Nope. plants have to be in the same species. Squash, (cucubita pepo, C. Maxima, C. moschata, C. Mixta) will not cross with melons ( Citrullus lanatus, Cucumis melo)

Thank you!
Yelena

farmerdilla, that's just plain wrong. Plants (unlike animals) do NOT have to be in the same species to cross-pollinate successfully. Heck, Luther Burbank even made successful crosses between different genera (ever heard of a pluot?). In the case of melons and squash, it is true that most species of the Cucurbita can indeed cross-pollinate--on our farm, we have gotten some very weird combinations, such as the infamous Pumpkini. However, I'm not sure specifically between melons and squash. Yelena, why not do the experiment and find out?!

What most often occurs in American gardens is that commonly-grown Halloween pumpkins (Cucurbita pepo) cross with commonly-grown zucchini (Cucurbita pepo). That accounts for your "pumpkini," Bud.

Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service distributes this information provides a chart of the members of the cucurbit family grown in the US. And, gives the general outlines for cross-pollination: "Cross pollination generally occurs only among members within the same species. However some crossing between species occurs in the genus Cucurbita, among pumpkins, squash and gourds. C. pepo will cross with C. mixta and C. moschata: and C. maxima will cross with C. moschata.

"C. pepo will not cross with C. maxima.

"Cross pollination does not occur between melons, cucumbers or other species."

University of Nebraska extension discusses a little about what they call the "folklore" of the Curbit Family & Cross-Pollination.

I think that the key to your question is that different species generally do NOT cross with only a few exceptions. Human manipulation of cross-pollination is another story.

Steve

I beg to differ thisbud4. Yes you can cross breed different species but not naturally both in the plant and animal kingdoms. There are Pluots , Apriums and Ligers (lion Tiger cross) but you have to work at it. Pumpkini is no problem, most pumpkins and zucchini are Cucurbita pepo which cross readily within species.Ditto for crooknecks, straightnecks and scallops. On the other hand the famous cuculope which has circulated for years is an old wives tale. Cucumbers (Cucumis sativus) do not cross with cantaloupes (Cucumis melo) Of course the Armenian cucumber which is also Cucumis melo will readily cross with cantaloupes. Experimentation is a great thing, but all the amateurs out there have not succeeded yet in naturally croosbreeding Cucurbita across species. You don't have to worry about interplanting squash ( any species) and melons ( any species). Some gourds are really squash ( C. Pepo) so you have to know the species if interplanting with squash.