Butternut Squash and Zucchino Rampicante Cross Pollination: Happy Surprise

Save for later!

This year I was the happy parent of a Butternut Squash and Zucchino Rampicante cross-pollination surprise. I planted my butternut squash seeds where I planned to have them grow, but my garden had different ideas.

Backyard Cross Pollination Background

We had been haphazardly throwing our kitchen scraps into one of our other garden beds all winter because our compost tumbler was full, and we were getting lazy. One of last season’s butternut squashes loved it. I am not exaggerating when I say EVERY SINGLE SEED germinated from this one squash. I have never had so many volunteer plants from one fruit. There were probably 70 little squash plants. I thinned some out and tried to rehome others to another garden or pots, but ultimately about 10 stayed in this one bed.

Butternut squash is one of my favorite to grow and to eat. I think it tastes better than zucchini and can be used in lots of different meals. I love it roasted, pureed, in soups, etc. Try our Roasted Butternut Squash Soup.

Squash Surprise!

A few weeks into the growing season, we started seeing flowers and fruit growing and I was getting so excited to have an abundance of these tasty squash to store up for Winter. And boy, did I end up with a lot of them, just not exactly what I had hoped for. A little cross-pollination had happened last year.

It was a surprise each time a fruit began to grow as to what it would look like. Some were long and skinny (thanks to the Zucchino Rampicante I had grown last year), some just like a butternut (yay), and others a cross of both (we called them Monster Squash all season long). I guess I grew those two a little too close last year! It was fun being surprised at what would grow, and not knowing how big they would get. I’m not sure I will be that excited if it happens again, but it’s always best to be grateful for whatever grows in your garden.

These “Monster Squash” ended up being delicious. And wouldn’t you know, the butternut squash I purposefully planted got destroyed by bugs.

What exactly is cross-pollination?

If you “accidentally” (who me?) plant two related species too close together, cross-pollination can occur. Thank you, bees! A pollinator takes pollen from the flower of one plant and brings it to the flower of a different kind of plant within the same species. IE: The Butternut and the Zucchino Rampicante are both from the Cucurbita Moschata species. You cannot cross-pollinate things like cucumber and spaghetti squash.

What is a Butternut squash?

Butternut squash is a winter squash, similar to pumpkins, but with a tan skin. It’s got an orange flesh that tastes mild and slightly nutty. You’ll find the seeds in the bulbous part of the fruit. You can use them for roasting, soups, puree, or in place of potatoes.

What is a Zucchino Rampicante Squash?

Zucchino Rampicante is normally a super long (like 2-3 feet) light green to tan squash. It can be harvested as a summer squash or stored as a winter squash. Despite its name, it doesn’t taste like a zucchini but has a similar taste to the butternut. It vines like crazy, so make sure if you plant it, you have somewhere for it to grow.

How to Avoid Cross-Pollination

I know we want to grow ALL the squashes. They’re pretty, provide a big chunk of food, and make great decorations. But if you don’t have a farm, or don’t do your research before planting you may not want to save your seeds (if you buy new seeds every year you won’t have to worry about it!). Here are some tricks to help you if you want to save seeds from your squash plants.

• ALL squash are part of the Cucurbita family, but there are three main cultivars the backyard gardener uses (these lists are not exhaustive, just popular kinds):
  • C. pepo (acorn, zucchini, spaghetti, sugar pumpkin)
  • C. moschata (butternut, rampicante)
  • C. maxima (kabocha, hubbard, jarrahdale (the bluish one))
• Only squashes within the same cultivar group can cross-pollinate: pepo with pepo, etc.
• You can avoid most cross-pollination with lots of space between the plants, but that can be pretty tough in a suburban backyard
• Some people will cover their squash flowers and then hand-pollinate
• Planting different cultivars a few weeks apart to give them a chance to flower at different times
• There is no 100% truly effective way to avoid it, because pollinators jump around to other gardens and can spread pollen easily

At the end of the day, this happy surprise gave me a VERY prolific squash that tasted great and was pretty resistant to the bugs we had in the garden this year. I call that a garden win, and who knows maybe I’ll purposely plant some of the seeds and see what else shows up next year. Don’t stress, just squash.

Have you ever had something cross-pollinate in your garden?