Hulless seeded pumpkins

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Tree_Climber Brown City, MI(Zone 5a) Jan 09, 2004

Has anyone had experience growing pumpkins with hulless seeds?

I tried Lady Godiva last year. The plants grew great and produced several nice pumpkins. The fruit was what I expected, except for being a bit larger than catalog descriptions.

Thing is though, none of the seeds were hulless.

This may be a "dumb" question, but if the plants cross would the seeds still be hulless?

I know that if the plants cross pollinate, the fruit will still be true to parent #1, but the seeds from it will grow something different. But will the seeds inside the fruit still look like the seeds from parent #1. after all the seed is the baby.... or is only the genetic information in the seed different?

I hope that is clear ............ I'm trying to understand why my seeds had hulls and if I should try again. I don't plan on hand pollinating.

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MaryE Baker City, OR(Zone 5b) Jan 13, 2004

I haven't had any experience with this tpe of pumpkin, but I think maybe it could have been cross pollinated with cucumbers or some other member of the suqash family growing nearby.

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Farmerdill Augusta, GA(Zone 8a) Jan 13, 2004

I have tried Godiva and other "hulless" squash. The hulls are thinner but still there in my case. Maybe they should say edible hull squash, that is if you have good teeth. Actually you can eat them like sunflower seeds.

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Tree_Climber Brown City, MI(Zone 5a) Jan 13, 2004

MaryE,
I was told the seed was retail, but I think you are probably right and the seed I had was from a plant that had crossed with something else. (See information below)

Farmerdill,

I think I agree with you. The seeds I planted seemed to be hulless .......... I'm going to try another variety this year:

KAKAI

Delicious ""pumpkin nuts,"" striped fruits.
These eye-catching, medium small, avg. 5-8 lb., black-striped pumpkins have been a hit with visitors to Johnny's farm. After displaying the pumpkins in the fall you can scoop out the large, dark green, completely hulless seeds which are absolutely delicious roasted. Kakai is a variety of the Austrian type that yields the valuable green pumpkin seed oil which some European studies show promotes prostate health. Avg. yield: 2-3 fruits/plant.

I also found this information:

Gardeners growing naked-seeded varieties do not need to worry about isolating these plants from other squash or pumpkins to prevent cross-pollinating. Although crosses will occur, the seed will not have a tough seed coat since it is formed from maternal tissue. Of course, such crossed seed should not be saved for planting, as the next generation will result in seed with regular seed coats.

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MaryE Baker City, OR(Zone 5b) Jan 13, 2004

Those Kakai sound interesting, maybe I should try them since we like pumpkin seeds for a healthy snack. Off to find my Johnnys catalog.

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