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Eurasia

It´s a fascinating story to develop bigger edible fruits with Cucurbita maxima `Atlantic Giant´...or the other way: to make AGs edible with other cucurbitaceae like Cucurbita moschata, C. ficifolia, C. pepo (interspecific) or Cucumis melo (intergeneric).
Insects often do intergeneric and interspecific pollination, but growers usually dislike this products of nature and trash the fruits, before they mature.
There already is a market for C. maxima hybrids pollinated by C. moschata, but I did C. maxima AG onto C. moschata `PA Dutch Crookneck´ now.
Two years ago I did Cucumis melo inodorus group onto C. maxima kabocha group and onto the best melonlike pumpkin out of that intergeneric cross not officially named Cucurbita maximelo `Acorneti´ now I pollinated the AG 391 Otnes 13 UOW.
And Dag Otnes pollinated C. maximelo `Acorneti´ with the world record AG 2032 Mathison 13.
I got a fruit with double the diameter compared to the SB-axis (stem to blossom measured when cut in halfs), because the very nice and bright yellow fruit 391 had a very high diameter/SB-axis ratio too.
I think, that the melonlike qualities are bound to the short axis between the ends, because all the hybrid sibblings of Acorneti with round shape smelled and tasted like pumpkins...and only Acorneti was juicy and sweet like an inodorus melon and had shiny dark tan seed like the melon.
I would appreciate to exchange experiences in intergeneric and intergenetic breeding here at the bp forum.

9/6/2014 9:56:04 AM

Central NY

Good luck

9/6/2014 12:18:02 PM

Bethlehem CT

The intergeneric cross seeds would be sterile in the f2 generation. Is that correct?

9/9/2014 7:30:18 AM

Eurasia

@ big moon
As breeders we want people to believe that this would be always so as you say, because more seed can be sold when people think that only worthless seed or empty kernels could be harvested from all F1 hybrids.
But reality is, that in the widest intergeneric cross I had only half of Acorneti´s mother fruit´s seed empty or dead and the other half was good.
Three quarters of Acorneti´s F1 had the short SB-axis for good melon quality on the pumpkin, but only 1/8 of them was really sweet and juicy like a melon, and that was the smallest fruit with a little more SB-axis then diameter (like an Acorn squash: so the name Acorneti).
To find valuable offspring from hybrids, you have to do the patient work of a real breeder and not the best to best push on like AG-growers do.
F2 Acorneti was solid in genetics. I multiplied it and I cross bred it with AGs, as mentioned above.
By the way: I grew the variety C. maxima `Big Moon´ this year on three plants.

9/9/2014 11:04:48 AM

Eurasia

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/gourds/msg0911104118366.html

9/23/2014 11:14:21 AM

Eurasia

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/gourds/msg091156151149.html

9/23/2014 12:22:41 PM

President - GPC

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o22i_gqAf_o

9/23/2014 1:49:30 PM

Central Illinois

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MotNtq41NDw

9/24/2014 7:54:25 AM

Eurasia

Normally I only accept products of my own artificial pollination, but what shall I do with a very nice intergeneric cross done by insects? Here is one: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/gourds/msg0910571125174.0908164223249.jpg
Seed is from 2012, when acorns grew together with C. moschata 'Bambina Gigante' in the same anti hail cage.
I´ll make the new interspecifically bred variety C. moschata 'Insano Acorn - naturally'.

9/24/2014 8:40:23 AM

Eurasia

Insano Acorn weighs from 27# to 40# and so is in the range of Musqué de Provence, which looks similarely but has deeper ribbing and a flat round shape. It the picture you see left nearby the mother variety C. moschata 'Bambina Gigante'. I don´t know, which acorn squash pollinated, because I grew 'Table Gold', 'Table Queen', 'Table King' and 'Fordhook' there.
I think, that it was one of the three Tables...lol
Will F2 become like P-mother a little longer?
F2 normally is not so large: only about 70 to 85% of F1.

9/24/2014 8:54:17 AM