Defenders of the {1064 Needham} Faith....

Ok...Results from 2002 are in and seems like everyone { who had fruit sets that is...} grew nice sized fruits off of the 1064 Needham, but........
                                                             { Everyone then says... }
  
                "But what.... there was a problem? What.... UOW!!!??? HHHMMM... not worth planting, probably."
 
 
   I am here to defend this seed, and if anyone is scared away from seeing UOW, let me tell you this seed has BIG potential! I realize everyone I've talked to are as scared of this seed as they are in the 922 Emmons. Those who have grown it, all I've seen on paper is... disaster. Well, I am one of those who grew it and lived to tell about it all. This is my story....
 
 
May 2002 The season begins, I decide to grow a 712 Kuhn, 845 Bobier, and a 1064 Needham, with my own 711 as a back up plant. Everyone says "good choices."...
 
June 2002 The 845 races off and dreams of a 1337 race through my head. The 712 is slowest of all 3 plants, thoughts of pulling it out to keep my 711 weigh heavy. The 1064 is right in the middle of the pack growth wise. By the end of June, all that impressed me was it's increasingly large & thick vine, as well as the huge leaves that were appearing.
 
July 2002 "THE" main month goes by, and fruits are set through the month. The 845 throws odd shaped fruits on the main with no real shoulders. 18 fruits are pollinated. A side vine fruit is chosen due to growth rates and best shape...with no good main or secondary vine fruits to choose from. The 712 wins the battle over my 711, only because IT IS the 712, and the 711 is only my 711... and I had only one 712, and still had more 711's. The decision to pull my 711, which was second in vigor only to the 845 Bobier was VERY hard, but the sacrifice was made, keeping the "runt" of all my plants. 2 fruits were set on the 712, quickly settling on the main vine fruit over the secondary fruit. The 1064 Needham gives me fits. First, problems setting fruit in the heat set me back. Then fruit sets show sssllloooooowwwwwww growth rates, and two fruits finally are set the 18th and 19th and chosen, one on the main and another on a side vine. This plant gets dusted in the derby as the 712 Kuhn has major growth spurt and passes 1064 in vigor and square feet size. Both the 712 and 845 fruits are on a good pace, and seem obvious to top my personal bests barring problems. The 1064, by months end, it has 2 small fruits, slow growing and embarrassing compared to what the 845 and 712 fruits are doing. I give up hope in the plant, and almost pull it out to give more room for the 845 plant.
 
August 2002 The month that makes or breaks a grower provides me with a lot of surprises. The 845 fruit, although the widest, had a stem split [which was  overcome], and then grew a peanut shaped type of fruit { low height on the blossom end }. The 712 fruit, which I laughed at initially due to it's size when the female flower opened, went on a crazy growth rate which almost broke the Colorado record, only missing it by about 100 pounds. The 1064, was still pretty much my disappointment... until mid to late August. I was so bummed out on the plant in July that I dead headed EVERYTHING the first week of August. I am talking SERIOUS prune back, eliminating about 150 square feet of the plant and all growing tips. When I was finished, 400 square feet of vines and leaves was all that was left for 2 fruits to rely on. When both fruits began insane growth rates, I wanted to keep the main vine fruit only since the plant was so heavily pruned. The pumpkin on the side vine was the faster of the two fruits and had the better shape, so I procrastinated on culling it, until both were way to big to cut off {without me having to commit myself}.
 
September 2002 The last month of any real growth started and ended also with surprises. The 845 fell back to third in the pack, the 712 grew well, but slowed up mid September, slowly eliminating my hopes to break Joe Scherber's 1,009 Colorado state record. The 1064, despite being chopped, hacked, cut all to hell, and somewhat ignored kept on going right up until I harvested one {646} so I could sell it. The remaining fruit kept growing in measurements, especially after culling the 646 { the one on the main }. Towards the end of September, I was unsure which pumpkin was the heaviest... the 712 or the 1064 both could have been my heaviest.
 
October 2002 Weigh off month. Cut all pumpkins on October 3rd, hoping to get to Anamosa weigh off. Weighed 1064 fruit on official scales, fruit weighing 831.8. The 712 fruit was weighed at a truck scale, somewhere between 890 and 910. The 845 was not weighed on the 3rd. Officially, the 712 grew my biggest [852.4], the 1064 my second biggest [785.5], and the 845 my third [713.6]. There were no splits other than 845 stem split I mentioned. Once again...THERE WERE NO SPLITS ON MY 1064, OR ANY OTHER PROBLEMS WHICH WOULD MAKE IT A UOW... maybe a UFO if I gave it some TLC.
 
 
Summary: I noticed this plant does not need lots of room... remember last years 940 Kurilich? I can only speak of my results and experiences, perhaps others still had problems in small areas growing this genetic. I'd love to hear how others that grew it did, and what they could say about characteristics they noticed....good or bad. I did want to personally take the time out to praise this seed. From what I've experienced, I know this genetic is defiantly worth growing. Everyone needs to understand though, it needs to be treated a little differently, like a prehistoric plant, not your normal AG pumpkin plant {LOL}.Once it has been tamed, this is one hell of a plant { and a lot of fun to watch grow } !!!
 
For those wondering, I crossed the 1064 with males from the 712...
 
Marc Sawtelle
Colorado Springs, CO
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