Self Polinating Summer Squash???

[whoose]

Is there such a thing as Self Polinating Summer Squash? If so experience and suggestions for my greenhouse.

[shelleybean]

They're called parthenocarpic and they set without bees. Johnny's and Territorial will have some of them, I'm sure.

[clkeiper]

I am so glad you asked this. I never thought about it and I for one will be ordering seeds for the high tunnel.

[Gardadore]

I have been growing Partenon for the last 3 years in a pop up tent purchased from Gardener's Supply to keep away the borers and squash bugs. It has been a fantastic producer. All the other zucchini grown in my Earthboxes are succumbing to mildew and mold and look terrible whereas my two Partenon plants just keep pumping out new squash. Johnny's and Scheepers carry it. There is another I have not tried called Cavilli, also carried by Scheepers. Both are green. I wish I could find a yellow variety.

[Lorri D]

Don't forget that you can pollinate your squash yourself if you need to. Squash is the easiest thing I pollinate by hand. It always seems to take the bees a few weeks to find my garden, so I bought some small paint brushes for things like cucumbers. Squash is even easier, I just pluck the male flowers and "paint" the female flowers with the stamens. Fast, easy and works like a charm!

[shelleybean]

I use a Q tip to hand pollinate squash until the bees find them.

[clkeiper]

I have no desire to hunker down under my row cover after pulling the pins up out of the dirt and refastening them or if I have the edges covered with soil to keep it "airtight" on a 50' row pollinating them myself .... parthenocarpic is just the answer for the type of gardening I do.

[svalli]

I am also growing Partenon, because I do not have room for many squash plants and with just one or two plants I did usually have female and male flowers at separate time. I grow them in containers and we get just enough squash for our family. I believe that in ground or bigger container the production could be better.

[Gardadore]

My Partenon this year is 4 ft tall inside my tent. Production is fantastic and as you said two plants provide more than enough for the two of us!

[Bipetual]

Originally Posted by Gardadore

I have been growing Partenon for the last 3 years in a pop up tent purchased from Gardener's Supply to keep away the borers and squash bugs. It has been a fantastic producer. All the other zucchini grown in my Earthboxes are succumbing to mildew and mold and look terrible whereas my two Partenon plants just keep pumping out new squash. Johnny's and Scheepers carry it. There is another I have not tried called Cavilli, also carried by Scheepers. Both are green. I wish I could find a yellow variety.

Totally Tomatoes and Territorial both sell Easypick which is parthenocarpic and comes in green or gold. No PM resistance, though, so you might want to spray with a fungicide if you do that sort of thing.

[Gardadore]

Thanks for the tip on Easy pick gold. Territorial also has Cavalli so it looks like my one place vegetable seed store for 2016!

[clkeiper]

Originally Posted by Bipetual

Totally Tomatoes and Territorial both sell Easypick which is parthenocarpic and comes in green or gold. No PM resistance, though, so you might want to spray with a fungicide if you do that sort of thing.

I don't think this is a parthenocarpic variety. I grow it and I have a problem getting it to set fruit until the row cover is off and the bees are all over the flowers.

[Gardadore]

That is strange since Territorial describes it as a parthenocarpic variety. Actually I got a bee caught in my tent so maybe that has been helping this year's Partenon crop. Perhaps I should just capture several pollinators and set them loose in the tent! Thanks for the input.

[Bipetual]

Originally Posted by clkeiper

I don't think this is a parthenocarpic variety. I grow it and I have a problem getting it to set fruit until the row cover is off and the bees are all over the flowers.

Multiple seed sources list it as parthenocarpic, but maybe there are other factors at play. It's good to know your experience since I have not grown it myself yet. Partenon sounds like it might be a good, albeit green, one.

[clkeiper]

I have many deformed or they just get moldy and fall off fruits until the cover is off and the bumbles and honey bees are out. maddening. I grow for markets and I always am in need of a goodly supply but when they aren't there its aggravating to say the least. And I picked this variety because it was such s short dtm variety. I'll try it next year in the high tunnel instead of the garden, though. maybe it need air movement to keep the little fruits from molding and falling off... which I have always assumed was from poor or no pollination.