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Abbotsford, B.C

I once heard it said by someone that growing giant pumpkins is an art, with very little science involved. I can't help but agreeing with this statement. Tons of information is available if you want to learn how to grow giant pumpkins; this website, Don Langevin's books, other websites, and of course, other growers. One of the very first things you learn is that to start a giant pumpkin seed, the optimum air temperature is 85 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Sounds good, and for all of my pumpkin seeds, it has worked marvelously well. But is there actually any study that shows that this really is the case? The next thing you learn about is the pumpkin plant’s need for lots of sunlight. Makes sense. As any good gardener should know, the more sun, the more the plants grow. But again, is there any scientific study to actually show that this is true with giant pumpkins? From what I have been able to find (which isn't much), I doubt it. For most people, growing giant pumpkins is all about the art.

I was recently thinking about this. I am still in school, taking many science-related courses. I plan to go to university upon graduating and pursue more science-related studies. I was mulling over in my head a while back about having to do a science project, giant pumpkins, and science in general, when I hit upon a capital idea that I have termed, "The Giant Pumpkin Project". While this project would not be finished in time for the science project I was originally thinking of, it could still be entered in next years science fair. In addition, it would be something that I would enjoy working on, and with the cooperating of some of the other giant pumpkin lovers on bigpumpkins.com, I could produce a great project.

5/23/2006 9:52:38 PM

Abbotsford, B.C

The scientific question I am posing for this project is "What are the optimum conditions for growing a giant pumpkin plant?" Some of the topics I would cover are light, temperature, amount of water, humidity, temperature required for germination, fertilization requirements, you name it, I want to include it all. Obviously a project of this magnitude will take quite a large amount of time to do, which is why I am starting it right now, not the next time I have a science project due!

Now I'll bet you are wondering "What does this have to do with us?" Good question. What I am going to ask you to do is quite simple, and something any serious grower should be doing anyways. I would like any grower interested in participating in this project to simply download the grower pumpkin diary from www.mainepumpkins.com, and actually use it. Fill it out! Besides being of invaluable aid to my project, it will actually help make you a better grower. The ability to compare from year to year, know what you did wrong last year so you can change things THIS year are among the many benefits you will get from using it. At the end of the season (whenever that happens to be for you; for me it is the end of October), type up a quick paragraph of how your season went [what you amended the soil with, how the season progressed, any major damage that occurred to plant, pumpkins final weights, etc] and send it to my email at

[email protected]

5/23/2006 9:52:58 PM

Abbotsford, B.C

And another thing; I don't just have to have results from this year! I am sure there are growers out there who have already filled out such diaries/record keeping charts. PLEASE send them to me if you do! The more information that I can obtain, the better the project will be. As well, if you know about science experiments that have been done about giant pumpkins or other Curcurbita maxima species, I would love to see them. Just email the links and/or documents that tell about them to the email address I have shown above.

And finally, if you have any suggestions on how to improve the project, don't be afraid to speak up! While I have only touched on the highlights here as to what the project will contain, there may be something I have not thought of. Being the type of project it is, right now all I am involved in is data collection. Once I have the data, I will start looking through it all for patterns, making zone graphs for temperature, amount of sun, and other factors, as well as graphs relating all of the different factors involved in growing giant pumpkins to the final weight of the pumpkin. I may even include some probability calculations in the chart. Like I said before, I want this to be a complete project. All-encompassing. If I am able to carry through with my project, and it turns out quite well, it could be a useful aid to serious giant pumpkin growers to consult.

Thanks very much in advance to everybody who helps out in this project. Yours truly,

Cameron Carnegie

5/23/2006 9:53:10 PM

[email protected]

This is a great idea if time & available resources permit good data collection.

Rather than wasting time looking for just the ideal soil fertility levels, I would also focus on trying to collect late season tertiary growth from record breaking plants for submission to a plant tissue nutrient test. Foliar applied nutrients will nullify the appearance of soil nutrient trends.

Collecting actual Growing degree data from the annual highest producing patches would be another valuable standard. The "ideal orange belt" moves around every year. An ideal weather standard does exist....it just moves around with the trade winds.

