Looks like a pumpkin.

It looks just the globe zucchini I grew one year, but with a monster vine like that it's probably a baby pumpkin.

I'd cut it out. One thing I've learned about gouds of "unknown parentage" you let it take over for the whole growing season and end up with "at best" an item for discussion. Also, gourds are voraciious feeders and will badly deplete the soil.

It was purchased, it was not a rogue seedling. I would never buy a pumpkin vine on purpose.

How can I tell if it's a pumpkin or a globe zucchini at this stage?

I really want it to be a zucchini :(

Agree with the others. It's a pumpkin. You can use that fruit now while it is still immature if you wish. It'd be like any other summer squash.

The plant could have come up on its own if you do any sort of composting.

Rodney

Even purchased seedlings can be mis-labeled. In addition, we have already had several posts this year where what grew was obviously some sort of cross-pollinated squash. As discussed then, squash is a big related family and crosses so easily that it is possible to end up with something weird even if you do grow it from seed yourself much less with a purchased seedling.

A rampant vine such as you have is far more likely to be some mutant cross than anything else. Normal zucchini just don't grow that aggressively, pumpkins can of course but it could still be a cross-pollinated pumpkin. So the abnormal vine behavior itself is your best clue at this point.

If zucchini is want you want then personally I agree with exmar - I'd rip it out. Why waste the time and space to grow something you don't want and that will likely be poor quality anyway. Plant a new zucchini plant. There is still plenty of season left.

Dave

Okay then, I'll try eating one. If it's awesome, it may stay - though it will be severely pruned, haha. If it's funky, out with it and I'll plant some zucchini, which I may do anyway due to the amount of SVB moths I have seen flying around...

I bought 2 packets of tomato seed at Wal-Mart, one was Rutgers the other was Roma and raised 2 Cherry Tomatoes out of 10 plants.

> I bought 2 packets of tomato seed at Wal-Mart, one was Rutgers the other was Roma and raised 2 Cherry Tomatoes out of 10 plants.

this year i got a packet of tomato seeds at walmart as well and ended up with something that wasn't even a tomato plant. i don't know what it really was, but certain it wasn't a tomato plant. i ended up pulling it, but kind of regret it as i felt curious after i tossed it.

perhaps a lot of seeds are coming from china these days ;)
incorrect seeds seem to be very common..

I ordered some bell pepper seeds from China last season and while some were indeed bell peppers, a good proportion were actually poison ivy!! I had never seen poison ivy seedlings before, so they made it until 2 sets of true leaves just because I was curious!

...never again.

Mistakes in seed packets sometimes are due to the fact some workers can neither read, write or speak English. Believe me I've seen it happen.

WHO EVEN KEEPS POISON IVY SEEDS ON HAND THOUGH, TO BE MISLABELED IN THE FIRST PLACE

(I wish I had pics, I am just about 100% sure that's what it was.)

Laughing at the direction this post has taken.

I cooked some of these green pumpkins with onions, garlic, butter and broth base paste and it was delicious. Even the kids ate it, and they were tickled that they were eating baby pumpkins. We all agreed that it tasted like zucchini.

Thanks for the suggestion!