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Nashville, TN

- or should I say - those that are surviving a truly harsh/abnormal growing season **grin** this season's so abnormal that I'm not doing the study - since I don't expect the pumpkins to mature to their fullest potential...

Here's what's growing so far:

225 Glover - 4 little leaves
517 Glover - 8' vine, 1 side, just cut off softball Pumpkin.
625 Foss - 4' vine, no 'yellowing' flowers yet - many buds
265 Foss - 2 - 5' vines, have covered one maturing flower
625 Foss - 3-8' vines, covered 2 maturing flowers
665 Mudd - 2-4' vines,smaller leaves, one wilted vine removed
845 Nesbitt - 3' vine, smaller leaves, many buds
572 Bosworth - 8' vine, many buds
610 Garrell - 2-4' vines, smaller leaves, many buds
572 Moore - 2-8' vines, many buds
1008.5 Mudd - 8' vine, many side vines, 2 covered flowers
374 Bosworth - tiny, barely makin' it
212 Moore - bushy with 10 leaves
501 Wolfley - bushy with 10 leaves

6/23/2005 7:40:26 AM

Ontario, Canada.

I am having a hard time understanding your reasoning behind this statement. "since I don't expect the pumpkins to mature to their fullest potential..."

I am located several hundred miles north of you and I fully expected all my plants to completely mature and produce several pumpkins.

The weather although challenging at times can be overcome in most cases. Last summer was far worse from a growers perspective than this springs cooler than normal trend. The past three weeks have been above average temperatures in much of Eastern and Mid-western Us.

Heck, Alan Eaton grew his 1446 in the worst coolest summer around here in the last 50 years. AGP fruit only need 50 days to garner mature seeds. Your patches may not seem to alive yet and some of your vines may be short but stick with it. They will all mature in time for a Oct. weigh-off.

6/23/2005 8:19:54 AM

Montoursville, PA

Good advise. There is lots of time left. More important is being or getting ready to do plant care with whatever insecticde or fungicide that may be needed to get through those fifty growing days.

Maintaining a relatively clean path with no growth beyond secondaries is an equal thankless task but that seems, to be what brings on the biggies. I hoe untill the patch starts, to fill up and then I go, to light mulching with leaves, straw, alfalfa hay or a combination, of what I have.

6/23/2005 8:29:43 AM

Cincinnati,OH

I think that 8' vines arent too bad for this time of the year. I would'nt wait for next year for your study. You might be able to determine what plants do the best under adverse conditions.

6/23/2005 10:59:24 AM

Minnesota([email protected])

The mainvine on my pumpkin plant last year was 3'9" long on July 1. My pumpkin was pollinated on July 20, and I ended up with a 615 lber.
You have plenty of time.
Those two bushy ones with 10 leaves could be double, or flatvining. Do you see a mainvine on these, and if so, does it look abnormal?

Doug

6/23/2005 11:55:13 AM

Ohio

Im rooting for that tiny 374..... "come on hang in there little 374,you can get through this,look what your cousin 572 is doin! Give the 374 a pep talk for me will ya teach!,lol

6/23/2005 6:33:01 PM

Nashville, TN

When I say 'don't expect them to reach potential'... This is because we are in a weather pattern similar to the 98-99 drought period.... April we had record-breaking late frosts, May we had the 3rd dryest on record (1/2") - June we had 4", but it all feel in 36 hours on June 10-11... Currently we've gone another 12 days of no rain with record-breaking heat - with no true chance of good rain showing up for at least another 7 days....

I Feel like I'm back in CA!!! YIKES!!! and from what I've read - CA is not known for very large GPs.... But I'll definently know what varieties do well for 'drought conditions' **grin** But I really doubt that they will show their fullest potential for heavy weights this year...

I was REALLY hopeful for a 'typical' summer... but you can't always get what you want! I will likely 'self' all of these plants - those that do the best will be planted again next year... and 'donated' to any 'western grower' that wants to see if the drought hardiness continues.... Maybe TN will have a 'cold wet summer' in '06 - so that these same varieties can show how they do in both drought & flood **grin**

To Doug - what do you mean by 'double'?? They do appear quite 'bushy' - more like my winter squash crop than the larger GP vines.......

6/24/2005 9:14:35 AM

Minnesota([email protected])

From what I understand, if your mainvine is putting out two leaves at a node(also two flowers and two tendrils frequently occur) it is showing double vine tendencies. Sometimes the plant corrects itself, sometimes vine surgery is used to split the double vines, and then one may be cut off. It tends to make the plant look more bushy. I have a double vining plant right now. I don't know what I'll do with it yet.
There may be other reasons your plant looks bushy though.

6/24/2005 11:34:41 AM

Utah

California pumpkins can be pretty big ...

http://www.ipga.ws/California%20TTA.htm

6/24/2005 11:42:46 AM