Hi, guys! Who here has grown plants from last year’s reckless pepo mix? Or plants from any other interesting Cucurbita pepo mixes?
What can you report about the fruits you’ve harvested? 
I have a acorn delicata project going… but last year, I had a rogue spaghetti squash volunteer near the patch that I missed until it was too late.
So… this year I have some unintended crosses. I ate one today, and it was like a mildly sweet, drier version of spaghetti squash. I liked it better than plain spaghetti, and now I’m planning on tasting every accidental squash and will report back. I could imagine a spaghetti x acorn to have a place where you want something mild, like zucchini but storable all winter.
And here is another interesting looking one.
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TL;DR
Sadly they nearly all died (of those that germinated in heavy clay, a significant but far from overwhelming percentage).
I believe I planted in late June or early July for the first round. The earliest I managed to get to it this year. Maybe late July for the second.
When I plant squash I actually plant it - - it’s one of the seeds I can’t reliably broadcast and expect not to be eaten. I pushed them into the ground when wet and into cracks or scrabbled pockets in the clay when dry.
Of the ones that aren’t dead - - all but one are feeble, none have made female flowers that I am aware. Avg first frost three weeks away.
This one I love so much! We’ve had poor luck growing squash and melons so I don’t have a lot of experience with them. But I love how this squash just looks like a weed. It looks so perfectly at home to me and has such a nice energy. The mildew is a very recent addition, whereas the other pepos have had it for some time now. This one very recently starting getting some TLC in hopes I can get it to fruit or at least give some pollen to a mini decorative pumpkin and see if the result is worth eating. The others proved they couldn’t handle the level of neglect I needed them to handle this season - - other pepos did fine with it last year, and some maximas seem to be doing fine with it this year.
Seriously I love this plant. I really hope it fruits.
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I hope it fruits for you, too!
If you want to get it growing faster, in hopes of getting a mature fruit before the first frost date, you may put a mini hoop house over the top, with a bunch of water-filled containers around it. Pull the greenhouse plastic over the top at night. That’ll raise the average nighttime temperature.
You might think that wouldn’t matter if you aren’t expecting a frost soon, but nighttime temperatures are what determine a plant’s growth rate. So if you can raise that by 5 or 10 degrees, that may raise your chances of getting a fruit from it in time.
Plus, of course, it may protect the plant (and fruit, when it has one) from light frosts for an extra few weeks, which would also greatly increase your chance of getting a mature fruit before first hard freeze.
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We don’t use plastic to grow at the moment - - especially flexible plastic. But I appreciate the suggestion!
We might be able to manage something similar without plastic 
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Sure! If your goal is just to protect them during the night, you don’t need something that lets sunlight in. Old blankets or bedsheets would work!
Sounds like a plan to me!
I’m regards to this specific plant, I no longer think it stands any good chance of making fruit. I may still be able to capture some of the genetics though - - at least one male flower will likely open even with the amount of damage it sustained.
By means of explanation…
If you grow without fencing in your yard and have dogs who like to zoom around the yard, if you do not or cannot train them to completely and reliably avoid certain plants or areas, you will very likely have crops destroyed by dogs at some point.
This might lead you to think “oh, I should use edges and value the marginal” by planting along the the yard perimeter where they are less likely to zoom.
This can work pretty well, though of course if you’re not at peace with the very real and constant possibility of joyful dogs destroying your crops, this style of growing is likely not for you.
One of our dogs is a very protective breed. We had some folks doing work on the house today. He was let out in the fenced yard.
The fence was between him and the intruders.
The squash was between him and the fence.
Bless our precious dog for protecting our home, teaching me patience, teaching me about the design of resilient growing systems, and freeing me from fretting over the fruiting of this wonderful plant!
Now I only have the pollen to fret over 
Heh! I’m glad you’re looking for the silver lining. 
I don’t have pets, but I do have a toddler! He tripped and fell over one of my squash plants a few weeks ago, mostly uprooting it. I managed to save it, but it got set back. I’ve told him not to go into my squash swales. He objects to this idea, because he wants to follow me wherever I’m gardening!
He’s super adorable, and he’s mostly very careful in my garden, so he’s a joy to have gardening with me.
I’m really hoping he keeps loving gardening. It’s wonderful to have a member of my family who gets excited to tend the plants with me.
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A post or stake driven into the ground provides a lot of protection for the effort. Most humans or dogs will go around rather than thru. Start a protector plant, such as sunflower (birdseed sunflower works nicely and is cheap in quantity) or Tithonia or corn, next to the stake, first, so it has time to achieve some height before you plant the squash. This does a lot to deter careless trampling.
Similarly, a string fence between two stakes at dog-eye level would help. Tie ribbons or pieces of cloth to the string so the dog or humans can see it better. Leave an open runway for the dog. The dog will likely adjust.
Calendulas and tall marigolds are resilient and produce a lot of seed and are good for scattering thickly along a string fence to fill in as a barrier. Also beans are good for that too. Dry supermarket beans are cheap in quantity.
The beauty of string fence is that it’s cheap, easy, effective and also very easy to take down. I use it often.
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Excellent thoughts! We will probably give that a go by next season