I grew two varieties of spaghetti squash a couple years ago and had a great yield. However, EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. was bitter and disgusting. I read that can be caused by insufficient irrigation or temperature fluctuations. Since I have an irrigation system setup that just leaves the temperature, which I have little control over. All other squash that I have grown never had that same issue so I am taking a break from growing it.
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I have a friend that grows many yellow crooksneck squash vines to harvest squash vine borers for sir-fry oriental dishes. She eats all kind of grubs and grasshoppers.
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That puts a whole different perspective on the term ‘trap crop’!
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growing “oregon homestead” sweet meat again. super productive. basically a pumkin but with a thicker skin. it helps that I live an hour south of the breeder. only doing one because we still haven’t finished the output of the single vine last year
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Black Futsu squash sounds really good! Do you have a recommendation for a good seed supply company from which to buy?
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@stormrunner89 I would recommend High Mowing Seed or Johnny’s for Black Futsu seeds. Baker Creek also has them, but I’d consider them after the first two.
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I’m planting my usual Costata Romanesca for my summer squash and New England Sugar Pie for pumpkins. I had decent success extending the life of my summer squash last year by continuing to cover the stem of the plant with soil as it grew, so it would put down new roots out ahead of the squash bugs.
I’m trying a few new things that caught my eye - Delicata, Rugosa Friulana and Gelber Englisher Custard.
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I love squash, it’s one of my favourite things to grow each year.
Summer
- C. pepo - San Pasquale
Winter
- C. maxima - Bitterroot, Salmon River
- C. moschata - Black Futsu, Sonca
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My favorite—and perhaps the most disease- and pest-resistant (in my experience)—summer squash is “Lemon” (C. pepo); I grow it yearly.
I am still searching for a winter squash that balances disease- and pest-resistance with culinary and storage quality. I have discarded all C. maxima cultivars because I don’t wish to do battle with squash vine borers any longer.
“Waltham Butternut” (C. moschata) is good but is not always consistent, and has problems with downy mildew and other maladies in my area.
The ancient “Cherokee Tan Pumpkin” (C. moschata) is highly reliable, very resilient and productive, and it stores forever (I had some that were still edible after about a year at room temperature!), but definitely needs some selection to improve flesh quality, which in my experience was somewhat stringy; it’s a project I’d like to take on eventually. I may put out a couple of hills this year.
“Canada Crookneck” (C. moschata) is very delicious and seemed more disease-resistant than “Waltham Butternut” to me, but it stored poorly this past winter. May try again one day, but this year I plan on growing:
“South Anna Butternut” (a cross between “Waltham” and “Seminole Pumpkin”—an ancient variety similar to the “Cherokee Tan”—that’s supposed to have the quality of the butternut with the habit and disease-resistance of the ancient pumpkin); and
“White Cushaw” (C. argyrosperma/mixta). The big cushaws my great-grandparents grew in their cornfields were reliable and stored well. Might as well go back to basics. Also, makes one of the best pies! 
EDIT: I get squash bugs, too, but spraying neem oil at least once every couple of weeks keeps their numbers negligible; also helps suppress cuke beetles, especially if begun early. If I keep up my oil spraying regimen I almost never see SB nymphs, only the occasional adult (which I squish—while holding my breath—yech!).
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@JeremiahT I would definitely recommend Kikuza and African Winter Squash. I’m after the same qualities: disease resistance, excellent culinary (non-stringy, rich, sweet flesh), long storage (March/April at 60F). I also did not have consistent luck with butternuts, but AWS is a larger butternut type and is always fantastic. Unfortunately, I don’t see it listed anymore in SSE. I may need to grow it out and list.
The AWS are the butternut-like in the back (green and tan). They are longer when growing on a trellis as I do, more squat on the ground. Kikuza are in the front, left; tan and ribbed.
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Thank you! I will put those on my list. Beautiful harvest, by the way!
Thank you! This photo is from a few years back. Last year, I had about 2-3X the harvest. It was an amazing year. I plant in a very small area and trellis up onto concrete reinforcement wire. The squares are 1 square foot. By the end of the season, the AWS is running down some paths and sometimes up over bushes/fences, but I can get a lot of winter squash from a very small foot print.
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Thanks for the winter squash tips! I grew Waltham butternut last year – good harvest and pretty good storage but I’m always looking for better keepers. Love the picture of your garden.
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Another thing that helps for improving flavor and storage, is to keep them on the vine as long as possible. When you harvest, they should already be turning tan if possible. This can be challenging with AWS as it takes off in the late summer/fall and they may not be really ripe before first frost. I start all my squash inside a few weeks before I want to plant and it does make a large difference.
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They look similar to crook-necked or neck pumpkins when they are grown on at trellis, but take on a more squat shape on the ground. The curve ones in the picture were lower down on the trellis and hit the ground as they were growing; other wise they are completely straight. The two green ones on the left are how they look when starting on the ground. They also seem to be a long more tough than similar varieties that I’ve grown before (Dutch Crookneck, Tahitian Melon, and Long of Naples).
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These are neck pumpkins which are similar looking but comparing them i see the difference.
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They say that Tromboncino can be used as a butternut, but given how large the fruits can get (I had a few that were almost 5 feet long and over 20 lbs) you had better love squash…lol
Scott
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I love squash but I don’t get a good harvest from them, short season here. I started mine really early this year. I usually get better summer squash and maybe like one Hubbard or kabota from a ton of plants. pumpkins here are doomed.
I get the borers but I wait until dusk then use a needle-less syringe (like for giving the dog her medicine in a squirt, that kind) I fill it with sevin and inject it into the stems, then squirt a tiny bit around any holes or leavings I can see. doing it at night I don’t hurt the bees coming in for the flowers, and I keep it in and on the vine only.
last year I finally got some delicata. this year I have too many delicata starts and no patty pans! maybe I’ll direct sow those later this month.
I’m growing tromboncino, cucuzza, and a single traditional zucchini (though in a pot so I can watch for borers). Because cucuzza is actually a gourd, it’s not bothered by squash bugs as much, though I had bad leaf-footed bugs on them last year. Very productive and flavor is similar to zucchini when picked young. Needs a lot of space like tromboncino. Got my seeds from Seeds of Italy.
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