By Alanturk
Wiltshire,
United Kingdom 
I previously posted a query about an unidentified gourd that has grown unbidden in my garden. I intended to provide a new photo to show how it looks now, just for interest, but I couldn't find out how to add a photo to a later comment, so here it is in a new thread. For a time I thought it was one called "Turk's Turban", which I couldn't resist buying as my surname is Turk, but it doesn't quite accord with my memory of it and is rather smaller, so I guess it isn't that. Anyway, it still seems quite happy, despite having to be moved around from time to time, so that the lawn can be mowed around it! I don't expect anyone to be able to identify it positively, though it would be a bonus if anyone could.
30 Sep, 2016
Answers
Thanks. Maybe it is a Turk's Turban then, after all, though I've never actually grown any gourds, squashes etc. I think it has grown from a seed in a discarded one that had been bought (among various others) and was starting to rot. It must have gone through my compost bin! It looks ready to harvest now, though I have no intention of eating it. Would you think it is ready?
2 Oct, 2016
Looks it to me - not sure what you'd do with it though if you don't want to eat it!
2 Oct, 2016
I think it grew from a seed in a discarded one that had started to rot. The original, together with several other gourds of varying shapes and sizes, was bought as an ornamental, and I guess I didn't follow the instructions for preserving it properly. I now plan to cut it from the plant, bring it in and have another go at preserving it. Wish me luck!
6 Oct, 2016
;-)
6 Oct, 2016
It does look like Turk's turban,even if it is smaller - but if you've grown squash before, and this one is a volunteer, they readily cross fertilize with other curcubits, and don't readily come true from seed the following year.
30 Sep, 2016