Re: Light for Pumpkins
jpritchard@mindspring.com wrote:
>
> I live in Columbus, OH. The 40th parallel passes directly through the
> middle of the city. I was wondering about day length and heat having an
> effect on pumpkin size. It seems that the really big pumpkins are grown at
> least 41 degrees and 30 min N.
>
> There is a major difference on how many hours of sunlight I get compared
> with growers in Canada and the New England states, especially when you look
> at it from a per season perspective. Have there been any growers who use
> artificial light on their best plant for to mimic light conditions in the
> northern growing areas fool the plant into thinking the day is longer? It
> might work if you only used the artificial light for a short period at the
> beginning and end of each day. Any thoughts?
>
> Also, I know pumpkins are heat lovers. Does the growth slow
> dramatically at a certain temperature? If it does, this might be another
> area to look. Because in Ohio we can get some brutally hot days in the mid
> to upper 90's that may last 2 weeks.
>
> John J. Pritchard
>
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Last season I used a grow light on one plant as a sort of unscientific
experiment. When I tranplanted the plants out of doors in the middle of
May, I placed a grow light inside one of the plants greenhouses
(4'x4'). I left the light on every night for the first two weeks. I
figured since I was leaving the light on the plants for 24hrs while they
were in the house I would continue it while they were outside until it
outgrew the enclosure. A storm destroyed the greenhouse before the
second week was over but the plant was significantly larger than the
other plants (by about 1/3) and ended up being the most vigorous plant I
had. It ended up producing a pumpkin that was set on the secondary vine
on 7/13 that obtained an ott of 303" by 8/30 when it went down. I'm
considering trying it again with multiple lights but this year turning
them off every other night to simulate 36 hrs of daylight.
A.H.
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