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need help identifying
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Posted by
jennleo3 9 (
My Page) on
Sat, Jul 28, 12 at 21:25
| This mysteriously started growing in my yard and I have no idea what it is. Please help! It is growing on a vine and the underside of the leaves are prickly sort of sticky like and the fruits are fuzzy but the fuzz is wearing off. |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: need help identifying
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RE: need help identifying
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| Well, it's clearly some kind of cucurbit, either a squash, pumpkin, or gourd, or some kind of melon. The leaf looks a little strange to me, sort of melon-like, sort of squash like. My overall impression is that it is some kind of melon. Depending upon where you are in the country, could possibly also be some kind of native wild cucurbit. |
RE: need help identifying
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| I was thinking it was maybe a melon. The leaves are really strange. It has different leaves other than that pictured. I have no clue where it came from. I am in CA. |
RE: need help identifying
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| Last month picture of this same plant |
RE: need help identifying
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| I'd say some type of cantaloupe or honeydew melon... |
RE: need help identifying
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| If you have no idea where it came from, it probably came from some dropped seed from your compost -- either dropped by you or a bird. Cucurbits are notoriously promiscuous, so it is most likely some sort of hybridized thing, and most often these don't taste good, though every once in a while they do. You can let it grow for fun and for the off chance that the fruit it produces will be good. But if it's taking up space that you need, it's probably not worth it. |
RE: need help identifying
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- Posted by lolauren 7 - WA State/Desert (My Page) on
Sun, Jul 29, 12 at 11:52
| I can help as I had similar volunteers in my garden this year. They came up in several raised beds, and I let a few plants grow to see what they'd become. I grew pumpkins, squash and cucumbers last year and figured they'd be one of those. I never grew melons before this year. I did buy one single heirloom cantaloupe last summer that I composted into my beds and is my best guess at where this came from. Pics:
This is only half of a single plant:
Two leaves that look different on the same vine...
And because I couldn't wait to see what these looked like inside, I picked one too early:
It obviously wasn't done ripening. It smelled like a melon and faintly like a cucumber. It was just slightly sweet. To those who have grown melons, do cantaloupes start off this color or is this something else? OP: I hope these photos help! :) |
RE: need help identifying
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| loloren, yes, a muskmelon picked too early will not be orange inside yet. Just wait until they "slip" (fall off the vine) all by themselves, and they will then be ripe. MOST muskmelon type melons slip, and yours definitely appears to be some kind of muskmelon. Of course, being a volunteer and genetics what they are, there is always the possibility it will be a green-fleshed muskmelon. |
RE: need help identifying
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- Posted by lolauren 7 - WA State/Desert (My Page) on
Sun, Jul 29, 12 at 16:16
RE: need help identifying
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| Well it looks like my plant is figured out. Thanks for the photos that looks just like my plant fruit and all. I looked between my fence and saw my neighbor is growing these as well. So some how a seed ventured into my yard. |
RE: need help identifying
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| Perhaps it was a charentais melon. |
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