Red Kuri squash

habitat-gardener · #1

I traded some tomatoes or peppers for a Red Kuri squash plant this spring, and planted it where I thought it could sprawl. It took over that bed and the next one! By the end of the season, it had taken over an area about 6x18 feet -- and would have kept going if I had not kept trimming it all summer. I ended up getting 15 squash, each about 3-4 pounds. And they are the best-tasting squash I've ever had, or at least one of the best. I think they are even better than kabocha, though quite a different texture.

However, I recall thinking that a butternut squash I got from a neighbor a couple years ago was the best-tasting squash I'd ever had.

So I'm wondering, if you've grown a variety of winter squashes (including Red Kuri), how does Red Kuri compare in terms of taste and production?

bower · #2

I am not a fan of squash, generally, but we've grown Red Kuri at the farm and I really like it.
IDK what to say about production, because my farmer friend won't waste space on anything that isn't productive. So all her squashes are worth growing, including the Kuri.

habitat-gardener · #3

Bower wrote: ↑Mon Nov 01, 2021 7:01 am I am not a fan of squash, generally, but we've grown Red Kuri at the farm and I really like it.
IDK what to say about production, because my farmer friend won't waste space on anything that isn't productive. So all her squashes are worth growing, including the Kuri.

What other squashes does your farmer friend grow?

rxkeith · #4

i have tried red kuri here a couple times, and it seems to struggle all the time, and is not very productive as a result.
my favorite winter squash that does well in my area are gills sugar hubbard, and a hybrid of mountainer hubbard with
gills as the other parent. in the smaller squash category scarchuks supreme reigns supreme over all the other acorn type
squash i have grown. thelma sanders sweet potato is another good one a notch below scarchuks.
i like butternut, but they need a bit longer season than i have in order to grow unless i grow an earlier hybrid. i like the
option of saving seeds, so i stick mostly with open pollinated varieties that grow well in my area.

keith

bower · #5

@habitat-gardener I don't know the names of other squashes she grew, although for sure there were some acorns and hubbards, the other really productive variety that I remember was a spaghetti squash. I helped her harvest just before frost one year, the load of spaghetti squash was huge.

pepperhead212 · #6

I've heard good things about Red Kuri squash, but unfortunately, I can't grow it, due to SVB.

Tormato · #7

I find nearly all maximas like Red Kuri, to be far superior to all moschatas like the butternuts, and most pepos like the acorns (with the delicatas being the exceptions).

My favorite squash for flavor is Tetsukabuto (F1). This is a maxima X moschata cross, needing either of those types as a pollinator. The flavor is very rich, the texture is dense and creamy. It can be eaten baked, straight out of the half shell. There's no need to scoop it out, add other flavorings, and mash it.

svalli · #8

Few years ago, a colleague brought me seeds when visiting his home country China. Some of the packages had just Chinese writing and no pictures, so he had translated the names for me. Finally, I had room to grow seeds, which he had marked as pumpkin and now I have two squashes which look like Uchiki kuri type.

Uchiki kuri.jpg

How do I know that these are ripe? Color has been like this for a month now and the skin is hard. The pumpkin stems are yellow and I can pierce them with my fingernail. Should the stem be totally hard or will it harden after cutting? Many places say to wait until vines are turning brown or just before first frost, but these vines look still quite good and we may not get frost until October. I am now worried that, these may start to rot, if I leave them for too long and would like to pick them now and not wait that the vines have died. I am asking about this because usually the winter squashes here have ripened so late that the first frost has killed the vines and I do not have experience with squashes ripening this early.

I am so happy that I got these two growing in my limited space for the squash. There were more female flowers, but I was not able to pollinate them.

Hornad · #9

svalli wrote: ↑Wed Sep 06, 2023 5:47 am I am now worried that, these may start to rot, if I leave them for too long and would like to pick them now and not wait that the vines have died. I am asking about this because usually the winter squashes here have ripened so late that the first frost has killed the vines and I do not have experience with squashes ripening this early.

I am so happy that I got these two growing in my limited space for the squash. There were more female flowers, but I was not able to pollinate them.

They will not rot on the vine. Squash that are not mature enough when picked rot sooner than ones that were fully mature. These ones look ripe so it's not very risky to pick them but leaving them on the vine generally makes them taste even better

Tormato · #10

svalli wrote: ↑Wed Sep 06, 2023 5:47 am Few years ago, a colleague brought me seeds when visiting his home country China. Some of the packages had just Chinese writing and no pictures, so he had translated the names for me. Finally, I had room to grow seeds, which he had marked as pumpkin and now I have two squashes which look like Uchiki kuri type.

Uchiki kuri.jpg

How do I know that these are ripe? Color has been like this for a month now and the skin is hard. The pumpkin stems are yellow and I can pierce them with my fingernail. Should the stem be totally hard or will it harden after cutting? Many places say to wait until vines are turning brown or just before first frost, but these vines look still quite good and we may not get frost until October. I am now worried that, these may start to rot, if I leave them for too long and would like to pick them now and not wait that the vines have died. I am asking about this because usually the winter squashes here have ripened so late that the first frost has killed the vines and I do not have experience with squashes ripening this early.

I am so happy that I got these two growing in my limited space for the squash. There were more female flowers, but I was not able to pollinate them.

NEVER give them the fingernail test.

With constantly wet soil, they could rot. I always place a piece of wooden board, or something similar, under them, to raise them up above ground level. I then leave them alone until frost time. They seem to "cure" better the longer they are left out in the sun. I leave about 6 inches of stem attached when harvesting. And, I use the blemished ones first, leaving the "perfect" ones for longer storage.

habitat-gardener · #11

(A footnote to my original post of 2 years ago: the first one or two Red Kuri were wonderful. The rest were kind of bland!!)

svalli · #12

Tormato wrote: ↑Wed Sep 06, 2023 1:32 pm
NEVER give them the fingernail test.

With constantly wet soil, they could rot. I always place a piece of wooden board, or something similar, under them, to raise them up above ground level. I then leave them alone until frost time. They seem to "cure" better the longer they are left out in the sun. I leave about 6 inches of stem attached when harvesting. And, I use the blemished ones first, leaving the "perfect" ones for longer storage.

These have been elevated from the ground when the fruits started to grow, so the bottom part is not in direct contact with the soil. Sun is now hanging low on the sky this far north, that my garden gets only few hours of direct sun. Temperature is also getting so low that morning dew does not dry. Next week supposed to be cool and rainy, so I may have to bring the squashes indoors to cure.

Tormato · #13

svalli wrote: ↑Thu Sep 07, 2023 1:12 am
Tormato wrote: ↑Wed Sep 06, 2023 1:32 pm
NEVER give them the fingernail test.

With constantly wet soil, they could rot. I always place a piece of wooden board, or something similar, under them, to raise them up above ground level. I then leave them alone until frost time. They seem to "cure" better the longer they are left out in the sun. I leave about 6 inches of stem attached when harvesting. And, I use the blemished ones first, leaving the "perfect" ones for longer storage.
These have been elevated from the ground when the fruits started to grow, so the bottom part is not in direct contact with the soil. Sun is now hanging low on the sky this far north, that my garden gets only few hours of direct sun. Temperature is also getting so low that morning dew does not dry. Next week supposed to be cool and rainy, so I may have to bring the squashes indoors to cure.

That makes sense.

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