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South of Buffalo

Its a common practice to set multiple fruit on the main then pick one later on. When I have done this in the past the 1st set is the one I end up keeping. Any thoughts on whether that first set shifts the plants physiology making the first set the best(obviously if it stays healthy).
i am asking because:
I have an 1872 female at 12 ft(opening probably by 6-17) but only 7 secondary's each side, the next female will be at about 16 feet with about 11 secondary's(opening probably last week of june-its in the main tip)alot more plant behing it.
should i even bother pollinating the 12 foot female as it may be predisposed to being better than the 2nd set.
thanks

6/14/2013 3:28:16 PM

Menomonie, WI ([email protected])

Better to have females set then remove..than to not have any females at all...I did this one year...

6/14/2013 4:02:36 PM

43.841677 , -79.086692

If you just wanna grow big pumpkins, set multiple and keep the most aggressive. If you want a chance at state record, weighoff winner, world record etc, set one and go balls to the wall. Setting multiples puts you back 100 pounds by the time you decide and also reconfigures plant physiology.

6/14/2013 4:20:59 PM

Lodi, California

How To cull by Ron Wallace

"As you can see from the background image, we had 3 fruit set on our 1068 plant."

"If the number 3 pumpkin is growing at a faster rate than the number 1 pumpkin, you have chosen the wrong pumpkin"

6/14/2013 6:16:03 PM

Sourthern Utah

i multi pollinate,, after about a week of measurin grow rate,, i make the choice

6/14/2013 7:06:43 PM

Zurich, Ontario Canada

I'll be honest!! Besides culling for a bad shape, I beleive picking out your best one is just shit luck!! You can never prove other wise because you have no other kin left on the plant to compare with. Growers have theories on this but that is all they are. I'm not saying anyones wrong, but that is just my own opinion. I do agree with pickeringchris. If you wait too long you already waisted alot of growing juice on kins that you never intended on keeping, rather than putting toward your trophy kin.

6/14/2013 8:47:22 PM

East Jordan, MI

I totally agree with Shannon. You cant grow it if you cant get a set.

We always pollinate everything on the main until we get one that we know is going to go, we usually know within the first 10-12 days, and it would be really hard to imagine (scary even) one growing any faster within those 10 days with less on the vine.

I also believe that the plant is designed to support multiple fruit, so in my opinion those few days until you decide which one is "the one" is not going to change the overall outcome by 100s of lbs. As far as changing the plants physiology, I'm not sure that is a bad thing. In some of my observations, when you have multiples on and cut all but one, the plant really concentrates on the one that is left (vines, roots, and leaves get bigger around the remaining pumpkin, and less new plant growth occurs). After all the plants entire existance revolves around getting a fruit to maturity.

I will say it is very hard to cut the first one off because it is usually bigger, but if the second one is growing at nearly the same rate or better, that's the one I like to take if everything else (shape, position) is good.

Good Luck.

6/14/2013 9:22:16 PM

Cincinnati,OH

I pollinate everything until I have a pumpkin set, generally speaking shortly after day 15 you can tell. Once I get my 1st set I go with it.
For me it usually is the 2nd one on the vine at least 10 feet out.

6/14/2013 9:30:01 PM