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Post by steev on Jun 30, 2015 1:11:22 GMT -5
Those of us in NorCal are very perplexed, planting-wise.
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Jul 12, 2015 17:53:28 GMT -5
On Friday I spent some time staring at the plants in the weird squash phenotypes planting. Here's some photos. The fig-leaved moschata:  Mottle-leaved maxima:  Rough-margined maxima:  Descendent of silver-leaved maxima:  The mixta squash are planted in the next row over from the weird phenotypes planting. They're growing great for a change!  |
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Post by keen101 (Biolumo / Andrew B.) on Jul 24, 2015 20:20:34 GMT -5
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Jul 30, 2015 19:21:27 GMT -5
I'm glad I planted the weird phenotypes together. A little more weirdness is manifesting... Pucker-leaved moschata: And what's up with the glossy leaves?  Angular-margined moschata: Also with glossy leaves!  How about this huge maxima plant? That aughta suppress some weeds!!!!  It's 4 feet tall!  |
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Post by keen101 (Biolumo / Andrew B.) on Aug 3, 2015 12:28:37 GMT -5
Wow that squash plant looks gigantic! Joseph Lofthouse, here are some more photo's of a Wild Pueblo squash developing silver leaves. This one is not as heavily silver as the one i grew a few years ago. That one was nearly silver from the beginning and grew in a bush type. This one is not a bush type and is developing it over time. What are your thoughts on the silver leaf trait in squash? 
..and yes i have lots of weeds..   |
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Aug 3, 2015 12:49:02 GMT -5
keen101 (Biolumo / Andrew B.): The leaves on wild pueblo look nice to me. Those white veins please me. I aught to look at my silver-leaved maxima more closely. I'm presuming that it's silver because of tiny hairs on the leaves. Be nice to confirm or refute that presumption.
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Post by keen101 (Biolumo / Andrew B.) on Aug 4, 2015 3:12:15 GMT -5
keen101 (Biolumo / Andrew B.): The leaves on wild pueblo look nice to me. Those white veins please me. I aught to look at my silver-leaved maxima more closely. I'm presuming that it's silver because of tiny hairs on the leaves. Be nice to confirm or refute that presumption. I really like it too. I've never grown any other silver leaved squash before, so i wouldn't know how they compare, but i really like this phenotype. I think i'm going to continue to cultivate the Wild pueblo line and select for traits i like. I tried looking closely at the leaves to see if they had tiny hairs that made it silver, but i really couldn't tell. It's possible that it is part of the cells in the leaf itself. One interesting fact of mine though which i find interesting is that it seems to be dependent on angle. Meaning that on one side and angle the leaves mostly look normal green, but from other angles they appear "Brightly" silver. Since this squash was originally collected from the wild in Utah i suspect that this is a genetic adaption to desert conditions or high altitude sun brightness adaption and helps to reflect the most intense sunlight. In general silver leaved plants are found in dry arid regions, meaning that silver color some how helps them survive in this type of environment. In any case i am confident that mine are a genetic trait and not the result of a disease (ie. powdery mildew or silverleaf whitefly). There seems to be little literature or photos of the genetic silver leaf trait on the internet, but not completely unknown of. |
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Aug 14, 2015 1:41:25 GMT -5
Today I culled that squash plant that was 4 feet tall and had the huge leaves. It collapsed last week, so I yanked it out today. There was no obvious damage from bugs. We had a prolonged rain storm the day after I irrigated, so I'm wondering if it drowned.
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Aug 31, 2015 21:07:30 GMT -5
A few weeks ago someone asked me why Carol Deppe's (rhymes with peppy's) Oregon Homestead Sweet Meat squash had fig-leaved leaves... The photos showed that close to the root the leaves looked like normal maxima leaves, but on the far ends of the vines they were fig-leaved. So I walked my maxima patch looking for something similar. I only found that trait in one other squash, descended from Hopi White that was given to me by keen101 (Biolumo / Andrew B.). The Hopi squash is a dead-ringer for sweet meat... Hmmm. Those leaves look like pepo leaves. I wonder if it's got some pepo influence going on? Or if it might be more susceptible to interspecies crossing... Here's what the fig-leaved maxima looked like:  Hopi White:  |
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Post by keen101 (Biolumo / Andrew B.) on Aug 31, 2015 21:40:31 GMT -5
Joseph Lofthouse, Certainly interesting. I'll be honest though, that fruit dosent quite look like Hopi white to me. Yours has more of a greenish-blue color. I suppose it could have crossed though. I have one Hopi white plant growing this year that i can run out tomorrow and take comparison photos, but I'm pretty sure mine does not have fig leaves, but we will see. But even if mine does not, i do wonder if it is a maxima. Is there a definitive way to tell (other than deliberate crosses)?
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Aug 31, 2015 22:41:16 GMT -5
The maxima peduncle is unique among squash: Round and corky.
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Aug 31, 2015 22:54:27 GMT -5
Hopi White: Hmmm. Makes me wonder about my record keeping... Here's the alleged mother of the squash labeled 'Hopi' in the above photo.  |
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Post by keen101 (Biolumo / Andrew B.) on Sept 1, 2015 10:23:46 GMT -5
Hmmm. Makes me wonder about my record keeping... Here's the alleged mother of the squash labeled 'Hopi' in the above photo. , i dont know. but yours looks considerably more grey to me. The alleged mother looks like a hopi white though, so i have no idea. here are some photos i took this morning, The first two are Hopi White. The second are wild pueblo to compare.    
Here is the photo from baker creek also as a comparison. Apparently they now carry Hopi White, but they didn't before. www.rareseeds.com/hopi-white-jack-o-lantern-pumpkin/reviews/ |
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Sept 1, 2015 22:54:55 GMT -5
Here's what the squash looked like this afternoon that I have been calling 'Hopi White':  |
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Post by keen101 (Biolumo / Andrew B.) on Sept 5, 2015 19:58:51 GMT -5
Hopi White: I harvested my two squash today. I decided they were ready to be picked anyway. So better to store them safely than risk something happening to them. Here is my Hopi White again. It has greyed up a little, but still not as much as yours. 
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