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milford, CT,

Anybody ever cut a small section of secondary(w/roots) from a pollinator plant and transplant it to their patch. Maybe 2 weeks before pollination with some very young male buds just appearing. I spoke with another grower and he felt the shock might abort the Males. If it worked you could get "Fresh Pollen" from the transplant. You can tell I'm a little stir crazy..big snow today..NO SCHOOL... Mark

3/2/2009 1:52:12 PM

Western NY

The shock will abort off a few of the males.

I'm thinking the best bet would be to grab a section in early June, assuming the donor plant is on or ahead of schedule. This should give you enough time to get over any shock and have males ready for your plant in a normal pollination timeframe. You should even be able to use that cutting to grow a small plant and set something on it if you're looking for an additional (or reverse) cross.

I removed a secondary off one of my plants last year and moved it to another part of the garden. It sat there for a little while, but eventually took off, and I allowed it to fill up a spot that wasn't more than 150 square feet. I got a 397 pound pumpkin from that little thing.

3/2/2009 2:41:46 PM

Minnesota([email protected])

Very interesting idea Mark.
Andy that's amazing that you ended with a 397 lber. from an amputated secondary....how long was the piece of secondary?

3/2/2009 11:10:20 PM

Western NY

It was maybe 5 feet long, and it was one of those that started growing up at an angle instead of running flat. It snapped halfway on its own while setting down, so it was halfway severed from the main plant before I had cut it. The part where it had broke had healed over, and it had started putting down a couple tap roots by the time I decided to move it.

I cut off the biggest couple leaves from it when I moved it so that it would not lose lose too much water before it got re-rooted. I think that helped a little.

3/3/2009 10:10:06 AM

Minnesota([email protected])

Thanks Andy. Impressive what these plants can do.

3/3/2009 11:54:29 AM