There seem to be a lot of confusion about growing pumpkins, zuchinni and squash.
The first thing is to know what you are growing as there are multiple species.. The first is Curcubita Pepo. This is normally your Zuchinni and Scallopini summer squash and grow as a bush or short vine. Spaghetti squash and Gem Squash are vines though. These will only cross with other Pepo varieties, which are only a problem if you want to save seeds.. I have 2 pepo variety planted this year.. 1 is parthenogarpic so will just cut off all the male flowers to avoid the chance of cross pollenation.
The next 2 can cross pollenate, but not easily.. They are Moschata and Maxima. I will be towing these 2 vining ones in the same bed. Butternut and Red Kuri.. The plan is to grow these up onto a trellis laid flat to keep airflow up and moniter for mildew.
My second maxima will be grown away from the first and wil hand pollenate and remove the male flowers as they appear.. Hopefully the bees will not be too efficient with the Curcubits 😂.
As for Cucumber, they cannot cross pollenate with any of these as they are a completely different family.. I am not growing any Gourds, they are another family again.
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