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ExtremeVegetables.com

I am currently searching for Pumpkin weights from plants in which the secondaries were never rooted. In other words the only roots on the plant were those at the basil crown, "the original tap root".

I'd like to know if it is possible to go over a thousand pounds without secondary rooting.


Thanks in advance.
Duane

2/22/2007 5:56:55 PM

Rhode Island

geez its been a long winter duane i thought id heard it all already. without secondary rooting you would need a real fancy system to feed that main .even then i dont see 1,000 pounds happening. possibly a hundred to 200 even 300 at best would be my guess.

2/22/2007 6:23:02 PM

ExtremeVegetables.com

Thanks Pap.
I'll be revisting my hydroponic AG experiment this year and am considering rooting secondaries in soil or trying it truely hydroponic without rooting secondaries.

I have yet to design a hydroponic system with which I can feed the secondaries but am considering rooting them across bales of straw and using a drip system to feed them.
I will be using the ebb and flow container I've designed for the basil crown, same one I used last time.

I'd just like to get a few stats and maybe some ideas from the BigPumpkins community.

2/22/2007 6:30:11 PM

ExtremeVegetables.com

My last hydroponic AG experiment was terminated in early august due to too much on my plate to handle. LOL
It was just too much upkeep at the time.
At the time I had a pumpkin on which was @ 74 pounds and growing. The plant was very small, maybe a hundred square feet but was the most healthy specimen in my patch that year.
That year I had 9 AG's going.

2/22/2007 6:34:41 PM

ExtremeVegetables.com

Considering the results I had the last time, I'm fairly confident that with a good foliar feeding and fert regimen I can produce a pumpkin well over 300 pounds without rooting secondaries.
I was just toying around with my last experryment.
The plant even went without being watered for 5 days while I was in Florida on vacation and survived.

http://www.perrysgreenhouse.com/vbforum/attachment.php?attachmentid=489&stc=1&d=1164065034

2/22/2007 6:42:15 PM

Boulder County Colorado USA planet Earth

I am expereminting with that this yr. My pumpkin will grow on gravel, and only be watered by the hill.They will not be buried, But the vines can grow west all they want(upto 70ft) Still debating on the seed I'll use. Also havent decided if I will grow one or two pumpkins on that plant.
I will post the results in the fall.

2/22/2007 7:04:48 PM

ExtremeVegetables.com

Looking forward to reading the results. Hope to see some pics in your dairy.
I'll be using something similar to gravel in the ebb and flow container called leca, which is expanded clay pellets that are slightly smaller than a small marble. Leca has excellent water holding capability but is much too expensie to grow an entire AG in.

2/22/2007 7:43:34 PM

Leicester, NY

We have a grower here in NY that grows his entire plant on a tarp. He says it keeps the weeds down and I can't argue with that one. The secondaries do not root at all. His PB is 711 pounds and that one was grown in 1994. Most of his biggest fruit end up in the 500-600 pound range.

2/22/2007 9:22:36 PM

San Diego

depends on how good your soil is and how much soil your main stump has to grow in. In san diego, less than ideal growing conditions, I grew a 361 lb pumpkin in very poor soil with no secondary roots down at all, and my stump was in a 4' by 3' oval, nothing else. With great soil in a little larger area for the stump, I think a nice one is possible, rare, but possible.

2/22/2007 9:55:58 PM

Sweden eastcoast

Last year I grow 2 pumpkins on two different mainwines on the same plant with only the tap rootsystem to support them both. One ended up at 518lbs and the other one 485lbs.

2/23/2007 1:34:49 AM

ExtremeVegetables.com

Joe P., The year before last I covered my pumpkin garden with ground cover. That year I grew my smallest pumpkin ever but did not foliar feed. The pumpkin was less than 100 pounds. That may have been partially due to the black ground cover my have heated the soil too much during hot weather.

Duster, Nice! I will be growing using a hydroponic method so in theory the plant should get all the nutrients and water it needs delivered directly to the root zone. My first year grwoing AG's I planted the same way as what your describing and ended the season with two pumpkins on that plant, one @315 and the other @285.

Lilja: Now that is most impressive! Over one thousand pounds on a single plant without secondaries.
Kudos!

This could be entirely possible and we won't know unless we push the envelope. :tup:
Thank You all for your input!

2/23/2007 6:19:46 AM

Ohio

Duan, the 726 I grew this year not a single vine was burried, the main vine did put down roots at each node but not even a handful of roots made the ground from all my secondaries. The ground was so hard the roots couldnt dig in because of the cement clayish ground.

