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Post by raymondo on May 17, 2014 3:56:16 GMT -5
I haven't had to worry too much about PM here. Usually too dry. Some autumns are wetter than others and PM appears but by then the fruits has set and is approaching maturity so the PM has no real impact. It will be a different story once I move to the sub-tropics!
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Post by blackox on Nov 29, 2014 8:49:55 GMT -5
Any updates?
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Post by hortusbrambonii on Nov 30, 2014 6:00:00 GMT -5
Powdery mildow on squash leaves is a sign that the season is coming to an end...I've always seen it as part of growing Cucurbita... (I never looked at which one was most affected and which one least though)
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Post by mskrieger on Sept 9, 2015 14:26:53 GMT -5
Very late to this thread but curious--any success? I planted Seminole for the first time this year. It is impressively aggressive and resistant to the usual squash nemesi of bugs and powdery mildew. However, I find it does not set female flowers until very late in the season, but which time it has (in this particular, non-ideal part of the garden) run out onto the lawn. And since this lawn is so dense, it can't set secondary root systems through it. So it doesn't set female flowers at all. I have exactly two fruits, both still green. But since the weather seems intent on staying warm and gorgeous ad infinitum this season, I have no concerns about them not ripening in time. Definitely going to plant it again. In a spot where it can run rampant. I was thinking of just letting it cross indiscriminantly with all my moschata and hoping its vigor rubs off (moschata are generally happier in my garden than maximas, anyway.)
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Post by philagardener on Sept 9, 2015 16:54:40 GMT -5
All my moschatas have been really late to set fruit this year . . . I guess the weather wasn't to their liking, but maybe with a long season things will come along.
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Post by mskrieger on Sept 16, 2015 15:31:55 GMT -5
philagardener Yes, did you have the same long, cool June that we did? No frost or anything seriously damaging, just much cooler than average weather that slowed down all the cucurbits some. The melons weren't affected terribly, but my neighbors have all remarked that their squash came in later than usual. So I suppose Seminole might not be quite as long season as it is appearing to be in my garden this summer. I'm definitely growing it again in a mixed moschata patch to see if the vigor spreads. It really is an impressive plant.
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Post by philagardener on Sept 16, 2015 18:22:07 GMT -5
Yes, mskrieger , a long, cool start and then very, very dry. The only squash that is yielding well for me this year is Green-striped Cushaw (mixta). |
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Post by mskrieger on Oct 3, 2015 18:57:28 GMT -5
philagardener You can grow mixtas? I've never tried them. Is the green-striped cushaw good for its flesh or its seeds?
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Post by philagardener on Oct 3, 2015 21:17:28 GMT -5
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Post by mskrieger on Oct 13, 2015 14:34:18 GMT -5
Thanks, I'll check out mixtas for next year. I'm still waiting for the Seminoles to ripen. We're racing frost at this point. No sign in the forecast, but yesterday was our 50% chance of frost date. Our 90% chance date is just 10 days from now. By then there'll be less than 10 hours of sunlight/day so they won't be growing anyway. But weirdly enough, the plants have just set ANOTHER flush of young fruit. I can see how they would be immensely productive in the South. I can also see some zucchini frittata in my future (people say the immature fruit are quite tasty.)
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Post by mskrieger on Dec 29, 2015 10:31:15 GMT -5
Update: I just baked the first Seminole squash from my garden. It had an incredible amount of juice in it--could've drunk it as a beverage after straining out the seeds. Thick flesh and bright orange, but when it was baked it had only a generic squash flavor and texture. Fine with brown sugar and cinnamon, but couldn't hold a candle to the buttercup (maxima) I baked at the same time as a comparison. Not even as good as a good butternut squash. So I'll plant a few in my 2016 moschata patch in hopes of passing on their vigor and disease resistance, but the taste is nothing to write home about. Hm.
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Post by mskrieger on Dec 29, 2015 10:32:47 GMT -5
and sorry, to clarify--it was the seed cavity that had a tremendous amount of juice in it. The flesh was hard and dense, as you'd expect for a squash in prime storage condition.
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Post by philagardener on Dec 29, 2015 19:29:20 GMT -5
Interesting. Did you give that juice a taste test, mskrieger ? |
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Post by mskrieger on Dec 30, 2015 11:05:58 GMT -5
Indeed I did. And it tasted like...squash.  It is interesting, considering it was a pretty dry August/September/October. I can't remember if it had rained recently before harvest. When we eat the other one I'll let you know if it, too, was juicy. |
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Post by mauldintiger on Mar 31, 2016 15:50:18 GMT -5
Fyi, see the link at the end to source f5 butternut/Seminole squash, I grew them last year here in upstate SC under heavy Downey and powdery mildew pressure. Was very pleased, it took a hard freeze to kill them. Beware though, you may get some 50 ft vines. They completely took over my sweet potato patch. Yields were very good, long keeping and tasty. He also has several others from the Caribbean that did well in his trials. Check them out: www.seedwise.com/listing/268/seminole-x-waltham-f5#.Vv2LG_r3arU |
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It is interesting, considering it was a pretty dry August/September/October. I can't remember if it had rained recently before harvest. When we eat the other one I'll let you know if it, too, was juicy.