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British Columbia, Canada

Question: What do you think the 'limit' weight will be for AG's? Or do you think that there is no limit?

3/13/2012 12:27:23 AM

New Zealand

depending on how it is grown and the knowledge gained year by year, i think weights will increase.
as an example.... here is something i have been thinking about........
so far folks have been growing on the ground, either the dirt or on plywood or mats. what happens is that the base of the pumpkin is flat and the top rolls over giving funny shapes.
what if.... a pumpkin was grown in a bowl shaped base..... that way the pumpkin expanded equally in its base as well as the top... giving a uniform round shape and also a support structure for the extreme weight. the bowl could be made before hand out of concrete about 6 ft diameter and 2 feet deep with lots of perforations to allow moisture to dissipate but yet allow for a uniform round oval shape of growth on the top half and bottom half.
most very large pumpkins that i have seen in photos seem to have problems with the base of the pumpkin and having concave growth or very wide side to side causing the top to flatten and the base to grow "inwards"

just an idea i have been thinking about to get a uniform growth over the entire fruit.
or..... using some very heavy canvas staked on the sides 2ft up and allowing the pumpkin to grown into it with its weight...... forming a uniform shape...... but... if its round...... it will roll away at a show.
im sure this could increase the weight of mega pumpkins
disclosure...... im an amateur and a dreamer

3/13/2012 3:34:12 AM

Owensboro, Ky.

have read....years ago...no WAY 1K could be grown in KY!!!! "It's too hot in KY"...
Current Ky. state record is 1331? Duh? Leads me to believe that "bowl shaped bases" are also a possibility!! A bunch o melon heads...ie...GWG folks have talked about growin a suspended melon...to allow complete roundness!!! I am almost positive that their fear is the same as yours...rolling off the scales!!! Nice, idea tho!!! Peace, Wayne

3/13/2012 4:13:46 AM

Boise City, Oklahoma, USA

I think the weights are going to slow down and 3000 may be hard to get to; both because of size of fruit AND the increasing showing of sterility (low to no seed count) that is starting to show up. I think the 1k mark is within the next three years though.

3/13/2012 5:10:50 AM

The bottom of New Jersey

There is a limit to everything. I believe 2,000 will prove very difficult, in fact it already is. Someone will do it eventually, maybe several, but I don't think it will ever be commonplace.

3/13/2012 7:49:29 AM

Little-TON - Colorado

ItZ possible...look what we had last year..... and Ill timed hurricane...changed a lot....LetZ see what this year bringZ...so far 2012 iZ coming in with a fever.....The Vegas seminar was the spark that lit the fuZe.....

3/13/2012 10:34:25 AM

Hinckley MN

How long did it take to go from 500 lbs to 1000 lbs? How long to go from 1000 to 1500? is the time to add 500lbs speeding up or slowing down?

3/13/2012 11:03:01 AM

British Columbia, Canada

I'm guessing that: Eventually we will get to a point where you can't put on a certain amount of weight in 120 days without the fruit splitting open.

3/13/2012 1:21:15 PM

British Columbia, Canada

Howard Dill
1980, 459 pound world record.

Howard Dill
1981, 493.5 pound world record. (First almost 500 lber)

Norm Gallagher
1984, 612 pound world record.

Robert Gancarz
1986, 671 pound world record.

Gordon Thomson
1989, 755 pound world record.

Ed Gancarz
1990, 816.5 pound world record.

Joel Holland
1992, 827 pound world record.

Donald Black
1993, 884 pound world record.

Herman Bax
1994, 990 pound world record. (13 years from 500-1000 lbs)

Nathan and Paula Zehr
1996, 1061 pound world record.

Gary Burke
1998, 1092 pound world record.

Gerry Checkon
1999, 1131 pound world record

Dave Stelts
2000, 1140 pound world record.