Collecting annual pest pressure would make a logical addition but an "artistic" grower doesn't permit these pressures or their remedies to affect the outcome so their prescriptive treatments would also need to be recorded.

5/23/2006 11:23:36 PM

Abbotsford, B.C

Time and resources DO permit good data collection, Tremor. Thanks for your helpful comments. Seeing as I have two entire months where I have no school, I will have quite a bit of time to collect data during this time.

I am aware that the "artistic" grower does everything possible to nullify such variables such as pests. Since pests are not a part of what makes the "optimum growing conditions for giant pumpkins", they will not even be a part of my project; all I have to say there is that "pest-free conditions" are ideal. Though it might be good to have some data to back that up, true. Maybe a comparison of growers who were hit hard by pest invasions versus those who managed to keep theirs down versus those who managed to keep the pests under control.

Like I mentioned previously, I have started this early so that I have time to get other growers opinion, collect data, formulate ideas, etc.

And good point about the leaf tissue analysis; one question, do you know what the cost of such testing would be? If I am doing tissue analysis for numerous plant tissue samples, the costs could start adding up quickly.

Thanks again for your comments.

Cameron

5/24/2006 12:15:16 AM

Thornhill, Ontario, Canada

Isn't all good art supported by some good science? And, isn't most new science supported by some measure of art? You can't really split the two up.

In any case, this seems like a pretty ambitious project. A good one, but very broad. You can't really study every combination of every condition in every part of the world, can you? For example, maybe there is a place in Madagascar that has the absolute ideal environment for giant pumpkins (and lemurs). But, I don't thik that you can expect to find it. :-)

5/24/2006 12:15:33 AM

[email protected]

The lab work for a good tissue analysis (real commercial lab) is about $35US. It is the Next Day Air shipping costs that are so troubling....another $30US.

Maybe if you were able to establish some "cooperators" to serve as test subjects. Find the best growers from a broad geographical range & set up a protocol of reporting so that each one is collecting & submitting meaningful & consistant data.

Gerry & Larry Checkon, Jerry Rose, Al Eaton, Ron & Dick Wallace, Pete Glasier, Bruce Whittier, etc....just make sure to get a good representation from all over the "orange belt".

Maybe working through the various growers clubs might garner the greatest participation?

5/24/2006 12:46:23 AM

Little-TON - Colorado

Camera,
Good Luck on your project. I will assist with your data collection using the requested growers diary. I too have gone punkin crazy this year. I am anxious to see the results of this year. Along with 4 kins this year I have a tomatoe test patch with the same seeds fore and aft but am applying many of the recommendations from the fine folks from this site on the front half and not the back half, to see what effects the seaweed, fish and agro-K program and effort has. Looking forward to hearing more from your studies. All the Best .

5/24/2006 9:51:04 AM

Eastern Pennsylvania

I will repost what I stated last night on the genetics board since you are talking about it here. I know a bit about research studies.

Hi Cameron. I am assuming you are in high school. Let me be the first to congratulate you on your ambitious project. I see you are not in college yet though. Do you know what an abstract is? That would be where you give a brief summary of the type of study you plan on conducting, and state your hypothesis for the study. Scientists do this if they are applying for a research grant. You are concentrating on a data research/modeling type of study as opposed to an experimental type. That is wise considering the type of plants we grow. I would like to try and persuade you to limit this study to a certain aspect of growth (or other aspect). Legitimate studies, those worthy of peer reviewed journals, are only concerned with one single point of interest. Most projects are deemed inconclusive if they try to encompass too many factors. So, long story long, I will help you with your project but please don't go overboard. Send me an email if you have questions about scientific method. Often times, designing the project takes longer than it does to complete it. What grade are you in and what type of science fair are we talking about? Jim Gerhardt

5/24/2006 3:01:25 PM

Abbotsford, B.C

So I am hearing reports saying that the project idea is too broad? I was thinking that focusing in on simply one aspect of growing giant pumpkins, e.g., sunlight for instance, would not be of enough interest to an audience not familiar with growing giant pumpkins. The audience, of course, being the judges at the science fair; (and hopefully more science fairs!). To create more interest and be more "complete", I wanted to do a more expansive project. Like I said before, I will have quite a bit of time to work on this project during the summer. There is no rush; I am thinking of having it finished sometime next year!

