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San Jose [email protected]

creekside touched on this, I grew the 1233 reiss this year, got up to 439lbs, beautiful color, I hear that LOTS of people lost theirs to splits. When I opened mine up there was an internal "split", where as the thickness of most of the pumpkin was about 6", in the "split" area, it was probably about one inch, this "split" seemed to correspond to a slight "dill" ring.
I also grew the 781 & the 881 Frantz, I didn't notice any internal splits in them.

Like most people on here I want to grow a big pumpkin, so being the logical person that I am I do not want to "waste" my time, only to have a split pumpkin come next OCT.

My theory is that inner crevices are more likely to split.

So I am looking for seeds from big pumpkins that showed no signs of potential splitting (internal crevices)if they are orange, that is a big bonus

Is there a known lineage(s) that are less prone to splitting?

I hope this makes sense

Gary

11/22/2006 7:26:33 PM

Colorado

Gary-

My 1233 Reiss was 511lbs, so about the same size...and I saw a similar internal "split"... actually several of them.

Grown in the same soil was a 904Northrup2005. That thing was solid on the inside. Not sure how many people grew it last year, but I was very happy with the results.

11/22/2006 11:07:17 PM

Santa Cruz, CA

I put a picture up on our diary site of the inner splits on our 1233 Reiss.(644lbs)("creekside" on the growers diary) Our splits seem to line up with the skin outer valleys. When I pushed a knife through the splits to the outside it seemed we still had 3 or 4 inches until it would have split to the outside. We crossed our Reiss with the 1097 Beachy which split too, only it from the outside in. I'd love to grow our cross but am leery because of all the splits from bothe the male and female. It was a very beautiful pumpkin.

11/23/2006 1:29:38 AM

Follansbee, Wv

I began investigating this last year after my 684 went down to a blossom end split. I actually posted this diary entry:

http://www.bigpumpkins.com/Diary/DiaryViewOne.asp?eid=40832

My 1095 last year had a "flat" spot on one side. I paid particular attention to that area when I cut it up and sure enough there was a fairly deep interior split. I believe that "Dill Rings" are definately the result of interior splitting which weakens the structure of the fruit causing it to sag. I think searching for fruit that showed no internal splitting might not help because it's the cause of the splitting that needs to be determined. Is it the result of rapid growth, weather, rough handling at the wrong time? I think it's very possible that the shape of the fruit has a lot to do with this problem. If the fruit is not sitting on flat level ground with a buffer under it, such as sand, it will begin to grow in a structurally unsound way. Poor early vine management could cause the fruit to grow towards the blossom or stem ends placing stress on those areas. Obviously, other factors could also lead to internal splitting as I mentioned before.
I think instead of searching for the perfect fruit a grower could minimize the chance of splitting by paying careful attention to early fruit positioning, handling it as little as possible and making sure it sits level by having the growing "bed" prepared at pollination. Along with that, trying to control wide temprature fluctuations within the fruit that can cause excessive expansion and contraction may help along with maintaining even watering.
I guess the point of all this rambling is that no matter how perfect the parent fruit was, other determining factors need to be considered to minimize the risk of internal splitting as well.

11/23/2006 8:44:06 AM

Minnesota([email protected])

Very good points Monty.

11/23/2006 10:22:17 AM

Cameron,ontario Team Lunatic

I agree with Monty as well. Good vine postioning & a sound base are very important & can make or break your season. I know of several very large pumpkins that split this year & the only real reason was a poor base around the fruit. That was the 1st thing each of the growers told me was that the the base around the pumpkin wasn't good & they didn't get enough styrofoam around the base to support all parts resting on the ground. Hope this helps.

Phil

11/24/2006 7:43:18 AM

Montoursville, PA

No thirty and sixty day side dressing of modest fertilizers coupled with uneven water availability is at least a very high Dill Ring cause suspect. In my opinion a fast growing anything can be messed up by uneven supply of these two key factors.

11/24/2006 10:30:15 PM