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Roanoke Il

Snake oil brought up a good point in a post in seed exchange message board. The break down of what one is willing to pay for growing a 1000 lb pluss pumpkin.
$200...(10%)SEED STOCK
$200...(10%)INSECTS
$200...(10%)FUNGI
$200...(10%)WEEDS
$100...(05%)WATER
$100...(05%)WEATHER
$1000..(50%)SOIL
I'm thinking that his the precentages are alittle off to successfully grow a 1000 lber but with the precentages I think are neededto obtain a 1000lber. If you are willing to pay 200 dollars for a seed.
$200...(05%)SEED STOCK
$200...(05%)INSECTS
$200...(05%)FUNGI
$100...(2.5%)WEEDS
$200...(05%)WATER
$200...(05%)WEATHER
$2900..(72.5%)soil
$4000...total
If you are willing to pay 200 dollars for a seed you should be willing to put 3800 dollars into the of the growing area for that seed see how I didn't say the rest of the patch just for that one seed. If you are supporting a club and you realize that is what you are doing and that is the purpose of paying 200 dollars for a seed great i'm all infavor of that. The only point that i'm triing to make is that the seed itself only plays a small part in the sceam of of things..make your soil the best it can be and you will enjoy the rewards of your efforts.. plant the best seed in average to poor soil and i'm betting you will only get half the pumpkin you would have gotten in good soil ...mark

12/30/2004 4:50:44 AM

berkshire M.A.

Good post Mark,
I put allot of time and money into my soil, in hope to make it the best it can be for what i think .I would put the extra $200-600 in the soil and pass on the 1 or 2 seeds from auctions .There are allot of good seed out there ,just need to plant them .
bill

12/30/2004 7:06:14 AM

Wallingford,CT

hey Mark, where do you send the check to fix the weather? btw , email to you bounces.

Bart

12/30/2004 9:24:25 AM

Cornwall UK.(50N 5W)300ft.

Further North my % are different again,I'll be spending something like this next year per seed.

Seed $10 (2%)
Sprays $30 (6%)
Water $60 (12%)
Soil $100 (20%)
Climate control $300 (60%)

12/30/2004 3:16:26 PM

Eau Claire, WI

Good post Mark. This is a good way to put things in perspective. Throwing money at popular (and usually older) seeds is usually counterproductive.

12/30/2004 5:40:28 PM

Pumpkintown, SC

...a 1000lb+ pumpkin, priceless!

12/31/2004 12:10:53 AM

Deer Park WA

Agreed 31 dollars for a S3C soil test; soil composition appears to be the limiting factor to grower success.... This will be our first A&L lab report for our humble new patch.

Happy New Year,

Dani Gadberry

12/31/2004 1:13:11 AM

[email protected]

I agree that planting great seeds in poor soil is much less desirable than planting good seeds in great soil. Good seeds are free all day every day. And all great seeds were free for a postage stamp once.

There are other big ticket items though. I just anted up $379.50 for a pound of Heritage. Even the greatest seed isn't immune from Powdery Mildew. And great soil does nothing at all to control it.

12/31/2004 9:13:49 AM