I read that calcium rich foliar spray will help squash blossom end rot. I have searched online for such a product but have not found many results. Can you give me name brands of this spray so that I may purchase it? Thanks.
Amaze and CalCarb are two that I can think of off the top of my head. Other ways of adding calcium to the soil is by watering the plants with "eggshell tea", which is simply water that has eggshells soaking in it for a day or two, or even diluted milk.
I have been told that cutting off runners after a gourd has formed will make them grow larger and fuller instead of growth going to the vine. Is this true or will pruning them harm them?
While it's okay to prune some, you should only try to remove the growing tips so as not to leave large wounds that may draw squash pests and diseases.
My zucchini (new seed) cross pollinated with my sugar pumpkins (been saving seed for several years from each yearly crop). This year I have the freak looking pumpkins. Can they be eaten? Should I cook them as summer squash or leave them to see if they form a hard shell? Or should I pull out the entire crop now and clean up that part of the garden?
Your vegetables would certainly be edible.
I would clean up the plants and remove them from the garden if you don't want mystery plants again next year.
Your article here did not mention whether the Delicata squash is resistant to the squash vine borer. That is what I need to know.
Is not considered resistant to squash vine borer.
This infestation could still attack this squash.
My yellow squash has been growing well but getting greenish bumps all over the fruit. Looks like warts!! What could cause this? It's on only one plant. Also, one of my pumpkin plants started getting ratty/ripped rag looking leaves and didn't set fruit. This was a volunteer plant that started it self. Any ideas??
Here is an article that will help explain why your squash is bumpy and warty looking:
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/squash/yellow-bumpy-squash.htm
Here is an extension article (PDF) that discusses why pumpkins do not set fruit:
Happy gardening!
I planted squash and cucumber side by side and got a round fruit like a small melon. Looks like a small melon but tastes like a cucumber. I read an article that said it can't happen, but it did. Any advice?
It can't happen. Squash and cucumbers crossing is like cats and dogs breeding with each other. Genetically impossible.
That being said, cucumbers and melons are actually genetically close enough to cross, so that may be an offspring of that kind of crossing. But the crossing would have been with the plant that grew the seed that you planted. Crossing does not affect the fruit of the plant that gets cross pollinated, it affects that seeds of the plant that gets cross pollinated.
Still, even this is unlikely. More likely is you either have an under pollinated cucumber that came out round because all of the seeds did not develop or you have a sport. A genetic mutation. Since there are some varieties of round cucumbers out there, this is very possible too.
Can anything be done to squash plants to keep them from overtaking the entire garden?
The growing tip, new growth located in the tops of plants, can be pinched or snipped from the plant in order to produce a more compact growth habit or inhibit spreading.