Trombocino is a butternut type so it will cross with other C. moschata. That would not cause a problem unless you wish to save seeds. As a summer squash it is harvested small like you would a zucchini after the flowers and around 6-12 inches They will be good until the skin hardens and the seeds develop. It can also be used a winter squash when allowed to ripen. You can also use regular varieties of butternut as summer squash.

I've read that Tromb flowers are slow to open. Is there any reason not to pick the fruits before they open?

In my experience this is unnecessary. Tromboncino in Michigan is at prime flavor at 12 inches, but I have eaten good ones at 18 or even 24 inches.

But will it be less flavorful if unpollinated?

most likely

I will have to experiment.

I don't know about cross pollination concerns, but Tromboncino is an excellent alternative to summer squash if picked while about zucchini size or smaller. Actually I prefer their taste to zucchini. A great advantage is that with their hard stems they are much less likely to be attacked by squash borers, which regularly destroy my zucchini crop here in Maryland. But they are incredibly vigorous plants and are best grown on a large trellis. I highly recommend them.

When you pick them smaller than zucchini size, have they flowered? Do you ever pick them before flowering? How does the flavor compare?

In my opinion, the flavor of Tromboncino is not in the same league with other summer squash. It has little flavor and softens a lot when cooked. The packages I froze ended up in the compost, not even casserole-worthy.

The vines were enormous and carefree, unless you count having to give them more and more room to run. The picture shows 5 plants just beginning to bloom. They ran another 6 feet.

I'm glad I grew them once, but they haven't made it back on my planting list since.

It's interesting that they have the silver mottling on their leaves like zucchini, while not related to it.

I'm growing them for the first time this summer. I've been letting them flower and get pollinated and picking when they're a good 18-24" long. the thickness is then about the same as zucchini. At that stage, I'd say they're as good as my less favorite zucchinis, not as good as my favorite zucchinis. To me, they taste a little more like a summer squash - kind of seedy and milder than zucchini. However, I don't think they're as wet as summer squash. While seedy, they stay dense and drier. So anyhow, I like them pretty well. It'll be nice if they survive the SVB onslaught and last longer through the summer than my zucchini and patty pan.

Last year, the SVB took them down before they ever fruited. My theory is that their resistance comes from their ability to root in many spots along the ground, and so my growing them on a trellis makes them less likely to be resistant. We'll see this year. I've already picked a lot of eggs off them...

That's interesting. The solid stems are supposed to make them immune to the SVB

I grew these for the first time last year and they were on the top of my list for this year. I picked a few just after they bloomed and they had a very mild, but pleasant flavor. The ones I picked after they pollinated and matured more had more flavor. They can grow to 18 or more inches long before forming seeds. The ones I missed and let get too long I left on the vine and harvested after they turned pale gold. I let these cure for a few weeks, then roasted them (cut in pieces and halved length wise). I scooped out the pulp then put it in my food processor. The pulp can be stringy, but the food processor took care of that. I cooked the pulp as a faux pumpkin pie and it was delicious. These are definately a two-fer...summer and winter squash.

They're resistant to SVB but not immune unfortunately. I've had butternut squash get borers, too, and it's supposed to be pretty darn resistant. We have a lot of those hated bugs here. Even cucumbers can get taken down by SVB.

IMO, in general all squashes can be used like zucchinies, when they stil have not hardened. Similarly, one can use very young and tender melone, cantelope as cucumber. Each will have different taste and some maybe bitter.
So the point is that YES, you can. Also, I don't think polination is a factor in tast..

Thanks, Dixie. That's what I wanted to know

I'm bumping this to the top, as I'm finding this squash really interesting. This is the first time for me growing it. So far, only one female flower has opened and no male - so I introduced her to a regular zucchini fellow and it seems to have worked. The little lady squash is now about a foot long with her bulb nearly touching the bucket on the right side.

I started 5 squash plants inside and planted two of them in these buckets. They are in the top half of a selfwatering container, so there is one big hole and lots of small holes in the bottom for the roots to grow through into the soil. The other three were planted in the soil and only one is surviving the chickens scratching.

