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Mid Michigan

Hi gang! Been too busy to post this 'till now, between my daughters' sweet 16, and my sons' motocross racing, but....
I finally have a female blossom on my baby. Problem is, the main is only about 8ft long so far, and i only have about 40 leaves........it's too soon to try for pollination isn't it? Should i wait for more leaves, and a longer main vine before i try one? The female i have is at the end of the main........should i try to wait until the 1st week in July to try for one? Been reading the "how to" section, and it isn't real clear on how many leaves there should be.
Dont want to be too soon, and mess up, ya know?!
Thanks.........cuzbiker (Rick)

6/20/2001 6:23:16 PM

Western Pa.

Hey Cuz!

Go for it! The ideal spot for a pumpkin to set is 7-10' from the stump on the main vine.(You'll see plenty more leaves in the near future!) If you have a female "ready" and males to pollinate, I'd do it. (I'm planning on pollinating one of my own tomorrow morning!) Some pollinations will not "take", and in that case the female will turn dull and discolored. Otherwise, it will start growing. Pollinate all you can until July 20, or later, and remove all the slower growers. My 478#er stopped growing the first few days of September, and still made it to the weigh-off "sound and solid". If it stops growing earlier, you may still have a "big one" to enter in a local fair.
E-mail me if you need help.

kilr

6/20/2001 10:18:32 PM

Mid Michigan

Ok, thanks Kilr! I'll go for it. It still might be a few days before it's ready to open up, and i have 5 or 6 males that should open around the same time. I have a female getting ready to open on one of my Big Max plants too, i think, just for the heck of it, i'll try to pollinate it with a male from the 896 Wells. It'll be interesting to see what happens with that cross.
I appreciate the encouraging words!! This is way fun!!

6/21/2001 6:00:28 AM

Rush, NY

I like to have a minimum of 100 leaves before pollinating a fruit. If one was on the main runner and no others were coming soon, I would probably pollinate with only 75 leaves.

6/21/2001 11:49:42 AM

Mid Michigan

Wow...it's been 6 days since i noticed that female, and it still hasn't opened yet. How long does it usually take?
The female i had on the big max shriveled, and turned brown already...i'm assuming cuz it didn't get pollinated.
Been really watching the female on the 896 Wells tho.
The main vine had grown another 18 inches since the 20th, and lots of male blossoms are getting huge, but haven't opened yet. Must take a couple weeks for them to open, eh?
Cuzbiker

6/26/2001 5:31:21 AM

Liverpool , England

Yo Cuzbiker,
From when the little pumpkin starts to show until it opens is about 10-14 days..hang in there man.

Alun in a still sunny Liverpool

6/26/2001 7:39:57 PM

Mid Michigan

Oh good.....we have our anual General Motors 2 week shut down starting next week, so i should be here mornings when it finally does open. I want to make sure and catch it before the bees do any pollinating! Hopefully it'll be sometime next week then!
Thanks Alun!

6/26/2001 10:12:44 PM