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

Toby:
I think blanketing the fruit at night has been established as a good method
of keeping fruit temps up at night. Tarping is good for sun protection (and
keeping fruit temps from getting too hot in daytime.) I'd do both...
Frank

----------
>From: Toby Atencio <mr-sprout@sbcglobal.net>
>To: pumpkins@hort.net
>Subject: Re: I think I'm thinking what you're thinking...
>Date: Sat, Nov 15, 2003, 7:04 PM
>

> 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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