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Appalachian Mtns.

Newspapers reporting it taped at est. 1878 lbs and still adding 11.0 lbs a day......was it weighed? Split? Disqualified?

10/12/2008 12:01:14 AM

Bloomington, IN

http://www.bigpumpkins.com/msgboard/ViewThread.asp?b=3&p=271775

10/12/2008 12:24:59 AM

[email protected]

She had a pin hole in it, And I'll bet that pin hole tore a hole in Steves heart and everyone else that was there, I know I'd be devastated.

10/12/2008 1:19:56 AM

Cochecton, NY

Did it actually get weighed though? Or was the estimate way off?

10/12/2008 1:28:19 AM

Midway, UT

One post had it weighing 1568. Great pumpkin. What grower wouldn't be happy to have a pumpkin go 1568 pounds!?

10/12/2008 1:54:57 AM

Coventry R.I.

Yes IT did get weighed,,, 1568 lbs. Great job Steve,,,,

10/12/2008 11:15:49 AM

[email protected]

The newpaper hyped Steve's fruit beyond reason.

How have you been Kyle? It's good to see you back.

10/12/2008 11:17:27 AM

Western Pa.

I was pondering this all. I heard rumors early in August about a potential 1800 pounder. We all know that once a pumpkins stops growing, it starts to lose weight. Could this be the case in the Connelly and Jutras fruits this year? It would be interesting to find out when these fruits stopped growing. It's really not fair stating in records that the Connelly fruit was 250# or such&such % light when it COULD have been ON THE CHART at an earlier date????????

kilr

10/12/2008 12:44:01 PM

Colorado

bill bobier is the only person,I know of ,to grow a large pumpkin on a scale all season.Perhaps he can shed some light what happens the last two weeks(to its weight) if the fruit isnt expanding any more.

10/12/2008 2:17:56 PM

[email protected]

Steve's pumpkin taped yesterday at 422" for 1,563# EST.
It did weigh 1568# or as close to tape as possible.

The Boston papers had it gaining 11 lbs per day last week but only Steve can say for sure if the tape was still detecting growth or if this was reporter whimsy.

The same Boston papers reported the fruit was taping 1800 on 9/30 so clearly there was misinformation floating around.

10/12/2008 3:02:42 PM

Commack, NY

the weighoff page has the fruit taping at 1566, so it came in right on the chart. Not sure where 1878 estimate came from, or the "who", "how" and the "why" of it being hyped to the n'th degree. If it truly is the media's fault, then perhaps we can all benefit from this lesson should any of us be lucky enough to be in this position in the future. Having said that 1568 is freakin' huge!

10/12/2008 3:06:00 PM

Niagara County, NY

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/27046925/#27046925

10/12/2008 4:16:21 PM

Minnesota

Really, you mean the media made it up, 1800, oh well. Thats hard to believe, now to find out it weighed what it taped

10/12/2008 4:26:27 PM

Pocatello ([email protected])

I can't believe this... oh wait. Yes I can. I'll save you my stories about the media.

10/12/2008 4:41:27 PM

well if you view that NBC link it wasn't the media hyping this fruit, a huge fruit no doubt. but perhaps it's the "story of the tape" for the '08 season

a lesson for all of us in the future perhaps?

10/12/2008 6:43:09 PM

Kalamazoo, MI ([email protected])

Dan is right, Steve himself said it was taping at 1800 lbs on the Today Show. Maybe he taped it differently than the weighoff officials did?

10/12/2008 6:53:43 PM

Buffalo, New York

lets say the hole was in it for 1 to 2 weeks now, how much weight could it have lost over the last 2 weeks with just a pin hole?

10/12/2008 7:03:46 PM

Hudsonville, Michigan ([email protected])

Hmmm...apparently Steve had it at around 442OTT in his patch- he DID say it was taping around 1800. But 422 at the weigh off?

Hey Kyle, how's it going?

10/12/2008 7:15:51 PM

Cochecton, NY

still a good fuit @ 1568Lbs.

10/12/2008 7:36:38 PM

Kalamazoo, MI ([email protected])

and kilr-

Everyone's pumpkins get put in the records at whatever the weighoff scale registers - on the day of the weighoff. That's just the way it is. You can't randomly make exceptions here and there.

