Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 91 Entries. Monday, January 27 View Page Seeds are starting to arrive in the mail! Here is a picture of the germination chamber my advisor made. It is made from a striped freezer/fridge combo, a bathroom exhaust fan, a dryer hose, 2 incandescent light bulbs, and a thermostat. The lights are used as the heat source. The hot air is circulated into the lower unit by the exhaust fan and dryer hose.   Monday, January 27 View Page I found 6-8 black widows plus an egg sack while I was doing my fall patch prep... INTRUDERS BEWARE.   Monday, January 27 View Page Thank you for the two 220.3 DeBacco seeds Matt. I plan on teaming up with one of the other SW Missouri growers this year. I will grow one of the 220s and he will grow the other.   Monday, January 27 View Page Seed shot.   Monday, January 27 View Page Thank you Andy for the 901 Wolf seeds. I will grow several of these in the genetics patch. I plan on using the 1357.5 Sevens as the pollinator for all of the crosses. Goal is to produce seed stock that: Goes 15% over the chart on a consistent basis, has a good fruit shape, and has good vigor.   Monday, January 27 View Page WOW. Andy told me he would send a few... I received 8! Thanks again   Monday, January 27 View Page I'm trying to get my dad into competitive growing, but he thinks that pumpkins are too much work. I am going to start him on something small, and we can work our way up to pumpkins. Thanks to Steve Wescott for the 3.9 Wescott (7.33 Hunt X self) tomato seeds.   Tuesday, January 28 View Page Winter research project? Starting 45 Atlantic Giant seeds Starting 80 (C. lundelliana X maxima) hybrid seeds Starting 10 (C. pepo)zucchini/bush type seeds   Wednesday, January 29 View Page Snake oil.   Wednesday, January 29 View Page !DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME! Colchicine is a chemical that interrupts cellular division converting diploids to polyploids. It is TOXIC. Diploids (2n) have two sets of chromosomes. One set from the mother and one set from the father. Polyploids are cells or organisms with more than two sets of chromosomes. Examples are tetraploids (4n) or octoploids (8n). Dimethyl Sulfoxide (DMSO) is a very strong solvent that can dissolve both polar and nonpolar compounds. DMSO penetrates skin, gloves and cellular membranes readily and carries dissolved compounds with it. * DMSO can be a very useful tool, but extreme care must be taken when handling it… ESPECIALLY if toxic compounds such as colchicine are dissolved in it. TWEEN 80 is a surfactant and an emulsifier. This compound will help break down any lipids/waxes that would prevent the DMSO/colchicine solution from passing into the meristematic tissue.   Wednesday, January 29 View Page We can grow 200 plants at one time. Each cell is 6" deep and an inch and a half wide. This should be enough room to give the (C. lundelliana x maxima) hybrids up to 3 weeks of growth before they become root bound. Three weeks will give us ample time to treat the seedlings with the colchicine solution.   Wednesday, January 29 View Page To: The Pumpkin Growing Community Before I get too far into this project I thought that it would be good to explain what I am doing, and why I am doing it. As most of you know several attempts have been made at producing tetraploids. As I understand it the results were marginal. The goal for previous tetraploid experiments was to produce plants that could outcompete diploids. Several studies have been published that would suggest tetraploid AGs might have slower vegetative growth making them less competitive. That being said I am not creating tetraploids in the hopes of breaking any records. This project is part of my undergraduate research, which I hope to publish by the end of the year. The goal for my undergrad research is to produce double haploids within the Cucurbita genus. I am producing tetraploids in order to fine tune the procedure and chemical concentrations needed to induce polyploidy in haploid plantlets. Double haploids will be used to accelerate my interspecific breeding program. Again I do not plan on producing giants from my breeding program it is solely for academic research. I hope you guys enjoy watching my progress this winter. More to come in a few days.   Wednesday, February 12 View Page January/30/2014   Wednesday, February 12 View Page The seedlings were treated with colchicine a total of five times. Treatments occurred every twelve hours. (February 6th to February 8th)   Sunday, March 2 View Page Trying long gourds for the first time. Thanks for the seeds Todd.   