Cucurbita pepo var. styriaca
Styrian oil pumpkin
Common names: Styrian pumpkin, oil pumpkin, hull-less seed pumpkin
At a glance
- Light
- Full sun
- Spacing
- 100 cm, rows 150 cm
- Lifespan
- Annual
- Sowing
- Apr–May
- Harvest
- Sep–Oct
- Hardiness
- Cold damage below 2 °C
- Water need
- High
Photo: Tigerente · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source
This description was machine-translated.
Description
The Styrian oil pumpkin, botanically Cucurbita pepo var. styriaca, is a garden pumpkin grown mainly in the southeast of Austria for pumpkin seed oil. Its distinguishing feature is its hull-less, dark green seeds: they lack the woody seed coat, so they can be roasted and pressed without being shelled. The vines grow 3 to 5 m long and bear large, lobed leaves and yellow funnel-shaped flowers. The round fruits usually weigh 2 to 5 kg and, depending on the variety, are green, yellow, or orange-striped, with thin, mild flesh. The seeds are the main harvest, eaten roasted on salads, soups, and bread, or kept as seed for sowing. The oil pumpkin is a rewarding crop for warmth and plenty of space, as it quickly covers the soil with its leaves and keeps weeds down. It needs a warm summer, otherwise the seeds do not fully ripen.
Care instructions
Sow the oil pumpkin directly into the bed from mid-May, once the soil is at least 12 °C, or plant pre-grown young plants after the Ice Saints (mid-May cold period). It needs a full-sun, warm spot and plenty of room: allow 1 to 2 m² per plant and let the vines grow over bed edges or the compost heap. Water thoroughly and regularly during dry spells, preferably in the morning at the root zone, so the leaves stay dry and powdery mildew does not develop. A mulch layer keeps the soil moist and warm. Once the first fruits set, leave three to four ripening fruits per plant and cut back the vine tips two leaves beyond the last fruit. If young fruits drop off, pollination is often lacking: then pollinate by hand in the morning using a male flower. Slugs love young plants, so collect them by hand. Harvest in September and October, when the rind and stem are hard and dry, and let the fruits ripen for two to three weeks before opening them.
The care notes were machine-translated from German.
Garden year
SowingApr–May
HarvestSep–Oct
Germination
- Soil temperature
- from 12 °C, ideally 25 °C
- Days to sprout
- 5 to 10 days
- Light
- Sprouts in light or dark
- Sowing depth
- 3 cm
- How to start
- Start indoors, then plant out
Soil & site
Soil pH
Soil type
humus-rich, loamy, nutrient-rich, well-drained
The Styrian oil pumpkin grows best in deep, humus-rich, nutrient-rich soil that warms up quickly in spring. Loamy-sandy soils are ideal. Loosen heavy, compacted areas to a spade's depth before planting, because waterlogging makes the roots and the fruit set rot. The pH is best in the slightly acidic to neutral range. A spot at the edge of the compost heap works well, because there it finds warmth and nutrients.
The Styrian oil pumpkin belongs to the gourd family and shares powdery mildew and other diseases with cucumber, courgette, melon and ornamental gourds. Leave a four-year break on the same bed. It thrives after legumes or on beds that received plenty of compost the year before.
Feeding
Heavy feeder
Months
May–Jul
The Styrian oil pumpkin is a heavy feeder. Before planting, work plenty of mature compost or well-rotted manure into the planting spot; this covers the needs of the first weeks. Once the fruit sets, diluted nettle liquid feed every two to three weeks helps, together with a mulch layer of grass clippings. Too much nitrogen encourages leaves instead of fruit, so let the feeding taper off in August so the seeds can ripen.
Overwintering
The Styrian oil pumpkin is an annual and dies off with the first frost. Harvest the fruit before the first night frost, even if the vines are still green, because frost damages the skin and the keeping quality. Take the seeds from the fully ripened fruit, wash off the flesh and dry them on a cloth in a warm, airy place until they rustle. Stored dry and cool in a paper bag, they keep for several years. The vines go on the compost in autumn.
Propagation
Methods
- From seed
You propagate the Styrian oil pumpkin from seed. The hull-less seeds rot easily in cold, wet soil, so sow directly in the bed only from mid-May, when the soil is at least 12 °C: place two to three seeds 2 to 3 cm deep, pointed end down, and later leave only the strongest plant. You can start earlier by raising young plants indoors: from mid-April, sow one seed per pot at 20 to 25 °C; the seeds germinate after about a week. After the Ice Saints (mid-May), plant out the young plants once they have two to three true leaves. You collect your own seed from fully ripe fruit. Because this species crosses easily with courgettes, patty pan squash and ornamental gourds, the seed only stays true to type if none of them flowers nearby or if you pollinate by hand.
Companion planting
Good neighbors
legume family (Fabaceae)
Beans and peas enrich the soil with nitrogen, which cucurbits, as heavy feeders, can make good use of.
For example PeaBush beanPole beanBroad beanSnow peaWrinkled pea and 36 more species in the catalogue
Source: classic companion planting (DACH-Gartenpraxis)
Rather not
nightshade family (Solanaceae)
You should avoid planting potato and cucumber together because they share disease pathogens such as leaf and brown rot and stand in each other's way as strong feeders.
For example PotatoTomatoSweet pepperCocktail tomatoEggplantCape gooseberry and 14 more species in the catalogue
Source: basic crop-rotation rule
Companion planting is partly traditional gardening lore. Where the reason is known, it is given.
Some of these explanations were machine-translated.
For your garden
Grow Styrian oil pumpkin yourself
Gartenkern tells you when frost is coming, when to sow and when to harvest, for your location.
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