Re: Plant #'s vs. big pumkin #'s

My thoughts are that the number of plants we grow has little to do with producing the huge pumpkin that we are after. While it may increase the odds as far as luck is concerned, most great growers take care of less than 5 plants. Lets take Al Eaton for example, Al may grow 4 plants but is constantly growing pumpkins that we would all love to see in our garden. The more I learn about pumpkins, the more I believe that the largest pumpkins come from growers who understand simple gardening principals and follow these to extremes. Such principals include avoiding soil compaction, knowing when your plants need nutrients and watering, understanding if wind breaks are needed to increase heat or misters to reduce heat, perhaps when and if to spray chemicals, etc....  Once we understand what the plants are telling us and if we take the time to listen, then too will we be rated as a great grower. But, like anything else, the end result is related to the imput required unless of course a natural disaster such as hail happens to take a liking to our garden. Of course, we can't rule "Luck" out,  but luck does not make us a consistent winner
    I believe that all of us, but especially new growers, would do well to get advice from someone whom we think is a great gardener in our area. Although he may not grow pumpkins, the knowledge that he has accumulated over the years as to certain  problems associated with our lattitude is invaluable and can also be applied to our pumpkin growing hobby........Ken Reinsborough, Dalhousie, N.B.

Daniel Bezte wrote:

I've been sitting here thinking about the up coming season and looking back at how much I have done to improve my soil, read up on AG's, and what I have learnt from last year, etc.. Then a question then popped into my head which started to bug me since I have limited room to grow. What is the ratio of plants grown to large pumpkins produced? That is, logic would dictate that the greater number of plants, the better the chance for a big pumpkin - all things being equal.  But is this really the case?  What are the success / failure ratio per plant for some of our top growers?  Does having the good soil, good weather, and good seed, (The 3 G's) mean you will likely grow a big one or does the 4th G play the biggest part? - Good Luck? The reason I started thinking about this is, you tend to see the same names nearly always producing big pumpkins every year.   I tend to think it is due to them figuring out the first 3 G's and having a little bit of the 4th G, but does the number of plant's help them with the 4th G? Signed, curious and limited to two plants. Daniel BezteSouthern Manitoba 
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index