Glad you found a zucchini substitute that suits your taste and conditions. Lots of folks use Trombocino (a butternut type) or Cucuzzi (Italian edible gourd) as zuke substitutes when they have difficulty growing zucchini.

I'm glad you found exactly what you like and needed! It sounds similar to the Kousa squash that my brother grew in the south many years ago. I don't have room for more than 2 bush type squash plants, and have always gone with 1 Black Beauty until last year when I couldn't get seed. I grew something called "Bush" Zucchini because it's all I could find. lol! But it was GOOD! The skin/flesh wasn't as crispy as BB, but it never seemed to get huge and seedy if I missed picking one. And they never got mushy at all when cooked, which is especially odd given how WET our summer was last year. This year I plan to grow one of BB and one of Bush and have a full on taste/texture/use test. :)

That's a fair point about Trombocino. I've grown it with some success, though it was in a bed that didn't get a lot of sun. It seemed to survive SVBs, but the fruits were massive, and the flavor was ho-hum. "SVB-resistance" is somewhat delusional around here. My Butternut used to get killed reliably in April by SVBs, and I've only now been able to grow it by planing out late, after the second generation are gone.

SVB are a pain here and I am constantly vigilant. I am very curious of Tatume now. It looks like 8ball zucchini? It can be picked as a summer or winter squash? Let's here some other comment's Is it immune to SVB? I love zuc's, I bread and fry up like chicken parm amazing! I also make into noodles.

These things are picked as summer squash when they are softball-sized. I let mine get a little larger, and there were some seeds, but the seeds were very soft and, after cooking, were quite edible. I understand that, left to grow, it will reach the size of a soccer ball. It is said that it can be used as a winter squash if left on the vine, but I'm not sure how to judge exactly when to pick. Tatume is not just "resistant" to SVBs. It is almost entirely immune. Moschata is supposed to be "resistant", but it sure isn't immune for me! I did another post here on Tatume last week, with more info.

If you don't mind round summer squash, another alternative might be Malabar gourd, Cucurbita ficifolia (a.k.a. Chilacayote, Fig Leaf Gourd, Shark Fin Melon). Very rampant vines, and perennial in warm climates. Not sure of its SVB resistance, but I had no trouble when I grew it. It usually flowers in short days (which is not a problem in Texas) but I have seed that was grown in Michigan, so some cultivars may be more adaptive. Oh, and the ripe squashes store for an INCREDIBLY long time; the one on my shelf was given to me in the winter of 2020, and has neither dried nor rotted.

hanks Dan! I found your old thread. Does anyone know how Tatume does against powdery mildew?

That's interesting about Malabar gourd (I can plant it next to my Malabar spinach!) But we need more info about SVBs. I believe C. ficifolia is understood to be "resistant" to SVBs, but that can mean many things. One awkward thing about Tatume is that I can't understand WHY SVBs don't like it. It's a pepo, the vines are hollow. The ought to like it! If we understood why they don't like it, we could make predictions about other varieties.

I should point you all to a bunch of articles that raved about Tatume a decade or so ago, one of which is here. https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/newsletters/hortupdate/2010/jun/tatume.html

These were written by Jay White, who I think is now the editor of Texas Gardener magazine. Lots of random observations about Tatume here https://permies.com/t/42183/Specific-varieties-zucchini-resistance-mildew. Some useful hints there on using it as a winter squash and also observations about mildew.

Thanks for sharing. Tatume - I will plant next year. When does it fruit? i too gave up on summer squash due to SVB! Have had great success with Italian trombocino, a winter type squash that can be eaten like summer squash when young and tender. only drawback is that it is later in season than zucchini.

I planted out in March. Self-fertilized a flower five weeks later, and was eating at the beginning of May.

I should add that while it is supposed to be "draught tolerant", I find it needs more water than melons and cukes. That may well be just a squash thing rather than a Tatume thing.

I'm going to try it, planted some seeds. Seems to grow similar to a small pumpkin? One plant is plenty?

How do you prefer to eat it/ cook it?

Same as for other squash. One plant is plenty if you don't eat a lot. But Tatume roots along the vine, so you start out with one plant and it can turn into several. If you let the fruit get larger than softball size, you'll be scraping out seeds. Other than that, treat it like zucchini.

Tatume has grown a very healthy and attractive plant for me, I have a 40 foot vine circling almost back to the start. Not sure it has more "taste", and not as tender as Italian Zucchini. Pick small or it gets seedy. I'm gonna let them grow big now and see what they look like by Autumn.