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Woodward, Oklahoma

Does your pumpkin loose water weight? Do you cut them off day before or weeks before. Would I lose a lot of weight if I cut it off a moth before my competition cuz I had to have it at the state fair in September and then my competition in October. Just wondering if pumpkins loose water weight fast. This is worst case scenario if I only have one survive.

3/29/2017 6:04:53 PM

Rapid City, SD

got a story for you to ponder.....weighed a pumpkin at weigh-ff in late sept. at our weigh-off here in rapid city, sd....then vernal utah had a contest for the biggest looser...aka (previously weigh fruit) re-weighed to see who could loose the most weight...i left friday morning in the snow..had 2 pumpkins in the back of my truck cover with 2 blankets each.....then hit rian for about an hour....then a full blizzard.....make it to the weigh-off by 8am that morning....blankets were wet a frozen.....one pumpkin gained 13 pounds the other 8 pounds....that help...LOL

3/29/2017 6:27:44 PM

Rapid City, SD

vernals weigh-off was 7 days after ours

3/29/2017 6:28:21 PM

Deer Park, WI

Pumpkins transpire, as do all fruits and veggies. Remove it from its life source (vine) and it will begin losing water that cannot be replaced.

While I do not discount Matt's interesting story, under normal conditions water will evaporate from the fruit. Its 90% water and assuming the outside air is not 90% saturated, (jungle humid), nature will equilibrate.

3/29/2017 6:39:43 PM

Central NY

I cut a 876lb squash (healthy no issues)and put it in my garage ...24 days later it weighed 868 lbs and was in fine shape...

3/29/2017 6:44:16 PM

JACKSON, WISCONSIN. ; )

I've seen some loose weight quick and some slow I think how fast and how long of a drive helps them dry out quicker when uncovered .... my 1625 weighted 1630 some on a friends scale ... thanks Chad... I have a pick of the exact weight when I picked it .. also I see about 5 to 10 pounds average loss in 24 to 48 hours once off the vine

3/29/2017 9:10:01 PM

Upa Creek, MO

I'm going with Joze on this especially down where you live. Many growers prioritize competions like GPC vs state fair and time pollinations and cutting from vine accordingly. A month is a long time to survive in Oklahoma when it's still warm.

3/29/2017 10:02:38 PM

Last pumpkin weighed in nekoosa, so it sat on the scale for a few hours, during that time I watched the pumpkin get lighter. There was a light rain, could only imagine how much weight they lose if it is sunny, low humidity, and going down the road at 70 miles an hour.

3/30/2017 9:00:37 AM

Western NY

Lint - electronic load cells can have an issue called "scale creep", I'm guessing that's what it was.

My 1407 lost 10 pounds in 8 days when it was reweighed years ago. It was out in the open and driven a lot of miles in those 8 days.

3/30/2017 10:37:36 AM

Eastern Pennsylvania

Baker's Man- work browser is blocking access to the GPC rules site at the moment, but I'm going to go ahead and say, firmly, that you are not permitted to weigh the same pumpkin at the state fair and then in a GPC weighoff at a later date. Pumpkins weighed for a second time would be EXH class. I have witnessed this rule enforced on more than one occasion.

3/30/2017 12:46:26 PM

NE Arkansas

Orangeneck is correct from what I understand... If you double dip a fruit it must be weighed at a GPC first and non GPC second... not the other way around...

3/30/2017 1:04:27 PM

Woodward, Oklahoma

Thanks Orangeneck and Jilndley for that info I needed to know that. That was worst case scenario. I don't plan to only have one but you know it's not all up to me. Thanks guys! Matt-man nice story thanks for sharing.

3/30/2017 1:12:37 PM

Bethlehem CT

Many years ago I tied Mark Lombardi to the ounce at our local fair. Ever since then I leave the pumpkin on as long as I can.

3/30/2017 8:03:05 PM

Owensboro, Ky.

I have seen numerous AG's show up at weighoff sites w/main stems inside of gallon jug's of water. Theory being that the main vines keep on keepin on!! Any truth to this? Peace, Wayne

3/31/2017 1:32:21 AM

Colorado

They can suck up that water-haven't had one on a scale to know any actual weight changes

3/31/2017 2:36:27 AM

Eastern Pennsylvania

A few years ago Quinn Werner showed up at our weighoff with vines in two bags of bright blue water. I asked if that was some special nutrient mix. He told me his plan was to cut the stem later on to see if there was blue dye in there thus proving the concept. I never did ask him how that turned out though.

3/31/2017 10:09:46 AM

Woodward, Oklahoma

I would like to know if there was a blue dye.

3/31/2017 11:11:04 AM

Deer Park, WI

Fact: the movement of water/nutrients into a pumpkin is due to pressure differential. The pumpkin is a low-pressure environment (sink), the leaves are a high-pressure environment (source). If a pumpkin is actively gaining weight at the time of removal from the vine, this implies an active pressure differential in the plant. As such, the act of supplying a solution to the vine posts is rooted in logical thinking. Further, as the fruit continues to transpire post-separation, the process of evaporation of moisture will further lower the collective pressure of the cells, thus perpetuating the "vacuum".

It would be impossible to speculate on the force of this low pressure environment and translate that to how much water could be taken up by the vine posts. Regardless, the fact remains that it is entirely reasonable to pursue this tactic in the interest of preserving weight.

4/1/2017 9:47:34 AM

Deer Park, WI

another thought- Im sure everyone has noticed that immediately after severing vines, they begin to weep fluids. This is a combination of xylem fluid (water & nutrients taken up from the soil) and phloem fluid (water and sugar/starches made by leaves). This weeping effect is an active demonstration of the pressure effects in pumpkin plumbing. While a portion of this drainage is simply the effects of entropy (water draining from a fire hose no longer under pressure), a portion is also positive pressure equalization (this can also be observed in "foamers").

Here's the practical implication of this thought stream- It would seem advisable to get the vine posts into a solution as quickly as possible following cutting. As the plumbing will begin to equalize as soon as a cut is made, the tubes may begin to draw air. It doesnt take a PhD to understand that air into the pumpkin will not help the cause.

Thus, for those looking to preserve every ounce, transitioning the vine posts into a solution should be the very first decision following cutting of the vine.

4/1/2017 9:57:23 AM

Upa Creek, MO

Agreed Big Moon

4/1/2017 10:03:29 AM

Eganville, Ontario

I used large jugs last year after I cut my fruit and loaded. They were hard plastic so once I got the fruit on the trailer, I wrestled the two vine ends into their own jug and stood the jugs up flat on the trailer and filled them up.

I wouldn't have believed it but you could almost see the water drop for the first couple of minutes. There's certainly a taper after an hour where you don't really see much more water movement. Each jug dropped about a half gallon that evening. Not much after that.

I don't think you'll gain weight but I wanted to minimize the weight loss. Glad I did. The 1800.5 reading on the scale looked a lot better than 1799.

4/2/2017 6:48:00 PM