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Cologne / Germany

I couldn´t manage last season to save two plants set for pollination purposes that were planted in (too small) pots.
But in theory: do you think it´s possible planting in big 25 gal pots and save a plant for next season? Many plants grow again from the stump if you cut them back and store them inside over winter time. These are basically the same plants that are able to be cloned from their own cuttings. I have some summer flowers like passion fruit in the basement right now, they develop a new vine system like pumpkins from the stump every winter.
Well, just an idea to keep a plant alive that is intended for pollination purposes over years without using other cloning methods. But will that work for AG´s?

2/3/2004 10:59:21 AM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

I have several cuttings alive still. They were taken from secondaries. Bury a 36" window box at the end of a growing (non-terminated) secondary. We filled the boxes with Miracle Grow potting soil. Stake the vines down into the soil & bury them as they grow. Gently sever the vine a little at a time over adjusting moisture as you go. Once it's off the parent for good, acclimate it gently to it's new home. Indoors under lights or a greenhouse. I've used both methods this year.

Let the vine grow all winter. It will readily jump from box to box all winter. Side vines can be rooted too. These make great gifts. Who wouldn't want a nice 845 Bobier cutting for a Christmas present?

Steve

2/3/2004 12:34:14 PM

Omaha, NE (N41-15-42 )

Have you replanted a saved plant the following season? what were the results?

2/3/2004 10:26:09 PM

Knopp, Germany

Ingo, I sent you an email a while back, did you get it?

2/4/2004 1:27:54 AM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

JMattW,

This is the first year I have tried. Should be good at least for Pollen though "Madman" Marc Sawtelle has grown I think something like a 700 pounder this way. Others have too. See his article on cloning here & at AGGC. Pretty cool.

Steve

2/4/2004 8:26:27 AM

Cologne / Germany

Tremor, thanks for the idea. Maybe cloning from secondaries is still a better way to go. I´m not sure with new growth from a saved stump though as many people say "what is a plant without a stump"...

Owen, since October I don´t have my former job any more. Right now I need to move email account and anything else to my home, hope to be back online this month. I´ll contact you soon. Guess I missed some mails since.
Ingo

2/4/2004 8:59:12 AM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

Ingo,

Understanding the stump issue I've also rooted secondaries in water for several days. Then dunk in rooting hormone powder & planting in a conventional semi-upright fasion. Unfortunately, I lost the only one to a frost kill. I'll try again though before spring.

2/4/2004 11:11:45 AM

Atlanta, Georgia

Last year I had one 869.5Calai growing in my office in one gallon pots from about January onward. I let the main grow over a second pot and severed it a few weeks later.
The plant in the second pot was grown here at my home patch and had two nice pumpkins. The largest was just a hair under 500 lbs. I selfed both of these pumpkins but most of the seeds are very thin and only about 15% or so have sprouted for me in tests.
I have pictures of the clones.
Michel

2/5/2004 3:32:15 AM

Colorado Hail, CO. Elev. 5,900 FT

If your desire is to keep a plant alive for breeding purposes {or even for fruit growth}, keeping 'clone' cuttings alive {pot to pot method} is an easy, time and space friendly way to go. No need for a huge pot, which if you took inside would also bring in all the soil and bug problems from outdoors. Bug/ fungus/ mildew problems are built up more at the older parts of the plant. The newer growth is usually limited to problems, mostly which a systematic insecticide is usually all you need. Big pots also develop pockets of too little or too much water where roots are no matter how hard you try. Pot to pot plants are more shallow and easier to determine water and oxygen needs. Unlike other plant species, Pumpkins root the best on newer growth rather than older plant tissue. Steve pretty much explained how it's done... it is that easy. I keep pumpkins in the bay window all fall, winter, and spring. Daylight is short in winter, but I have not noticed any behavior changes for 5 years in any cutting {which seems odd] as far as growth goes. If you gotta throw in in a basement or closet, just put 2 - 4' shop lights on them, and cover up the area with sheets if below 70 Deg. I spend maybe 30 minutes per month maintaining one correctly. Propagating AG's can be simple and easier than most think...ask around, lots of people doing it with success.

2/8/2004 1:32:18 AM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

Marc,

I discovered something else this winter that will change my approach in the future. Until the extreme cold temperatures hit this winter, my greenhouse was *THE* place for good disease & insect free growth. But I had engineered the greenhouse to a low of 10 degrees F. Down to that temperature, the plants enjoyed a low of 30 degrees F & a high of 58 on most days. They thrived with no Mildew! Especially the 790 Daletas.

But when temps dipped below zero for a week, the plants that survived had to come inside. Now keeping them alive has become a chore. Aphids, Mites, & Powdery Mildew are thriving in the warmth of my cellar workshop where the temps never dip below 68*.

Next year I will install the blower to inflate the airspace between the 2 layers of 6 mil plastic of the greenhouse. Imagine that not having a $40 blower cost me two 801 Stelts & an 876.5 Lloyd. What a waste!

For the record, humidity levels are far higher (60-80%) in the greenhouse than the cellar (26-40% near the furnace) and there appears to be no need for any of the spraying nor the supplemental lighting. Thus it is actually cheaper to do this better once the small greenhouse is built.

We live & learn.

Steve

2/8/2004 9:16:18 AM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

TYPO! The low temps of the greenhouse with an outdoor ambient air temperature of 10 degrees was 38 degrees F. Not 30* as typo'ed.

2/8/2004 9:17:42 AM

Colorado Hail, CO. Elev. 5,900 FT

Steve;
agreed... colder is better to slow down problems you outlined... and if you want them to grow slower, thats a good method as well. I usually get my problems corrected right before or soon after plants are moved inside, so do not have to fight all winter with them. I did have a whitefly problem one year, and took forever to kill them, not sure if I ever did...lol.
Heated and warm enclosed shop light areas are the best for quick and healthy plants though, if no problems are present.The warmth gets plants going faster and stronger. I do put a small desk fan inside the area when I do them under lights. I've grown them in a mini greenhouse against the house one year, under a truck topper one year, in the bay window, under shop lights, under a halide, in the office at work, and even on the dashboard of my truck for a few days. so I've tried pretty much everything....LOL!

2/8/2004 7:05:22 PM