Sunday, March 2 View Page Robin thanks for the seeds. I hope they grow some nice shiny green squash.   Sunday, March 2 View Page 192 seeds 100% germination   Sunday, March 2 View Page Tetraploid Experiment: Control Group Note- there is no chlorosis or burn on the cotyledons. True leaves appear normal.   Sunday, March 2 View Page Tetraploid Experiment: Control Group Note- Normal appearance.   Sunday, March 2 View Page Tetraploid Experiment: Test Group 1 (high dose) Note- Chlorosis and burn on the cotyledons. Severe burn of the apical meristem. This is how all of the test groups looked post treatment.   Sunday, March 2 View Page Tetraploid Experiment: Test Group 1 (High Dose) Close up of the apical meristem.   Sunday, March 2 View Page Tetraploid Experiment: Test Group 2 (Medium Dose) Note- extreme burn on the cotyledons. True leaves started regenerating after 1-2 weeks. They are abnormal in appearance.   Sunday, March 2 View Page Tetraploid Experiment: Test Group 3 (Low Dose) Note- Thick stem. Mutated and burned leaves.   Wednesday, March 5 View Page Here is the pumpkin that I grew in 2009 off of the 1041 McKie. It was crossed with a 664 Liggett.   Wednesday, March 5 View Page This was grown from the 676 Wells in 2011. UOW 576 (676 Wells X self) +27%. Would have been classified as a pumpkin. There were no seeds.   Wednesday, March 5 View Page Cross section   Wednesday, March 5 View Page Tetraploid Experiment: A seedling that failed to regenerate after being treated with a high dose of colchicine.   Wednesday, March 5 View Page Tetraploid Experiment: Control.   Wednesday, March 5 View Page Tetraploid Experiment: Regeneration after an intermediate treatment with colchicine.   Wednesday, March 5 View Page Entry 28 is actually a treated plant that has regenerated. Here is a picture of the control. The spots on the older leaves are from whiteflies.   Friday, March 7 View Page A diagram showing the compatibility between species in the genus Cucurbita. Source U.C. Davis, Dr. C.F. Quiros. My research focuses on the bridging species C.lundelliana and its relationship with the 5 cultivated species. It is a misconception that C. maxima will not produce interspecific hybrids. AGs can potentially hybridize with any of the other four cultivated species, and the wild species C.lundelliana. The problem with many of these crosses is F1 sterility.   Sunday, March 16 View Page March 16, 2014: Started my tomato plants. 5X 5.11 Wescott (5.416 Harp X Open) 5X 3.9 Wescott (7.33 Hunt X Open)   Friday, March 21 View Page Squash Lineup 1040.6 Van Rompaey (792 Olsen X 881 Beauchemin) 980 Razo (985 Hester X 771 Stellpflug) 895 Hester (900 Lyons X Sib) 767 Johansson (611 Gadberry X Self) 720 Halbert (767 Johansson X Self) 636 Blalock (625.5 Welty X 748.5 Koch) 552 Sherwood (895 Hester X Sib)   Sunday, March 30 View Page Getting ready to autoclave the anther culture media. It contains MS salts, agar, auxins, and cytokinins.   Sunday, March 30 View Page Anther culture media after being pored into petri dishes.   Sunday, March 30 View Page Immature pollen must be used for anther culture. I will try to isolate pollen in the mononucleate microspore stage.   Sunday, March 30 View Page Microspore extraction   Sunday, March 30 View Page Stained at 400X magnification   Sunday, March 30 View Page Unstained at 1000X magnification   Sunday, March 30 View Page The tetraploid experiment is going well. I will try to post pictures of the stomata from the treated and non-treated plants. The stomata are very hard to see, because they are only 5 micrometers tall and 10-15 micrometers wide. For reference there are 1000 micrometers in one millimeter. If the experiment worked the treated plants should have larger stomata with more chloroplast.   Sunday, March 30 View Page Spring/summer cover crop.   Friday, April 4 View Page It is possible to preserve Trichoderma for longer than the 6 month shelf life of rootshield. This culture is from spores that were kept refrigerated in deionized water for several years. Trichoderma reesei.   Friday, April 4 View Page This is an image of our Trichoderma viride stock culture sporulating. Like T. harzianum (rootshield), T. viride also has fungicidal properties and can be used as a biocontrol agent.   