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President - GPC

Has anyone compilied statistics on a geographical scale to show how many 1000 lbders have been grown? Like the red and blue states, I would guess this to show that above a certain northern exposure one would see higher weights at certain latitudinal areas. Generally speaking it appears if one wants the best chance to be a heavy hitter, we need to move towards those areas. I might just be on too much punkin juice here....lol, but Im thinking parts of the advantage would be hours of sun per day......along with relative humidity......of course other factors do play in here.......610 in Florida??
Thoughts??

10/18/2006 1:51:47 PM

North Smithfield, RI USA

Wiz ---- Move to RI !!!

10/18/2006 6:13:20 PM

Owensboro, Ky.

Huge rocks from Ohio and Penn. the last couple of years too. Kentucky is gonna go big next year!!!!!!!!! LOL Peace, Wayne

10/19/2006 12:18:51 AM

President - GPC

Is there any land open next to PAP? LMAO.......$$$ per acre?

10/19/2006 8:17:35 AM

New Castle, Pa.

Wiz I just went onto weather underground and checked the latitude of three top growers hometowns, Ron Wallace Greene RI 41.7 N., Quinn Werner Saegertown Pa. 41.7 N., Jerry Rose Huntsburg Ohio, 41.5 N. Makes one curious.

10/22/2006 9:05:58 AM

While you're at it check the therms those locations have averaged the last few years,,I would guess it's similar at all 3 locations mentioned.

Might just throw the old "amount of daylight" idea out the window.

10/22/2006 10:35:11 AM

Maryland

wiz just a thought but I think bugs and fungus are big factors in the south
I wonder are squish bug prevalent in those latitudes/shorter life span?

10/23/2006 1:50:34 PM

New Castle, Pa.

My curiosity got the better of me so I checked the latitudes that the top ten pumpkins were grown at.
I might play a dollar on 417 on tomorrow's Pa. lottery.
Tim

1. R.Wallace Greene RI 41.7,
2. D. Wallace Greene RI. 41.7
3. Q. Werner Sagertown Pa 41.7
4. A Marion Penetanguishene Ontario 44.7
5. R. Wallace Greene RI 41.7
6. Buddy&Wiget, Karen Conley South Bloomingville Ohio 39.4
7. Tim Parks Salem Ohio 40.9
8. Jack LaRue Tenino Washington 46.9
9. Pierre Slusarek Latuque Quebec 47.4
10 Dan/Jason McKie Gasport NY 43.2

10/24/2006 9:53:58 PM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

It takes more than mere GPS coordinates. If that's all it took we'd be tossing thousand pounders every year.

Stratford, CT = Latitude: 41.20 N, Longitude: 73.13 W

The rain, smog & humidity here pose their own unique challenges. Between LI Sound & NYC the air is thick with "anti-pumpkin" all summer.

10/24/2006 11:29:03 PM

Netherlands

In Holland we have lots of sun hours and in Sweden even more. There have never been 1000 lbers in Holland, though there likely will be within one or two years. The problem with our sun hours are that they are usually behind rain clouds.

10/25/2006 2:26:46 AM

Long Island,New York

Amen Steve. I routinely have ozone damage evident on my leaves at home, but not at the farm...certainly not pumpkin friendly.......G

10/25/2006 6:20:09 PM

New Castle, Pa.

Steve
With out a doubt there is a great deal more to it than GPS coordinates. Many factors come into play, but this is just an easy one to look up for a general observation. Anyhow for what its worth tonights Pa. lotery # was not 417, glad I bought that Old Mill draft instead of a ticket.
Tim

10/25/2006 7:35:52 PM

Pumpkintown, SC

Deep South(the seven state region) Record: 737lbs
World Record: 1502lbs More than double. Hmm...

10/25/2006 8:23:48 PM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

Don't get me wrong. Latitude is a big part of success. Our local phenom is our miserable proximity to a smog producing metropolis & a major humidity producer. It is sad living here on a summer night. The only stars one can see are directly above your head & they're not very bright. Yet we head a couple hours north & the night sky takes your breath away. It's like 2 different planets. We blame our various cancers on pesticides since we can't see the forest through the trees (or smog & ozone maybe!).

10/25/2006 9:18:14 PM

President - GPC

Agree, Its more than just latitude, and Im not saying that all I have to do is move north to grow a BIG one, we know its not just that easy, many things contribute.

However, the food for thought here is to identify factors that affect growing, some under our control, some not, some adjustable, some not cost effective to change. Certainly I can compensate for most Colorado hail storms via hail netting that does not break the bank or block out the sun. I can put up hoop houses, install heaters to get an early start on a shortened season. However it would be not cost effective, nor easy to accomplish lenghtening the day or changing the angle of the sun. Another factor I beleive too is to do with people. Interest in growing giants in the west is a growing sport. I see the great fairs and BIG events of Half Moon Bay, Frerichs Farm, so many others, to me would be like going to Disney World as a kid for the first time. More people growing improves all things about this sport. My personal goal is mimic the growing, interest, and gains that the successful sites and states already have produced. But think I understand, darnit, that Colorado will never produce an 1600 lb. Pumpkin.........unless .....ah,,, maybe growing under them high voltage wires at Hudson Gardens induces electromagnetic interference that alters photon energy paralelling wave lenghts similar to Rhode Island.......hmmm.... back to the drawing board.....lol

PS. Sites like BigPumpkins.com and the folks on it....too have just as much to do with improving the sport as does the angle of the sun. Grow'em BIG!

10/26/2006 8:59:13 AM

Pocatello (cliffwarren@yahoo.com)

I've always thought that the 1000 pounder grown closest to the equator, and furthest from the equator would be a fun thing to track.

A related idea... something that has been mulling around in the back of my head for some time... a Giant Pumpkin World Cup. How it would work is something like this -> Growers are organized into teams based on US States, Canadian Provinces, and other countries (for now). So, all the people in Ohio are on one team, people in Iowa on another, people in Belgium on another, etc.

At the end of the season, you total up the top ten weights grown that year in that area. That's your score. But to make it interesting, there are three divisions, A, B, and C.

Class A consists of 10 teams. Class B consists of 10 teams. Class C consists of all others, but they only count the top 5 weights in any given year. ... Continued....->

10/26/2006 11:37:58 AM

Pocatello (cliffwarren@yahoo.com)

Now here is the kicker... kind of how soccer leagues are organized around the world... for US and Canadian growers this might seems a little "foreign". Anyway, Class A is already known at the beginning of the year. Those 10 teams are already picked (based on past history). The bottom two teams in Class A get DEMOTED to Class B for the coming year! And, the top two teams in Class B get promoted to Class A. A similar swapping of teams happens between the bottom of Class B and the top of Class C.

What might be fun about this is even small states, provinces or countries (small in the giant pumpkin world) can set goals and work toward "moving up". It would be a great honor to win in Class C and have the chance to compete in Class B for the coming year, for example.

It would also encourage growers to work locally to help others and improve the sport. (But I would hope that it wouldn't hinder people from trading seeds outside of their team... I don't think it would "go there"...)

Anyway, yes there are some details to work out. What do you think?

10/26/2006 11:45:49 AM

Pocatello (cliffwarren@yahoo.com)

By the way, I live at 42-something north. That's good, but 4500 feet in elevation in an arid desert is not!

10/26/2006 12:18:51 PM