What I am seeing is that the plants are branching like crazy. Even at this size, it has three side branches - one near the bottom, one at the junction of the growing squash and one farther up. Tendrils come out first, then the flowers open, then a new branch forms at the junctions. At this rate, the growth will likely be exponential. I'm loving it!

I'm going to give this squash growing time to reach around 24 inches before harvesting to see how she tastes. The second bucket has three ladies ready to open soon but has not branched as much yet.

This is my third mention of this - BUT its really interesting. One of my reg zucchini plants gets SVB eggs almost every day. None of the others have yet gotten any and I have not seen the bug who lays these eggs - unless that bug is floating dead in the bowl of water and yeast that is sunk near the plant. My theory is that the bugs are attracted to that plant by the nearby smell of the yeast. After laying eggs on the plant, they seem to go to the yeast and drown. Numerous other insects and flys also drown in the yeast water. Its pretty putrid after a few days, but I let it go since that smell seems to be the attractant. I hope others will try it and report back, as it is almost too good to be true to stop the SVBs/

Update on this post:

The tromboncino has been producing for a couple of weeks. I've picked the squash right after they flower - both the ones that were pollinated and the ones that weren't.

The squash eaters are happy with them and claim not to taste any difference between pollinated and unpollinated. They like the texture as being firmer, less mushy than zuke. So far, it holds up better in cooking, doesn't go watery the way zuke does.

It is not, however, appropriate for splitting in half for the grill.

I just ate my first Tromboncino of the year yesterday. I don't let them get very big before I pick them -- about 8-10" --- and the part I eat is the long straight stem, not the bulbous part at the end where the seeds are forming. Very tasty.

If you don't grow them on a trellis, they will curve; grown on a trellis they are straight and if you let them get a bit bigger could easily be sliced down the middle and put on a grill.

I make tacos with them. Heat some chopped onion and garlic in some oil; then add some (not a lot) chopped tomatoes and a chopped serano or Jalapeno pepper. Cook for a few minutes to make a sauce; add a few tromboncinos chopped into fine 1/4" dice and salt, cover, cook 5 minutes (add a little water if too dry); uncover, cook until liquid has pretty much gone. Makes a good veggie taco filling.

I might prop one up a foot or so and see if it grows straight.

does anybody know when to pick the flowers? They are very good with eggs.
When to pick the leaves? The leaves and stems make a incredible soup. I am planting them for the first time and have no idea, please I need some help. Thank you Piera

I'll add to this old thread some of my (limited) experience with Tromboncino this year. The plants were exceptionally vigorous and, as per moschata stems, were quite resistant to SVBs. The squash were delicious. BUT, while the long stems are wonderfully seed-free, the bulge on the end not only has seeds, but has very little else. After microwaving that bulge end, and scraping out the seeds, there frankly wasn't much left! That is, winter squashes like Acorn have their seed in a small ball in the middle of the squash. You scrape them out, and there is plenty of meat. But that wasn't the case for Tromboncino. I should say that the one we ate was about half-way matured to winter squash. Had we picked it earlier, the seeds may have been more edible.

Disclaimer: I am a huge Tromboncino fan. Take everything I say in context. ;-)

" To me, they taste a little more like a summer squash - kind of seedy and milder than zucchini."

"Seedy" doesn't sound at all like Tromboncino, which only has seeds in the bulb at the end. The rest of the squash - 80-90% of the total length - is seedless.

I first tried Tromboncino because of its purported resistance to SVB... which it has. I've had a few plants succumb to attack, but only when young; the larger vines are able to fight them off. I've seen frass occasionally appear at the base of the larger vines, but the damage doesn't get worse, and later in summer there is no sign of them at all.

"In my opinion, the flavor of Tromboncino is not in the same league with other summer squash. It has little flavor and softens a lot when cooked. The packages I froze ended up in the compost, not even casserole-worthy."

