones...but on the smaller side.

Here's an article on 'snackseed' pumpkins from the LI Seed project...www.liseed.org/snackseed.html

One from Purdue on breeding...www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/proceedings1990/V1-403.html

Here's one on Brent Loy, the man who bred Snackjack...horticulture.unh.edu/brent_loy.html

[ottawagardener]

Thanks for these links. I've just started looking into these varieties of pumpkins.

[grunt]

Walk: We should have some Slovenska Golica seed available a bit later, when we get caught up with things. It's a naked seeded from Slovenia. Our seed lists will be posted on the forum when they are ready.

[bunkie]

dan, does this Slovenska Golica have edible flesh? i think i'd like to try this one, if it's available.

[canadamike]

Grunt, if you have some of these slovenian to spare, I would love to try them. I am growing a foundness for pumpkin seeds lol

[grunt]

Bunkie: If I remember correctly, Marjeta said the flesh wasn't worth much, but there were lots of seeds. We still haven't broached ours yet, so I don't know. sometime in the next couple of days, I will pop them open, and I'll let you know what I find.
Michel: Assuming there are more than a small amount of seeds in each one, you got'em. If memory serves, they are supposed to be fairly prolific seeders, so there should be lots to go around.

[mjc]

Most of the naked seeded ones are supposed to be prolific seed producers...that's what they were bred for, after all. My one LG that I hand pollinated had over 300 seeds in a small to medium sized fruit.

[rhizowen]

Of the varieties of naked seeded squash that I've tried, only Elwyn Meader's Sweetnut Hulless actually had decent quality (good even!) tasting flesh, at least in the British climate. I'm actually more interested in getting lots of seeds and less flesh, as the Godiva type varieties tend to leave one saddled with a lot of indifferent flesh to dispose of - I would rather the plant concentrated its efforts on producing seeds. As wild squash are supposedly thin fleshed, presumably it would be possible to select or back cross for this characteristic and maybe get more seeds and less so-so pumpkin pie filler/ hog fodder. Little Greenseed from the Long Island Seed Project sounds like an interesting development along the lines I'm thinking of - I have just made a new year's resolution to desist from such things and concentrate on my root crop research, but I might just have to make an exception.... Now a perennial pumpkinseed plant, crossed (somehow) with C. foetidissima - that would be something. I once tried the root of the latter - it has to be the most vile tasting, bitter plant I've ever had the misfortune to encounter.

[mjc]

Well, with a Latin name of 'foetidissima" what do you really expect...it translates to something like 'this thing smells like dirty socks buried in a dead snake and left to stew for a while before being dumped into something really smelly'

[rhizowen]

I actually thought the nauseating taste was a plus from a horticultural standpoint - it must surely make it rodent resistant and maybe, in our wet climate, unattractive to slugs. It's a pretty plant, despite the smell and taste. I've known the root survive our wet winters and grow the following year.

[canadamike]

Dam you all, naked seed pumpkin crowd, you are getting me kind of hooked ;D ;D

I have enough breeding work like that!! But I do enjoy the seeds immensely, moe actually than winter squash flesh...so I might join in on that one.

I'll look up the different genebanks and come back to you later...

[canadamike]

Just ordered about 15 or so from Grin


3 PI 164997 - NC7 - Cucurbita pepo
4 PI 267660 - NC7 - Cucurbita pepo
5 PI 267661 - NC7 - Cucurbita pepo
6 PI 267662 - NC7 - Cucurbita pepo
7 PI 267664 - NC7 - Cucurbita pepo
8 PI 267756 - NC7 - Cucurbita pepo
9 PI 288241 - NC7 - Cucurbita pepo
10 PI 344070 - NC7 - Cucurbita pepo
11 PI 355054 - NC7 - Cucurbita pepo
12 PI 364240 - NC7 - Cucurbita pepo
13 PI 364241 - NC7 - Cucurbita pepo
14 PI 508468 - NC7 - Cucurbita pepo
15 PI 508469 - NC7 - Cucurbita pepo
16 PI 537560 - NC7 - Cucurbita pepo
17 PI 595838 - NC7 - Cucurbita pepo
18 PI 615086 - NC7 - Cucurbita pepo
19 PI 615102 - NC7 - Cucurbita pepo
20 PI 615133 - NC7 - Cucurbita pepo

A few of these are for my zucchini breeding work, some for disease resistance, one is for male cytoplasmic sterility but 15 or so are naked seeded accessions. Those interested in sharing the work are welcomed...

[mnjrutherford]

What exactly does "naked" mean in terms of the seed? Hull? Fibers? I'm hearing that the flesh is not terribly desirable yet there are tons of seeds which makes me wonder if the value of the veg is more in the seed and if so, how? Perhaps for oil? I'm hoping to have a press in a couple of years for the purpose of extracting oils.