When to harvest?
- To: pumpkins@mallorn.com
- Subject: When to harvest?
- From: J* C*
- Date: Sun, 15 Aug 1999 09:55:34 -0400
I have a rookie grower question here--I'm growing Ferry Morse "Big Max"
pumpkins, not AGs, but they've doing well in my small urban garden. My two
plants have consumed most of my 17' x 40' yard, and I have 3 pumpkins at
50, 58, and 62 inches stem-blossom. The seed packet says they take 120
days to harvest, and reach about 100 lbs.
They're 108 days old now, and still growing about 2 inches per day. But
the older leaves are losing ground to wind damage--the small one is 10 feet
from the root, and there aren't a whole lot of healthy leaves left that
close in. Most of the healthy leaves are now on secondaries, more than 12
feet from the root. So things are starting to look pretty meager, and I'm
concerned that I harvest these puppies before they sit on the vine and rot
or something. If they're still growing, do I stick with it? Or is there
some other conventional wisdom about when to harvest? The small one has
ripened a lot--it's now a dark orange, and the larger ones are each a
little less orange.
Also, I've seen that most, if not all AG growers use fungicide and
pesticide liberally to keep their AGs going strong. I've had no bug or
fungus problems with these smaller variety. Are AGs so genetically refined
that they have no immune system?
James Cramton
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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