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First of all I want to thank Pap for an absolutely great thread.
My question is for both the Wallaces and the Checkons.
Pap and Ron.
Why did you use the 1354 as a pollinator for your 1502 when it weighed quite light for Larry?
And my question for Larry, Do you think soil conditions in your patch was a contributing factor to your 1469 going light, or was it the rate of growth, because most other 1354 offsprings were reasonably close to chart and a few heavy.
Eddy

8/28/2007 10:29:18 AM

Northern Cambria, Pa.

I believe it was rate of growth. The fruit grew so fast that it just wasn't able to get enough food to fill out properly. Last year I grew another 1354 in the same spot that weighed about 5% heavy but split at just over 1K. There is yet another growing there now.

8/28/2007 9:05:42 PM

Rhode Island

z-man
we liked the checkon cross and wanted to add the genetics into a 1068. even though larrys pumpkin went under tape we figured putting the size potential of that pumpkin on the 1469 into a fruit like the 1068 that had a history of weighing over chart, would be a good combination.
(this years 1,502 offspring is thumping a lot like the checkon did last year)
it will not break a world record but will not disapoint wherever it ends up being weighed.
we liked the family history of the 1469/1354 pumpkins as well.
lets face it. its a crap shoot and sometimes you get lucky and the crosses line up.
as it turned out last year our checkon offspring taped 740 and weighed 977 so it turned out to be a solid addition into the 1,502
pap

8/28/2007 9:10:40 PM

Austria

This question is for you quinn werner!
Have you some informations about the 1446 and the 1191 Werner?
You can post your answer here or you can send me a mail!
[email protected]
Thanks Chris

8/29/2007 2:55:16 PM

Crossett Arkansas

Drew Papez, I was looking at your diary and the shade cloth you use. I think you said 30 percent shade. I've been looking at some shade cloths on line. Are they all pretty much the same or do you recommend one? I'm in south Arkansas should I stick to 30 percent or should I go higher?
coop

8/30/2007 7:54:05 AM

[email protected]

Thanks Larry and Pap.
So another question, then, Do you think the 1469, needed more time to fill out?
What I'm trying to say is, Pap figures the 1068 offspring grow more than 100 days, so the 1469 could very well have been still growing internally, and adding weight.
Part 2 of the question, Should we be pollinating earlier to allow the fruit to mature, as they seem to be growing longer?

8/30/2007 9:50:19 AM

Northern Cambria, Pa.

In 2005 we had almost no rain all summer but it was of the few years when temps were nearly perfect here all summer. Possibly the dry weather made it difficult for the plant to transport enough calcium and essential nutrients to the fruit resulting in thin walls. I believe that in some fruit that grow very large, the growth regulators are out of whack or possibly broken due to genetic inbreeding. Any type of stress be it cold or heat, or lack of essential nutrients or water or traumatic injury from insects, disease or physical damage will cause the regulators to kick in and slow growth.
When no stress is present, growth runs wide open and is only limited by the plant's ability to produce food and transport it to the fruit. This also results in growth continuing well into September so to answer part 2, I do not think that pollinating earlier will help much. My dad used to tell me that the plant knows what time of year it is. Starting too soon might actually result in more stress if the plant is not quite ready to set fruit. It still takes time to get the plant large enough before it is ready to pollinate so starting much earlier is not very easy. Just my crazy ideas. I am not an expert about these things.

8/30/2007 1:28:14 PM

Rhode Island

im with you larry

8/30/2007 1:33:54 PM

Little-TON - Colorado

Larry, What are those perfect temps that you refer to? What dates do you suggest to start the soaking process on for seed germination? And I do think you are one of the experts out there....I bet Im not alone on that one....

8/30/2007 1:49:17 PM

Wood River, IL ([email protected])

Larry, You say your not an expert. I would beg to differ. Thanks for explaining it so well.

Kenny

8/30/2007 2:01:54 PM

[email protected]

LOL At Larry, Not an Expert, You forgot more than most will ever know

Thanks a bunch.

Sure be curious to try the 1420 Larue and the 1354 Checkon, I think it could rival the 1502, again as Pap said, it's a crap shoot.

Eddy

8/30/2007 3:34:03 PM

Northern Cambria, Pa.

Perfect temps are more than 50 deg. at night and less than 90's in the day. We start here about April 26 and put in May 10th to 14th but other climates are different.

8/30/2007 4:22:10 PM

Washington

We agree strongly with Larry on those perfect temps. We have been having lows in the 40's and highs in the 70's this year and we can sure tell the difference in our growth over the past few years. We are much smaller this year than normal. (We can only hope that they are bulking up internally.) We haven't had an over abundance of rain but the cooler weather is a killer. We start our seeds around the 15th -20th of April and pollinate late June, early July. We have never gotten the extreme heat of the eastern US and we don't frost out until late Oct., so we do get slow steady growth throughout the season and we get the Sept. growth that many don't get.

I believe that plants have internal clocks and although we can push them there is a 'breaking' point. There comes a time when the survival instinct shuts them down in growth to protect the species by putting energy into the seed production. We have also experienced certain genetic strains that are producing little to no seeds. I feel that this is due to the inbreeding that Larry talked about but I am not a genetic expert so this is my opinion.
Sherry

8/31/2007 10:01:19 AM

Rhode Island

earlier on a post i talked about seed,soil and sun. i neglected to mention timing.
having the size of your plants large enough to start pollinations dates betweem late june and say july 7th is very important.
our goal has been to set our first fruit at 12 ft minimum out on the main. the plant goes into the ground on may 1st to 3rd and with proper feeding, weather,soil conditions, nutrienrs,etc, the plant should at pollination time have three to four sets of 12 ft sides deadheaded and another six to eight left to fill out before the fruit.

did you ever notice that no matter how big or small your plants may be that they all seem to start throwing small pumpkins in the main tip around june 18 to 20?

these plants follow there own patten. one of the secrets is to get that plant big enough so you can take advantage of the plants cycle when its changes from plant growth to fruit growth cycle.

the same thing can be said for late pollinations. true you will get good growth but as the sun moves farther over to the south in late august early september it wont matter if you pumpkin is fairly new or not. the growth cycle will for the most part slow down. this is another example of timing.

pap

8/31/2007 2:20:22 PM

No Place Special

Wow these are sure great threads! Great idea pap.

8/31/2007 2:23:07 PM