We appear to have had different experiences. I cook and/or freeze only the stem portion, and find that while the cooked texture is slightly less firm than the outside of the zucchini, the overall firmness is better, since there is no soft inner seed cavity. I freeze large quantities of Tromboncino every year, and the family loves it. It is more susceptible to over-cooking though (especially after freezing) so it takes more attention while cooking or blanching to avoid that... it took some practice.

I will concede that the flavor of Tromboncino is a little different from most summer squash, and perhaps not to everyone's taste; but personally I enjoy it. You can use it in almost any recipe where you would use zucchini - it makes a good zucchini bread, and can be turned into a good pickled sweet relish. Comparing Tromboncino to zucchini, is like comparing spinach to chard... not precisely equal, but close, and both will have their advocates.

I would not recommend Tromboncino as a winter squash, though. While it is superficially similar to a giant mutant butternut squash when ripe - up to 4' long! - the flavor & texture are inferior. It is like eating pumpkin. If I wanted to grow a squash for use as both summer & winter, I would choose Tahitian melon squash (which is also large when mature) or just pick some Butternuts young.

As mentioned, the plants are space hogs, so perhaps not the best choice for a small garden. They are aggressive climbers, though, and can be trained onto a trellis (a LARGE one). If trained vertically, the squash will be straight, but there will be fewer of them than if grown on the ground. This may not matter, since a single 18" squash will feed 2-3 people!

I prefer to grow mine on the ground, since the vines will root along their length & branch vigorously. This usually results in a massive harvest in late summer, when female blossoms begin to appear on many of the branches. The squash will curl if grown on the ground; I've been selecting for those that form "hoops", which I can just hang on my arm as I harvest.
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As long as we're singing the praises of Trombocino, I have to put in a vote for allowing some to become winter squash. They store really well (several months), and they substitute very well for pumpkin in soups. Also, chopped and sauteed with shallots for a frittata is one of our winter favorite dishes. (they peel very easily because of shape -- much easier than pumpkin.)

I, like Zeedman and Elisa, am a tromboncino fan. The flavor vaguely resembles artichoke, and the whole family apparently likes it. Do they develop any carotene as winter squash, Elisa?

My Tromboncino had larger end-bulges than the ones pictured here. I had regular Butternut growing in an adjacent bed. I wonder if what I got was some cross between them. But they were all the same, so that's unlikely

I seem to recall, as for zeedman's, that mine seemed to want to root along the ground as they spread out. I wasn't sure about that, but was probably the case. That's a nice trick, and certainly contributes to a strong late harvest. Next year I'll make some effort to bury the vines to help them do that.

It wasn't really a problem that the bulge was dominated by seeds. Just a surprise. As noted, most of the squash is seedless.

"As long as we're singing the praises of Trombocino, I have to put in a vote for allowing some to become winter squash. They store really well (several months), and they substitute very well for pumpkin in soups. Also, chopped and sauteed with shallots for a frittata is one of our winter favorite dishes. (they peel very easily because of shape -- much easier than pumpkin.)"

I tend to agree with that. As a substitute for pumpkin, fully mature Tromboncino would probably be satisfactory - and a lot easier to prepare. It is sweet, and has the same color as butternut (and probably the same carotene level). I am just personally put off my the course texture, and the blandness relative to other winter squashes... I prefer dry, fine textured winter squashes. I really wish it were otherwise, that long seedless neck is easy to peel & process, and a single mature squash might be 20 pounds, most of that solid meat.

When I save seed, I've noticed that allowing one squash per plant to mature does not stop the production of young squash; so if you want to use Tromboncino as winter squash, it is possible to "have your cake and eat it too".

Hmmm... Elisa, you just got me thinking. I love squash chips, and am dehydrating some of this year's kabocha squashes for that purpose. It might be interesting to try cutting a peeled mature Tromboncino neck into thin slices & dehydrating them. The neck is usually about 3-4" wide (a good size for chips) and because of the consistent neck width, it would be really quick work slicing it through the food processor. Who knows, I might find that I like the mature squash better dried... and since it would be easy to make large quantities, I hope it works. I plan on growing a seed crop next year, so I'll have plenty of mature squash to experiment with, and will post the results.

glib -- yes, as zeedman mentioned, they definitely turn orange when mature. And I like the flavor much better than when immature. (as in, I'd rather grow zucchini for summer, and trombocino as a "we went to the beach and the zucchini got huge" kind of squash)

good luck with the chips, zeed!

