The following post comes hot on the heels of the earlier one today following a twitter comment from Rachel:
How to identify seedlings.
Cucumber, squash and courgette are all in the Cucurbitaceae family of vegetables and their seedlings look remarkably similar. I’m sure many of us have planted modules full of the flat seeds in multipurpose compost, labelled them, watched them grow, potted them on to individual larger pots, forgotten to add new labels and then completely lost track of what we’d sown.
If this has happened to you this year, here’s a few pics that may help you to name your seedlings:
Cucumber Seedling
The leaves have an almost triangular shape with pointed lobes that aren’t as defined as the leaves in the courgettes pictured beneath.
Cucumber Seedling
Cucumber Seedling
Courgette seedlings
Much larger leaves with more defined shapes, usually has three or five lobes. If you love your courgettes you might like this RHS Publication which shares Ian Hodgson’s experience of growing 32 cultivars.
courgette seedling
Butternut Squash Seedling
Squash seedlings more closely resemble cucumbers than courgettes. The serrated edges aren’t nearly as defined and the leaf shape is rounder.
Hope that helps!
Dee Sewell – a horticulturalist and certified trainer who started Greenside Up in 2009 and teaches people how to grow vegetables. Dee specialises in working with community gardens but also offers workshops, allotment visits, consultations, horticultural therapy, afterschools clubs as well as local talks – she tailors her services to meet clients needs. In 2012 Dee launched a Seed Gift Collection containing varieties of vegetable and insect friendly flowers with the aim of getting more people growing. Dee’s blog was a finalist in the 2012 Ireland Blog Awards in the Eco/Green and Lifestyle Categories.
Source: Greenside Up – Identifying Squash Seedlings – Dee Sewell
