From

Location

Message

Date Posted

On top of Brush Mountain, Pa.

Well, the 1469 Checkon was carved and opened today. There were fewer than 100 seeds inside. So, all of you guys wanting a 1469 Checkon, you are not very likely to get one. Most of the seeds were apparently undeveloped. This same thing happened with the 1131 Checkon which had no seeds at all. This did not stop someone from selling 1131 Checkon seeds on E-Bay. (Hear me, Next-Biggie?) Also the walls of the pumpkin were extremely thin. When it was opened Larry said he could see light showing through the areas of internal cracks which had somehow been able to endure even a trip to New York. Stay tuned.

10/31/2005 6:15:19 PM

Newcastle England

out of pure ignorance, what would the reason be to get so few seeds out of such a big fruit.peter

10/31/2005 6:22:58 PM

Western NY

peter - it may be a soil thing, or the weather. i've heard of some other big ones with few or no seeds at all this year.

10/31/2005 6:36:52 PM

Hanover,Ontario,Canada

I opened an 891 squash grown by Chris Lyons on the weekend and the same thing here , very few mature seeds. I did open one of my own as well and probably two full cullanders of very large seeds. This was the 1260 Weir crossed with my own 709.5 . Go figure. Dave McCallum

10/31/2005 7:49:04 PM

Rhode Island

i think whatever caused the problems growers had getting pollinations to take is the same reason for the low mature seed count ( and sometimes low seed count only )
personally i tend to think that

1. if its a problem segregated between say ohio/pa to say ri / ma then it could be weather related
2. if its happening all over the place then you go must look at the genetics and strains that have been developed over the last couple years ( ever see so many pumpkins 1,000 and up? )

we may be forcing our plants to stay in the fruit development stage (CALCIUM-FISH-KELP AND OTHER GROWTH PRODUCTS )longer than normal, possibly causing this

and, while the fruit strains to continue producing bulk its not producing or maturing its offspring

dick

10/31/2005 8:50:04 PM

[email protected]

I've said it before & I'll say it again; I believe the seedless Pumpkin has the greatest potential to go heavy.

10/31/2005 9:07:50 PM

Northern Cambria, Pa.

We counted the good seeds tonight and it looks like about 180 mature ones out of well over 600 total. That's 180 better than the 1131 anyway but not even close to enough for all of the requests coming in.

10/31/2005 10:05:54 PM

Eugene,OR

It'd be fine with me if I grew a world record pumpkin in my patch and it only had 100 seeds in it! I'd gladly trade extra weight for fewer seeds...

10/31/2005 10:08:29 PM

Mill Creek West by god Virginia

larry im glad you at least got some good seed from the 1469 boy hopefully next season the walls of youre next giant will be thick and the only light you will see will be from the opening of it! larry ill never forget standing beside the 1469 for a ole hillbilly that was a thrill of a lifetime cant wait for 06 to get to see youre next monster! god bless ya keith

11/1/2005 1:33:02 AM

Puyallup, WA

Seems I remember reading somewhere that some fat people have reproduction problems....sounds like it might run in pumpkins as well! :>)

11/1/2005 2:10:02 AM

Hayes, Virginia

oh well guess i have to cross my 1354 with the 1242 not a total loss... :}
Ed

11/1/2005 4:02:52 PM

Ohio

Ed, cross it with a 845,LoL

11/1/2005 6:33:01 PM

Alaska

Hey Larry didn't Gerry's 1999 WR pumpkin have the same problem Few viable seeds or no seeds? Are you still using Ironite? If Letterman calls are ya gonna go again? Later Scott.

11/2/2005 7:09:11 PM

Aloha, Oregon

If larry is still using Ironite I would suggest at least having a year off it.!
Thats Just my opinion.
Thanks,
Jordan

11/2/2005 7:31:12 PM

On top of Brush Mountain, Pa.

Any other suggestions for Larry who just broke the world record Next-Biggie?? Already you are an expert after only being here about a month?

11/2/2005 7:46:29 PM

Garden

I now believe someone is playing a joke.

11/2/2005 8:17:07 PM

Pembroke, New Hampshire

There's a lot of hostility towards The-next-biggie. He has as much right as anyone to post comments and questions. You can choose to ignore them, but I'd rather not see this continuos flow of negatism towards him. This site is dedicated to helping people grow pumpkins, even if they've been on this site for a day, month or year. We can all learn something by getting involved in the subject matter, but we'll all be lessened somewhat if we have to step on others in our own climb to the top. I haven't grown giant pumpkins all that long, but the excitment I feel is real and contagious when I'm doing it. Let's keep the sarcasm out, and support everyone who is trying to learn, no matter how they need to do it. This is too good a web site to be cheapened in this way.
I apologize to The-next-biggie if any offense has been felt by the various comments flying around. I would ask the web master of this site to mediate this issue somewhat. I also apologize if Jordan is a female, as I've just realized I've been assuming you are male. Who know's, you may really be able to grow the next world record pumpkin. God knows, I dream about it myself.

11/2/2005 8:25:02 PM

Garden

Yeah, I'm still suspicious. No hostility though

11/2/2005 8:44:32 PM

On top of Brush Mountain, Pa.

I personally have no problem with Next-Biggie as a person but I do have a problem with advice being given without basis. I wonder if we might get an explanation from NB as to why Larry Checkon should stop using Ironite and exactly how Ironite is responsible for his not getting as many seeds as were expected. There are, as stated, a lot of new growers here who depend on the information they receive. Also is it fair to Ironite to condemn the product if there is no solid reason to do so? Also I don't know many girls named Jordon but maybe I am not getting out all that much. And I see no problem with sarcasm as it is a form of communication. I believe all of the honest growers here do support one another and I would hope they all continue to do so. Pumpkin growers are on the whole a friendly helpful group who like to do it in the dirt. I just bought 30 pounds of Ironite and I will be putting it in my patch in the Spring. If it is good enough for the new world record holder, I think I'll give it a try. If I get a 1500 pound pumpkin I won't be upset if there are only 100 or so seeds inside. I doubt many of us have that many friends anyway.

11/2/2005 9:39:33 PM

Alaska

I wasn't implying any connection between Ironite and a lack of seeds. That seed thing sounds genetic to me.
http://www.envirolaw.org/poison.html

11/4/2005 3:55:59 PM

On top of Brush Mountain, Pa.

Hey Spudley. Do you by any chance grow potatoes?

11/5/2005 7:29:36 AM

Alaska

Did for about 15 years then moved on to other things. Why? Scott.

11/5/2005 2:19:31 PM

On top of Brush Mountain, Pa.

No reason. Just looked at the name and figured it was about potatoes.
Marv

11/6/2005 9:24:36 AM

Aloha, Oregon

im a male.

12/5/2005 8:59:50 PM