In the Patch of Alan Reynolds


Select Destination			Site Search

In the Patch of...


Alan Reynolds - Durham, CT July 10, 1999
	I met Alan Reynolds on the Internet, the Mallorn pumpkin mailing list to be exact. He sent me some Atlantic Giant pumpkin seeds from several of his 1998 pumpkins. Last July we had the pleasure of visiting Alan Reynolds renowned pumpkin patch in Durham Connecticut. Alan welcomed us with great enthusiasm, eager to share with us some of his pumpkin knowledge. It wasn't long before he had our heads spinning with his knowledge of pumpkin family trees and genetics! Alan can be reached at Mastrpumkn@aol.com. Be sure and check out Alan's super strong pumpkin lifting tarps.

This is an overhead shot of one section of Alan's garden. I snapped this picture from the roof of his shed. Alan has a total of eleven plants in this patch. Most of us have our hands full with one or two plants, eleven is just un-believable. During the 1999 season Alan hand pollinated over 300 female blossoms!

The pumpkin pictured here is growing on the 480 Reynolds, which came from the 935 Lloyd x 600 Jones. The 600 Jones was from the 975 Zehr x 1061 Zehr. This pumpkin has a circumference of over 100 inches at 30 days old (at the time the picture was taken)! You guess the weight! Unfortunately, this pumpkin blew up with a blossom end split four days later! To see a pumpkin that big in early July is amazing.

This is a pumpkin on Alan's 844 Mombert plant. We had just put the styrafoam under it. Alan uses the thin flexible styrafoam that comes in folded sheets. It is more expensive than the rigid thick styrafoam but it is easier to work with. Be sure and get something under each pumpkin before they get too big to move.

	This is a close up shot of the double wide vine on the 844 Mombert plant. You can see Alan's marker shows he crossed it with the 715 Veri on 6/20. Alan also notes the number of segments in the female blossom. This information may be used to help determine which pumpkins to cull and which to keep.

Alan's 937 Mombert plant threw this double male flower. The flower on the right is a normal male blossom. Notice the double wide stem and double blossom.

	A bullnose shaped pumpkin on a 650 Reynolds plant (906 Handy x 600 Jones). Certain shapes tend to weigh heavier than others. Alan likes a long bullnosed shape fruit.

White colored pumpkin from 1056 Stellpflug pollinated on 6/15. Notice the double rib collapsing into a single rib. Alan prefers the darker orange pumpkins but he is growing the 1056 Stellpflug in order to cross it with other pumpkins. His goal is to produce the next "hot" cross.

	Alan is growing Giant Sunflowers in addition to his Atlantic Giants. The flower on the left is 9 feet 10.5 inches tall!

Alan and Ken measuring Alan's EKM #65 sunflower provided by Buck Meier. It measured 71 inches tall on Saturday July 10th.