Not many garden plants are as well-adapted to the intensity of Florida summers as those from Cucurbitaceae, the gourd family. An estimated 975 species of this family are used for food or ornamental purposes, making them an important component of human well-being. Many make iconic seasonal foods across the US, like cucumber, watermelon, and pumpkin.
They tend to thrive in the hot, wet, full-sun conditions for which Florida is famous; the reverse is also true, as many species are cold-sensitive and die in a frost. While they do need some space to vine out, cucurbits are a low-maintenance choice for those looking to summer garden. This family is unisexual, meaning they have separate male and female flowers, a trait that only about 10% of flowering plants have.
Cucumber
Cucumbers are common and popular enough to be idiomatic, as in “cool as a cucumber” or “in a pickle.” Whether they are incorporated into juice, added to salads, pickled, or even made into a sandwich, cucumbers’ light, cool, and refreshing taste make them extremely versatile and widely available. In Northern and Central Florida, they can be planted twice a year, in the spring after the last frost and again in late summer. In Southern Florida, the planting season is between September and February.
This vining plant is relatively easy to grow. The stem, leaves, and fruit have prickles, which vary from hairlike to thornlike, depending on the cultivar. Cucumber leaves are sometimes compared to oak leaves in shape. When we did pickling back home, we grew a variety with extremely pronounced prickles. I remember them being frustrating to pick from the discomfort. You can tell which flowers are female, as the flowers are larger and their base will have a bulb in the stem, a pre-cucumber; both male and female flowers are edible. The plant needs consistent watering, but is also susceptible to flooding, so it requires well-drained soil.
Watermelon
This is one of the largest fruits in cultivation, perhaps behind only pumpkin. Watermelon is also a vining plant, but tends to have curlier tendrils, more deeply lobed, silver-green leaves, and a more consistent “hairiness” than cucumber. The leaves are shaped somewhat like maple leaves. The most common fruit type has pink or red flesh, but yellow-fleshed cultivars are also available (I have only seen the yellow type once). Florida is the leading state for US production. They have similar growing seasons across Florida to cucumbers, with North and Central Florida having 2 possible growing seasons. We are seeing the harvest of springtime plantings in stores now.
The first consideration for their cultivation is space. Even among cucurbits, watermelon is known for extensively spreading vines. Most soil types will be fine, but they have the same water peculiarities as cucumbers, needing regular watering but well-drained soil. Fruits are generally green and darkly striped, but they may have spots instead. It can also be important to keep an eye on ripening fruits; ripeness can be checked from the size and color of the markings where the fruit touches the ground, or from a small, curly tendril, connected to the stem, which will dry and brown once the fruit is ready.
Pumpkin
Nothing better represents fall and the changing seasons than pumpkins. While still a vine needing some space, this plant has larger, flatter, more spade-like leaves which grow up, rather than out, from the ground. Pumpkins come in a variety of colors, shapes, and textures, but the common variety is dusky orange, round, and ribbed or grooved from top to bottom. They need roughly 4 months to grow from seed to mature fruit. Like the others herein, they can be planted as soon as frosts are done for the year, with plantings in May or early June producing pumpkins by Halloween.
Pumpkins are unique in that we use more of them for decorating than we do for eating. People buy fresh pumpkins for carving and fall decorating. Nationally, 81% of the total pumpkin acreage was used for fresh market sales in 2017. Contrasting this trend, Illinois’ production was focused on processed goods like canned puree, with 76% of the nation’s acreage of pumpkins-for-processing inside just this state. This is surprising, considering the nutritional qualities and health benefits of consuming them.
Seminole Pumpkin
Florida has a native species, the Seminole pumpkin. They were grown by several Native American tribes that were collectively known as the Seminole people. This pumpkin is also called the “hanging pumpkin,” as its vines grow and climb somewhat aggressively. The gourds of this variety vary in shape and size, even on the same vine. The flesh is sweeter, firmer, and less fibrous than carving pumpkins. The fruits tend to be tan or brown when compared to canning or carving pumpkins’ strong orange. Being native, the plants do very well in summer heat and have relatively few pests.
Honorable Mentions
These examples barely scratch the surface of what Cucurbitaceae has to offer. Many other gourds and squashes are commonplace, like zucchini and summer squash. Spaghetti squash is popular for its stringy interior and can be used as a pasta replacement. I particularly like acorn squash and used to eat them baked with a little butter and cinnamon; it is a winter squash, so did not earn a place in the list.
A plant that I am very excited to grow in the future is the luffa gourd. This gourd is very long and can be used as its name suggests when dried. I have never actually seen a fresh example, but I have bought bars of soap that are made with the luffa material incorporated into it as an exfoliant. These do well in Florida and are a great showpiece in the garden. I am also interested in chayote, a cucurbit hailing from Guatemala. This climbing vine produces fruit that only has a single seed, with a taste similar to zucchini, and can be prepared in several ways. The entire fruit is planted rather than a dried seed, which was something I had not heard of before.
Closing Thoughts
Many of the plants that we live with, whether as foodstuffs or ornamentals, are closely related. This is helpful, as related species may share growing conditions and pests, even when not superficially similar. Cucurbitaceae are a great example of this; if you were to see a cucumber, watermelon, and pumpkin next to each other, you wouldn’t think they were close relatives. It is interesting to consider how many unknown relatives of useful plants still exist, and what that means for future innovation in plant science.
1
