Cutting squash vine tips for cooking

8 years ago

I am intrigued to try squash vine tips or squash leaves or squash tendrils as they are variously referred to. I am reading about how these are enjoyed in many ethnic and regional cuisines and considered quite tasty not just food for the poor and hungry.

This is pretty much what they look like when harvested, culling from several blogs:

So there is the very tip, another node or so and then cut.

What I am worried about is that I don't want to decimate my plant and stop squash production just to get some leaves. Yet many people seem to be doing it.

Here is something I read in the Seeds of Italy website:

"You can increase production by niping out the main shoot after the first four leaves, to encourage secondary shoots. Repeat with the secondary shoots."

So is it true then that one can cut off the tip of the shoot and more tips will emerge from the nodes below (specially now that the plants are quite mature) and it wont affect squash production?

I have several trombocino squash plants that are growing very vigorously now and would like to give it a try.

By the way have you tried this way of having greens? It seems such a shame to me that squash plants produce so much greens and there is no way of having them.

Thank you!

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Comments (4)

zeedman Zone 5 Wisconsin
8 years ago
Tip pruning for squash will increase the number of main runners... but it will also delay production of squash, so that tactic may be counter-productive in short season areas. It might be a good strategy if your primary goal is growing vine tips; I did that several years back, when I harvested tips from Malabar squash (which has exceptionally heavy shoot production)(and stains your fingers!). For growing mature squash, though, closer spacing & good fertilization is probably a better option.

Personally, I wouldn't recommend tip pruning for Tromboncino as a way to increase yield. Provided the vines are allowed to trail, they will root at the nodes & branch vigorously on their own. I get huge yields from these branches late in the season.

That being said, I harvest Tromboncino vine tips, but only at the end of the season when frost threatens. I pick all of the tiny squash at the same time (regardless of size) and cook them all together. It is one of my "farewell to the garden" dishes, much the same as I harvest any filled-out beans still standing for shellies.
katyajini thanked zeedman Zone 5 Wisconsin
katyajini
Original Author
8 years ago
Thank you zeedman. How about the portion of the trombocino vines that have grown along the ground and then onto and up a trellis and are flapping all over the place? I don't see these regions of the vines and tips rooting. If I cut these tips what will happen? Will it make more tips from where cut after a while? Or will it slow down the fruit production all along the plant?

You grew Malabar Squash? you can grow it in your area? Isn't it a hot whether plant? And was it tasty, the shoots and the squash?

I have another type of squash which has different kind of leaves and stems. More like pumpkin. Zapallo del Tronco. A C. maxima. These started out as a bush type and now becoming vining. Do you know about this type of squash, for its tips?

I know cucuzza is one that is loved for its tips. Do you know any other type of squash that would be good for tips?

Thank you....

I hope you don't mind I am picking your brain so much. Its so wonderful to garden and taste your wares.

K.
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zeedman Zone 5 Wisconsin
8 years ago
If you trim off the tromboncino vine tip, it will form new shoots from the nodes nearest the cut. Side shoots generally form female blossoms fairly soon, so you should still be able to get more squash before frost. Late in the season, provided the plants get enough water (they are water hogs) the vines tend to produce a large flush of female flowers, and the yield can be heavy... I freeze a lot of it. Personally, I enjoy the squash much more than the tips, which is why I only harvest tips when frost approaches.

"You grew Malabar Squash? you can grow it in your area? Isn't it a hot
whether plant? And was it tasty, the shoots and the squash?"

Yes, I grew it here... but Malabar squash is daylength sensitive, so it didn't bloom until late August / early September. I was able to harvest a few large immature squashes, but ripe seed is impossible. The vine growth, though, was incredibly rampant... it was all I could do to contain the vines in a 20' X 30' area. The shoots were plentiful & succulent, and the vines produced new shoots from the cut ends very quickly; but they are mildly bitter. The vines grew until frost, and were not affected by PM, as were all my other squashes by that point.

"I know cucuzza is one that is loved for its tips."

Never heard that. I don't grow cucuzza often, since it is such a space hog... but I am growing it this year to replace my old seed. Young gourds are just now beginning to form. Personally, I find it hard to believe that those fuzzy vine tips are palatable... but then, some Filipino friends of ours eat the vine tips from bitter melon, so its possible.
katyajini
Original Author
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Thank you so much zeedman for all that feedback!

Here is something about cucuzza vine tips, if you are at all interested. The tips are called terenumi but I hear any squash tip can be referred to as terenumi in Italian but I am not sure about that. Its all over the internet if you search for 'squash leaves recipes' or 'squash vine tips recipes'. Cucuzza is very similar to opo squash or bottle gourd, maybe the same vegetable, ( my God, I am telling you!), used in south east asian cusine and there too the tips and young leaves are loved in special dishes:

http://cookingwithrosetta.com/tenerumi-2/

http://poorandglutenfree.blogspot.com/2013/08/what-to-do-with-squash-leaves-and-stems.html

I read up quite a bit and the fuzzy nature of the tips and the stalks that you thought would be unpleasant are dealt with by peeling the stems. The little bit of soft fuzz on the leaves is delicious texturally.

Not knowing if I would hear from, and not being able to resist I gathered tips from my Tromboncino and Zapallo. I found the peeling of the stems, which I thought would make me hate them, is actually very easy, much easier than even peeling garlic, it took me just a few mins. If you just touch the cut end of the stalk, wanting to peel, the fuzzy 'skin' just pulls off.

I just flash stir fried them with a little onion, garlic and tomato in an Asian way and they were among the best greens I have ever tasted. And I am a greens fiend. Not at all bitter instead, sweet, smooth and flavorful.

The peeling does make a difference (I left some stems with fuzz on) and makes a lot more of the stalk available for cooking and the peeled stalks are delicious.

And you know what? I cut the tips yesterday afternoon and this morning I looked and each of the cut tips have 1-1/2 inch new shoot already growing from the node below. But not multiple shoots (at least not yet).

Maybe you didn't want to hear all this but it was on the tip (HaH!) of my mind.

Thank you so much for taking the time to share your knowledge. It moved me to dig a little deeper.

K.

Cutting squash vine tips for cooking

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zeedman Zone 5 Wisconsin

katyajini
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Cutting squash vine tips for cooking

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zeedman Zone 5 Wisconsin

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katyajini
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