Another idea I had was trying my best to focus in on single factors when writing the report for my project. For example, out of all the amount of data that I will have, I will analyze ONE factor, for instance, sunlight. I will compare amount of sunlight received to final fruit size. Next, I will compare another factor, again by itself, say, for instance, temperature compared to final fruit weight. By isolating the various factors, it will be easier to spot trends in the data. I do not plan on finding conclusive evidence; just building a strong case is good enough.

So, I am hearing some good feedback here, thanks to all who have replied. Still sounding out for suggestions here; for example, if I were to narrow my project somewhat, exactly WHAT would I narrow it to?

And Jim Gerhardt; you are right, I am not doing an experimental study; even if I had all the time in the world, I simply do not have the space or resources to conduct and experimental project! I was thinking more of a research project/questionnaire project; that is, growers supply info about their growing techniques, the weather, etc, just like they were answering a questionnaire. Oh, while I remember it, what do you mean that projects "are deemed inconclusive?" Would you mind explaining that just a bit?

Thanks again,

Cameron

5/24/2006 10:55:21 PM

Nashville, TN

Actually there have been some studies that have been done on these topics. You must sort through a lot of Scientific Abstracts in the journals. Though, quite a few of them will be dealing with the 'lesser Maximas' - since it is of Commercial interest for Farmers to find the best methods to maximize growth and production. But, since it's the same species as GPs - it can be extrapolated that the same nutritional requirements, etc are neccessary for optimum growth.

To do a truly scientific study - say, on Temperature requirements - you would utilize a controlled environment (greenhouse with heating & air strictly controlled and monitered) and grow a number of genetically similiar plants (from same seed stock usually) -one set as 'controls' - and several other sets under various conditions...

Last year I did a little study on which varieties could handle the hotter climate of TN.. Started with a couple dozen GPs from sources across the US. Fortunantly for me - the climate truly went 'extreme' with record heat and drought conditions... Since soil was identical throughout the patch - and the plants all had to face the identical weather & sun conditions... The genetic differences between the varieties was the one variable....

This year, I am starting a long-term study about color inheritance. First, you have to research through the databases and find out IF your topic has already been studied - and IF your topic is similiar but has a marked difference.. Then you're on to something..... It took me a while - but I've found research showing White to be a dominant gene .. Since the White GP varieties that I've come across came from two ORANGE parents - I knew I had something slightly different to study....

I congratulate you on your budding scientific curiosity! It will take you a long way! If you would like to contact me privately - I will tell you where to look for previous research on your topic of interest.

5/26/2006 9:07:43 AM

Nashville, TN

I do have an idea to suggest for you to try.... Since you've already looked into germination recommendations - but can't find any studies on the topic - why don't you do one yourself?? It'd be fairly easy, cheap, quick, and make for a VERY good Science fair project...

Here's a few guidlines I'd suggest:

Obtain 40-50 seeds from the SAME Pumpkin... or more if you can.. Split them in groups of 5-10. Try the different techniques of germination with each group. Should cost less than $100 for supplies (seed starting flats, heating pads, plastic bags, etc.....) Won't take up so much space that your parents will get aggrivated.. And the whole experiment should take less than 1-3 weeks - leaving you plenty of time to sort through the data, summarize and make your conclusion and theory.

If you need some seeds - I've got enough to supply this project.

5/26/2006 9:14:36 AM

Eastern Pennsylvania

Camera, sorry I haven't replied, I am strapped for time. I don't even have time to read the posts here but I will get back to you. Give me a few days. Jim

5/28/2006 4:48:48 PM

Abbotsford, B.C

Ditto here; last few days I have been a bit busy, and I haven't checked bigpumpkins.com

Thanks for replying scienceteacher. It's obvious that you know what you are talking about! I will definitely consider your suggestions. Thanks very much all, have to rush off now;

Cameron

5/28/2006 9:29:38 PM