Re: I think I'm thinking what you're thinking...

Do you think that throwing a blanket over the fruit would solve that problem?  I remember overhearing a conversation between some people at Elk Grove.  They were saying that the first year they covered their fruit from the sun, they just threw a blanket over it, and had wonderful results.  When they switched to using the canopy method, they had less desirable results (does this story sound familiar to anybody?).  
 
I wonder if the blanket actually insulated the fruit from dramatic, or at least rapid, temperature change.  Does anybody have an objective opinion on blankets vs. tarps for sun protection?

Frank Edwards <edwardsfam@earthlink.net> wrote:
Toby:
Not sure about the whole vascular thing, but I have heard concern that if
the variance between night and daytime temps is too high, it could lead to
splitting of the fruit. I think I heard that Don & Geneva Emmons had a few
split on them this year, and there was speculation that the temp variance
was the reason...but I think if that's the case, it's a structural problem
with the fruit that gets exacerbated by excessive nighttime cooling/daytime
heating, not necessarily a problem within the vines of the plant...
Frank

----------
>From: Toby Atencio 
>To: pumpkins@hort.net
>Subject: Re: I think I'm thinking what you're thinking...
>Date: Fri, Nov 14, 2003, 11:51 PM
>

> Frank,
>
> What do you think about the temperature swing/vascular developement of the
> vine? I totally came up with that out of the dark recesses of my brain. I
> have never heard of anybody who was concerned with it before. It simply
> made sense to me. Hot packs and ice packs affect the blood vessels in
> you're knee when you sprain it, or your shoulder when you pull a muscle,
> etc. It either constricts the flow of fluids, or increases it. Shouldn't
> it have the same results on the "veins" of plants? and wouldn't it have an
> influence on growth?
>
> Anybody else have any ideas or resources?
>
> Frank Edwards wrote:
> Toby:
> I'm with you. I think when natural daylight wanes as days grow shorter, this
> helps to trigger the dieback of the plant. Extending daylight artificially,
> I believe, can give your plant more opportunity for growth. I'd like to try
> it next year myself (I live in Michigan) but I'm not sure what type of
> lights /how many foot candles would be appropriate. Anyone with greenhouse
> experience know?
> Frank
> Hudsonville, MI
>
> ----------
>>From: Toby Atencio
>>To: pumpkins@hort.net
>>Subject: I think I'm thinking what you're thinking...
>>Date: Fri, Nov 14, 2003, 11:47 AM
>>
>
>> Hi List
>>
>> I keep accidentally erasing this message. This is actually my third attempt!
> :-)
>>
>> I, too, have been pondering the northern explosion of 1000+ pounders. I
>> have two theories based on several hours of searching the weigh-off lists
>> and looking at temperature averages on the internet.
>>
>> First, the further north you are, the longer your days will be. this gives
>> your plant longer growing time over its lifespan. This makes sense to me,
>> to I would assume (since I live further south in the Sacramento, CA area)
>> that stringing a couple lights out over my plants, and have them
>> automatically turn on 2AM-6AM would add to my chances of breaking into the
>> 1000 club.
>>
>> Second, (and this one I'm not so sure of) the average daily temperature
>> swing can affect the growth of your plant. I always thought that a nice,
>> hot place was a good palce to grow a big pumpkin. However, a lot of
>> monsters were grown in Ontario this year where the highs averaged in the
>> low 70s and lows in the mid 50s, about a 16 degree shift. In Malibu, Ca,
>> the temps reached the same highs (70s), but the lows indicated only a 7
>> degree shift. Where I live, the highs usually range in the high 90s with
>> almost a daily drop of 27 degrees. My thinking is that too much daily
>> temperature swing can cause stress on the vine (expansion/contraction) and
>> inhibit growth by forcing teh plant to expend energy on healing. Too small
>> a temperature swing can inhibit growth by not exercising the vascular
>> developement of the vine enough, keeping the nutrient passageways narrow.
>>
>> These are off-the-top-of-my-head ideas that I did a small amount of
>> research for. Anybody out there know if this is out in left field or not?
>>
>> Toby Atencio
>> Wumpkin Man
>>
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