We have grown gem squash for years after a relative who lives in South Africa brought us some seed. The seed dates from 2016 and it still germinated well this year six years later. With the very hot dry summer in France this year, 2022, our courgettes just did not thrive but the gem squash did really well trained along a fence and given a bit of water. For the first time we started picking them young at cricket ball size when you can eat the whole thing, seeds, skin, and flesh. They have been absolutely delicious with far more flavour than any zucchini. Picking them young encourages more to form as well We have been eating them at every meal! Certainly a vegetable that needs to be far better known and I have just sown some more (probably too late at the end of August) in the hope we can prolong a crop in the greenhouse and collect new seed. I don't know much longer my 2016 seed will remain viable! 😄 Thanks for your great video!
I lived in South Africa for years and visited several times. In 2010, I brought gem squash seeds home and finally have the space to grow them this uear. I hope they germinate!
Thanks for that. Saffa here in New Zealand. Our supermarkets never have gem squash. Looking to try to grow them. For cooking, readers, be warned... If you microwave them, no matter how many holes you stab into them, they do explode with a loud bang, leaving a terrible mess to clean up! Been there, done that... Better to slice in half first, that diffuses the bomb! LOL
We buy them with hard skins and very hard seeds. My personal favorite recipe: Steam or boil, cut in halves and remove the seeds. Fill both halve cavities with sweetcorn(the mushy one in cans), top of with a cheddar cheese or gouda. Then grill/broil in oven till cheese has melted and becomes a darker, almost burned like appearance. There is just something with the sweetness of the corn, that makes this the perfect recipe. But be warned, make more than you assume to be enough. They are addictive. Glad to have found your channel. Love here from Pretoria, South Africa.
Wow, this is such an informative video and I am so grateful. British born but raised in SA from childhood I grew up with gem squash and when I moved back to the UK it was the one veg that I missed the most. I just received my seeds today and found your video, thank you so much. Take care.
I am growing Gem squash for the first time. A friend from South Africa told me how wonderful they are so I am trying them. I am in northern Ohio so I am excited to see how it works. So far I have 1 nice squash on the plant but it is not quite ready to eat.
I would have imagined January is quite cold and without enough hours of sunlight in Holland for growing gem squash but I would love to start growing them this early in the year if it were possible. How are you hoping to accomplish it despite the winter weather? Are you planning on using artificial lighting and indoor heating?
@@JoanneCommandeur If started in little pots in January, they'll probably need re-potting into 50cm-pots by late February / March, when it's still too cold for them to go outside.
Thank you for the great tips. How deep is the root? Eg if I plant it in a pot, how deep would the root be and what is the minimum depth of a container?
Thanks for the info gonna grow some next summer! Btw your voice is satisfying to hear.🥰👍 also no need for hand pollination let insects do it, they are there for it and its always successful with me, and they only die cuz of pests but you said otherwise so i dont understand this pollination thing anymore and i just know you ain't lying.🤔
you're absolutely right, you don't /have/ to hand-pollinate. For many people letting the insects do it works really well. I like to hand pollinate only because it 100% guarantees that a flower has been pollinated and hasn't been missed by a pollinating insect - I like that security of knowing. Also some locations people grow them in (especially if grown indoors) are lower in pollinating insects so hand-pollination is more important in those cases. Thanks for your comment ☺️
I have just grown my first lot of Gem Squash this year here in the U.K and have quite a lot of gems on eleven plants that , I have almost 30 gems altogether now. I have about 6 or so to pick now that are ready. As for the others that are still small and growing. So I wanted to know if it was all right to pick the 6 or so ones that are ready and leave the others to cary on growing. Your videos helped me a lot as I have not grown them since I was a kid.
Yes, each one may be ready at a different time. It's a good idea to pick the ones that are ready and leave the others to continue developing on the plant until they are ready to be picked too. Removing the ready gems will allow the plant to have more energy to grow more new baby gem squashes. That's why they say "the more you pick the more you grow" 🙂
Thanks for this video, I'm an ex South African now in the UK, is it too late to plant now in July? Just bought some seeds online. I have a small greenhouse if it helps
If you sow now, it takes about 70-75 days to get a squash developing so you may be able to get 1-2 squashes before the winter cold sets in and starts killing the plant off, but I suspect not more than that. It's up to you but it may be a shame to put the work into growing something for 1-2 squashes. If you had a large heated greenhouse with grow lamps to combat shortening day lengths, maybe you could have gotten more squash out of the plant even as winter sets in, but with a small normal unheated greenhouse I'm not sure the conditions would be quite right come late October. To give yourself the best chance for a good amount of crops, personally I would start next year in late April and right now grow something quicker growing like early bush beans or radishes.
