Did you use any compost that might have had cucurbit seeds in it? I get volunteer cucurbits all the time. This year's volunteers appear to be watermelon.

That leaf doesn't ring a bell for me right offhand.

Genetic sports occur periodically. The vining habit might be a "throwback" to older varieties that were vining rather than bush.

It might be worth self-pollinating a couple of the fruit so that you'll have seed to work with if it turns out to be something interesting and tasty. Is it setting female flowers yet so that you can see what, in general, it looks like?

No compost used there, and I don't even think we ate a watermelon last year for there to be seeds in the compost. It doesn't look anything like the leaves on the vines in the cucumber hill. It has buds but no blooms, but it looks like they are all male unless the little fruit looking part shows up later.

I hope it's not a watermelon. That gate trellis won't support a lot of weight. The leaves are kind of fig-shaped. I hope it's not a gourd though I've never seen any in my area.

Please let us know when it fruits.

You never know when you might get lucky and have a "sport" in the seed that is worth propagating.

I just back from a trip and found it is making a fruit and is flowering.

I don't know a lot about melons. When do watermelons get their stripes? If not a watermelon, what?

{{gwi:68450}}

The fruit looks like a spaghetti squash to me...

Definitely a squash. As daveinco stated it looks like a spaghetti squash, but unfortunately there are other winter squash with the same shape and coloring.

Will it be too heavy for the trellis? Wonder how this got in a package of squash seeds.

Last year I mixed up plants when transplanting. I ended up with a spaghetii squash in a spot with too little room. I ended up using one of those flimsy wire tomato cages. As the plant got bigger and set several fruit, the cage wasn't up to the task.

But your wire fence looks much sturdier. If you are worried you may be able to rig up some method of tying the squash to the fence. Others could probably post ideas they've had direct experience with.

I have heard of people using panty hose to support larger type melons on a trellis.

Do you just slip the foot of the pantyhose over the fruit and let it grow inside the hose?

I think they hammock it? somehow? they can't just cut it lenght ways? I assume as it would ladder?

I use kneehi hose and just slip it over the melon/squash and tie to the trellis.

Peggy

It was a spaghetti squash and it was delicious! Also the only one that formed on the vine before the SVBs got it.

What's an SVB? Or is it something unprintable? :)

SVBs will make squash growers say unprintable things.

Its the dreaded Squash Vine Borer.

What a cool outcome. I have a volunteer growing next to a new elderberry I just planted. I hope mine is something fun and good to eat as well!!!

g