10/12/2008 7:44:11 PM

Sharon, MA

I posted some pic's of the 1568dmgConnolly08. both whole and after she was cut open in the photo gallery. It had a small rot spot under the stem. The DQ was the right decision. Luckily 95% pritene inside though, so the seeds are good.
It was a cube. a square pumpkin. Never grown one like it before, so I experimented with a new measurment technique. I took a circumference 198" around the normal but because of the Massive Square Shoulders, my FB was taken diagonally to the largest corners of the square pumpkin and SS was taken perpindicular (90 degrees)to the FB measurement. Sorry.... I learned a hard lesson about tinkering with the measurement technique. I thought that since the normal method equates to taking the largest SS and FB measurments, that I would get the best readings using my measurments on a Cube pumpkin. When Ken Desrosiors measured it using the normal measurment technique at Frerichs he told me it taped out to a 1569 pound pumpkin. 1 hour later it got weighed and he was right. Right on chart weight. I will never tamper with Stellflugs GPC recognized, method again.

10/12/2008 9:26:15 PM

Kalamazoo, MI ([email protected])

Steve I wondered if that's what it was...I don't think any of us would know how to measure such a square pumpkin! I can't recall one like it in recent memory. It looked absolutely massive.

The pics you posted are impressive - good thing you cut it open when you did. I'm very sorry that you got DQ'd, it still sucks even if it was the right decision.

Great job and congratulations again on your monster!!!

10/12/2008 10:48:49 PM

Greene County, Pa.

i saw the news and heard steve say it taped 1800 plus. 422 inches and 444 to be over 1800 is a huge difference.i think it would be impossible to mis measure a pumpkin by 20 or more inches, we was all missinformed.. but congrats on a nice pumpkin.

10/13/2008 6:11:48 AM

Joliet, IL

steve,
i have done the same thing with a weird shape smaller pumpkin 5 years ago and it went way light to my measurements but right on the nose the normal ott. i found out the hard way then. it ain't no big deal, live and learn and grow bigger is all you can do. it was still a fantastic pumpkin and you should be proud of the potential in yourself to grow monsters...cuz you just did. congrats on a fine season,
jeff shenoha

10/13/2008 7:07:51 AM

Utah

1568 is a nice pumpkin congratulations Steve. Sorry it was dmg at the last minute.
I guess this is a lesson learned for all of us - it's easy to get caught up in the hype of a record breaking big one. So have some one else double check your measurements. It’s certainly easy to measure such that you get the biggest numbers.
Also the past typically "world records" were announced after they are weighed not before. I guess the old clichés apply here… don’t put the cart before the horse… don’t count your chickens before they are hatched.
But that can be very difficult to do when a the club, a friend or neighbor calls the local news. And then a reporter with a TV crew shows up at your patch and asks you how big it is. I know two of us here in the Salt Lake area had TV crews at our patches on Friday wanting to know just that.
If that happenes we have to try to emphasize to them that it’s just an estimate and they can go light - or heavy. And that we never know what it will be until it hits the scales. But they usually edit that part out and just show the part where we say how much you think it weighs.
It’s nice to have pre-weigh off coverage but maybe in the future we need to tell them to show up at the weigh off to get the story (or to get the final chapter of the story.)

10/13/2008 11:11:08 AM

Vernal, Utah

Steve
Congratulations on your monster!!!! Could not believe its size when saw it on today show. Sorry for the disqualification. I hope you can grow another one next year. Best of luck in the future.

10/14/2008 4:52:04 AM

SE Minnesota

Well done Steve, tough luck on the DQ, still a massive pumpkin. Best of luck next year and hope to see the frenzy again:)
jim

10/14/2008 7:24:26 AM

Westford, MA

Very impressive pumpkin Steve.
I felt bad when they lifted it to see that trickle dripping down. Was hoping it was moisture off the cushion.
All the hype did get me down to Frerichs. Was worth it though. The weather was perfect, lots of great looking fruit the setting was beautiful and met some more great people involved in this hobby.
Great job again Steve!!
Now get some sleep.
kevin

10/14/2008 10:02:03 AM