Geneva Emmons
2001, 1262 pound world record

Charlie Houghton
2002, 1337.6 pound world record

Steve Daletas
2003, 1385 pound world record

Al Eaton
2004, 1446 pound world record

Larry Checkon
2005, 1469 pound world record

Ron Wallace
2006, 1502 pound world record (12 years since first 1000 lber)

Joe Jutras
2007, 1689 pound world record

Christy Harp
2009, 1725 pound world record

Chris Stevens
2010, 1810.5 pound world record

Jim and Kelsey Bryson
2011, 1818.5 pound world record

3/13/2012 1:40:07 PM

Little-TON - Colorado

Gary "The WiZ" Grande
2012, 1889.5 pound world record

3/13/2012 1:53:43 PM

British Columbia, Canada

Go get em' wiz, lol

3/13/2012 2:21:22 PM

Minnesota

No limit, they will continue to get bigger and heavier.

3/13/2012 2:32:49 PM

British Columbia, Canada

Well, I thought if there was no limit, and growth continued the way it has been going, then by year 2084, we will have a 4818 Pound pumpkin.

Seems a bit far fetched, eh? But you never know, with all this changing technology, it could happen.

3/13/2012 2:51:59 PM

The bottom of New Jersey

Yes, I should add to my post above that with genetic engineering who knows what crazy things are possible? Through natural breeding methods though, there will be a limit.

3/13/2012 5:40:41 PM

British Columbia, Canada

I would hate to see unatural genetic engineering in AG's....

3/13/2012 8:24:41 PM

Eastern Pennsylvania

You can't be so closed minded. First off, 120 days is nothing anymore. That would be like harvesting the pumpkin at day 60. If today's pumpkins can't keep growing to record status in say 150 days then we'll find another way, not by genetic engineering, but by the same selective process that we currently use. Perhaps % heavy or thick walls will not be the primary features considered during seed selection in the future. Perhaps we will consider plant longevity or longest sustained pumpkin growth and begin selectivly breeding for this trait over others. Plants that could be started in a greenhouse in early March and produce a long growing viable pumpkin that is harvested and weighed in October.

Anyways this is just one suggestion to point out that our current approach could be just as "prehistoric" as those fine growers that were hitting 400 pound world records back in the early days.

3/13/2012 10:07:59 PM

New Zealand

hi orangeneck, i will be testing the 120 days growth cycle this year... i was late starting and then lost the first pumpkins, so i missed out on any competitions in NZ, so am growing till it stops growing.... to the best of my ability.
unfortunately, i'll be heading into late fall /winter which isnt a real test of growing as long as possible, as the temps will hamper growth more than grower ability.
having said that..... i did let one of my seed pumpkins (last year) grow till the vine died and that was end of june, which is our winter and frost killed the vine. i left the pumpkin in its place and by mid spring there were still bits of the pumpkin on the ground.
using this as an example, depending on the area you are growing a pumpkin plant could go through a full year cycle with a green house cover.
what if........ some rich guy set up a insulated shed of 5000sq ft, put in mega watts of lighting and controlled atmosphere, employed a mega pumpkin grower with years of experience, and endless funds.... weights will increase bigtime.
but is this what or where we wish to go?
there is a poster on this site that grows under lights to grow hi end seeds to finish... albeit small pumpkins but good genetics... if you look at his set up and then compare that to hi end dope growers in the netherlands that use grow lights and see their amazing output you will realise that mega watts of lights in controlled environments can produce enormous results.
the dollar returns for the dope growers makes it viable to spend 10 grand on a power bill..... maybe one day growing a one ton plus pumpkin in a controlled environment will also give that sort of return via competition prize money and seed sale... if a golfer can make a million or more, mr pumpkin grower when the hobby becomes mainstream sport might also spend serious cash for serious prize money.

3/14/2012 3:39:07 AM

Webster, NY

How are you going to get that 4800 pounder in a pickup?

3/14/2012 4:09:31 AM

The bottom of New Jersey

You can control the environment all you want, but I believe that when the pumpkin's seeds reach maturity growth will slow down and eventually stop no matter what you do. Once reproduction takes place (mature seeds) the plant's mission is done and it doesn't care how big it is at that point. The DNA and hormones inside the plant control that, so without altering those things we will reach a limit to how big they can get. We just don't know what that is yet.

