1446 comments
Fellow Growers--we got home from the Port Elgin weigh-off late Monday
afternoon to find 180 email messages and more media people trying to reach
us.Fortunately my good wife Sharon is an experienced expert at fielding
phone messages and things should settle down soon.
Many people have been asking for 1446 details so I will briefly outline
them.
First,I can't say enough good things about the team at Port Elgin who are
able to muster the people and other resources to attract growers and the
public to what was a very successful Oct 2 weigh-off.Then on Oct 3 they hold
a second weigh-off for growers from the local 3 counties where the weights
are generally somewhat lower due to climatic conditions.At the risk of
leaving some people out I'll mention Jan Bonhomme,Dave McCallum,Joanne
Robbins and Pam Inkster as key team players.
1446 Eaton 04---842 Eaton 02 x 1301.5 Eaton 03
I was careless with the infant 1446 and did not get the vine up and the
fruit positioned properly,by the time I realized that,it was too heavy to
adjust.As a result the vine remained on the ground,the front shoulders were
pulled over the stem and the blossom end was on a slant causing that area to
sag inwards.The benefit was a custom designed seat for our two
grandchildren,no stem stress and no sag lines.I believe the odd shape was
due to my early fruit neglect and not due to "genetics".
The big disadvantage of the shape was a difficult to measure "C" although I
did my best by measuring in the exact same place each time and on a line
where the mass looked to be equally distributed above and below the tape.It
was simple a judgement call and the accuracy is unknown but nothing else I
could do.
I wish the 1442 was a nice orange color and a perfect shape but I know they
do exist in the 842 seeds and I'll hope for a better appearance next
year.Meanwhile I'll have to be happy with what I have this year and use my
excuse that "it is not a beauty contest".
By OTT values the 1446 peaked on day 27 at 26 lbs/day,4 day average.Then it
just kept plodding along,even my Sept 7 four day average was 20
lbs/day-------or 100 lbs each 5 days.
The plant was healthy and the fruit still expanding right up to Sept 29 when
I had to use the knife.
Sept 29---180" + 103"EE + 107"SS = 390"=1212 lbs by Stellpflug Jan/03
tables.
Thus the 1446 was about 19% over the tables.( I predict the 1500 pounder
within the next few years and that it could measure 1250 but go 20%
heavy,the future is in the thicker walls)
Incidentally I weighed the AG on our local municipal electronic truck scales
Sept 29,where they only read to the nearest 10 kg,and the value was within
1/2 of 1% of the Port Elgin official weight.
More numbers--my records show the 842 was 12% and the 1301.5 was 2% "over
the chart".
This year my 1301.5 was a "mini-plant" of 200 sq ft,grown just for male
blossoms.The plot was not given any manure,compost or fertilizer of any
kind,only water when I thought of it.I cut the main at 12 feet with a female
blossom at the end which has resulted in a solid AG of ideal shape and
"tawny/tan" color.I will be weighing it soon since it seems quite solid and
measures around 600 lbs.
Anyway,enough for now---must go----it seems impossible to make a short
message about our favourite hobby/addiction/sport.I'll try to keep quiet now
for awhile.
Cheers to all and congratulations to everyone with a new personal best ( the
only realistic benchmark) in only 6 months we get to try all over again--AE
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