Once I heard, now I don’t remember where or from whom there is gymnospermous pumpkin. I really wanted to see firsthand that the seeds really have no peel? But only five years ago I saw bare seeds on sale, without a peel. But this variety, gymnospermous pumpkin, was bred a very long time ago - at the beginning of the last century. I was looking forward to the first harvest. But planting gymnosperm seeds in open ground ended in failure. It was then that I learned that there are some features of growing pumpkins with bare seeds without a peel.
Actually, I did not see any special external differences from a regular pumpkin. Well, maybe her flowers are bigger.
Description of gymnospermous pumpkin and cultivation features
In the technology of growing pumpkin with seeds without peel has some features.
Firstly, bare seeds when planted in very moist soil, with subsequent rainy weather, can rot before they germinate. In the first year, this happened to me. Typically, pumpkin seedlings appear approximately on the 5-7th day after sowing, sometimes earlier under favorable conditions. I waited two weeks - the seedlings did not appear, although the usual pumpkin had already risen by this time. I only had three seeds left, and so as not to risk it, I sowed them not in open ground, but in cups with soil. Seeds hatch from the ground on the 4th day.
I think that with such features, growing gymnospermous seedlings is the best option. By the way, this method of growing - through seedlings, is recommended by seed producers. Since then I have been planting gymnospermous pumpkin in open ground with only seedlings. 4-5 plants are enough for my family and this is not burdensome. Each plant will produce 4-5 fairly large fruits (5-7 kg, sometimes more) that are well stored.
Like any pumpkin, gymnosperm loves an open sunny place. In the shade, shading, the fruits grow small, few seeds are obtained.
Gymnosperms, unlike its counterparts, does not tolerate drought at all. Even a short heat (and our heat is always long) affects the harvest. It is especially demanding on moisture during fruit setting. It’s worth not watering it once or twice — the fruits grow some kind of clumsy, curved, plain, small. Otherwise, the care is the same as for an ordinary pumpkin.
Storage of gymnospermous pumpkin
In storage gymnospermum has its own characteristics. The fruits may lie for a long time in the apartment. But, it is advisable to eat them no later than two months after collection, since the seeds begin to germinate inside.
Looking ahead, I can say that we did not like this pumpkin at all. But seeds are another matter. Clicking them, if I may say so about a seed without a shell, is a pleasure. I tried to fry in a frying pan, dried in the oven, but most of all I liked the seeds, dried in the sun, in the open air. In general, I now grow it only to get seeds for food. In an ordinary pumpkin, the seeds are in a dense shell, while in the gymnosperms they are covered only with a thin film. You can eat them just like that, without cleaning - the film is not felt, it is easily removed, you just have to rub the grain with your fingers, it does not interfere with the pumpkin taste of the seeds.
How to collect your seeds from gymnosperm pumpkin
Another feature. If you want to collect your seeds for the future harvest, you need to plant the pumpkin not only from other pumpkin varieties, but also from zucchini, squash, as it is easily pollinated and, planting seeds that seem to be bare, you risk getting the next crop with ordinary seeds or even an incomprehensible hybrid. This does not happen with other pumpkin varieties, at least for the next generations it is not very noticeable.
The first years I tried to protect gymnosperm from pollination. I will describe my experience, maybe it will be useful to someone.
To get high-grade seeds, before pollination, I isolated male and female flowers. To isolate female flowers, I pulled a whisk with a soft rubber band or wrapped it in a bandage so that insects would not penetrate the stigma. I collected the buds of male flowers the night before in a glass jar, covered it with a lid, left it to spend the night under a bush. At the moment of pollination, the female flowers freed, and then again covered them from bees or other insects. Pollination did not occur. But for fidelity, I recommend the same female flower to pollinate several times. By the way, I tried this method of pollination: do not wait for the opening of the female flower, but with my hands open the bud, which is about to open, open, put pollen from the male flower on the pestle.
But then she stopped doing it. Still, for such a "jewelry" business it is difficult to find time. After all, at any time you can buy high-grade seeds. The usual bag of seeds is enough for me for 2 years, although the seeds there are usually 5-7 pieces.
Varieties of pumpkins with seeds without peel
I started with the variety, which was called - Golosemyannaya. This pumpkin is medium-braided. Fruits are cylindrical, but not very elongated, with blunt ends. The pulp is bright orange, but, as I said above, my family did not like the taste - slightly sweet, watery, when stewed or boiled, it spreads in mashed potatoes, that is, it does not keep its shape. In addition, the seed chamber is large, and the flesh is thin. The conclusion suggests itself - there are a lot of seeds, so this is the most important thing in this variety, for its sake it is worth growing
Moreover, the benefits of pumpkin seed are many. They contain 50% fatty oils, a large percentage of B vitamins, 30% protein, ascorbic acid. Pumpkin seeds are the best source of zinc for our body. In fatty oils there are glycerides of stearic, palmitic, oxycerotinic, oleic acids. Raw (not fried) pumpkin seeds have anthelmintic properties. They say that if you eat a handful daily of pumpkin seeds (of any kind) in the morning on an empty stomach, then in a week your body will get rid of worms and the like. And if you use the same amount for 2-3 months once a year, then men can prevent such an unpleasant disease as prostatitis.
About two years ago I saw on sale new (for me) varieties of gymnosperms - Olga and Zebra. First, I grew seedlings, remembering the first bad experience. Very good grades. Almost the exact opposite of the gymnospermus variety in taste and appearance. Fruits of a very beautiful color with green, bright orange or yellow stripes, oval. The pulp is thicker, fleshy, yellow, much sweeter than ordinary pumpkins, but still loses to taste, although the pancakes are tasty. It’s also suitable for juice. The thickness of the pulp is from 4 to 8 cm.
Zebra seeds are white, and Olga is greenish with an olive hue. It seemed to me that the Golosemyannaya variety is still more productive in terms of the number of seeds, perhaps due to the fact that the fruits are larger or the seed chamber is larger. Although they are quite difficult to compare. In new varieties, the whole fruit goes into business. Alas, I managed to buy these seeds once, they didn’t come across to me anymore, but I didn’t collect mine.
Experience has shown that the fruits of gymnosperms should not be stored for longer than 2 months. With a longer shelf life, the seeds begin to germinate inside, for food or for collecting seeds they become unsuitable.
If you have experience growing other varieties of gymnospermous pumpkin with your own characteristics, share it in the comments. Or maybe you tried on your site some new, interesting variety?