3/14/2012 7:52:04 AM

Hinckley MN

so if I read the records right there were 12 years from 500 to 1000 (84 -96), 10 years from 1000 to 1500 (96-2006), so if there are 8 years from 1500 to 2000, then we can expect the first 1 ton fruit in 2014 and the rate of increase is accelerating. I like the Idea of selecting for the long growers. Maybe some of the seed issues have just been late maturing seeds. some of the long growers also seem to go heavy, but I don't know if it is consistant.

On the longer growing season, we need to remember how much daylight matters. There is as much daylight in April as there is in August, but we are not using it because we don't start seeds until almost May. And how much weight is ever really added after the fall equinox?

3/14/2012 9:56:25 AM

Rhode Island

i have always felt that there is a limit to how big we can grow the atlantis giant.
i also feel we can stretch the boundries with everything falling into place on any given year --example

selecting that right seed
soil at its maximum for plant/fruit growth
start time - length of growing time allowed
over all weather during the season :::: a big key

i do believe 2,000 pound will fall at some point. but i dont really see the weights going much past that.

pap

3/14/2012 11:22:44 AM

Colorado

If you would of told me back in "97 the WR would be 1818.5 in 2011 I wouldnt have believed you. I think the records will just keep going up.At some point theyll inch up.

3/14/2012 5:34:10 PM

Owensboro, Ky.

Steely, it's been a couple years since they fit into a full sized pk/up!!! 1725 Harp was hauled in a big ole flat bed w/ side walls!!! According to pic's I saw!!! & just barely fit!!!!! LOL The progression from 500-1K, and 1K to 1.5 K, seems to have been a lil slow, compared to 1.5K to oh so close to 2K!!! I think it will happen soonly!!! Peace, Wayne

3/14/2012 6:19:20 PM

Littleton, Colorado

For a number of reasons, I believe that the world records will continue to fall with great regularity for many many years to come. I think there will be a few huge leaps in weight along the way. I don't know if pumpkins might have the genetic possibility of being so thick that they are practically solid (like watermelons often are), but if it's a genetic possibility, we certainly are already heading that way by really trying to breed for "heavy to the chart". Some of the old, old records of Half Moon Bay & Circleville, Ohio illustrate that "Siamese" or conjoined pumpkins have won contests years ago. It hasn't happened in any recent weighoffs that I'm aware of, but I've thought for at least 30 years that if "megablooms" were pursued genetically like they are for world class tomatoes, then the ceiling for pumpkin weights is so much heavier than most of us have ever imagined! I've had several "doubles" make it to maturity in the last 35 years, but all of them were on side vines. The biggest one I had was in 1984. It was a perfect double, but was way out on a tiny side vine. It weighed 115 lbs. In 1999 or 2000 I had one at about 12' out on the main of a really good plant. It had 10 lobes. Half the flower bloomed one day, & the other half bloomed the following day. I was really excited about this double. Until at 13 or 14 days, one half of this exciting pumpkin aborted. I'll bet you all know what happens to human conjoined twins if one of the two dies. It's a sad ending!

3/14/2012 11:03:28 PM

Littleton, Colorado

Grafting is another possibility that might just launch pumpkin weights way beyond where we are now. Growing methods just keep advancing and helping to make possible what seemed impossible just a few short years ago! What some of you European guys, as well as J.D., and Dale are doing with greenhouses are just one more reason I think weights will continue to climb dramatically! All that to say this: If I get to live as long as Pete Glasier, I can easily imagine living to see a 5000 lb. pumpkin. And yes, I'm dead serious!

3/14/2012 11:12:22 PM

[email protected]

Alex, I wonder if you're on to something with the seed maturity issue. A lot of the really big pumpkins have had problems with low mature seed counts and many underdeveloped seeds. I wonder if the reason the monsters are growing longer and reaching monster size goes hand in hand with having large numbers of immature seeds.

Will we see a time in the future when the biggest pumpkins won't produce seeds and the best seeds stocks won't be coming from large pumpkins but from plants that were grown only for producing the highest quality seeds?

3/15/2012 9:29:34 AM