How long does it take for a squash to grow?
what country produces the most squash? The world's top producers of pumpkins include China, India, Ukraine, the United States, Egypt and Mexico. Likewise, people ask, where are squash from originally? Squash is the fruit of a vine plant that grows wild in Central America. Squash probably evolved around the same time as the other flowering plants, about 350 million years ago. It's …
Where is squash mostly widely played?
Oct 01, 2020 · From its wild origins in Central America and Mexico to the hundreds of different varieties grown around the world today, the squash family includes some of the largest and most diverse fruits in the plant kingdom and is a significant source of food for many cultures. Butternut, Hubbard, pumpkin, acorn, and patty pan are some of the more familiar squash varieties but …
Where is squash a popular sport?
Squash Scientific Name: Cucurbita Country of Origin: Middle East, West Asia. Squash varieties include zucchini, patty pan, pumpkins, and butternuts. Around the world, squashes are used in countless ways, including curries, soups, stir-fries, and sweet dishes like puddings, cakes, and pies. The seeds are rich in oil with a pleasant nutty flavor.
Where did Squash originate from?
Squash had an average of 1,615 cwt per acre in 2016. California leads the nation in the value of squash production followed by Florida, Georgia, and Michigan. Winter squash is late growing; has a hard, thick rind; and dense orange or yellow flesh. It is less symmetrical and tends to be rough, warty or oddly shaped.
See more
Apr 07, 2018 · As the squash is warm season crop, India would be the best place to grow squash commercially. Squash can be grown in greenhouse, poly house and under shade net as well. Squash can be grown in pots, containers and backyards as well. Health Benefits of Squash: – The following are some of the health benefits of squash. Health Benefits of Squash
Six Main Species
There are six cultivated species of squash, which in part reflect different adaptations to local environments. For example, the figleaf gourd is adapted to cool temperatures and short days; butternut squash is found in the humid tropics, and pumpkins grow in the widest range of environments.
Why Would Anybody Domesticate Gourds?
Wild forms of squashes are harshly bitter to humans and other extant mammals, so bitter that the wild plant is inedible. Interestingly, there is evidence that they were harmless to mastodons, the extinct form of American elephants. Wild squashes carry cucurbitacins, which can be toxic when eaten by smaller-bodied mammals, including humans.
Bees and Gourds
Stingless bee pollinating a gourd flower. RyersonClark / iStock / Getty Images Plus
South America
Microbotanical remains from squash plants such as starch grains and phytoliths, as well as macro-botanical remains such as seeds, pedicles, and rinds, have been found representing C.
Mesoamerican Squashes
The earliest archaeological evidence for C. pepo squash in Mesoamerica comes from excavations carried out during the 1950s and 1960s in five caves in Mexico: Guilá Naquitz in Oaxaca state, Coxcatlán and San Marco caves in Puebla and Romero’s and Valenzuela’s caves in Tamaulipas.
Eastern North America
In the United States, early evidence of the initial domestication of Pepo squash comes from different sites from the central midwest and the east from Florida to Maine. This was a subspecies of Cucurbita pepo called Cucurbita pepo ovifera and its wild ancestor, the inedible Ozark gourd, is still present in the area.
Selected Sources
Brown, Cecil H., et al. " The Paleobiolinguistics of the Common Bean (Phaseolus Vulgaris L.) ." Ethnobiology Letters 5.12 (2014): 104–15.
Description
Cucurbita species fall into two main groups. The first group are annual or short-lived perennial vines and are mesophytic, i.e. they require a more or less continuous water supply. The second group are perennials growing in arid zones and so are xerophytic, tolerating dry conditions. Cultivated Cucurbita species were derived from the first group.
Taxonomy
Cucurbita was formally described in a way that meets the requirements of modern botanical nomenclature by Linnaeus in his Genera Plantarum, the fifth edition of 1754 in conjunction with the 1753 first edition of Species Plantarum. Cucurbita pepo is the type species of the genus. Linnaeus initially included the species C. pepo, C. verrucosa and C.
Reproductive biology
All species of Cucurbita have 20 pairs of chromosomes. Many North and Central American species are visited by specialist pollinators in the apid tribe Eucerini, especially the genera Peponapis and Xenoglossa, and these squash bees can be crucial to the flowers producing fruit after pollination.
Distribution and habitat
Archaeological investigations have found evidence of domestication of Cucurbita going back over 8,000 years from the very southern parts of Canada down to Argentina and Chile. Centers of domestication stretch from the Mississippi River watershed and Texas down through Mexico and Central America to northern and western South America.
History and domestication
The ancestral species of the genus Cucurbita were present in the Americas before the arrival of humans, and are native to the New World. The likely center of origin is southern Mexico, spreading south through what is now known as Mesoamerica, on into South America, and north to what is now the southwestern United States.
Toxins
Cucurbitin is an amino acid and a carboxy pyrrolidine that is found in raw Cucurbita seeds. It retards the development of parasitic flukes when administered to infected host mice, although the effect is only seen if administration begins immediately after infection.
Pests and diseases
Cucurbita species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species, including the cabbage moth ( Mamestra brassicae ), Hypercompe indecisa, and the turnip moth ( Agrotis segetum ).
Common Types of Winter Squash
When it comes to winter squash, there are a dozen common varieties readily available. Winter squash is harvested in the summer, but gets its name based on how long it will keep.
Common Types of Summer Squash
While yellow squash and zucchini squash can be found in the grocery store most of the year, summer brings new varieties of squash too. The major difference between summer and winter squash is their time on the vine.
How to Grow Squash: Tips & Tricks
Both summer and winter squash are among the easiest foods to grow — and both produce prolifically. Here are some of our tips for growing squash.
Soil and Nutrients for Growing Squash
Winter squash grow on vines that trail along the ground, rather than having a central root and stems that grow from that root. Plant squash where they can spread in all directions. Some of the best winter squash plants grow right in retired compost piles, where the seeds of last year’s squash volunteer in the rich soil.
Squash Plant Pests
Like all garden crops, squash have their pests. In many parts of the world, the squash vine borer (Melittia cucurbitae) kills young squash plants before they ever set fruit by injecting their eggs into the base of the vine. This can be very demoralizing because it happens so fast.
How Long Does It Take to Grow Squash?
Most squash varieties average 60 days to maturity and produce fruit as soon as a week after flowering. (Check your seed packet for more exact information on the type of squash you’re growing.)
Pollinating Squash
Another benefit to growing squash, beyond the food and the beauty of the plants, is the pollinator-attracting power of the squash blossoms. The yellow or orange flowers on a Cucurbita plant are of two types: female and male. The female flowers produce the fruit and the male flowers produce pollen.
Six Main Species
Why Would Anybody Domesticate Gourds?
Bees and Gourds
South America
Mesoamerican Squashes
Eastern North America
- In the United States, early evidence of the initial domestication of Pepo squash comes from different sites from the central midwest and the east from Florida to Maine. This was a subspecies of Cucurbita pepo called Cucurbita pepo ovifera and its wild ancestor, the inedible Ozark gourd, is still present in the area. This plant formed part of the di...
Selected Sources