Re: THE BAD SEED
Hey All
Had a friend, a second year grower; green thumb though that grew the 879
Holland this last year near Sacramento. Hot here, but he managed to
produce a 601 and 627 on the 879, which was about 2000 sq ft. He has
totally kicked butt for year's spent and plan for him to be a force after
his knee replacments. No foggers, plant didn't seem to wilt much, hand
fertilzing, watering and he shaded the fruits. they turned out extremely
orange in color. He has put 100's of yards of horse manure over the
years, which I believe has helped him emencely. Believe the fruits this
year measured at around 670 -700 #. So they were a bit light. Needless
to say he was delighted and placed well at Elk Grove, 6th I think, last
year he grew a 469 # er. Don't give up on a given seed stock, if you
like it plant it and wait for that silver bullet, might have to go
through a few 12 pack's though before you hit it, right Brock.
Ken
Turkeyman
On Tue, 25 Jan 2000 22:44:54 -0500 Lyle Rockwell
<rocky.r@cyber-quest.com> writes:
>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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