Friday, April 4 View Page A picture of the stomata as promised. This is at 1000X magnification. It is very difficult to see the chloroplast within the guard cells. I will have to use a different microscope to get an accurate chloroplast count... in order to determine if any tetraploids were produced.   Thursday, April 10 View Page 220 Debacco plant 1   Monday, April 14 View Page 220 Debacco (plant 1) germinated in less than 48 hours. This is it two days after germination sitting under my LED grow light.   Monday, April 14 View Page 220 Debacco (plant 2).   Sunday, April 20 View Page Pollen in the pluripotent stage dividing to produce haploid plantlets. There is an earlier post that shows what normal mature pollen looks like.   Sunday, April 20 View Page 220 Debacco plant 2.   Sunday, April 20 View Page I gave Richard Bottorf the 220 Debacco (plant 2), I will be growing (plant 1).   Thursday, June 5 View Page 220 DeBacco with Iron and Clay cowpea cover crop starting to come up.   Thursday, June 5 View Page Behind the 220, side vines starting to run.   Monday, June 16 View Page Side view to show how dominant the main vine is on the 220. Think having more energy focused down the main will grow a bigger pumpkin? You can also see how I trench the side vines to promote root growth. I do not cover my vines with soil, but instead pin them down with kabob skewers.   Monday, June 23 View Page Down the main vine.   Tuesday, August 5 View Page One month after pollination. Fruit was pollinated at 24' on the main vine on June the 5th. It was an open pollination, however this was the only plant to my knowledge within many miles. Should be selfed.   Tuesday, August 19 View Page Plant has filled in to a little over 600 square feet. Only sprayed insecticide/ fungicide twice this year, but as you can see the leaves look healthy. Pumpkin is really starting to put on weight 30 + pounds a day. I'm really wishing that my irrigation system was set up with the hot weather, and big daily gains.   Wednesday, August 20 View Page Down the main vine.   Wednesday, October 1 View Page My girlfriend Sara made me a collage. Isn't she sweet.   Friday, October 3 View Page Lifting the pumpkin out of the patch. Darn tree is right in the way.   Friday, October 3 View Page Family and lifting crew. Chris thank you for operating the skid steer!   Friday, October 3 View Page Day before weighoff. Just sitting on the trailer lookin purdy.   Saturday, October 4 View Page Well we made it. This was my first weighoff and I was nervous.   Saturday, October 4 View Page Cousins came to the weighoff to show their support.   Saturday, October 4 View Page Final weight was 1079.5 pounds +11% heavy! Feeling good first weighoff and first pumpkin over 1000 pounds. Dad was proud.   Saturday, October 4 View Page Huge thanks to my grandparents for letting me use their backyard, and being so supportive. Wouldn't be able to grow pumpkins if it weren't for them.   Saturday, October 4 View Page Another big thanks to Richard Bottorf (denim jacket) for sharing his knowledge, and resources. Had it not be for him I'm sure the plant would have gone down to SVB or PM. Thank you Richard, great guy, great mentor.   Saturday, October 4 View Page 1st place what an amazing day, I can hardly believe it. Thank you Matt DeBacco the 220 grew me a new PB.   Saturday, October 4 View Page Doug English broke the bushel gourd world record. Congratulations 279.5 pounds, wow! Doug has to be one of the most modest and sincere people that I have ever met. It was a pleasure talking to you.   Saturday, October 4 View Page 279.5 English WR Gourd   Saturday, October 4 View Page Spence decided to come all the way from Alabama to weigh his pumpkin and watermelon. It was nice to finally be able to put a name with a face. Congratulations on your state record melon. Next Gen Growers.   Sunday, October 5 View Page So I went to remove the plant to begin fall patch prep. Three weeks before weighoff my pumpkin went from putting on 20 pounds per day to 5 or less. Found out why, darn stump rotted. Lesson learned.   Tuesday, October 7 View Page Truck load of home made leaf compost.   Wednesday, October 8 View Page Got my patch tilled.   Wednesday, October 15 View Page Got cover crop planted. It consists of turnips, winter rye, Austrian winter pea, borer radish and crimson clover.   