Zeedman
Garden Master
This is an interesting squash. It is actually a close relative of Butternut squash, C. moschata, but with MUCH longer necks. Tromboncino was bred & selected to be used immature, much like zucchini. What originally caught my attention - and the main reason it has replaced zucchini in my garden - is that it is highly SVB resistant. I am growing one cultivar this year, Zucchetta Rampicante Tromboncino, originally from Pinetree seeds. Although I usually grow this on the ground, it is a vigorous climber & can be trained to a trellis... as I did this year. These plants are 7 weeks old.
Tromboncino on 6' trellis, planted 6' apart. Because I am replenishing my seed this year, the flowers need to be hand pollinated early in the morning... so I grew 4 plants at home. The trellis was necessary to conserve space. The first successful pollination is visible in the lower right corner.
Bagged female blossoms
When saving squash seed, the flowers which will open the next day need to be taped, tied, or bagged closed the day before. This is to prevent crossing by bees with any related squash (in this case, Butternut) which might be growing within 1/2 mile. Yes, they CAN cross with something 1/2 mile away, as I found out when planting squash seed saved from my rural garden, 25% of which were obviously crossed with something else.
I am "selfing" each plant, so for each female blossom, a corresponding male blossom (near the bottom of the same plant) must also be bagged. I tie a paper towel tightly over each flower. After pollinating the next day, the cover on the female blossom is quickly replaced & re-tied, and the stem marked to identify it as pure seed (I use a wire twist tie). The cover will remain on until the flower drops on its own. These young squash were already 15-16" long before the flowers even opened. Two flowers per plant have already been hand pollinated; if all are successful (which is likely) those squashes will be allowed to mature for seed, and any others which form will be open pollinated & eaten.
The plants are rampant & heavily branched. If vines are allowed to touch the ground, they will root from the nodes, and enable even greater growth. Grown on the ground, the vines can travel 15-20' or more, with many laterals. In late summer, all of the laterals will begin to produce female flowers, and the yield can be huge. A single 2' squash, picked when 1" wide, will feed two people. 90% of the length will be completely solid; all of the seeds are concentrated in the bulb on the blossom end. The solid slices freeze very well, since they have no soft center.
Mature squash will look like skinny 3-4' long Butternut squash, with the same tan skin. They can be eaten just like Butternut - and some who have eaten Tromboncino that way swear by it - but to me, the flavor & texture are just OK. I'll post photos of the mature squash when they develop.
Tromboncino on 6' trellis, planted 6' apart. Because I am replenishing my seed this year, the flowers need to be hand pollinated early in the morning... so I grew 4 plants at home. The trellis was necessary to conserve space. The first successful pollination is visible in the lower right corner.
Bagged female blossoms
When saving squash seed, the flowers which will open the next day need to be taped, tied, or bagged closed the day before. This is to prevent crossing by bees with any related squash (in this case, Butternut) which might be growing within 1/2 mile. Yes, they CAN cross with something 1/2 mile away, as I found out when planting squash seed saved from my rural garden, 25% of which were obviously crossed with something else.
I am "selfing" each plant, so for each female blossom, a corresponding male blossom (near the bottom of the same plant) must also be bagged. I tie a paper towel tightly over each flower. After pollinating the next day, the cover on the female blossom is quickly replaced & re-tied, and the stem marked to identify it as pure seed (I use a wire twist tie). The cover will remain on until the flower drops on its own. These young squash were already 15-16" long before the flowers even opened. Two flowers per plant have already been hand pollinated; if all are successful (which is likely) those squashes will be allowed to mature for seed, and any others which form will be open pollinated & eaten.The plants are rampant & heavily branched. If vines are allowed to touch the ground, they will root from the nodes, and enable even greater growth. Grown on the ground, the vines can travel 15-20' or more, with many laterals. In late summer, all of the laterals will begin to produce female flowers, and the yield can be huge. A single 2' squash, picked when 1" wide, will feed two people. 90% of the length will be completely solid; all of the seeds are concentrated in the bulb on the blossom end. The solid slices freeze very well, since they have no soft center.
Mature squash will look like skinny 3-4' long Butternut squash, with the same tan skin. They can be eaten just like Butternut - and some who have eaten Tromboncino that way swear by it - but to me, the flavor & texture are just OK. I'll post photos of the mature squash when they develop.
I try to kill the first adults before they lay eggs, but missed a few one year, and had an outbreak of their gray nymphs... I was trellising that year, and wiped them out with soap spray. SVB have tried to attack them (I've seen small bore holes) but the mature plants must have strong defenses, because the holes healed & there was no further sign of damage.
A little butter & brown sugar made it bearable, but I felt no desire to eat more of it. DW (who really likes squash) took one taste, made a face, & threw it away. It amazes me that some people on other forums have rated Tromboncino favorably as winter squash... maybe they have never eaten a good squash, and have no frame of reference.