In 2005 I grew a 260lber ('snake pattern') on just the main vine,I cut all the secondaries off. I started this plant alot later then my other plants so the cold stopped the pumpkins growth early. The seeds that came out of that 260 was HUGE!

If your just going to grow a pumpkin that grows off just the stump roots Id make sure to put down some of what Joe sells the BioGrow Endo Plus
( http://www.hollandsgiants.com/soil.html )
your stump area will put down alot more roots and that are healthy giving that pumpkin a good head start.

Brooks

2/23/2007 8:24:07 AM

Little-TON - Colorado

If someone had a barn, or a structure, one could grow on the top roof and let the roots hang inside spraying the roots with a systematic timer to keep them moist which would also allow for the oxygen transfer too. Roots could travel..... Sort of like how they do it in Disney World. I havent seen the pumpkin they are growing, but heard about it, and have seen other hanging hyrdoponic gardens. Would that not be cool to watch them grow a monster hanging from the ceiling?, pumpkin and all. Im thinking records could be set but would take some major buckage to finance........Im looking forward to reading diarys about this. I have thought about growing a pumpkin out of my basement into the patch outside, but cant convince the wife Im not crazy......

2/23/2007 8:57:21 AM

Rhode Island

joe pukos

this year im going to grow a plant in the back seat of my car so i can take it with me when i visit your patch.

would it be better in a convertable for more sun light or should i just hang some grow lights from the inside of the roof?

how about music ? should i play hard rock, dico,country @western? or, the disney classic "when you wish upon a star"?

also how would you reccommend i water for maximum effect?
spray bottles? one gallon pump sprayer straped into the front seat? 25 gal drum with electric pump? soaker hose hooked up to the windshield washer system?

2/23/2007 9:28:07 AM

[email protected]

LOL....I want a ride in that car!

2/23/2007 11:41:32 AM

ExtremeVegetables.com

Brooks, Your seed tops my list of seeds to be grown this year. I was having a difficult time already deciding between two of them now you add a third.
I read a lot of post here where the plants have been bred for color, shape and size but none for things like superior growth under low light conditions, ability to grow with little root support, and perhaps small plant growth large fruit. Maybe one day even for taste. ;)
You may have a plant that naturally does well off of a smaller rooting system?
I kind of had a thing going for the "day glow" pumpkin. LOL

Wiz, I been to every Disney park but Epcot, itsa must do next visit to that area. I hear yah, how nice would it be to be able to walk under the plant and foliar spray every nook and cranny. :D
Oh and not chance of fusarium or other soil borne illness.
You've really got my head hurtin now!!!
I'm thinking tables made of 2 X 4 framing with 1 X 3 fencing nailed across the top of it, like a table, for support. Mist sprayers mounted beneath the growing area with 6 mil black plastic sheeting under to catch the run off for possible recirculation.
Once I am finished with spring sales I have the tables ready to go.
I dunno, maybe I'll have to try it a different way each year.

2/23/2007 2:38:47 PM

San Luis Obispo, Ca.

Got me!

2/23/2007 6:35:43 PM

Leicester, NY

pap, that's what I need you to do. Grow me a nice 1500 pounder in that Buick classic of yours, bring it on over and park it in the middle of my patch. We’ll have a photo shoot! Don’t forget to add some extra air to those bias ply tires before heading out and don't slam on the brakes :-)

2/23/2007 7:39:17 PM

Ohio

LOL @ bias ply tires!!

Duane, Ill send you that 260 seed if you dont have one,(Its more of a conversation seed then anything I think) 1320 and I grew it , I think he said he was growing a decent size pumpkin off it but something happend to it, I grew it next to my pump house in the shade,(in my wifes flower garden) but when she seen it you can guess what happened to it after that,LOL. I thought it looked nice with the pretty yellow flowers but she didnt agree.LOL

Brooks

2/24/2007 4:17:03 AM

ExtremeVegetables.com

Thank You for the offer Brooks B. you've already been very generous. I may be planting the 604 Bosworth this year.
I actually see one place in town where they were growing one across the top of their hedges. I think they were growing it for the blossoms.
Last year I gave mom a bucnh of annuals for her front yard. She called me and asked what this HUGE plant was that was growing in her flower bed. Yep, it was an AG volunteer. LOL

2/26/2007 8:18:23 PM