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Austria

Hi all,

pollinated the first female on the main of my 826 yesterday ... it looks very good... can the first f on the main be a keeper, regarding that for the next f to flower it may take another 2 weeks? Anyone grown the first appearing f? How heavy didi it get?

7/4/2005 5:28:27 AM

Austria

It is about two meters out and a seven-lober ...

7/4/2005 7:07:56 AM

Ljubljana, Slovenia

Hey Heino, I had the same situation last year and it smashed my PB

7/4/2005 11:15:39 AM

Austria

Wow, that`s good news after what my plants look like due to the storm yesterday evening , Thank you Jernej ...

7/5/2005 3:25:18 AM

Hilpoltstein, Bavaria, Germany

If possible I always try to keep the first female on the main vine as they seem to do the best for me.
If it's 10ft or more out on the vine you have a keeper.

7/5/2005 5:31:02 AM

Austria

Thanks Martin, will have to measure but I don`t think it`s more than 7 feet out. The amazing thing is, that the 826 Handy is not growing too well with still only a few small secondaries, damaged main vine (a wide open split of 10 cm on the main vine), several of its biggest leaves broken and damaged, it still seems eager to produce fruit rather than lettuce. The females on my other plants don`t seem that they want to flower (should I prune?), but this one just turned yellow and got bigger and flowered really fast. It was a seven lober as I already said, the only thing is, it is prob. too close to the stump. Still it is the only one I pollinated till now and won`t cull it before a better option appears -> Lesson learned: Will install wind breakers this weekend, Nesbitt-size if necessary!

7/5/2005 6:02:00 AM

Itzetown City

Heino, if I was you I would pollinate all females the plant is growing til you get 2 or 3 fruits that growing to sockerball size. Then check the position, growing rate etc. and cull and go with the best one you think. A lot of fruits may abort in lower size. Good luck.
My first females at 4 plants shown all up without any males. I would call it the "Alice Schwarzer patch". lol But this morning I had the luck to pollinate the 1024 Pukos with the 891 Tanner (what would be an interesting cross 723xself x 846xself(3rdGen)), its 7ft on the first secondary, but who cares. I also pollinated today the 1000 Rodonis with the 1024, its exact 10 ft out on the main.
But who knows, Michel hit the nail on its head: The plant is growing what ever it will.

7/5/2005 6:05:26 AM

Itzetown City

Sorry it was Ingo who said: plants do what they do...pumpkins grow the way they grow..

7/5/2005 6:14:26 AM

Austria

Thanks Hans-Werner, that`s exactly what I was planning to do. When I asked if I should prune, i didn`t mean the slowly maturing female flowers but some of the secondaries in order to get more "power" into the main and maybe the females ... Yes, I read Ingo`s comment and he may be right, all we need is just a little patience (Guns `n Roses).

7/5/2005 9:17:54 AM

Hilpoltstein, Bavaria, Germany

Heino, 7 ft. out is not too much of a problem if it is your only good fruit on that plant. I like to have 10 ft. but it's not absolutely necessary. I assume the split in the main vine goes along the vine and not across it. If so it's no problem.
If I were you I'd pollinate all females that might appear on that main vine until about July 15th. Then you measure them and keep the one that is growing the fastest or is the biggest at a certain age. The biggest fruit is not always the keeper. Younger and faster growing fruits should be preferred.

7/5/2005 10:43:02 AM

Austria

Thanks again Martin for the advice, I really appreciate it. The split is along the vine, as you assumed. I nevertheless fixed it as good as possible. Nice to hear it is not such a big problem though. I will do as you adviced and pollinate whatever the plant is going to produce till end of July.

7/5/2005 12:13:44 PM

Atlanta, Georgia

I've personally never had a first female set for me on any of my plants for some reason, but I think that it is due to too much nitrogen in my soil.

I would take boehnke's advice for certain if I were you...and I would also train all the secodaries before the pumpkin as long as possible so it has leaves to push the growth. Jack LaRue told me to prune all secondaries off the main only after the pumpkin sets for certain and allow the secondary attached to the pumpkin to grow as long as possible.
Best of luck!....and there is still time to produce big pumpkins even if you only set a bit later.
Michel

7/5/2005 2:57:36 PM

Austria

Update: I`m not quite sure if it "took". How can I see that? It was pollinated on Sunday and has - up to now - not shown significant growth ...

7/6/2005 3:00:51 AM

Austria

Ok, just found this one ...

http://www.bigpumpkins.com/msgboard/ViewThread.asp?b=3&p=123257

Growers all over the world seem to have the same questions at the same time ;-)

7/6/2005 3:14:56 AM

Atlanta, Georgia

Heino,
I don't know what you mean by significant but after three days you should definitely notice some growth and the pumpkin should be shiny and almost glowing. If it is dull then it didn't take.

I pollinated the second try on the 869.5 two days ago and it is not looking good. It may have took but is only slow due to the cold windy wet weather too. Another will open tomorrow...

7/7/2005 1:13:18 AM