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Maine

You guys have helped her with losing her main vine, cheered her on when it stopped growing for 3 days, helped with sap problems....but "Sophia" stopped a week ago (weighoff Sept 30) at 519, and a local pro found out why...in a deep ridge, a teeny-tiny hole that a piece of hay can fit down into....about a foot...we're covering, keeping Sophia dry, and hoping to keep her from rotting for 19 more days...so frustrating!!!

9/10/2012 5:35:10 PM

Maine

and hoping she doesn't get disqualified.....

9/10/2012 5:36:02 PM

Annapolis Valley Nova Scotia

Sorry to burst your bubble, but you are doomed unless you can fill the hole!

9/10/2012 6:09:19 PM

Maine

but we're told if we fill it with anything, she is disqualified, so it's a lose/lose situation...

9/10/2012 6:22:44 PM

Stanwood, Washington

I am pretty sure you are disqualified either way unless you lie about it and they don't find the hole when they are examining it. Take it anyway and have it weighed as an exhibition just for fun. Plug up the hole. I had a major blossom split which I packed with Silicone and it packed on another 205 Pounds before it stopped.

9/10/2012 6:35:24 PM

Maine

Yeah, I get it - hard to see her so frustrated. Lying isn't a way to teach her PLUS, the "pro" who found it is A) a friend and B) one of the two officials at the Maine weighoff!! He said he's seen it before, keep it dry, and it can make it. I think she's done - hoping they'll at least weigh it so she knows she got her PB in her third year!

9/10/2012 6:50:49 PM

Omaha, Ne.

sorry to here:(

9/10/2012 8:24:27 PM

Maine

thanks, all of you....stupid hole is literally the diameter of a piece of hay...on a pumpkin taping 285 OTT....will cover & keep dry for 18 days and see....ugh.

9/10/2012 8:29:25 PM

So. Maine

For any chance of making it till the end of the month you need to plug the hole ASAP , no matter how small . Air has gotten inside and has started the rotting process .

9/10/2012 8:50:13 PM

Maine

got it, Wait Til Next Year...here's a thought for ALL of us..that was the area that kept throwing gooey gel/sap, and everyone (including us) believed that cleaning it out with bleach solution, hydrogen peroxide, etc, and drying it would help...maybe if we'd let the sap "plug" stay, it would've avoided the air getting in? Something to think about next year for us all....what a crapshoot, huh? Moving to FL next month for good....maybe I'll try it myself down there!! Or not....

9/10/2012 9:06:19 PM

West [email protected]

Sorry for your lose but it's better to have grown and lost than to have never grown at all, corny yes but it's all I had.......lol

9/10/2012 9:59:36 PM