Re: THE BAD SEED
Chris and group,
The year I had the Andersen 815 in (1998) I also grew the Holland 879. The
plant was beautiful, huge leaves, grew like a runaway freight train, only one
problem... When the fruit would set, the would reach basketball size, and
abort.. The weather wasn't overly hot, so it wasn't an abort due to heat... I
think it was a genetic problem with the 879. I pulled the plant to make room for
the 815, which eventually took over the space, and grew my 879 squash. On the
flip side of this seed argument that Chris has brought up though is the 2 other
seeds I got from Joel in that same packet.. I swore I would never plant that one
again after growing a dud, so I gave one of the remaining two away to Bob Erb, a
fellow local grower (Hi Bob) who lurks in the backgrounds of this list. Well,
low and behold he shows up this year with a pumpkin that cracked a week before
the weigh off that was 57 days old, and it weighed in at 806 pounds! He was so
in love with the Holland 879 he almost begged on both knees (okay I forced him
to his knees) for the last one I had..
Moral of this story......... Silver bullet theory is alive and well, and
just because one seed gave you problems, don't give up if you "really" like the
seeds genetic makeup.. The telltale of the 879 Holland packet will be this year
at season's end when Bob shows up with a monster or gives me the story of how
the fruit started aborting.. Stay tuned.. same Pumpkin time, same pumpkin
channel..
"Michalec, Chris" wrote:
> While seeds are the focus of our discussions lately, I wanted to bring up a
> topic that I've raised in the past but haven't gotten a response on. THE
> BAD SEED.............You know the one. The plant that looked so promising
> in May puts out nothing but male flowers in June and July. The one that
> you carefully pollinated every morning for two weeks only to have every
> fruit abort. The one that you nurtured and watched and measured and built
> your hopes on only to have every fruit start to split at the blossom or stem
> or dill ring. Every grower with a few seasons under their belt has probably
> had this experience.
>
> What I want to know is; What seed would you never waste your time with
> again?
>
> I think this information is just as important in making our seed selections
> as how productive a given seed line has been in the past. I haven't seen it
> up for discussion here before though. Many of us who have been involved in
> this hobby for a few years have acquired more seeds than we could possibly
> plant if we have put any effort into it. A look a Mike Turner's seed list
> or Rocky's website list will give a good example of that. I would love to
> hear from some of the Heavy Hitter Lurkers who check this list from time to
> time but never post to it to avoid the inevitable flood of email. If you
> reply to me privately I would share your information with the list but not
> your address. And also all you other experienced growers/heavy hitters who
> have added so much to the list over the years, Al Eaton, Bob Marcellus,
> George Brooks, Ray Waterman, Mike Brock, to name a few. You could help spare
> us some heartache if you can help us narrow down our list of selections by
> letting us know about the duds we may have collected. What seeds would you
> consider duds?
>
> I have experience with one that I wouldn't plant again based on my own
> experience and what I learned about it from another grower who had planted
> it. The 759 Mombert 97. It was my best and most agressive plant ever, but
> every pumpkin but one split on it. I had stem splits, blossom splits,
> bottom splits. The only one I didn't have was a dill ring. It had my
> biggest and fastest growing pumpkins on it but the only one that made it to
> the end of the season was the smallest. Steve Daletas grew an 847 from it
> in 98, but he told me that every other fruit on the plant split on him. I
> don't know of anyone else who grew this seed but would love to hear about
> anyone elses experience with it.
>
> So lets get the word out on the BAD SEED so they may never darken our
> gardens with their shadows again.
>
> Chris Michalec
> Covington, WA
>
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--
***Rocky Rockwell***
Personal site - http://home.Cyber-Quest.com/Rocky.R
Pennsylvania Giant Pumpkin Grower's Association - http://www.PGPGA.com
Is a bear Catholic? Does the Pope ... ahh nevermind..... :o)
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