Rugosa Friulani
I’m trying a new variety of zucchini this year called Rugosa Friulana. It is a yellow, warty zucchini. It is growing 5′ away from my favorite green zucchini, Costata Romanesco. Both are Italian varieties. I thought I’d grow both and compare them.
COMPARSION
BUGS
I covered both plants with row cover after planting by seeds in late May. Male blossoms always appear first with squash, and then the female blossoms (with their little fruit attached at the base of the flower) appear. After the female flowers appear, I uncovered them both so the bees could get in to pollinate them. By keeping them covered early on, I avoided the Squash Viner Borer which appears earlier in the season and is gone by the time the female blossoms appears.
-The Costata Romanesco attracts squash bugs and I pick the adults and eggs off of the plant.
The Rugosa Friulana DIDN’T ATTRACT SQUASH BUGS IN MY GARDEN. That fact alone will make me grow it again. It’s only 5′ away Costata Romanesco, so you’d think it would attract the squash bug but it didn’t. How thrilling is that!
PRODUCTION
-The Costata Romanesco started producing zucchini 2 weeks ago-mid-July
-The Rugosa Friulana just produced the first fruits now-Aug 7. Not that much difference.
Costata Romanesco
HARVEST
Harvest when Friulana is 6-8″ long. I have let them get bigger but they got woody and hard skinned so harvest earlier when they are smaller. The one in the picture is bigger than 8″.
TASTE
Now comes the taste test. I sliced both and sauteed them in olive oil with only garlic salt.
The Costata Romanesco tends to have less dense flesh and has a sweet nutty flavor. When you slice it into discs, it has beautiful fluted sides. It has always been my favorite.
The Rugosa Friulana has denser flesh when you cut into it (I like that) and has a slightly different flavor (hard to describe but kinda nutty too). When you cut it into discs, it also has ruffly sides from the warts. I like it just as well.
So if you only want to grow one zucchini plant, you might consider Rugosa Friulana– very flavorful and squash bug resistant.
Both are really good but just knowing Rugosa Friulana might not attract squash bugs makes me want to grow it again. What a pleasant surprise!
LATER NOTE: Someone wrote me and said they did get squash bugs with it but I have not had that problem. So I should say it is squash bug resistant. That is still good enough for me.
giantveggiegardener 
Okay, does it sort of make you wonder why the bugs do not like it? I mean, do they know something that you should know too?
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Not sure why, as both varieties are Curcubita pepo and both are delicious. My thinking is maybe squash give off some scent or pheromone that is attractive to squash bugs but that is just an idea I came up with-no scientific data to back that up. There is also a winter squash (butternut-a Curubita moschata) that doesn’t attract squash bugs either which is also really good. So whatever the reason, I’m happy to be able to grow a summer and winter squash without the hassles of squash bugs. This may be a reason for people who previously stopped growing squash to try them again. How is your garden growing? Do you grow vegetables?
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Yes, that is interesting. Those who stopped growing a particular vegetable because of a particular pathogen can try a different variety of the same vegetable that the pathogen is not interested in.
My garden is not doing so well. It is a long story. I grow vegetables, but not all types. When I lived in town, I lacked space for corn, and did not want to use so much water anyway. The fruit trees are my priority.
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[…] the last post, I talked about Rugosa Friulana, a summer squash that doesn’t attract squash bugs, so now we […]
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How big do you let them get before you harvest them?
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About 6-7 inches. I found out the hard way that letting them get 10+ inches makes the skin harder and the insides pithy. So error on the small size.
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Thanks!
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Hehe, my squash bugs do not discriminate, rugosa was fair game to them!
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I have revised my post to reflect your experience with Friulana. Some of you have mentioned that your Friulana summer squash did attract squash bugs so I can’t obviously make a definite statement that it won’t attract them because in some gardens it evidently does. But I do feel that I have less problems with this variety regarding squash bugs but appreciate your input regarding this variety. I will be on the lookout next year in my garden! Thanks!
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