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After reading the thread on the other board, and with asking a few plant people I knowm I have another theory.

A plant produces seeds for reproduction, (a no brainer) now the fruit needs to be pushed (for the lack of a better word) into seed production.
They need to be stressed into thinking they are going to die etc,
So are we trying too hard not to stress the plant, they could in fact need that, or an equivilant to complete it's cycle.
In nature, plants go through droughts etc, were as we are making everything perfect.

The one guy told me it could be as simple as throwing a very mature, almost ready to decay, fruit, ie apple into the patch, as they give off a phermone (don't know if my spelling is right) and the plant will think it's nearing is time and put production into the seeds.

I was thinking about pure hybrids as a reason before, but now I'm thinking this may be a more realistic answer

As Nilbert said in the other post Nuture, not nature
Eddy

12/12/2007 12:19:31 AM

Ohio

That makes sense Eddy, but its also hard for me to not look at it as genetic just a little here. I think of it like growing seedless watermelon, or seedless fruit that people buy to eat. Would this be a part of why a certain seed doesnt pruduce very many seeds maybe? Im just thinking out loud here, to be honest I really dont know.

12/12/2007 3:48:38 AM

Ohio

Oh, and Glenn Andrews is my hero,lol

12/12/2007 3:50:52 AM

Farmington, Utah

Eddy, I don't know about using the apple method. It's been said not to plant tomatoes by your pumpkins because the phermone will make you pumpkins mature early. Just a thought.

12/12/2007 9:10:54 AM

Little-TON - Colorado

KennyB, Really.....? No wonder....

12/12/2007 9:39:52 AM

Santa Rosa California

it make sense i think when i'm growing that i'll hit my pumpkin with an hammmer more seed jk lol

12/12/2007 11:18:54 AM

Baltimore, MD

I can help you guys out with the genetics behind a seedless fruit. Seedless watermelons are created by crossing a tetraploid (4 copies of their chromosomes) watermelon with a diploid (two copies of their chromosome) watermelon. The resulting seeds are triploid (3 copies of their chromosome). These triploid seeds will grow just fine but they will produce sterile fruit. The same thing could be happening in these large pumpkins. If you plant a seed that has a odd number of chromosomes the fruit will have few or no seeds.

I am certain this is not the only cause of a pumpkin being seedless.

12/23/2007 8:30:57 PM