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Pennsylvania

Do any of you know if there is a non-hollow species of cucurbita? I got this cool cross-breeding idea. One big things that sets pumpkins apart is density. There could be a pumpkin much smaller than anoher, but weighs more because its skin is thicker. So, what if we would cross an atlantic giant with a species that is not hollow at the center? We might sacrifice a little bit of size, but since there is no hollow center I am guessing we could at least triple our weights.This is just an idea, and I am not sure if it will even work, or if there is even such thing as a non-hollow pumpkin. I'd really like to know though if there is or not.

6/4/2008 12:02:19 AM

Pennsylvania

Ok, I was looking and I think that spaghetti squash would be a good cross. It is not hollow, this giving us the density we are looking for. It also has the same genus (Cucurbita) so we know that a cros is possible. Any of you try crossing an atlantic giant with a spaghetti squash?

6/4/2008 12:13:09 AM

[email protected]

They are different species. The spaghetti squash is a C. pepo and the Atlantic Giant is a C. maxima. Alot of growers put alot of stock into actual weight vs. chart weight, or variance. When AG's are small they don't have a cavity inside as the fruit gets bigger so does the cavity.

6/4/2008 1:08:10 AM

Minnesota([email protected])

Sam,
A better strategy may be to inbreed a selfed A.G. seed that came out of a pumpkin that was way heavy to the chart. Maybe grow out a few of these selfed seeds each year, selfing them again. Picking seeds from the pumpkin that goes heaviest to the chart, to self again the next year. Doing this for a few years could produce seeds that produce heavy walled pumpkins consistanly. Just a thought.

6/4/2008 10:06:00 PM