Post by castanea on Aug 13, 2015 20:49:16 GMT -5
As I mentioned in another thread, I am growing these squash this year. Here's a photo of one from Joe Simcox's rare seeds website:
pbs.twimg.com/media/CCAS4NYWEAAMCtt.jpg
This is an amazing squash. I've grown dozens of different kinds of cucurbits including giant pumpkins and the elusive Hopi Black squash(probably Musquee de Provence), but out of every squash I have grown, Zapallo macre is by far the most vigorous plant. I only have two plants. The seeds were planted in late May. One seed was from Joe Simcox and the other was from a listing in the Seed Savers Yearbook. The plants appaear to be almost identical although one has slightly larger leaves and one set fruit a couple of weeks earlier than the other. Those two plants now cover an area of about 2600 square feet and are covering new ground every day. The average mature leaf is 16 inches x 16 inches with some getting as large as 24x20. The average mature leaf is on a stalk 2 feet feet above the ground. The fruit are difficult to keep track of because as soon as a fruit sets, the plant mass surges outward with an ocean of leaves obscuring the fruit. I can still see one 3 week old fruit and it looks to be at least 15 lbs. What contributes to its rampant growth is that new runners immediately put down new roots as the vines spread out I have never seen a squash put down so many new roots as it grew.
I get so tired of babying some plants along. Zapallo macre is a joy to grow even though it does not like extremely hot dry days (105+) and I have had some burned leaves as a result. It's a little difficult to keep it watered just because it's so huge and of course we have no summer rain.
pbs.twimg.com/media/CCAS4NYWEAAMCtt.jpg
This is an amazing squash. I've grown dozens of different kinds of cucurbits including giant pumpkins and the elusive Hopi Black squash(probably Musquee de Provence), but out of every squash I have grown, Zapallo macre is by far the most vigorous plant. I only have two plants. The seeds were planted in late May. One seed was from Joe Simcox and the other was from a listing in the Seed Savers Yearbook. The plants appaear to be almost identical although one has slightly larger leaves and one set fruit a couple of weeks earlier than the other. Those two plants now cover an area of about 2600 square feet and are covering new ground every day. The average mature leaf is 16 inches x 16 inches with some getting as large as 24x20. The average mature leaf is on a stalk 2 feet feet above the ground. The fruit are difficult to keep track of because as soon as a fruit sets, the plant mass surges outward with an ocean of leaves obscuring the fruit. I can still see one 3 week old fruit and it looks to be at least 15 lbs. What contributes to its rampant growth is that new runners immediately put down new roots as the vines spread out I have never seen a squash put down so many new roots as it grew.
I get so tired of babying some plants along. Zapallo macre is a joy to grow even though it does not like extremely hot dry days (105+) and I have had some burned leaves as a result. It's a little difficult to keep it watered just because it's so huge and of course we have no summer rain.
