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Ca

Most growers get better over time, with their pb's getting larger and larger. Reading the diaries, you get the impression that it is partly or even largely due to getting better seeds. I wonder how much this is true. Has anybody revisited an early seed (say, 150 for first year growing)after several years experience, to get an idea of how much grower expertise (as well as other factors, of course)affects weight? I would bet that some seeds that were discounted because of first or second year weights, could get really heavy pumpkins from the same grower after a few years of experience, and better soil, etc.

12/21/2006 6:51:30 PM

Nashville, TN

I had one seed that grew to 150 my first year.. Same seed grew to over 400 the second year..

Yep, I'll be planting several plants from this same seed in '07. Be very interesting if the % increase continues!

I've read the research, and it seems to indicate that the majority of the finished weight is primarily environmental. So this tells us that experience and better soil/conditions is the primary key for those heavy weights..

12/22/2006 7:31:43 AM

[email protected]

Time increases exposure to both experience & seed sources. So it is not uncommon for the grower to obtain better seed stocks as their tenure increases.

Ironically as time goes on weights are expected to keep increasing. But they rarely do since soil borne disease pathogens catch up to everyone who stays in the same soil eventually.

12/22/2006 10:41:29 AM

Anamosa, IA [email protected]

I agree with Tremor. My son and I have done better as we have goten better seeds and gained experience. We are also seeing the disease problem cropping up, as well as insect problems. This year we are reducing our patch size and putting the rest into cover crops and deer food plots. I hope to get to a rotation of 2 years pumpkins and 2 years rest to break up disease problems. It is hard to cut back the number of plants as you gain access to so many good seeds, but I think it is necessary for the long run. It also allows us to give each plant a little more individual attention.

12/22/2006 2:02:28 PM