For a different and tasty summer squash, try Cousa. It's a Mediterranean Zucchini type with a sweet, nutty flavor.

I have decided to grow Tromboncino this year but have been having difficulty getting the seeds to germinate. I soak them in water for 24 hours but very few or none germinate. I notice the seed pod is hard and am trying cutting the ends off with scissors. I would be grateful for any suggestions.

Tromboncino is much like other squash in terms of seeds and germination. You just plant 'em, and they pop up quickly. Sounds like you got a bad batch of seeds. I assume the temperatures are warm. When you dig up the ungerminated seeds, had a plant come out that never made it to the surface, or did nothing come out at all?

Agree. Just plant the seeds. No need for soaking or nicking them.

Rodney

best veg ever

I grew trombo for the first time this year. I got two plants on trellises. I read that they are supposed to be prolific. I harvested 2 squashes in total. No sign of SVB. Big healthy leaves. Very few flowers. Did I do anything wrong?

Might be too much nitrogen. That will promote greenery and discourage fruiting, or at least female flowers.

Could have been any of several possible causes, or even a combination. Shade, over crowding, poor fertility, improper water (too much or too little), and too much nitrogen are all possibilities. Crowding could be either plants too close together (24" would be too close), or too little trellis. The vines are rampant whether grown vertically or horizontally, and require a lot of space; two plants would require about 6' of trellis each, on a trellis 5-6' tall.

Even on healthy vines, the squash will be relatively few in number compared to zucchini... but they make up for that in size. Since both male & female blossoms must be open at the same time, it is also possible that two plants were not enough to ensure good pollination.

MAN, I got huge numbers of them. I was giving them away . I think I had 3 plants and 15 squash, some over 2' . I thought they were better than zucchini. When cooked , they kept their flavor and didn't go all mushy. My plants were then done in in a couple of days by the biggest breakout of squash bugs. It was a bug explosion!

Very impressive, wantonamara. Let me know if You have those seeds to spare. I would love to do a trade with you.

I like Tromboncino, but this year I did Tahitian Melon squash instead. Much like Tromboncino in that it is moschata, necked, and HUGE, but I found the flavor better. Much more butternut-like. Tromboncino was a little bland in comparison. Allegedly, Tahitian Melon squash has the highest sugar content of any winter squash. I just harvested five of them a few weeks ago, and each was about two feet long. One squash will make a few meals. Not completely sure about its history, but I believe it was first brought to the U.S. from Tahiti fifty years ago.

That was a several years ago. I have not grown squash since that squash bug explosion oil some zucchini and then it was SVBs that did me in. It took several years and never a squash bug. I would see them hanging around waiting for me to plantt some more for years.. I gave the seeds away, sorry. I was really impressed with how few seeds there were, just some at the very end of the squash. That whole long neck was nothing but uninterrupted good squash meat. some were more like three feet. Maybe I should try them again. They did well in our heat. I grew them on a trellis, but they took over the garden. I need a bigger garden.

An old thread, but I never did post about the experiment with dehydrated Tromboncino slices.

My first attempt was exposed to moisture after dehydration & molded, so it was discarded. Last year, I grew 4 plants on a large trellis, expressly to renew my seed stocks. I allowed 2 per plant to ripen, suspended from the trellis by slings as they enlarged. So in the Fall, after harvesting & cleaning out the seeds, I had 8 long Tromboncino necks. I peeled, sliced, and dehydrated them... and ended up with several gallon bags of dried squash chips.

Those chips are hard, but soften quickly in the mouth, and are sweet & enjoyable. As I had hoped, dehydration eliminated the watery blandness & concentrated the sweetness. Not a bad snack as-is, but I am still experimenting with other ways to use them. I expect that cooking & re-hydrating them in a rice cooker will work as well as did the dehydrated kabocha.