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Location

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Upper Strasburg, PA

Does anyone have a pumpkin left to weigh in the old seed contest? We have Brett Cooper in first place after the major weigh-off weekend.

10/7/2019 8:46:01 PM

Grittyville, WA

I tried as best I could. My plant and my growing was no match for Brett's. 220 lb on the 895 Nesbitt 2002.

As far as genetics goes, it never put out really promising shaped pumpkins. That may have been my fault because I have seen where more minerals can throw fuller shapes. Its possible a mole or vole was under the plant most of the summer so maybe it was not a fair trial. Brett's attempt was much better.

10/8/2019 5:40:29 PM

Cornelius, Oregon

I have one more on the 1075 Daletas to weigh in, although pointless for the competition, it is still fun to see. Its just a little girl, but should still have seeds.

10/9/2019 11:36:11 AM

Upper Strasburg, PA

Cool. I had no luck with germination, but when I tested my 141 seed from 2006, it was 5/8. The germination rate seems to really fall off a cliff around 15 years. If we do this again next year, maybe we should do 12+ yr seeds rather than 15+. We should be able to get more pumpkins to the scale that way. I’ll post something after this week’s weigh-offs to find out what everyone’s experience was. It would be interesting to see what the germination rates were and what methods worked the best and how plants compared to plants from contemporary seeds.

10/9/2019 11:48:12 AM

Cornelius, Oregon

Sounds good. This was the second year I have done old seeds, so at least in germination, I had an advantage going in. It was all about germination... Throw a hoard of old seeds into multiple germination medias and hope for the best... 404 seeds over the 2 years, only 4 have germinated, and only 2 produced anything that hit a scale with seeds in it that were worth a darn.

10/9/2019 1:29:51 PM