Another one bites the dust - Updated 08/10/18
What a weird growing season for the giants. In the previous post I did a week ago (you can read that one by clicking here) the issues all season were revealed. I have another pumpkin that looks like it's also done and will decay! The pumpkin on the 1861 which was at 15 pounds a week ago, measured at 37.4 pounds this morning. That is a paltry gain. But it's gained only 4 pounds in the past 2 days so it looks like it is ready to die off the vine, just like several others have! That leaves nothing on the 1861 since I've been removing all the females! UGH! To get another pollinated will take about a week, or maybe if I dig through the jungle of vines and leaves I can find on that is close so I can at least have something on that plant!
On to the 1522. It's been making steady but not heavy growth. A week ago it was 40 pounds - this morning it measured at 85 pounds. The past 2 days it's gained an average of 8 pounds a day which is WAY less than expected or desired. Here is the latest image of that pumpkin....
The 1733 plant continues to look healthy! A week ago there were 3 pumpkins that were all open pollinated (but likely self crossed). I culled 2 of them this week and left the most aggressive of the three. That pumpkin went from about 8 pounds a week ago to around 64 pounds this morning. The past 2 days it has gained close to 22 pounds so it's starting to put on weight quickly! Here is the pic of that pumpkin this morning....
I've tempered my enthusiasm for this growth. Compared to the 542 pound pumpkin I grew last year at the same stage of growth (Days After Pollination - DAP), this current one is lagging a bit. That 542 pumpkin was 76 pounds at DAP17 (12 pounds heavier) and had a little more growth per day. By DAP20 that pumpkin was gaining 18 pounds a day. So, we'll see what this 1733 does by Monday. Next week if it starts gaining more than 20 pounds a day I'll be thrilled! Remember, this variety has the potential for 50 pound/day growth under extreme ideal conditions - which I certainly don't have.
In that previous post I mentioned that to enter a giant pumpkin at the Kansas State Fair, the pumpkin needs to be at least 400 pounds. Now, this current pumpkin, based on it's current growth and what I expect it to do next week, could easily be over 400 pounds by the deadline (Sept 6). But since it pollinated so late in the growing season, it lost about 3 weeks of growing, at least. There should be some good growth potential well into September. I'll want to see how big it gets the remainder of the growing season (maybe into October). Plus if it could get really giant size (my goal weight and NOT likely), I would want to harvest the seeds. The bigger the pumpkin, the more I could potentially sell the seeds for, even not knowing what the true pollinator plant was. I'll make the decision for the fair as the deadline approaches but at this point I'm 99.3 percent sure I won't enter anything.
On to the 1522. It's been making steady but not heavy growth. A week ago it was 40 pounds - this morning it measured at 85 pounds. The past 2 days it's gained an average of 8 pounds a day which is WAY less than expected or desired. Here is the latest image of that pumpkin....
The 1733 plant continues to look healthy! A week ago there were 3 pumpkins that were all open pollinated (but likely self crossed). I culled 2 of them this week and left the most aggressive of the three. That pumpkin went from about 8 pounds a week ago to around 64 pounds this morning. The past 2 days it has gained close to 22 pounds so it's starting to put on weight quickly! Here is the pic of that pumpkin this morning....
I've tempered my enthusiasm for this growth. Compared to the 542 pound pumpkin I grew last year at the same stage of growth (Days After Pollination - DAP), this current one is lagging a bit. That 542 pumpkin was 76 pounds at DAP17 (12 pounds heavier) and had a little more growth per day. By DAP20 that pumpkin was gaining 18 pounds a day. So, we'll see what this 1733 does by Monday. Next week if it starts gaining more than 20 pounds a day I'll be thrilled! Remember, this variety has the potential for 50 pound/day growth under extreme ideal conditions - which I certainly don't have.
In that previous post I mentioned that to enter a giant pumpkin at the Kansas State Fair, the pumpkin needs to be at least 400 pounds. Now, this current pumpkin, based on it's current growth and what I expect it to do next week, could easily be over 400 pounds by the deadline (Sept 6). But since it pollinated so late in the growing season, it lost about 3 weeks of growing, at least. There should be some good growth potential well into September. I'll want to see how big it gets the remainder of the growing season (maybe into October). Plus if it could get really giant size (my goal weight and NOT likely), I would want to harvest the seeds. The bigger the pumpkin, the more I could potentially sell the seeds for, even not knowing what the true pollinator plant was. I'll make the decision for the fair as the deadline approaches but at this point I'm 99.3 percent sure I won't enter anything.
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