Re: 2000# Pumpkin Paradox
Dearest Pumpkineers,
Why do I get the feeling that eventually one of you is going to
genetically engineer a pumpkin that will somehow threaten the very existance
of mankind? I have seen armageddon, and it is orange. And pretty damn big.
(With great big ugly fangs...)
Ernest
Beth Rado wrote:
> >>...Even some silly explanation based on something you observed could
> be a key to the answer of the 2000# pumpkin pair-a-ducks!
> > >Rick >>
>
> > There are two phases to a pumpkins development....cell division and
> cell enlargement. At the beginning... cells begin dividing,.... Large
> fruited varieties probably have a longer period of cell division.... The
> more cells, the larger the ultimate pumpkin after the enlargement phase.
> So the ultimate size of your pumpkin may be cast in stone at a
> relatively early stage. Is the Atlantic Giant converting to cell
> expansion when it is the size of a basketball, beach ball or 80 inches
> in circumference? I don't know yet. ....
> > pumkinguy@aol.com
>
> I don't know about the multiple fruits discussion where this
> started, but Wayne's knowledge here strikes me as important for growing
> the largest possible pumpkin from a given seed.... It corresponds to
> humans: a high-protein diet during pregnancy, especially in the last
> month, actually produces more fetal brain cells than a low-protein diet.
> Then toddlers & small children need lots of high-fat foods, which
> encourage growth of more, and more complex, dendrites. But around age
> 5, development of brain cells/dendrites levels off. No matter how much
> protein or fat they get later, it won't affect the brain cells the same
> way. You've just got that one window of opportunity.
> So. What do we know about growth and nutrients for pumpkins
> in that early stage? We hand pollinate to get total pollination, which
> produces the most PGR hormone. Don Langevin talks about stressing
> phosporous for seedlings & pre-fruit plants and stressing potassium from
> late July on. He just says use a balanced fertilizer in between. But
> I bet some of you veterans out there have growth records and the
> experience to have ideas about specific nutrients that might especially
> enhance that cell-division stage, and thereby enhance the maximum
> potential of a given fruit.
> Another issue is how to figure out exactly when the cell-division
> process is occurring. What does this take - sacrificing a few pumpkins
> and a plant physiologist? Rick, this is your kind of thing, isn't
> it?
> Any thoughts or speculation, folks?
>
> Beth
>
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