Growing Gem Squash: Underrated Squash Variety | Best Tasting Squash!

15 tips on how to grow Gem Squash: one of the most underrated vegetables and a little-known squash variety with delicious flavour and taste!
If you've never grown gem squash (aka Rolet squash, or Little Gem Rolet trailing squash) I highly recommend growing this beautiful round green squash variety. In my opinion it's one of the best tasting squash and veggies out there! Gently sweet, comforting, smooth and creamy. More moist than dry, yet not watery. It's somewhere between a winter squash and a summer squash: winter squash because of its hard skin, but a summer squash since it needs warmth and heat to really thrive and is best picked before the weather cools. I really think it's one of the best squash to eat; one of the tastiest squash for baking or boiling.
Whether you're in the UK like me, in South Africa, America, Australia or anywhere else in the world, this video shows my vegetable gardening suggestions & recommendations for growing gem squash from seed, through to Cucurbita pepo seedling and to fully grown plant. You can start planting gem squash seeds at home, in pots / containers or in the ground. And as you'll see: "Can you grow gem squash in uk even outdoors?" Yes! I hope my 15 tips will be helpful to you on your growing adventure :)
M E N T I O N E D L I N K S :
Zucchini / Courgette Growing Guide: • Growing Zucchini in Co...
T I M E S T A M P C O N T E N T M A P:
0:05 What is Gem Squash?
0:39 Tip 1: Picking the right seed
0:50 Gem Squash is not the same as Round Zucchini or courgettes
1:15 Tip 2: Grow in warm temperatures (follow temp guide for figuring out when to plant gem squash in South Africa or any country you live in)
2:56 Yields I got: how many gem squash per plant?
3:14 Tip 3: Give them lots of space (pot size & how to grow squash in a container, and how to grow squash vertically)
4:26 Tip 4: How long does gem squash take to grow? slower than zucchini
5:13 Tip 5: Be careful of the prickly spines
5:50 Tip 6: Allow horizontal growth before training upwards
7:32 Tip 7: Give them something to climb
8:28 Tip 8: Keep the flowers dry
10:05 Tip 9: Shiny fruit means successful pollination
10:40 Tip 10: Leave squash over 21 days on vine to mature for best tasting squash
10:46 The Fingernail Test to check if squash is ready
12:20 Tip 11: Give fruit space to descend
13:00 Tip 12: Support & protect squash with slates, tiles and/or netting
13:58 Tip 13a: Tips on pruning
14:25 Tip 13b: Tips on watering
14:35 Tip 13c Tips on fertilizing
15:22 Tip 14: Understanding squash problems: what it means if baby squash goes yellow & falls off
16:14 Tip 15: Cooking tips: how to make gem squash & safety taste test tip
Music Credits:
Gimme back my Ya ya by Dan Lebowitz
5 O July by Dan Lebowitz
Parkside by Dan Lebowitz
Jerimiah's Song by Dan Lebowitz
The Gift by Reed Matthius
Coming Home by Dan Lebowitz
Glen Canyon by Dan Lebowitz
Michigan Greens by Dan Lebowitz
Surrender by Dan Lebowitz
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Thanks to all the amazing gardening youtube channels for teaching me and inspiring me to grow my own food! Special thanks for the inspiration to Claire at ClairesAllotment, Kevin Espiritu at Epic Gardening and Jacques, Gary Pilarchik at The Rusted Garden, Cali Kim at CaliKim29, Luke at Migardener, Lee at Project Diaries, GIY, Quickcrop, GrowVeg, Scott Head, Liz Zorab at Byther Farm, Charles Dowding, Tony at Simplify Gardening, Mark Valencia at Self Sufficient Me, Susan's In The Garden and Erica's little Welsh garden! Also so much appreciation for the garden gurus on the gram like the spicy moustache, Airam Morlett at itsthymetogarden & Chris Chung at fluent.garden. Finally, thank you to all the amazing people on fb gardening & grow your own groups and forums that were always there on hand for support and to answer questions throughout the growing process :)

[@kyleglen]

A South African over here trying to remember how to grow it hahaha

[@BillynBertie]

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!

[@glidercoach]

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!

[@ammy1977]

Please make more videos. I am in love with your in depth tutorials. The best I have seen on KZbin. Bravo!

[@gertwolmarans6974]

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.

[@hermannaude7973]

Thankyou , this is the very best of videos I have seen on growing Gem Squash, well done. Presentation - 100% - Content/ Context -100%

[@adelebuchanan3649]

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.

[@margaret2222]

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.

[@MichaelThorne_za]

Great video, thanks for all the tips! About to try grow some myself (in South Africa) 👋

[@Candy_Krishna]

Thanks for making such an informative ‘gem’ about growing gem squash ☺️🙏♥️

[@LadyGreenThumb2]

I grew up in Zimbabwe and remember eating gem squash. I now live in Texas, USA. Wondering where I can get seeds from?

[@rochellembatha7418]

Great video! Thank you for all the tips - I learned so much. It’s my first time growing gems and I’m quite excited 😊

[@peach2969]

Thank you. My gem squash is ready to replanted.

[@ginelledevilliers-higgins5950]

Fabulous video, great tips! 👍

[@marietjieswart2591]

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?

[@patriciarossouw348]

Brilliant information, thank you.

[@elisemenne8758]

THANKS FOR YOUR LOVELY VIDEO, AND ALL THE INFO!! GOD BLESS!!

[@bernadettebrown1852]

Thank you, this was just what i needed

[@shellyhladun6082]

Thank you for this great information!

[@JoanneCommandeur]

What a fabulous KZbin presentation. Well done! I am looking forward to January when I can start my gem squash growing project in Holland :)

[@Nimbleful]

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]

@@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.

[@Nimbleful]

@@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.

[@JoanneCommandeur]

Thank you - I guess I will have to be more patient and start a month or two later.

[@dewaldsteyn1306]

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.🤔

[@jivinggerbil]

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 ☺️

[@RTolly-hr6vh]

Very explanation, Thank you

[@chantellevanderpoll7302]

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.

[@jivinggerbil]

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" 🙂

[@chantellevanderpoll7302]

@@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.

[@annieuk4164]

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

[@jivinggerbil]

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.

[@annieuk4164]

@@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 ☺

[@jivinggerbil]

@@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! :)

[@annieuk4164]

@@jivinggerbil I will and that's what I'm hoping, the hot weather might keep going later this year. 🙏

[@kennethwilliamson3937]

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

[@jivinggerbil]

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! :)

[@glidercoach]

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...

[@jivinggerbil]

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!

[@glidercoach]

@@jivinggerbil Thanks for the advice. I hope they germinate!