[Fwd: Re: Defenders of the {1064 Needham} Faith....]

Hi List:

I must agree that the 1064 Needham shows much potential.

I grew one in the spot that only grew a 439 lb pumpkin last year so I was not expecting too much from that spot (partial shade, etc.) I planted fairly early, when it was still cool. This plant survived and even thrived when my other plants were hardly even growing. It was a fast vining plant and I got a fruit set just before the heat wave hit. Even though my other plants were all wilting in the heat, this one hardly showed any signs of heat at all. The fruit was a little slow to start--then took right off. The plant had beautiful, thick vines and robust leaf stocks that withstood all of our wind storms. Because this plant was doing so well, I used it as the pollinator for the other ones in the garden.

After some thought, I am wondering if maybe my splitting problems were more weather related than anything else. I had a Squash plant right beside it that only had a 100 lb fruit on it and it showed the same signs of splitting. It was doing most of its growth in August right when we had a cold spell after hot weather. I think our extreme cold temperatures at night (0 degrees Celsius--ouch!) coupled with very warm day time temperatures may be harder on fruit with thicker walls.

This plant still is going to get much consideration from me because of its phenomenal growth. I have attached a screen shot of two growth chart (in Word format). The 544 Crews was grown from the 315 Wolf last year. It was in an enclosure at the end of the season. The Papez #3 on the chart was the one that ended up at 732.5 lbs. and the Needham #1 was the first one to split on me (main vine). The Papez #3 was in the enclosure this year. The Blanton 450 was grown last year in the same spot as the Needham 1064.

Note: Try to set one on the main vine. The ones I had on the secondaries did not grow as fast. The vine was noticeably smaller after the fruit.

All this plant needs is a little taming. It is a wild one but it deserves to be planted. If you have one, plant it!! :-)

Don


Attachment: 2002 Growth Chart (Screen Shot).doc
Description: MS-Word document

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