From

Location

Message

Date Posted

Kutztown, PA

I've read and Youtubed a bunch of stuff regarding how folks select which baby fruit to keep and which to cull. Some suggest a long stem and elongated body while others like a more symmetrical looking shape. A lot of folks seem to make the choice based on position only. To add to the list of possible reasons to go thumbs down I think any damage, even minor might be a reason to "chop" it. In the mix I've also heard that round babies might turn into "bird baths" and football shaped pumpkins may collapse in the middle. Here I must say: Not one grower indicated that any certain shape pumpkin will turn into a carriage. This year I've made/making my choices primarily based on recommendations related to the number of secondary vines behind the pumpkin. I'd be interested to know what folks here consider qualifying and disqualifying phenotypes. What are some of the characteristic's you like and don't like, and how heavily do you weight them? If you say all of the above consider yourself smacked upside the head! :)

6/22/2022 1:38:38 PM

Western Massachusetts

Base it off distance from stump for an optimal "sink" to take place, position on vine & then secondaries behind fruit. Shape nearly always changes from baby pumpkin to 1000+ lber, # of lobes doesn't seem to matter much either (as long as seeds are non existent in the blossom end I never worry about the lobe count). Hopefully someone else chimes in and says anything I may have forgotten about.

6/22/2022 2:59:57 PM

From what I gather you want to avoid one that is growing too close parallel to the vine and also the fastest growing one in the best position taking into account number of vines, preferred shape and usually very early on you can see misshapes appearing on a small scale and that will express itself much more as pumpkin gets bigger
I am not a grower of huge pumpkins but the shape will manifest even on my giant "peas"

6/22/2022 4:26:57 PM

Grittyville, WA

On a patch scale, I think the ones with good heavy genetics and nice shape might measure out as being a little slower at first. Whereas I had one that surprised me how fast it was growing... and it turned out to be a helium balloon. Other slower pumpkins Ive grown deserved more attention than they got, and in reality, that fast grower deserved less attention.

6/22/2022 5:32:37 PM

Grittyville, WA

I should say "steady, heavy" genetics. I think you can develop an intuition about which ones will be a flash in the pan vs which ones are going win the race.

6/22/2022 5:36:12 PM

Colorado

Gar once your waiting on the choosen one you only get about three tries at a set in the golden window.You dont get to be very picky. I would only cull if it had seeds in the blossum otherwise im going with a location and time frame qualifiers that sets.

6/22/2022 10:21:44 PM

Muddy Waters

Its Always a crap shoot. Some things cant be figured early on.This is like trying to figure out which child will be your biggest adult at at 2 weeks old.I agree with Cojoe.The shapes of pumpkins can change in a few short days from round to Cart wheel.I dont agree with the long shape collapsing at all.So Its a crap shoot.Dont miss a watering it will cause a split even when small.

6/23/2022 6:56:11 AM

Kutztown, PA

Thanks for chiming in!

This is how I decided this year - hope it works.

Plant 1 - I kept the one 15' out on the vine (pollinated June 15th) and chopped the one that was 12' out (pollinated on June 11th) so there'd be more plant to push it when it starts growing.

Plant 2 - I'm keeping the first one pollinated. It has 12 secondary vines on each side before the pumpkin. (pollinate June 15th)

Plant 3 - this plant had problems early on. When it had 5 secondary vines on each side the main had a melt down, i.e. All new growth (about 4 more secondary vines on each side, and the main) became balled up blobs with leaves not opening. Main was still growing but as I said the leaves where not opening. I hacked it off and went with the last secondary. I pollinated the first pumpkin that popped out of it on June 17th. That secondary vine (now my main) and all others are now growing well.

Plant 4 - I pollinated the first pumpkin that popped on (June 22, yesterday) at 15'. If it takes I'll keep it. Funny thing is this plant was put in the ground 10 days after the others but is now equal in sized, has more secondary vines than any and looks better. So I guess you can say, I've made my choices based on the distance from the stump and other circumstance beyond my control. Feel free to tell me if I've gone wrong here.

6/23/2022 9:05:56 AM

Torrance, Ca.

Bubba and I agree on something! I love those long shaped footballs! They've always done well for me! Big, fat and heavy!

6/23/2022 9:44:37 AM