Tahitian Melon squash

fortyonenorth · January 25, 2011

Has anyone ever grown Tahitian Melon squash? I'm looking for a larger alternative to Waltham butternut and I've seen TM mentioned as a very sweet butternut.

kath · January 25, 2011

No, but I've been tempted by that one more than once; sweeter than butternut cannot be a bad thing.

However, the size of both the melons and the vines scares me and has kept me from trying it. If you Google "tahitian melon" you will see tales of 4' melons that make 13 meals for a family of 5 and vines that take over a 24x70' garden!

I hope you have the room and/or nerve, and give it a go, because I'd love to hear just how much better it is than butternut and if it resists disease and borers as well and also how well it keeps through the winter.

fortyonenorth · January 25, 2011

Wow - I didn't realize it was quite that big. I may have to rethink this one.

kath · January 25, 2011

Well, I guess there's quite a range in size, from what I read. Maybe you could underfertilize or something. I didn't mean to discourage you from trying it...actually I was hoping you would try it and report back!

Tormato · January 26, 2011

I'll be trying it this year. I expect it to be sort of a sweeter version of Long of Naples (20+ foot vines, 20+ pound squash, 130+ DTM). For me, they have to be started indoors and then tranplanted.

Tormato

kath · January 26, 2011

Tormato-
I've never tried Long of Naples either- Waltham was the biggest fruit and vine I've tried in the Moshata group.
Kath

January 25, 2011	#1
fortyonenorth Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: NW Indiana Posts: 1,150	Tahitian Melon squash Has anyone ever grown Tahitian Melon squash? I'm looking for a larger alternative to Waltham butternut and I've seen TM mentioned as a very sweet butternut.

January 25, 2011	#2
kath Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: zone 6b, PA Posts: 5,664	No, but I've been tempted by that one more than once; sweeter than butternut cannot be a bad thing. However, the size of both the melons and the vines scares me and has kept me from trying it. If you Google "tahitian melon" you will see tales of 4' melons that make 13 meals for a family of 5 and vines that take over a 24x70' garden! I hope you have the room and/or nerve, and give it a go, because I'd love to hear just how much better it is than butternut and if it resists disease and borers as well and also how well it keeps through the winter.

January 26, 2011	#5
Tormato Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: MA Posts: 4,971	I'll be trying it this year. I expect it to be sort of a sweeter version of Long of Naples (20+ foot vines, 20+ pound squash, 130+ DTM). For me, they have to be started indoors and then tranplanted. Tormato