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Austria

I will appreciate your opinions:

http://www.bigpumpkins.com/Diary/DiaryViewOne.asp?eid=38474

I`m not sure what to do. The one 10 ft out has now surpassed the one closer to the stump. They are both almost volleyball-size now. The second one had kind of deformed lobes (twisted). Didn`t see any seeds in the blossom. Shall I cull the first one (seven lober, slower grower)? I`m not sure if I can do this. But two keepers on the main so close to each other won`t be best way either. I have one backup which took at one of the sidevines.

Similar decision on my 621 Pley, where I have one at 10` (2nd) and one at 14` (3rd), both good. Decision there was made by fate - I broke the 3rd when trying too hard to correct its position which had been really ok, but I overdid it `till it cracked. Had a sore stomach after that for an hour or so.

7/25/2005 7:12:47 AM

Knopp, Germany

Heino, this is what I would do. Monitor both of them for the next 5 days or so. Measure the circumference growth daily. After the decided (you decide...LOL) time frame of monitoring is over, then look to see the following, which one is growing more each day? which one has the best position ot the vine? which fruit has the best shape? is the blossom end of the one at 10' looking bad? i think that when allis said and done, you will be able to make the right decision.

Another way to look at it is this. Do I only want to grow one fruit to maximize it's potential, or does size matter and i just want to have a solid one at the end of the year? You could leave both on for another month, and then decide.

One last thing. Should you decide to cut one off, be careful. Do not cut it off with one cut. Take 3 days, cut 1/3 each day. the reason for this is that it has been known that if you cut one off with one cut, all of theplants energy goes to the remaining fruit. If it is too much, that fruit could split.

Lots to learn, and i do not know it all, I am sure you will get more input.

7/25/2005 7:21:32 AM

Hilpoltstein, Bavaria, Germany

I agree with all what Owen said.
If I were you I'd keep the one at ten ft. out. It is growing faster and if there were no seeds in the blossom it should be just fine. Deformed, slightly misplaced or twisted lobes are normal from time to time and are no problem!
I've always culled my fruits all at once, not over a period of a few days, and never had a problem with splits. But better do what Owen suggests and you should be on the safe side.

7/25/2005 9:48:58 AM

Austria

Owen and Martin, thanks a bunch for your advices. I will just do as you recommend. I have an update here. When I was checking my patches yesterday evening after that hailstorm I foung that Nr. 2 is now really quite a bit bigger than Nr. 1. It is just not growing too much any more but instead starts to produce white (sort of hard and dry) areas on its skin similar to that of Owen`s pumpkin on the Dueck plant. However this likely will make the decision easier at the end of the week.

7/26/2005 3:05:56 AM

Austria

Decision problem was solved by nature. N° 1 stopped growing, lost its colour almost completely and turned soft. It was culled this morning.

7/27/2005 7:56:38 AM

Knopp, Germany

Heino, that is a classic example of a fruit that aborted. Good to see you had another one going on the main vein.

7/27/2005 8:02:01 AM

Austria

Owen, I didn`t expect a fruit of that size (before shrinking almost volley-ball) to abort. I guess I`m in the same boat as Michel now, who said that none of his first fruits on the main would take. Same here, all three N° 1 aborted right now.

7/27/2005 9:15:07 AM

Atlanta, Georgia

Heino,
Last year I had two fruits on my 582 Hester grow to almost 25 kilos before they both aborted or rotted. I hope it doesn't happen to me with my 869.5 Calai this year and I sure am a bit discouraged when I hear people having over 20 lb. growth per day lately. I would be happy with 5 lbs!
Best regards to all,
Michel

7/29/2005 2:53:19 AM