Re: Which to cull

Chris,
This following is an excerpt from my new book, How-to-Grow World Class Giant
 Pumpkins, II (available for $17.95 plus $4 shipping and handling, US funds to
 anywhere in North America by calling 800-985-7878 or sending check or money
 order to Annedawn Publishing, Box 247, Norton, MA 02766 - Visa and Mastercard
 accepted, please include card number and expiration). 

Chapter 9 - Fruit Selection

A few years ago, the commonly accepted rule on growing giant pumpkins was that
 there should be only one pumpkin on a plant. This rule has been challenged
 many times over the last few years, and gradually, growers are coming to the
 realization that the Atlantic Giant pumpkin plant has “energy to burn.” Some
 growers have even questioned the need to cull-out pumpkins at all, while
 others have modified the way in which they select pumpkins for final growing-
 out. Most now believe, and I am in agreement with them, that the Atlantic
 Giant can sustain and achieve maximum potential of multiple fruit on a plant.
 I have seen situations where four and five fruit were left to mature, and each
 reached respectable size. John Castellucci of Smithfield, RI grew a plant in
 1997 from his 682.4-pound pumpkin of 1996 in which four pumpkins were allowed
 to grow. Each attained a weight of over 600 pounds with one official entry
 weighed-in at 733 pounds. He had close to 2800 pounds of pumpkin on a single
 plant. Of course, the skeptic would say, “What would his weights have been if
 he had culled to one or two fruit?” I say, probably the same. There has been
 ever increasing confirmation that a fruit receives its energy from only the
 primary vine it is on. Other primary vines do not effect its growth, and the
 inference is that you can have multiple fruit on a plant as long as they are
 on separate primary vines. If you have three primary vines (the main vine plus
 two other strong vines emerging within 18" of the base of the plant) then you
 can potentially grow three pumpkins on the plant.
Which of these pumpkins you choose for the final push can be helped by
 applying some common sense, intuition and evaluation of the fruit based on:
 rate of growth, shape, vine location and position and the number of segments.

Rate of Growth

If you measure the circumference of each of your pumpkins beginning at a size
 that is slightly larger than a basketball, you will accumulate data, over
 time, that will effectively tell you which fruit is growing the fastest on the
 plant or vine. You must take into consideration the time of pollination of
 each, because the earlier pollinated pumpkins will be larger. You will be able
 to determine at a very early time, which is growing the fastest. In the early
 part of the season, you will be collecting data only. No culling should be
 done until fruit reach at least 50 pounds and you have had sufficient time to
 evaluate all of the pumpkins on a plant or vine. Having 8-10 pumpkins on a
 plant in mid-July will in no way affect the final weight of your largest
 pumpkin. In fact, some believe that having more fruit on the vines at this
 time, in which vegetative growth is still particularly strong, acts as a
 moderating force on reducing fruit aborts or splitting from excessive, quick
 growth. If you’ve grown giants before, you probably have experienced a pumpkin
 that splits in two overnight, as if someone had hit it with a hatchet. With
 more fruit on the vines commanding needs, I think less of this splitting
 should occur, especially with multiple fruit on a vine early in the season.
Cull gradually through the season, first eliminating slow growers and then
 evaluating other factors.

Fruit Position

The position of the fruit, in relation to the vine, is an important
 consideration when making a determination if a fruit should be culled or be
 left to continue to grow. All fruit will need some adjustment early in their
 life to achieve their best position relative to the vine (we cover this in
 Chapter 10 - Training, Pruning and Fruit-Protection). Some will have better
 positions than others. Also, short-stemmed pumpkins may have later problems
 that can occur when the shoulders of the pumpkin enlarge to such size that
 they begin to touch the vine and push it until the vine tightens forcing
 enormous pressure on the stem. Having a fruit on the outside of a curving vine
 is better than having one on the inside of a curving vine. Vines that curve
 away from the fruit are less likely to experience stem stress.
It is interesting to note that the shape of these large-shouldered pumpkins,
 although they present problems related to stem stress, are the preferred shape
 for heavy-weighted pumpkins.

