Yellow crookneck strains

[triffid]

I'm not all that familiar with the yellow crookneck squash. I've grown it a couple of times and enjoyed the fruit very much! But when it comes to maintaining this variety I'm a complete novice.

So far I've observed that the plants are rather early, bush habit and quite small. Right now I have a plant with a mature fruit, which is completely smooth.

However, I've seen photographs where the fruit are warty. Is there a phenotype that is considered 'correct' for the variety, or is it variable?

[Deleted]

In my old 47 and 53 Burpee catalogs, I see two varieties, one called "Early Golden Summer Crookneck" and one called "Giant Summer Crookneck". The original one, the "Early Golden Summer Crookneck", is warted at full maturity. It originated from Northeastern American Indians, possibly Iroquois. Most straight neck summer squash have smooth skin at full maturity. I've also seen newer OP and hybrid crookneck type summer squash with smooth skin.

Heres the descriptions from the 47 Burpee's catalog:

"Early Golden Summer Crookneck" 53 days. The most popular summer, curved neck squash. Fruits — are small, distinctly crooknecked, with bright yellow skin and salmon-orange flesh of delicious flavor and fine texture. Suitable for freezing. At their best flavor when about 4 in. long, at which size they may be prepared for boiling without being peeled. Larger fruits if left to grow may be used for boiling or fried like eggplant. Full sized fruits average 10 in. long, 2/4 in. thick, the — skin becoming deep golden orange and much warted. Plants are of bush growth; productive.

"Giant Summer Crookneck" 48 days. Larger than Golden Summer Crookneck, the golden yellow fruits growing 12 to 14 in. long and 3 1/2 to 4 in. across; flesh is yellowish white. Bush plants.

[heavyhitterokra]

That's an interesting description. Sounds akin to a butternut in color, but not the warty part or the crookneck part. Sounds kind of like it would develop a tough skin over time as well. A few years ago, I came across a yellow crookneck squash that was warty and had a tough skin. It wasn't much good for frying because of the tough skin. I didn't save seeds from that one. This year, the grasshoppers killed all of my squash plants before any of them bore fruit.

[hmoosek]

Grasshoppers have found my pea vines heavyhitterokra
I’m saving seeds as fast as I can. A few more days and I’ll have what’s needed.

[triffid]

Thank you @midwesterner It's really interesting that they suggest a way for cooking and eating when large, similar to how marrows (mature courgettes/zucchini) are eaten here. Marrows have lost popularity, supplanted almost entirely by courgettes.
The 'salmon-orange flesh' is remarkable and not something I have observed. I probably have a newer OP strain, but no way of telling really - the packet just says 'Summer Crookneck'.

heavyhitterokra Was the warty crookneck an unusual occurrence, or just the fact that it had tough skin? I'm sorry to read the grasshoppers have done so much damage. What a terrible pest.

[heavyhitterokra]

triffid,

Both the warty and the tough skin was an unusual occurrence for me. Normally, my crook neck yellow squash is both smooth and very/tender thin-skinned. Normally, my squash is very, very, easily damaged by harvest and by travel, but these stood up well to both. Trouble is, they were not quite as palatable. I don't know what got into them? It would be my guess that they were crossed with some sort of winter squash by the seed company contractors.

[triffid]

The mature fruits of Rugosa Friulana and the smooth 'Summer Crookneck'

Fruilana is really good, I highly recommend it.

[triffid]

Hen and chicks. The fruit don't have to be too small to be tender and tasty. 20cm long was just fine.

[woodeye]

Dec 2, 2022 15:49:58 GMT -6 triffid said:

The mature fruits of Rugosa Friulana and the smooth 'Summer Crookneck'

Fruilana is really good, I highly recommend it.

Agree. Rugosa Friulana is THE best I have found in the yellows. It's a Moschata...

[chrysanthemum]

I had to go look Rugosa Fruilana up after those pictures and recommendations. I found this interesting discussion on a different forum where it mentions it being listed as both a pepo and a moschata, though the conclusion seems to be moschata at the end. (I first read about it on Baker Creek, and that site said pepo, too.)

www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=42791

It sounds like a good squash, and those warts give it character.

[triffid]

I have the Franchi Seeds packet that states C. moschata but I have reason to believe this is a misprint and that Baker Creek are correct. Everything about the plants and fruit aligns with my experiences of other pepos. The moschata Tromba d'Albenga, the fruit of which are eaten at the immature stage, is nothing like RF or other pepo courgettes in taste or texture. Can this be tested? Is it the case that pepo will not cross readily with moschata pollen and vice versa?

[chrysanthemum]

Dec 2, 2022 21:06:33 GMT -6 triffid said:

I have the Franchi Seeds packet that states C. moschata but I have reason to believe this is a misprint and that Baker Creek are correct. Everything about the plants and fruit aligns with my experiences of other pepos. The moschata Tromba d'Albenga, the fruit of which are eaten at the immature stage, is nothing like RF or other pepo courgettes in taste or texture. Can this be tested? Is it the case that pepo will not cross readily with moschata pollen and vice versa?

This is definitely beyond my level of expertise.  I did a little googling of characteristics of the group and found a little something helpful about differences in the stems of the species.  I’ll link it below.

seedsavers.scpa.org.au/pages/identify-pumpkin

Maybe you can let us know if the stem on your Rugosa Fruilana has the five angles or not.  I can’t tell from the pictures.

[woodeye]

It's all way beyond the scope of stuff I know much about, but I do know that they are fantastic squashes. And if it's a typo, it has been a typo for at least 10 years, because I first grew it in about the year 2012. 

[chrysanthemum]

I was working out in my garden for a good while this morning as I needed to fill all the ollas.  While I was out there, I remembered this thread and what I had read last night about stem differences between Moschata and Pepo squashes.  I happen to have one of each still in the garden (not growing much at this time of year, though), and I wanted to see what I thought about the stems.

I felt them both.  Both had angles/ridges, but they were more defined on the Pepo.  The stem of the Moschata was more hairy/prickly.  One the immature fruit, the stem attaches with more of a flare at the bottom of the stem/top of the fruit.  With the Pepo, it’s a pretty uniform diameter at this small stage.  I took a couple of pictures.  I don’t know if this will be visible, but I thought it was interesting.  The first is my Moschata, the Seminole Pumpkin; the second is my Pepo, a Black Beauty zucchini.  (Would you believe that I have never successfully eaten one of those despite trying for two summers?  Failing at zucchini is one of those things that makes me wonder if I can even call myself a gardener, though to be fair, I have succeeded with another variety, just not this one.)

[woodeye]

Both kinds are doing great. Is that the zucchini that the diggers dug out and you had to replant?

Also, do you know what kind of ant that is on your Seminole Pumpkin? He looks pretty big in the picture, about the size I have that visit me in my recliner once in awhile...