@@jivinggerbil thanks for the quick reply. I will try just one seed now and save the rest for next year...wish me luck lol I have quite green fingers so I'm hopeful ☺
@@annieuk4164 Let me know how you get on! I'd love to hear if you manage to get them to produce fruit earlier than the time it took me of 70-75 days. Maybe with the hot weather you'll get an accelerated maturity? good luck! :)
If you've got good quality, fresh, well-kept seeds, you won't need to soak them (mine germinated very easily without any soaking). But if your seeds are a little old or if you've tried germinating one or two seeds from a packet and it hasn't worked so you need a little help to get them going, soaking may help. If you just want to speed up germination - I don't think it can hurt giving it a try. There are a few other tricks I've heard about but havent tried myself for speeding up germination too like carefully chipping away part of the seed's shell - there's a tutorial showing how one guy removed the whole shell on youtube called "Super Fast Accelerated Squash Germination Technique". If you've got a couple spare seeds to experiment with, may be worth trying and seeing what works. Good luck! :)
Is there a method of sowing old gem squash seeds? In 2010, I brought gem squash seeds home from South Africa and finally have the space to grow them this year. I'm prepared for the worse...
Although viability decreases with time, you never know - if they were stored in a dry, cool place some may still be viable. I would chit them by placing them in moist paper towels in a warm place (ideally over 25'C) for a couple of days to see if any start sprouting. With a bit of luck, you may get some sprouts which you can sow. If you get nothing after 14 days, then it's likely they won't sprout. Note that if you live in the Northern Hemisphere, I would wait until it's warmer in the year to start chitting them - Here in the UK I'd wait until the last week of April at the earliest. I usually start them first week of May. Good luck!
A South African over here trying to remember how to grow it hahaha
We have grown gem squash for years after a relative who lives in South Africa brought us some seed. The seed dates from 2016 and it still germinated well this year six years later. With the very hot dry summer in France this year, 2022, our courgettes just did not thrive but the gem squash did really well trained along a fence and given a bit of water. For the first time we started picking them young at cricket ball size when you can eat the whole thing, seeds, skin, and flesh. They have been absolutely delicious with far more flavour than any zucchini. Picking them young encourages more to form as well We have been eating them at every meal!
Certainly a vegetable that needs to be far better known and I have just sown some more (probably too late at the end of August) in the hope we can prolong a crop in the greenhouse and collect new seed. I don't know much longer my 2016 seed will remain viable! 😄 Thanks for your great video!
I lived in South Africa for years and visited several times. In 2010, I brought gem squash seeds home and finally have the space to grow them this uear.
I hope they germinate!
Thanks for that. Saffa here in New Zealand. Our supermarkets never have gem squash. Looking to try to grow them.
For cooking, readers, be warned... If you microwave them, no matter how many holes you stab into them, they do explode with a loud bang, leaving a terrible mess to clean up! Been there, done that... Better to slice in half first, that diffuses the bomb! LOL
We buy them with hard skins and very hard seeds. My personal favorite recipe: Steam or boil, cut in halves and remove the seeds. Fill both halve cavities with sweetcorn(the mushy one in cans), top of with a cheddar cheese or gouda. Then grill/broil in oven till cheese has melted and becomes a darker, almost burned like appearance.
There is just something with the sweetness of the corn, that makes this the perfect recipe. But be warned, make more than you assume to be enough. They are addictive.
Glad to have found your channel. Love here from Pretoria, South Africa.
Wow, this is such an informative video and I am so grateful. British born but raised in SA from childhood I grew up with gem squash and when I moved back to the UK it was the one veg that I missed the most. I just received my seeds today and found your video, thank you so much. Take care.
I am growing Gem squash for the first time. A friend from South Africa told me how wonderful they are so I am trying them. I am in northern Ohio so I am excited to see how it works. So far I have 1 nice squash on the plant but it is not quite ready to eat.
Thankyou , this is the very best of videos I have seen on growing Gem Squash, well done. Presentation - 100% - Content/ Context -100%
Please make more videos. I am in love with your in depth tutorials. The best I have seen on TH-cam. Bravo!
Great video, thanks for all the tips! About to try grow some myself (in South Africa) 👋
Thanks for making such an informative ‘gem’ about growing gem squash ☺️🙏♥️
Great video! Thank you for all the tips - I learned so much. It’s my first time growing gems and I’m quite excited 😊
I grew up in Zimbabwe and remember eating gem squash. I now live in Texas, USA. Wondering where I can get seeds from?
What a fabulous TH-cam presentation. Well done! I am looking forward to January when I can start my gem squash growing project in Holland :)
I would have imagined January is quite cold and without enough hours of sunlight in Holland for growing gem squash but I would love to start growing them this early in the year if it were possible. How are you hoping to accomplish it despite the winter weather? Are you planning on using artificial lighting and indoor heating?
@@Nimbleful Hi - yes, January is usually very cold, but I was planning to plant the seeds into little pots and placing them on a windowsill inside.
