Title is self-explanatory: What do you select for in zucchini?
Local adaptation is a given, e.g. your specific soil and cllmactic conditions. I am more interested in traits that are relevant in all kinds of conditions, like fruit shape, length of season, which kind of flavor or consistency etc.
Looking to be inspired for my own growing!
Hopefully you don’t have squash bugs or vine borers. At this point I’m trying to get just one to survive the insect pressire.
Previous projects in my former location focused primarily on cold tolerance and drought tolerance.
-taste and texture raw and cooked
-big size shortly after pollination (before seed starts developing and marketability decreases)
-absence of spines on plants and fruit
-small big pedicel for ease of picking without damaging fruit
-smaller footprint plant (with short internode) and smaller leaves (better space management and ability to interplant with other species at higher densities, smaller plant mass also somewhat related to earliness and drought tolerance)
So far I’ve only grown named varieties of zucchini/summer squash, but I’m planning to allow my two favorites to cross this year.
The trait that I most appreciate about this kousa type variety is that it stays tender, delicious, and maintains pleasant eating texture even after seeds first begin developing, allowing for a wider range of harvests. The fruits that get too big when you miss them or are gone for a long weekend are still great eating. I’m letting it cross with Goldini II for similar reasons (bred for culinary use at multiple growth stages).
Which kind of taste and texture? I always select for taste and texture, but different kinds.
Regarding texture, both raw and cooked, I like a dense bite, with some crisp to it and don’t like a grainy texture or sponginess (tip: small seed cavities 
)
I think it’s instinctive to human nature to prefer sweet flavor and select against bitterness or astringency…
All plants have fruits with particular taste (or off taste) that is enhanced or transformed by cooking
When cooked, the older and the bigger the fruit and the seed cavity, the more it absorbs olive oil, potentially becoming too greasy… but some fruits seem to absorb less than others, even at “mini” stage
Also: fruits loose quality fast at low temps under 5C… with the reported optimum temp being around 7C or 8C, which is a temperature suitable for just a few other vegetables, and that fridges aren’t normally working at. Selecting for low temp storage could also be very useful… just a zucchini for thought.
I grow my zucchinis vertically and dense, so I select for plants that tolerate both. There is also an auto selection, done by frosts in June and drought that gets worse every year.
Somehow all my zucs taste always good, I haven’t reached a stage of selecting for taste yet.
This is super handy to stumble upon right now! Does everyone save seed from the first zucchini that grows, regardless of what plant it came from? Im selecting for earliness so even though i have a sizeable fruit right now ive been testing my will power to leave it alone for seed saving. It had me wondering how many fruits i should leave to save seed from for proper diversity, along with keeping track of taste from each plant. Hmmmm
Since Zucchini is an obligate outcrosser, you know every fruit will be a cross potentially, so you dont have to save seed from as many planta to keep the pool diverse, in my understanding
Ooh that’s good to know, thanks! That’ll be good to remember for other curcubits as well.
I select for drought tolerance. Then for flavor. Then for productivity. I don’t really select for ability to outlive squash bugs, because my tastiest zucchinis keep being the ones that the squash bugs go gaga for, and I want those to grow the next year, so . . . I just keep on hunting for squash bug eggs, ripping off leaves that have eggs on them, and putting them into a tupperware with a lid so that the critters will diiiiiiiiie.
I try to select for dual-purpose varieties where the fruits can be used both as summer squash and for long-term storage. Most zucchinis simply don’t offer that. The only ones I know of that work well for me are ‘Costata Romanesco’ (C. pepo), which does great in my climate, and ‘Tromboncino’ (‘Rampicante’ - C. moschata), which is just too heat-loving and spoiled for my location. However, I believe I can find a way forward through Costata hybrids as well as interspecific crosses. For now, my main focus is securing storage qualities; I will test their potential as summer squash later on.
Hey, guys, would you like to fill out this form to share your gardening story on the website? 
It would be great fun to see your descriptions of what you’re selecting for in zucchinis on there . . . and what you’re selecting for with anything else you’re interested in, too!
