Re: Shape by genetics & pollination? (Just thinking out loud)

George - good thoughts -  a few comments-

I have spent hours out in the patch watching the bees........  I really don't 
think any brush can do as complete a job as a bumblebee covered yellow with 
pollen can.  I mean these guys are literally saturated with male pollen and 
then they act as a contortionists crawling all over the ovaries of the female 
flower.  No way does a brush even come close to this complete coverage. 

I think as the small pumpkin begins to develop - it is much by chance the 
form you get - .  I mean the thickness of the walls (early on) may dictate 
how the growth goes -  On one vine I have a long "tube shape" and on a 
secondary vine of the same plant - I have one completely round........  I 
don't think its genetics for the most part - just wall/seed cavity/core 
thickness during the growth phase.  All plants have variation in leaf size, 
flower size, fruit size, growth etc..  Much of it dictated by environmental 
conditions - not genetics.  While genetics directly effects the overall fruit 
size based upon selection - the shape of the fruit is on my opinion - an 
environmental influence.

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