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Joliet, IL

With the weather the Chicagoland area has been seeing as of late, I have found myself with way too much time on my hands with work being slowed down. There is much of that going around the whole country, let alone the world and I figure maybe some of you all are bored too.

That being said, I thought of a way to have some fun next year competing against each other for some minor scratch-
a $20 a person entry fee. Because all growers do not have the amount of space to grow more than 3 or 4 plants, I thought of an equalizer that could help level the playing field.

All participants must declare 3 plants as their entry plants after 7 days from individual sprouting. The highest total weight of all three pumpkins (one pumpkin per plant) at the end of the year wins. We can do 1st, 2nd and 3rd place awards with some trophies and ribbons and cash prizes.

The faulty germination of seeds and the possibility of deformed or mutant seedlings will be eliminated with the "7 day after sprouting rule." all plants declared as entries do not have to be germinated the same day. if a grower has germination problems with some seeds, they can start another batch. but once a successful germinination has taken place, each of the 3 official plants has to be declared no later than the seventh day from sprouting. NO EXCEPTIONS. With the 7 plus day old sprout entries, this gives lots of room for future error (both human and nature) which will be all part of the game. A rabbit eats a declared entry plant 8 days old, it will cost you. a 4 week old plant's main vine starts flattening out or ribboning---too bad for you. Get drunk and try to lay a main vine down and snap it, it might cost you. retrain a secondary as a new main and stay in the game. you get the idea.

12/24/2008 4:46:06 PM

Joliet, IL

All pumpkins in an official entry will need to be weighed at an official weigh-off. also, no estimates or damaged fruit. all seeds are fair game. get a good line up planned if you are willing to compete. I see no reason why not to consider greenies in the mix either. Grow 2 orange and one green if you want. And of coarse, the honor system is in order. Anyone scamming or caught scamming would be then know as "MUD" in the growing community if you are wondering how we know if someone out there is cheating. I trust everyone enough to toss my 20 bucks in the hat right now.

For those with room for only one or 2 plants, we can have a ONE PLANT CHALLENGE and/or a TWO PLANT CHALLENGE. I personally like the 3 cuz that is all the room I got. lol. also it is not as severe to lose one pumpkin in the 3 plant challenge and still possibly be (very slim chance) in the running for some prize money.

the size of the space in each plot doesn't matter. those growing is smaller plots will have to take that in account when deciding whether to compete or not. if someone wanted, they could propose an "one plant challege under 400 sq ft"
division.

if anyone is interested in competing in such a contest, reply back to this post and we will eventually organize it. this might not be a bad format for those talking about having a RYDER CUP style competition with north america vs europe, or state vs state, province vs province, country vs country. it can be done in a team format as well. these are all just ideas for anyone else to add to or run with on their own.

all i know is what the hell, i am in for the $20 THREE PLANT CHALLENGE OF 2009. and one last thought, we can do different money brackets as well as $5 challenge for those short in the pocket book, or the $100 challenge for the bold and brave. sounds like fun to me!!!!!

12/24/2008 4:46:31 PM

Boulder County Colorado USA planet Earth

too bad we couldnt use the same seed.

12/24/2008 6:43:37 PM

nOVA sCOTIA

Sorry Shazzy but 7 days after germination is way to early for me to start making decisions. Carl

12/24/2008 9:58:34 PM

Joliet, IL

same seed is basically the old virtual weigh off. i didn't want to steal an old idea...sort of a different approach to using all your best abilities of picking the prime seedlings for the prime spots, maintaining the plants to the upmost, and if all goes well a mere $20 chance to play could add up to 300 or 400 bucks if the cards fell right. it might not be for everyone, but those who like to gamble...jump on in.

12/24/2008 10:39:13 PM

Columbus,ohio

If you make a one plant division I am in.

12/24/2008 11:53:04 PM

Ohio

Carl,
I know a guy named Ben ,,,, Hebbs his last name I think,, and uhhhhh, welllll,,well he usually makes his decisions in one , and at the most two days and goes with it,,,,,but thats just Ben though. Some growers need more time to decide and are kinda confused at that stage in the plants life and which decisions to make,,, do they pull it?,,or just go with it? But thats totally understandable some growers just arnt completely sure yet. It takes time for some.

LOL!! Merry Christmas Carl!
(Getting ya fired up to beat Ben Yet? Ha!)

12/25/2008 6:11:58 AM

Joliet, IL

brooks,
merry x mas bro. that is sort of the point carl. it's part of the game. yes luck is involved. but picking a plant and going with it is normally what we do anyways. based on how it looked from day 1 to day 30, i would have never kept my 1041.5 plant last year. but then warm weather hit and i got a new personal best in the long run. if it wasn't a 1041.5, i would have went with the back up plant and lost out in the long run. or maybe that back up plant could have been a 1400 pound producer. ya never know. culling decisions are one of the hardest thing to due cuz of the would of could of should of possibilites. again....that is all part of the game. of coarse you will not grow a plant that is severly damaged if a back up plant is in great shape. that decision is the right one to make and you lose 20 bucks. boo hoo. it is all part of the game. too me this is sort of like filling out a ncaa basketball bracket. go with the best odds, make your choices, and see how it all plays out to have a chance to win some cash...but you also control part of the fate and outcome...your hard word will be involved with lady luck. this game isn't to prove who is the best ultimate grower, but good growers will probably be on the leaderboard for the cash. roll it around your brain for a while and see what you think. it is definately for those who like to make it interesting with a little wager.

12/25/2008 9:38:41 AM

Oakley, UTAH

shazzy, hi, this is curt, this sounds like a lot of fun but the 7 days thing is a bit premature in the fact of the growing climates of individual growers, the 2/3 plant challenge would be very tough for me to compete as of the high elevation and short growing season, that said, maybe 14 days would give every one a more equal oppertunity for the challenge. but a nice thought on ur part, merry christmas to u and family and a happy new yr too. curt

12/25/2008 7:25:19 PM