From

Location

Message

Date Posted

Hudsonville, Michigan ([email protected])

Well folks, looks like my 842 Eaton is splitsville for the year. A small transverse split at the junction of a deep rib and a mild Dill ring. I really didn't think such a mild Dill ring would give me trouble, but...well, Murphy's Law, you know.
I'm filling with a Captan paste, keeping it dry, yada yada yada. If it holds I'll take it as EXH only to get a weight in October. But my question is this: now that she's split, and since the split is transverse, I presume she'll just pull herself apart as she grows. Do I back off all fertilizers, or just go ahead and keep feeding her and see what happens? Never had this type of split before...
Bummed in Hudsonville...
Frank

9/2/2004 10:44:22 AM

Puyallup, WA

Where the Dill Ring crosses a rib is where it ALWAYS will split. When you cut it open, you will see why. They will even split on the bottom where you cannot see it!

9/2/2004 4:12:56 PM

Wa

Ok Stan, did you have to say that! You just cost every pumpkin grower another hour of sleep, sick with worry!

9/2/2004 5:13:19 PM

Topsfield, Ma.

To Add to Stan's point, Where a deep rib crosses a sag area has the most "potential" to split, not necessarily gonna split! Didn't know how potentially scary it was until I finaly carved my last years fruit...was probably only 1/2"
flesh at the thinnest point of an almost 800 lb fruit!

9/2/2004 9:08:47 PM

Vermont Green MTN State

What the heck is a dill ring???? Dill ring hee hee.

9/3/2004 9:43:39 AM

Joliet, IL

i had a split running along the dill ring, against
the rib line too. it is in a deep pocket formed
in the buckle. mine is on the 1301 eaton and maybe a genetic
trait since the 842 is the mother of the 1301.
i caught it early and actually grafted a chunk of pumpkin,
both skin and flesh, from a 6 day old set that the
bees pollinated, into the split. i thoroughly sterilized the
knife and lightly cut the area around the split to have freshly weeping juices. then i placed some captan on the
graph plug after cutting it into a small eye shape. then i inserted the tightly fitting plug in place. then i took
some fresh skin cracking sap and sealed up the edges
where the flesh of the plug met the flesh of the split area.
then i took captan and placed directly on the whole area.
then i placed non curing vapor resistant silicon gel
on top of that and kept the area dry, but no fan.
that was 18 days ago when it was 58 days old and it still
put on over 100 lbs and is still growing at 76 days.
the area around the plug was examined 2 days ago, and
to my surprise after wiping off the captan and silicon,
the plug piece is not rotten and the area around the
plug is not rotten, and the split didn't continue
out. stan is right, i could see that the area where the
split occurred was less than 1" thick at about 3/4"
when doing my dr.frankenshazzy surgery. it may not
count for an official weight, but it is fun still watching
the thing grow even after a split. sooner or later, with
enough practice and science, split healing will be
successful, but i doubt a healed cavity split pumpkin will
ever be allowed in competition due to people possibly
injecting the cavity with a weighty substance and then
healing the split. but if we can keep out the rot and
continually watch em grow, the better chances for it
to at least to get an exhibition only weight and a halloween
giant.

9/3/2004 3:06:20 PM

Hudsonville, Michigan ([email protected])

Shazzy:
So TwoSocks still lives? That's quite some surgery. Did the graft actually heal to the pumpkin? So far mine is just a small split...not big enough to plug yet. But I presume it will continue to grow, in which case I may have to resort to a plug of some sort.
Also, where did you get that silicone gel you describe?
Frank

9/6/2004 4:27:46 PM