dill rings..
Wayne and Paul,
My local growing compadre Mark Elsbree (hiding in the shadows of
this list
amongst the heavy hitters) and I often talk about the causes of Dill
Rings in or
weekly visits to each others patches. While this list seems to think it
is a
genetic problem, as stated in Langevins book, HTGWCGPII, we are
wondering how
much is genetic, and how much is caused by extreme changes in weathering
patterns, whether it be temperature changes, extreme rainfall after
drought
conditions, or just too uneven of a fertilization program.
Can anyone show me a study that has proven it to be genetic? What I
challenge you list members with great record keeping habbits is to go
back into
your arhcives of dill ring riddled pumpkins and squash (yes.. squash get
them
too) and look at the week before your dill rings appeared and I would
wager a
box of miracle gro that you will find one of the above listed problems.
I was
sailing along with my Ciliberto 697 this season, under extreme drought
conditions, and we got hit by 2.8 inches of rainfall in one day... A
week later,
not only did my pumpkin start a dill ring within 7 days, it went down to
a split
3 days after the dill ring showed up.
An additional theory to the heavy rainfall after extreme drought
conditions
is that the uneven fertilizer program and the lack of rain made alot of
the
20-20-20 to go unleached, that is, until we got the rain to help it get
deeper
where the roots were.. I know one thing I have in the works this year
for
certain... Forget the instructions on the boxes of fertilizers.. Go to
half
strength of what the box says, and do the application of fertilzer at
twice the
rate I had been doing. Same amount of 20-20-20 and 15-30-15, just
breaking it
down over time for a more even rate for the plant and fruit to absorb.
Comments?
Questions?
Pumkinguy@aol.com wrote:
> From: Pumkinguy@aol.com
>
> Paul,
> Not sure what causes it...maybe genetic , plus the imense size.
Some
> pumpkins do seem to be more prone than others. I have seen slow
growing,
> small pumpkins get rings. If we can figure a way to add a couple more
inches
> of thickness to these babies, there may be less of a problem.
> pumkinguy
>
--
***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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