I don't have any information on particular variety, But C. maxima in general is a vine squash which can run 10-15 feet.http://eatingchile.blogspot.com/2010/03/zapallos-pumpkins-and-squash-gourds-of.html http://southamericanfood.about.com/od/saladssidedishes/r/pumpkinsoup.htm

Here is a link that might be useful: Zapallo macre

I found a page on them in Spanish that might help http://www.monografias.com/trabajos59/cultivo-zapallo/cultivo-zapallo.shtml From what I understand it takes a long season, 150-160 days :o and I think it says to plant them in rows 6-8 mt (meters?) apart and spaced 2 mt... I do not know much Spanish and I think something might be lost in Google translation.

Does this squash have another name? Now I'm curious about this squash and I've already got a dangerous obsession with squash.

This just gets sillier. It's possible that I picked out the wrong cucurbita variety in trying to guess what it was. According to my brother the seeds came, not from Peru, but from the Bolivian altiplano, which is high in altitude (quite a bit higher than where I am in Colorado) and has a fairly short growing season. However he told me that the similar squash in Chile are 2 to 3 feet across and that all of these sorts of squash are sold in the markets in South America by the chunk.

I have a neighbor who has abandoned her garden to weeds. I may ask her if I can use it to plant this experiment. Based on what you both said and the possible size of the fruit this could be one big-ass plant!

If anyone has any knowledge about squash of the Bolivian altiplano, I'm still curious. Otherwise I'll share what I find out by planting this guy.

Hello. I said I would follow up and here you go. We harvested one huge squash this week and there is another on the vine. I snipped other female flowers that threatened to fruit so I could get one big squash. I did. I'll let the photos tell you the story, if you're interested.

Here is a link that might be useful: Picasa zapallo album

Hi great pics. Would love to find out if I could get a few 5/6 seeds of the squash from u. I cannot see an e/m addy to send off to u. TY Bill

Wow that is really cool! Its like a big green pumpkin. Now how do you know its ripe? Is it supposed to stay green?

LiannaB, You grew a real zapallo macre, the same as the ones grown in Peru, so how can I obtain some seeds from you?

Here is a link that might be useful: GardenWeb