RE: So what am i to think ??
The real test would be if she could grow one of my seeds into an
1100 lb. pumpkin. If anyone has seen the video from the Canby 2001 spring
meeting, the agronomists who spoke there felt that the individual seed lines
themselves mattered far less than the growing environment. So you could put
just about any AG seed into the soil and if you provide it with ideal
growing conditions, you set new records. This flies in the face of
conventional wisdom which states that you have to have the best seeds and
good conditions to grow the largest pumpkins. I think the key to it is
having your soil in the best shape possible, meaning the ideal balance of
pH, nutrients, moisture, and warmth, as well as eliminating pathogens from
the soil the prevent the plant from performing to it's capacity. I suspect
that if we had a pathogen test of our plots we would find we all have
varying levels of plant pathogens such as pythium, and phtyopthora,
sclerotinia, and a host of other nasties. These levels may not be high
enough to produce a full blown infection in the plant, but are enough to
inhibit the growth to varying degrees. It's like we're asking them to run a
marathon with a head cold and a bad case of athletes foot. You can't expect
that runner to cross the line anywhere near the front of the pack. I'm a
grower that can't afford to drop the bucks on a test like that, but I can
afford to treat the patch so I can hopefully head these things off. We'll
see next summer how that works out.
Chris Michalec
Covington, WA
>
>
> well I am just reading way too deep
>
>
>
> Hmmmmm....seems to me if she thought enough to grow the Franek plant and
> the Lloyd plant to get giant pumpkins she would consider either of those
> two plants worthy of male pollinator. ......or, (my smart-ass response:
> She is a magical giant pumpkin grower who grows 1100lbers from no-name
> seeds just-because-she-can ! )......Glenn A
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