Last edited on November 02, 2026. View history
Ruatoria Kamokamo
A variety of kamokamo
How to sow Ruatoria kamokamo: Direct seed indoors (and transplant outside after seedlings are hardened off) or outdoors
Sun requirement for Ruatoria kamokamo: Plant in Full Sun
A kamokamo given to Kōanga (a NZ seed bank) by Bill Blane, who got it from his koro, Victor Richard Rangitukia, in Ruatoria. It produces a mix of long and round fruit. Eat young like courgette, with the male flowers and vine tips, or bake or cook it in a hāngī when mature. Vigorous and prolific; avoid modern hybrid seed. Transplant at 1 m.
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Ruatoria kamokamo facts
Lifespan
Crop cycle
Max altitude
Optimal light
What are growing degree days?
A plant grows with warmth, not with days. A growing degree day is one day's worth of useful warmth: how many degrees the day's average temperature is above the lowest temperature the crop grows at. Add them up from planting and you know how far along the crop is, whatever the calendar says.
Say that lowest temperature is 10°C. A day averaging 17°C gives 7 growing degree days. A day averaging 8°C gives none, as it is too cold for the crop to grow. That is why the same lettuce takes about 50 days in a summer and 90 in an autumn: it needs the same total warmth either way.
For Ruatoria kamokamo, the FAO EcoCrop database gives a lowest growing temperature of 6°C and a shortest growing cycle of 40 days at its best temperature, about 700 growing degree days to a first harvest.
Where you've told us where your garden is, we use this and the weather there to predict when your Ruatoria kamokamo will be ready to harvest. We don't use it for how long a plant lives or when it finishes: we go by what members have logged for that.
Plant Ruatoria kamokamos with
chives
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Ecological requirements
Data from the FAO EcoCrop database for Cucurbita pepo L.
| Family / Taxonomy | Magnoliopsida Dilleniidae Violales Cucurbitaceae |
|---|---|
| Life form | herb, vine |
| Life span | annual |
| Habit | climber/scrambler/scadent |
| Optimal soil depth | medium (50-150 cm) |
| Optimal soil texture | medium, organic |
| Optimal soil fertility | moderate |
| Optimal soil drainage | well (dry spells) |
| Optimal soil salinity | low (<4 dS/m) |
| Photoperiod | short day (<12 hours), neutral day (12-14 hours), long day (>14 hours) |
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