@@JoanneCommandeur If started in little pots in January, they'll probably need re-potting into 50cm-pots by late February / March, when it's still too cold for them to go outside.
Thank you - I guess I will have to be more patient and start a month or two later.
Thank you for the great tips. How deep is the root? Eg if I plant it in a pot, how deep would the root be and what is the minimum depth of a container?
Fabulous video, great tips! 👍
THANKS FOR YOUR LOVELY VIDEO, AND ALL THE INFO!! GOD BLESS!!
Thank you. My gem squash is ready to replanted.
Thank you for this great information!
Thank you, this was just what i needed
Brilliant information, thank you.
Very explanation, Thank you
Thanks for the info gonna grow some next summer! Btw your voice is satisfying to hear.🥰👍 also no need for hand pollination let insects do it, they are there for it and its always successful with me, and they only die cuz of pests but you said otherwise so i dont understand this pollination thing anymore and i just know you ain't lying.🤔
you're absolutely right, you don't /have/ to hand-pollinate. For many people letting the insects do it works really well. I like to hand pollinate only because it 100% guarantees that a flower has been pollinated and hasn't been missed by a pollinating insect - I like that security of knowing. Also some locations people grow them in (especially if grown indoors) are lower in pollinating insects so hand-pollination is more important in those cases. Thanks for your comment ☺️
I have just grown my first lot of Gem Squash this year here in the U.K and have quite a lot of gems on eleven plants that , I have almost 30 gems altogether now. I have about 6 or so to pick now that are ready. As for the others that are still small and growing. So I wanted to know if it was all right to pick the 6 or so ones that are ready and leave the others to cary on growing. Your videos helped me a lot as I have not grown them since I was a kid.
Yes, each one may be ready at a different time. It's a good idea to pick the ones that are ready and leave the others to continue developing on the plant until they are ready to be picked too. Removing the ready gems will allow the plant to have more energy to grow more new baby gem squashes. That's why they say "the more you pick the more you grow" 🙂
@@jivinggerbil okay I will do that tomorrow take the ones off that, are ready to be picked and let the baby gem carry on growing. Thank you.
Thanks for this video, I'm an ex South African now in the UK, is it too late to plant now in July? Just bought some seeds online. I have a small greenhouse if it helps
If you sow now, it takes about 70-75 days to get a squash developing so you may be able to get 1-2 squashes before the winter cold sets in and starts killing the plant off, but I suspect not more than that. It's up to you but it may be a shame to put the work into growing something for 1-2 squashes. If you had a large heated greenhouse with grow lamps to combat shortening day lengths, maybe you could have gotten more squash out of the plant even as winter sets in, but with a small normal unheated greenhouse I'm not sure the conditions would be quite right come late October. To give yourself the best chance for a good amount of crops, personally I would start next year in late April and right now grow something quicker growing like early bush beans or radishes.
@@jivinggerbil thanks for the quick reply. I will try just one seed now and save the rest for next year...wish me luck lol I have quite green fingers so I'm hopeful ☺
@@annieuk4164 Let me know how you get on! I'd love to hear if you manage to get them to produce fruit earlier than the time it took me of 70-75 days. Maybe with the hot weather you'll get an accelerated maturity? good luck! :)
@@jivinggerbil I will and that's what I'm hoping, the hot weather might keep going later this year. 🙏
very good thank you one thing i wanted to ask is is it a good idea to soak the seeds in water for a few hrs to speed up germ-nation thanks againe
If you've got good quality, fresh, well-kept seeds, you won't need to soak them (mine germinated very easily without any soaking). But if your seeds are a little old or if you've tried germinating one or two seeds from a packet and it hasn't worked so you need a little help to get them going, soaking may help. If you just want to speed up germination - I don't think it can hurt giving it a try. There are a few other tricks I've heard about but havent tried myself for speeding up germination too like carefully chipping away part of the seed's shell - there's a tutorial showing how one guy removed the whole shell on youtube called "Super Fast Accelerated Squash Germination Technique". If you've got a couple spare seeds to experiment with, may be worth trying and seeing what works. Good luck! :)
Is there a method of sowing old gem squash seeds? In 2010, I brought gem squash seeds home from South Africa and finally have the space to grow them this year.
I'm prepared for the worse...
Although viability decreases with time, you never know - if they were stored in a dry, cool place some may still be viable.
I would chit them by placing them in moist paper towels in a warm place (ideally over 25'C) for a couple of days to see if any start sprouting. With a bit of luck, you may get some sprouts which you can sow. If you get nothing after 14 days, then it's likely they won't sprout.
Note that if you live in the Northern Hemisphere, I would wait until it's warmer in the year to start chitting them - Here in the UK I'd wait until the last week of April at the earliest. I usually start them first week of May.
Good luck!
@@jivinggerbil
Thanks for the advice. I hope they germinate!