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British Columbia, Canada

Ok, I think this is a pretty good example of dormant genes.

My 409 lb pumpkin was grown from my 222 lb pumpkin which was a 900 Sandvik X Self.

The 222 was one of the prettiest orange pumpkins I have ever seen.
http://www.bigpumpkins.com/Diary/DiaryViewOne.asp?eid=147993

The 222 then grew my extremly white pretty 409 lb pumpkin.
http://www.bigpumpkins.com/Diary/DiaryViewOne.asp?eid=172172

Now my question is where did these white genes come from? Since the 222 was extremly orange and was crossed with itself. Yet it ended up growing a very very white fruit?

409 Abbate 2011
|
222 Abbate 2010 X Self
|
900 Sandvik 2009 X Self
|
1161 Rodonis X 998 Pukos
| |
1231.3 Pukos x 1450 Wallace 1420.5 Larue x 1446 Eaton

3/4/2012 4:08:42 PM

Springfield, VT

It's not that simple with genetics. PBS had a good show on which plant breeders messed around with color in petunias and were trying to make a very purple flower. The result was a white flower which was unexpected. What occured was the doubled purple genes were thought to be a virus DNA by the plants immune system and were ignored giving white flowers. The same could happen with the orange color in pumkins. Anyway it was an interesting show.

3/4/2012 5:42:25 PM

NILES , CALIF

I crossed two nice orange pumpkins and expecting a red orange from the seeds, WRONG ,
The pumpkin came out ghost white? ;But I noticed the
the vines where a bright yellow and the male flowers
where a deep orange ???

3/4/2012 9:11:40 PM

British Columbia, Canada

Same here, the vines on the plant that grew the 409 were bright yellow.

3/4/2012 11:56:07 PM

chilliwack, b.c. , canada eh

JA I grew a 900 sandvik last year. It was a backup plant and didn't get real big but it was the same white colour you are talking about, so i would say that there must be some white in it's history somewhere.( I had also hoped for orange out of it.)

3/5/2012 11:09:15 AM

Littleton, Colorado

JA, going back to the mid-nineties, Pete Geerts grew a 946. I think it tended to throw white pumpkins. I grew a 946 in 1997 that was a bit over 400 lbs. that was about as white as snow. It would be interesting to see if yours has some 946 Geerts in it's background. I really like when they throw the white genetics, because when they're bright white, I think they're exceptionally unusual and beautiful. I thought that the white ones went heavy to the chart too. Did yours?

3/5/2012 11:23:02 PM

British Columbia, Canada

Yes, my 409 was estimated around 310 lbs. So 99 pounds heavy to the chart. (I got the old estimate wrong in my 2011 diary)
The thing had a very small inside, it was like a solid brick.

My 222 seed was grown by 20 other gardeners in the Okanagan, all came out bright white and were all 50 pounds heavier then what they were estimated at. The 222 seed grew 11 prettiest pumpkin award winners in 2011.

Not bad, eh?

3/6/2012 12:55:45 AM

Littleton, Colorado

Not bad at all, JA! I just checked out your pictures from last year. There's tons of growers that love big and orange. Aren't there some die hard Big and White growers out there? Maybe it's time we started a Vanilla Grower's Anonymous club, huh?

3/6/2012 1:50:15 AM

Littleton, Colorado

Not bad at all, JA! I just checked out your pictures from last year. There's tons of growers that love big and orange. Aren't there some die hard Big and White growers out there? Maybe it's time we started a Vanilla Grower's Anonymous club, huh?

3/6/2012 2:18:34 AM

British Columbia, Canada

Sounds like a good idea!

3/6/2012 2:20:18 AM

Littleton, Colorado

The 752.8 Craven might be the genetic common denominator that the white gene is coming from. It's in the 900 Sandvik background, and is in the 946 Geerts background. Some of the growers who grew it and it's progeny surely could tell you if white popped up quite a bit. I think it did, if I remember right.

3/6/2012 2:25:58 AM

Bethlehem CT

I had a white one grow in 07 off the 1055 Breznick. It had walls that were fully 12" thick and the flesh was bright orange. It looked so tempting, I took a bite and found that it was sweet. Nothing like the other Atlantic Giants I have grown. It was only taping around 650 Pounds. I will never know how much it weighed.

3/6/2012 8:24:20 AM

President - GPC

We love white...huh BIZ.... I was also told once how close Green squash is to the orange genetic line.... and with WHITE SEEDs...Z Ole Longbeard grew a Kennedy seed his first year...and it was white...I have one of those old seeds left we will toss into the Jareds patch for giggleZ

3/6/2012 11:31:00 AM

Littleton, Colorado

Hi Big Moon, I've been thinking for some time that the taste of A.G.'s is about as variable as most everything else is (genetically). My 1308 was one of the best tasting pumpkins I've ever used for cooking, & I put at least a hundred pounds of it (cooked) in the freezer. I gave away at least 700 lbs. of it for cooking & everyone that tried it thought it was as good as any pumpkin they'd ever made pies, breads, & cookies from. A 556 lb. pumpkin I grew in 2011 was grown on a sibling plant to the 1308, yet the 556 tasted totally different and was very bland. The 751 I grew in 2011 was the best tasting A.G. yet---actually quite sweet, like you described your 2007 white one!

3/7/2012 1:58:28 PM