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Cucurbita pepo
Cucurbitaceae FAMILY

Cucurbita pepo

Cucurbita pepo

Edibility
4/5
Medicinal
3/5

Safety & Hazards

The sprouting seed produces a toxic substance in its embryo[1].

Cultivation Details

HabitAnnual Climber
GrowthFast

Cucurbita pepo can be grown from the temperate zone to the tropics, so long as there is a warm growing season of at least 120 days. It can be grown at elevations from 500 - 1,000 metres in the tropics. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 17 - 30°c, but can tolerate 6 - 40°c[2]. It can be killed by temperatures of 0°c or lower. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 600 - 1,500mm, but tolerates 300 - 2,800mm[2]. Requires a rich, well-drained moisture retentive soil and a very warm, sunny and sheltered position[3, 4, 5, 6]. Prefers a pH of 5.5 to 5.9, but tolerates up to 6.8[6]. Plants are tolerant of light shade[6]. Yields of immature fruits are about 6 - 8 tonnes/ha, while yields of mature fruit may be up to 20 tonnes/ha[2]. The plant has long been grown as a domestic crop and a number of different groups have been developed. Botanists have tried to classify these groups, though there is considerable overlap and clear distinctions are not always possible. Since they are very similar in their cultivation needs, we have treated all the groups together in this entry. The botanists classification is as follows:- C. Pepo pepo. This includes the vegetable marrows, zucchinis, pumpkins and ornamental gourds. There are many named varieties and these can vary considerably in size, shape and flavour[7, 8, 9]. The cultivars with larger and rounder fruits are usually called pumpkins, the fruits are harvested in the autumn and can be stored for a few months. The marrows are smaller than pumpkins and generally sausage-shaped. These can also be harvested in the autumn and stored for a few months, but it is more usual to eat them whilst they are still very small, when they are known as courgettes. Harvesting the fruits of the marrows when very small stimulates the plant into making more flowers (and hence fruits) so it can be a very productive way of using the plant. Pumpkins and marrows succeed outdoors most summers in Britain[7], in fact many of these varieties are well adapted to cool growing conditions and therefore do well in the British climate[9]. C. Pepo pepo fraterna. This is the probable progenitor of the marrows and so is of potential value in any breeding programmes. C. Pepo ovifera. This group includes various summer squashes including the acorn, crookneck and patty pan squashes. C. Pepo ovifera ozarkana. A probable ancestor of the summer squashes, it could be of value in breeding programmes. C. Pepo texana. The texas gourd, or wild marrow, is another form that could be of value in breeding programmes. Plants produce both male and female flowers. These are insect pollinated but in cool weather it is worthwhile hand pollinating[9]. Most cultivars are day-length neutral and so are able to flower and fruit throughout the British summer[9]. There are three major species in this genus that are cultivated for their fruits (C. Maxima, C. Moschata and C. Pepo), and they are often not easy to distinguish. The plant habit is similar and the fruit shape and size within each species are variable. Distinction is easiest by observing differences of the fruit stalk, stems and leaves:- Cucurbita maxima has a soft, rounded fruit stalk not enlarged at the apex, soft, rounded stems and soft, usually unlobed leaves[10]. Cucurbita moschata has a hard, smoothly angled fruit stalk widened at the apex, hard, smoothly grooved stems and soft, moderately lobed leaves[10]. Cucurbita pepo has an angular fruit stalk sometimes slightly widened at the apex, hard, angular, grooved, prickly stems and palmately lobed, often deeply cut and prickly leaves[10]. A fast-growing plant, trailing forms can be used to provide a summer screen[6]. This species does not hybridize naturally with other edible members of this genus[11]. Squashes and pumpkins can be differentiated from each other by their fruit stalk, it is angular and polygonal in pumpkins but thick, soft and round in squashes[12]. Pumpkins grow well with sweetcorn and thornapple but they dislike growing near potatoes[13, 14, 15]. They also grow well with nasturtiums, mint, beans and radishes[15].

Propagation

Seed - sow mid spring in a greenhouse in a rich soil. Germination should take place within 2 weeks. Sow 2 or 3 seeds per pot and thin out to the best plant. The seed requires a minimum temperature of 13°c to germinate[9]. Grow them on fast and plant out after the last expected frosts, giving them cloche or frame protection for at least their first few weeks outdoors until they are growing strongly. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Cucurbita+pepo>

