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Joliet, IL

i was just curious about how the inside of a 3 lobed pumpkin has looked to others who may have grown them and did the pumpkin go light or heavy. in a normal year i would have culled it and tried the next one down the line. this hot year made me stay with the only one that successfully took from 10 to 30 feet on the main, which was the 3 lober. the thing about it is that it started out normal and long and round more like a watermelon. but as it got past 30 days it formed these massive bulging ribs over 1 foot wide now. the whole pumpkin consists of 4 huge bulging ribs with the top one that is massive. it only tapes out at 313"ott, but if it goes 20 percent heavy that would put it about 780 lbs based on the 2005 chart. my other pumpkin has been cut off the vine for over 3 weeks and has probably lost about 25 pounds sitting there. besides this, it had major stem drippage and mush starting about day 60 that was healed and dripped and healed and dripped until i cut it off 3 weeks ago to dry out the stem thoroughly. so i imagine it will go light. it is estimated about 780 lbs and my gut says it will come in about 700-725 lbs. so now i have to choose which will be heavier when entering one into the weigh off. i am bringing both for official weights, but i have to decide which is my official entry. i will ask my lifters for opinions which feels heavier as we lift them, but i am not sure which one to enter. right now i am sticking with the bigger ott pumpkin, but if the interior of a 3 lober is known to have more flesh and less cavity by nature besides these huge bulging ribs it also has, i might go with the ole' tres loberos. any experince and statistical knowledge on 3 lobers would be greatly appreciated.
shazzy

9/28/2005 5:01:50 PM

Mill Bay, British Columbia

Shazzy, no direct experience with 3 lobers but I'd say that it will go heavy around 8%. Hope I'm wrong and it is thick as a brick.

Good luck, looking forward to the result.

9/28/2005 11:33:00 PM

Utah

my personal opinion is that the number of lobes has no effect on the weigh of the fruit or the % heavy or light.

9/29/2005 11:15:58 AM

Ohio

Gordon, does each lobe usually have a section inside the pumpkin where the seeds are? so 3 lobes only gives him 3 spots in the pumpkin for seed,rather then a 5 lobe would have 5 sections for a line of seeds inside meaning more seeds? Wouldnt it go heavyies with more seeds?,or is this not always the case.

9/29/2005 11:48:44 AM

Netherlands

I have noticed on many pumpkins that seeds in the lobes and too few lobes have caused parts of the pumpkin to be misformed. I grew three this year all with a different amount of lobes 6/5/4. The six is perfectly formed, the five doesn't bulge on one side but does on the other and the 4 is hollow on one side and bulges on the other.
I have no idea if this is coincidence or not but I have noticed it on many other pumpkins as well.
Who knows the real story?

9/29/2005 1:21:57 PM

Utah

I just think that lobes are tubes that carry the pollen into the female flower. but I could be wrong... I haven't really studies the shape like Brad mentions.

9/30/2005 2:32:01 PM