Interesting idea about the 3rd leaf. I will need to experiment on that one.

party, I think this was a black beauty!

CA Kate, the third leaf is coming in, so I'll give it a try! Hopefully the zuk won't take over the yard!

Nancyjane, there are lots of bush zucchini cultivars. Over here I don't think I've ever come across any that aren't.

Black Beauty doesn't produce vines, so if that was your problem with it taking over then it wasn't BB.

OK, so I'm not sure what last years was. I just checked the tag and this one is for sure BB. We'll see!

By the end of the season even a bush zucchini will spread out from the original spot if mildew, vine borers, or cucumber beetles haven't gotten the better of it. It's not really a vine: rather a very long stem. Usually I just steer it the way I want it to go and put a stake in to hold it in that position.

I've never heard the third leaf idea...interesting....maybe i'll watch for that this year.

naturegirl I just learned of this when I was given some giant pumpkin seeds from a guy who grew them where my hubby is a pumpkin carver. I planted all of them in the direction of the 3rd leaf and all of them grew that direction! I'm hoping this is true also for my zuk as I have much less room than I used to.

And, yes, I've noticed in the past that my zuks don't start "vining" until late in the season. We don't have the vine borers and not much mildew being in No CA., and our growing season goes into September/October so the plants have a chance to "vine"

Nancyjane: I'd love no vine borers and little mildew. Both are common here so I just replant throughout the season and remove the older plants as they get ragged.

I saw some giant pumpkins out your way a few years back when visiting my daughter in the East Bay area. I also saw huge piles of smaller ones down near Half Moon Bay during a Christmas visit. There was a huge pumpkin on display in a store down on Pier 39. Later we heard that someone cut a hole into it and stole seeds from it :0 Around here, I would have blamed squirrels or chipmunks, but that giant was located inside and may have actually been vandalized.

We got a few to 300-350 lbs! Nothing like the giants in the 1,000 lb range, but still quite impressive for a small timer!

My hubby carved pumpkins at the Halloween festival at pier 39 for several years til the recession hit and they cancelled.