Wednesday, October 15 View Page I thought that I would try something new next year and divide my patch into 4 sections. The first section would be 15' by 15' with the stump in the middle, and focus on fungal flora to promote myco. The second sections would be on the upper flanking sides of the 1st section, and would have lots of peat added to slow vine growth to promote fruit set. Third section would be the lower part of the patch, and would have high bacterial flora, as well as nitrogen and potassium to push fruit growth. The fourth section would be where the fruit sets, and would be a "dry zone". Don't know if this logic is sound or not. We will see if it works.   Monday, October 27 View Page I grew over 50 plants this summer for my research. There were five species total (C. lundelliana, C. maxima, C. mixta, C. moschata, and C. pepo) and one F1 hybrid (C.lundelliana X maxima). Please contact me if you would like additional photos, there are too many for me to post.   Monday, October 27 View Page An assortment of different female flowers.   Monday, October 27 View Page This is a typical leaf of my (C.lundelliana X maxima) F1. This is later on in the year, and all of the Atlantic Giants had moderate to severe PM. As you can see from the picture leaves are healthy as can be. The F1s produce "stunted" seeds were embryo rescue is sometimes required. Research done by others suggests my BC1s will have both immature and fully formed seeds. Only time will tell.   Monday, October 27 View Page The bottom is fruit of C. lundelliana. The top is the fruit of the F1 (lundelliana X 1488 Marsh).   Monday, October 27 View Page C. lundelliana cut in half. This species has crown rot, SVB, and PM resistance to name a few.   Monday, October 27 View Page Close up of C. lundelliana   Monday, October 27 View Page F1 (lundelliana X 1488 Marsh) cut in half   Monday, October 27 View Page Side by side.   Monday, October 27 View Page On the left is (C. lundelliana), in the middle is the F1 hybrid, and on the right is an Atlantic Giant seed.   Thursday, October 30 View Page Big thanks to Thomas Held for displaying my pumpkin at Stone Hill Winery for the last few weeks. We were able to raise over $1,400 for charity. Half of the proceeds will go to Make a Wish, and the other half will go to PUSH: The Ability Experience.   Thursday, October 30 View Page If you have other trait suggestions or are interested in breeding please contact me.   Monday, November 10 View Page Here is an embryo I rescued from my inter-specific F1 (lundelliana X maxima), should be back crossed with an AG. This is three days after being put on the media. The endosperm is still underdeveloped, but the root appears to be growing normally. I used 1X Murashige and Skoog supplemented with 200mM sucrose.   Tuesday, November 11 View Page This is embryo rescue after six days. Roots are developed and photosynthesis is starting to take place. Plantlets are now autotrophic, and can sustain themselves in sterile potting mix. Why is this necessary? A fully developed endosperm normally contains starches, fats, vitamins, minerals and proteins that the germinating embryo breaks down into food. Embryo rescue is required when the endosperm is underdeveloped, and lacks the necessary components to allow germination. The MS media provides vitamins and minerals, and the sugar provides energy. Protein supplements are sometimes required, depending on the developmental stage of the embryo.   Tuesday, November 11 View Page These are seeds from Cucurbita ecuadorensis. It is believed to be a feral species (once domesticated), and related to Cucurbita maxima. This species is resistant to the mosaic viruses, PM, and possibly SVB. I will have 4 seed lines to work with, and they should form mostly fertile hybrids with AGs.   Tuesday, November 11 View Page These are seeds from Cucurbita lundelliana. Wild species from Mexico and Guatemala. List traits from literature review include crown rot resistance, PM resistance, and SVB resistance. Likely has heat tolerance and virus resistance. I'm working with 9 seed lines. Will form partially fertile hybrids with AGs, embryo rescue may be required for a couple of generations.   Tuesday, November 11 View Page These are seeds from Cucurbita okeechobeensis subsp. martinezii aka C. martinezii. This species is thought to be closely related to C. lundelliana, and to my knowledge it has not been hybridized with C. maxima. It can grow in flooded areas, and has a similar resistance profile to C. lundelliana. It is interesting to note that C. okeechobeensis is the only Cucurbita species with white flowers. Have 5 seed lines to work with.