Segments

As we touched on earlier in Chapter 8, Pollination, segments are female flower
 parts which tell us how many ovaries a particular fruit will contain. The
 basic premise is that the more ovaries (and subsequently more seeds) you have,
 the bigger the pumpkin will become. In my first book, I presented an argument
 that may have discouraged growers from considering 4-segment fruit if 5- and
 6-segment fruit were available. In the past couple of years I have noted the
 appearance of many 4-segment fruit in the top pumpkins grown annually; and
 therefore, I cannot discourage anyone from choosing one if his instincts tells
 him that this is the best pumpkin they have. Looking at the data for 700+
 pound pumpkins for 1996 and 1997, I found that out of 122 pumpkins, 64% were
 5-segment fruit and 24% were 4-segment. This does not prove that 4- and
 5-segment fruit are preferred, but suggests that they are more
likely to occur in 700+ pound pumpkins. I would
still tend to want to keep a 6-segment fruit over a 5-segment one (or a
 5-segment over a 4), but its emphasis in the decision making process should be
 treated with less significance based on what has occurred the last two years.

Shape

I have seen heavy pumpkins that were tall and beautiful, and I have seen heavy
 pumpkins that were flat and ugly, so including a section on shape has me
 wondering whether it will do more to confuse a new grower than to instruct.
 Nevertheless, there are some shape preferences that can help in determining
 which fruit you will cull and which you will grow-out if you have two on the
 same primary vine. Tall pumpkins are much preferred to short pumpkins if their
 total measurements (circumference combined with over-the-top measurements) are
 equal. In fact, many growers have observed that estimates of weight derived
 from the tables can be skewed in either direction simply by the height of the
 pumpkin. Pumpkins that have heights (ground to the highest level that the
 pumpkin stands) below 30" will weigh less than the tables, pumpkins that have
 heights between 30" and 36" will be very close to table estimates and pumpkins
 with heights above 36" will weigh heavier than the tables. This generality is
 not true in all instances, but with most pumpkins it will help a grower in
 deciding between two pumpkins that have similar total measurements but differ
 in shape and height.

Skin Type

Another rule that has garnered much acceptance in the past five years involves
 skin type, and how it effects the divergence of a pumpkin’s actual weight from
 an estimated one derived from the tables. If two pumpkins measure exactly the
 same, then the one with the ruddier complexion will weigh more. Pumpkins with
 shiny, soft skin will weigh less than pumpkins with rough hardened exteriors.
 Many times, the roughened specimens will exhibit skin patterns that resemble
 the netting on cantaloupes. “Cantalouping” seems to indicate that actual
 weight will exceed estimates. These are only general rules and actually, the
 condition of skin may be more indicative of the stage of life the fruit has
 entered. The longer the fruit is on the vine, the harder the skin appearance
 will be. Skin appearance may very well indicate the stage of maturity that a
 pumpkin has attained — and since most growers believe that end-of-season
 weight gains are more the result of wall thickening than actual increases in
 measurements of the exterior, hardened-skin pumpkins may just be pumpkins that
 have attained a higher level of maturity than their fair-skinned competitors.
 These fair-skinned rivals may have had several more weeks of growth left in
 them.

Primary or Secondary Vine

The goal should be to set a fruit on a primary vine. Many times you will
 pollinate and set fruit on secondary vines and the question begins to emerge
 about which place is ideal for maximum pumpkin growth. In 1996 and 1997, of
 all of the Great Pumpkin Commonwealth’s 700-pound and over pumpkins, only 9%
 were on secondary vines. 91% of the world’s largest pumpkins in 1996 and 1997
 were grown on a primary vine. This is strong statistical evidence that you
 have a much better chance of growing a world class giant pumpkin on a primary
 vine. At times, you may not have this luxury, but if you do, and you have a
 choice between two pumpkins, fairly equal in all respects, then the primary
 vine pumpkin is the better of the two. If the secondary vine pumpkin is on a
 vine that comes off of the primary vine which contains your other candidate,
 then the secondary vine pumpkin should be culled from the plant.
As you can see, you will use many different variables to determine final fruit
 selection, and all of these can improve your chances of selecting the best
 fruit to grow-out. Along with evaluating the rate of growth, shape, vine
 position, skin type and number of segments, your own intuition will have to be
 used as well. This may be the most important part of the analysis, for in the
 end, you must make the decision. As probability and chance have it, you may
 make a wrong decision, or you may make the right one.

End

I hope this helps you out,

Don Langevin
Author and Publisher
 

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