Pollinators

Insects

References

  1. [1]A Colour Atlas of Poisonous Plants. — Frohne. D. and Pfänder. J. · Wolfe · 1984 · ISBN 0723408394 ↩︎Brilliant. Goes into technical details but in a very readable way. The best work on the subject that I've come across so far.
  2. [2]Ecocrop — http://ecocrop.fao.org/ecocrop/srv/en/home ↩︎Basic information on a wide range of useful plants, plus details of environmental needs where available.
  3. [3]RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 — F. Chittendon. · Oxford University Press · 1951 · ISBN - ↩︎Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaced in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [ 200 ]).
  4. [4]New Vegetable Growers Handbook. — Simons. · Penguin · 1977 · ISBN 0-14-046-050-0 ↩︎A good guide to growing vegetables in temperate areas, not entirely organic.
  5. [5]The Gardener's Assistant. — Thompson. B. · Blackie and Son. · 1878 · ISBN - ↩︎Excellent general but extensive guide to gardening practices in the 19th century. A very good section on fruits and vegetables with many little known species.
  6. [6]Gourds. — Organ. J. · Faber · 1963 · ISBN - ↩︎Deals with squashes and their relatives. Interesting and readable, it gives cultivation techniques and some details of plant uses.
  7. [7]The Vegetable Garden. — Vilmorin. A. · Ten Speed Press · ISBN 0-89815-041-8 ↩︎A reprint of a nineteenth century classic, giving details of vegetable varieties. Not really that informative though.
  8. [8]Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. — Facciola. S. · Kampong Publications · 1990 · ISBN 0-9628087-0-9 ↩︎Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.
  9. [9]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  10. [10]Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. — http://www.prota.org ↩︎An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
  11. [11]The Plantsman. Vol.8. 1986 - 1987. — ? · Royal Horticultural Society · 1986 · ISBN - ↩︎Excerpts from the periodical giving cultivation details and other notes on some of the useful plants including some Cucurbitaceae.
  12. [12]Fruits of the Earth. — Bianchini. F., Corbetta. F. and Pistoia. M. ↩︎Lovely pictures, a very readable book.
  13. [13]Companion Plants. — Philbrick H. and Gregg R. B. · Watkins · 1979 · ISBN - ↩︎Details of beneficial and antagonistic relationships between neighbouring plants.
  14. [14]Companion Planting for Successful Gardening. — Riotte. L. · Garden Way, Vermont, USA. · 1978 · ISBN 0-88266-064-0 ↩︎Fairly good.
  15. [15]A - Z of Companion Planting. — Allardice.P. · Cassell Publishers Ltd. · 1993 · ISBN 0-304-34324-2 ↩︎A well produced and very readable book.
  16. [16]Vegetables in the Tropics — Tindall. H. D. · MacMillan, Oxford. · 1983 · ISBN 0-333-24268-8 ↩︎An excellent, in-depth look at the main vegetable crops that can be grown in the Tropics, plus many less well-known plants.
  17. [17]Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. — Hedrick. U. P. · Dover Publications · 1972 · ISBN 0-486-20459-6 ↩︎Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.
  18. [18]Dictionary of Economic Plants. — Uphof. J. C. Th. · Weinheim · 1959 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
  19. [19]Tanaka's Cyclopedia of Edible Plants of the World. — Tanaka. T. & Nakao S. · Keigaku Publishing; Tokyo · 1976 · ISBN - ↩︎The most comprehensive list of edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.
  20. [20]Medicinal Plants of China — Duke. J. A. and Ayensu. E. S. · Reference Publications, Inc. · 1985 · ISBN 0-917256-20-4 ↩︎Details of over 1,200 medicinal plants of China and brief details of their uses. Often includes an analysis, or at least a list of constituents. Heavy going if you are not into the subject.
  21. [21]Plants for Man. — Schery. R. W. ↩︎Fairly readable but not very comprehensive. Deals with plants from around the world.
  22. [22]The Book of Edible Nuts. — Rosengarten. jnr. F. · Walker & Co. · 1984 · ISBN 0802707699 ↩︎A very readable and comprehensive guide. Well illustrated.
  23. [23]Famine Foods listed in the Chiu-Huang Pen-ts'ao. — Reid. B. E. · Southern Materials Centre; Taipei · 1977 · ISBN - ↩︎A translation of an ancient Chinese book on edible wild foods. Fascinating.
  24. [24]The Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants — Chevallier. A. · Dorling Kindersley. London · 1996 · ISBN 9-780751-303148 ↩︎An excellent guide to over 500 of the more well known medicinal herbs from around the world.
  25. [25]Encyclopaedia of Medicinal Plants. — Chiej. R. · MacDonald · 1984 · ISBN 0-356-10541-5 ↩︎Covers plants growing in Europe. Also gives other interesting information on the plants. Good photographs.
  26. [26]The Garden. Volume 112. — RHS. · Royal Horticultural Society · 1987 · ISBN - ↩︎Snippets of information from the magazine of the RHS. In particular, there are articles on plants that are resistant to honey fungus, oriental vegetables, Cimicifuga spp, Passiflora species and Cucurbits.
  27. [27]Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. — Bown. D. · Dorling Kindersley, London. · 1995 · ISBN 0-7513-020-31 ↩︎A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.
  28. [28]Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants (Including the Supplement). — Chopra. R. N., Nayar. S. L. and Chopra. I. C. · Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi. · 1986 · ISBN - ↩︎Very terse details of medicinal uses of plants with a wide range of references and details of research into the plants chemistry. Not for the casual reader.
  29. [PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