From

Location

Message

Date Posted

Rhode Island

think about the possibilities of multiple pollinators for a moment

whats to say you could not collect male pollen from say a 998, 1041, 1,470 ( mix pollen in a small container first )
then use this milk shake to pollinate your female.

by doing so you could possibly save three years of pollination combinations with that one valuable female that may be in very short supply (like the 1,450)

now thats a family tree

i may test this theory on one plant this year. whats your opinion? can we cut corners and create a frankinstein type monster?

you heard it here first. call it " THE FRANKINPAP PUMPKIN"

2/29/2008 6:38:20 AM

Hudsonville, Michigan (michiganpumpkins@sbcglobal.net)

Pap:
Not with you on that one.
Rather than creating a "super-cross" blending all the traits of the pollinators, the resulting seeds will be of questionable parentage. Some of the seeds in the resulting fruit will have 998 as pollinator, some will have 1041 and some will have 1470. None will have all three, and you won't know which are which.
Short of genetic engineering, the other way to speed along the selective breeding process is to get growers from the southern hemisphere to make crosses for you in the offseason. That way, come springtime in Rhode Island, you are one cross ahead of everybody else. How about Ron stays in RI and grows in the summer while you move to Peru and grow in winter (Peruvian summer)?!?

2/29/2008 7:24:13 AM

Ohio

Yea its a good idea if you only have a short supply like the 1450, but what cross would you be growing is the question? Be kinda a guessing game when you grow the seeds. You wouldnt be sure of the true pollinator, like which of the 3 pollinators are its true Daddy . One thing you would know is that the pollinator has come from 3 good pumpkins.

2/29/2008 7:47:26 AM

President - GPC

You know Paps, I should get some of your 898 Knauss pollen and sibb my 898 some of the last great old 1068's male side........I would like to try it a special Ops (OPS) "Overnighted Pollen Spearament" a 898 sibb....sound like its worth a try?

2/29/2008 8:44:03 AM

western PA

What about taking pollen from the three males, but keep them seperate.
take a paint brush and "paint" on the pollen, from say the 1041, onto ONE lobe of the female. then "paint the pollen from the 998 onto another lobe of the female. then "paint on the pollen from the 1470 onto another lobe.

When a pollen grain lands on a lobe of the female, it can only pollinate an egg connected to that lobe.

the problem will be decifering which seeds are connected to the lobe. i know my 855 had a nice defining row of seeds, which coincided with the lobes of the pumpkin. but my 1278 was a little harder to tell.

2/29/2008 9:01:28 AM

Rhode Island

yes one could also isolate the pollen by only pollinating one segment of the host pumpkin.
if the fruit is opened correctly at seasons end its possible to have four crosses id guess.
worth a try if you have planting space to test with, especially when you know each segnebt of the female flower represents a seed pocket in the finished product
ya gotta try new things, especially those growers with limited space but yet pollen is available from other growers in their area.
i remenber way back when pumpkin plants were placed in the middle of the patch and allowed to grow full with mains both from front and back main.
yet another way to do multiple pollinations on the same plant
pap

2/29/2008 9:45:37 AM

Indiana

well....pap you know I love you

This is a bad idea period....LOL

one seed-one pollen grain or one pollen grain-one seed however you want to look at it.

When your making a baby only one sperm fertilizes the egg

Let me say this again
BAD IDEA!!!!

But I still love you PAP!

Tom

2/29/2008 11:23:22 AM

It seems to me that in the right situation the male parentage could be determined by the color of the seed. Allowing for two males if you have a tan seeded female and one of each males. Another problem would arise in the future however because if you ended up with this 1690 Wallace in your family tree you would have to indicate which 1690 Wallace it was.

2/29/2008 11:47:51 AM

Kevinstinindians@yahoo.com

I'm with Tom on this one. BAD IDEA!!! Why not just grow three pumpkins on the same plant, or two fruit on each of two plants. Steve Daletas did it and got the 1230 and 1016 off the same plant 7 seasons ago. If the 1016 and 1230 each had gone 10% heavy instead of 16% light, yes both went 16% light, they would have weighed 1343 and 1617 lbs, repectively!!!

I believe the 1450 should make a super pollinator. I would pollinate alot of plants with a 1450. Especially the 1385 Jutras and 998 Pukos. I also believe Dick and Ron are the only ones with a chance to make a 1450 x sib cross, and I hope they do.

2/29/2008 3:02:20 PM

Minnesota

I think you should go for it! lets take bets on what it resembles most. (of the different pollinators used)

2/29/2008 3:14:52 PM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

Three pollinators = three different seed crosses in one pumpkin. But which one is which? If there is ever a way to make this determination without damaging the seeds we'd really have something.

2/29/2008 4:39:18 PM

Owensboro, Ky.

After having spent some time upside down inside a pkn, trying to collect seeds, I think that the segments sort of get lost inside of a giant, the segments get crossed inside the pkn!!!...unless you could colorize the segments at the point of pollination, there would be no way to tell which segment is which, inside the pkn!!!Idea is nice, but would be tough to bring thru to the collection stage!!! Pap, will you ever run out of ideas!!??? LOL Peace, Wayne

2/29/2008 8:38:38 PM

Colorado

For a specific case where the female is in VERY short supply (like the 1450) and all the possible 3 crosses look great (998, 1041, 1470), AND otherwise may never get made, AND you aren't concerned with trying to grow for a specific shape or color, then I say why not.

otherwise, I would say it's a bad idea.

if the "1692 Frankinpap" grows a bunch of 1800 pounders the following year, I would think a lot of people would want to grow it, even if they didn't know which one of the three crosses they had. could you really go wrong with any of those 3 crosses?

2/29/2008 8:41:10 PM

Pocatello (cliffwarren@yahoo.com)

I volunteer to move to the southern hemisphere each time the north is in winter.

2/29/2008 9:12:27 PM

Boulder County Colorado USA planet Earth

I have been thinking this as well. if you were to polinate est stemna with dif male u could have a 4-5 diff fathers in those seeds.

3/1/2008 4:52:48 PM

maine USA

Tom did you just talk dirty to us! :}

3/1/2008 7:17:40 PM

Indiana

lol

3/2/2008 10:59:06 PM