Squash expert needed

[gunslingor]

I keep picking my summer yellow squash too early by accident, will it ripen on a countertop and how long usually? How can I stop doing this... the fruit are getting huge, like 10 to 12 inches and still green, hard to tell when cutting with green lighting coming through the plants leaves. It's ragouso famigliani squash I think, something like that from northern Italy. The warts seem to be an indicator of age.

 

[Chuck]

I had never heard of ragouso famigliani squash so I looked it up. Ragouso famigliani is not a squash, it is a type of cuisine or way of cooking.. The squash you have is not a summer squash, it is a winter squash and it takes winter squash a long time to ripen. It would be a big help if you know which variety the squash it is so you would know what color the squash would be when ripe. In most cases you can tell when a winter squash is ripe by its skin. If it is very hard and very difficult to scrape with your thumbnail it is probably ripe. Winter squash, in most cases will ripen off of the vine. Summer squash do not have warts like some winter squash. Summer squash can get bumps but this is from being overripe or from insects. Summer squash will not ripen off of the vine.

 

[gunslingor]

RUGOSA FRIULANA
- lol

 

[Chuck]

RUGOSA FRIULANA
- lol

Never heard of this variety either but I looked it up and it is a summer squash, a zucchini with warts. If it is like other summer squash it will not ripen off of the vine. But what is strange is that most summer squash is best when picked early. When the blooms are still on the baby squash what color is the baby squash, yellow or green? I have a suspicion that what you are growing is not Rugosa Friulana but some other green variety.

 

[Sean Regan]

Squash expert?

My favourite is Nour El Sherbini The "Warrior Princess" as she's known.

 

[gunslingor]

Check it out, the two on the right are green and are bigger than the yellow. I didn't even notice they were green till I got them inside... 3 squash picked green, 1 tossed, 2 more TBD... 3 picked were nice and yellow. After the first greeny I thought I wouldn't do it again, then two at once while picking the biggest... when I'm under the plant I think they all look yellow because of the green light from the leaves. I thought I had this understood, but nope, which is green seems random. Definitely Ringo frivolochini variety... rf is all I remember. Is this wierd? What to do?

 

[Chuck]

Check it out, the two on the right are green and are bigger than the yellow. I didn't even notice they were green till I got them inside... 3 squash picked green, 1 tossed, 2 more TBD... 3 picked were nice and yellow. After the first greeny I thought I wouldn't do it again, then two at once while picking the biggest... when I'm under the plant I think they all look yellow because of the green light from the leaves. I thought I had this understood, but nope, which is green seems random. Definitely Ringo frivolochini variety... rf is all I remember. Is this wierd? What to do?


View attachment 97135

Is the interior of the squash normal? It should be white or yellow.

 

[Chuck]

I looked up when to harvest this squash. It said to harvest 6-8 inches and anything over that will be tough and sort of woody inside. This is also the maximum size for my yellow crookneck squash. We pick our crookneck squash small, probably a little less than 6 inches but certainly not over 8. And the warts on your squash have nothing to do with being ripe. The only reason for the greenish tint is that your seeds were cross pollinated at some time in the past. So, your squash is ripe at any time prior to its reaching 6-8 inches long and any larger than that starts losing its palatability. Also, the larger the squash become the fewer the plant will produce. The same with your pickling cucumbers.

 

[gunslingor]

Haven't cut one open yet but I'll keep an eye out.

Hmmm so u think I got cross pollinated seeds from baker creek, the yellowsquash and a winter variety... that sucks.

I think I like the warts and more seem to form the longer it's attached. It's strange that there is no correlation between size and green vs yellow. I guess I'll pick em young just not sure if I should get the green or let them sit on a counter for many weeks.

 

[Chuck]

Haven't cut one open yet but I'll keep an eye out.

Hmmm so u think I got cross pollinated seeds from baker creek, the yellowsquash and a winter variety... that sucks.

I think I like the warts and more seem to form the longer it's attached. It's strange that there is no correlation between size and green vs yellow. I guess I'll pick em young just not sure if I should get the green or let them sit on a counter for many weeks.

Not cross pollinated with a winter squash but a green colored zucchini. And don't let them sit on your counter. They are not winter squash and will rot. Either refrigerate them or eat them. I will bet that the green ones start turning color when they get bigger and are fine when young.