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Glosta

Are we going in the wrong direction with this seed filtering idea? What if our selcted seed is not the right path? Why not just grow diversity and let Growers decide what to grow, after all thats what we have done in the past. the top squash have always seem to made the same path starting from 895* Hester , to 848* Mackenzie and now 800 Neily* this path has lead to the last few WR's. Look At the pkn genetics, 1161 genetics not even in the 2009 but it was the most sought after seed in its day. I think we need to let individuals decide what to grow as to create their own line. Perhaps there is a genetic traight in some other seed that will explode when crossed into another. so I have decided I will grow what I see as potential and not take that chance of bypassing the next great cross.

10/27/2013 10:44:45 PM

Eugene,OR

"Ah, so very wise this advice is." said the three foot tall Jedi Master. "Miss finding greatness we may, by looking only in one place."

10/28/2013 12:52:22 AM

Cornelius, Oregon

This is the reason the 895 was both a blessing and curse to squash. I had so many seeds from the 895 and it was 100% consistant that it was the only squash planted for a long time and the family tree got all screwed up. We lost a lot of older genetics because they were not planted any more due to inconsistent color or size. All the Stellpflug lines are pretty much gone now and the 895 was filled with all kinds of stuff from the 900 lyons. I think someone wrote an article about this somewhere.
Perhaps a hybrid of the two ideas one community seed and do some crossing from ..you pick it.. might be in order.

10/28/2013 12:58:00 AM

Indiana

Brett,
Do you have any of the old stellpflug seeds yet? I grew a 737 stellpflug yet. Havent opened it up to see what she looks like.

10/28/2013 1:19:46 AM

Willamette Valley, Oregon

I actually never thought we would all grow ONLY "the one" seed. It really is an individual choice to grow the chosen "one" or not, or to grow others in addition to it. No pressure either way. It's ultimately just a suggestion and I fully expect people to do what they want without hesitation or concern.

Having said that, doing what has always been done and expecting to pop a 1500+lb squash (or 2 or 3) is betting on some long odds (We know that because it hasn't happened yet.)

Trying a different approach and testing it with enough plants to draw some real conclusions is appealing to me. Maybe we don't all end up growing the chosen seed, but we a lot of us at least consider the possibility of growing an advanced generation squash seed and the benefits and risks that go with that.

10/28/2013 2:17:10 AM

St.thomas

The 'chosen seed' idea is attractive for the simple fact I haven't seen this much interest in the 'squash board' for a long time...(very nice to observe) so i'd play along. But the 'chosen seed' wouln't be the only seed i'd be growing (as I don't think Scot was sugesting).

I think Bret nailed it with the 'hybrid' idea. Go with the choses seed idea (or several hot ones of today), then get a list of some 'old time' genetics that growers may have in their seedbanks but aging quickly and are willing to donate.

By signing up to do the cross could give us all some unique and diverse squash genetics and still have the ability to throw a monster.

This type of outcross/hybrid/ wrapped in a group effort could possible produce the 15-2000 lber we're looking for:).

10/28/2013 8:17:10 AM

Eugene,OR

With everything above making some degree of sense, what we are really looking for is an outlier that will produce similar offspring. I think that the only truly derisable outlier this year was the Pierpoint which weighed +29%. Wouldn't it be a shame if this seed was ignored in favor of another "chosen one" when it was the one all along that was meant to take the squash universe to new heights?

10/28/2013 10:48:38 AM

Cornelius, Oregon

Tom,
I looked through all my seeds 3 or 4 years ago and don't have any more Stellpflug. The best I can do is a 737 x 738 cross I made back in 2005. Its never been planted, but at least the genetics are there.

Was the Pierpoint 29% heave the one that was like 1264 or something?

10/28/2013 11:18:37 AM

Billerica,Massachusetts

I'm sure there's some old stellpflug seeds squirreled away in old collections? i may dig through some of my older seeds and see what's in there? of course the germination rates may not be so good.

Glenn

10/28/2013 12:58:16 PM

norway , maine

yes the 1264 Pierpont was 29% heavy...color was perfect too

10/28/2013 3:12:46 PM

Littleton, Colorado

I like Brett's idea, a community seed and others of your choice.

10/28/2013 5:56:58 PM

Cornelius, Oregon

Forgive me guys, but a couple questions since I have been gone....

Are there any seeds left that produced the 1400 pouner for Jarvis?
What seed produced the 1264 Pierpoint?
Did the 1400 world record go heave or light?
It looks like we have the genetics to get a squash up to 417 total inches and the genetics to go 29% heavy. Depending upon what est. chart, we have in our grasp the genetics to get near that 1900-2000 pound range already. We just need to get them together. It also seems (at least in my patch) that heavy comes from the dad, but either way, cross a 996 with a 1002 Jarvis or 1035 Aten, and work from there may be a good bet too.
Sorry got wordy there. Thinking out loud again.

10/28/2013 6:08:28 PM

Glosta

Here is the lineage of the 1264* Pierpont ( 996* Haist x 1109* Pierpont)

996* Haist ( 1177* Haist x 800* Neily)
1109* Pierpont (996* Haist x 1037.5* jarvis)
1037.5* Jarvis (1217.5* Jarvis x 1002* Jarvis)
1002* Jarvis ( 1217.5* jarvis x 982* Sherwood)
1217.5* Jarvis ( 800* Neily x 1132* Vincent/Mcgill)
982* Sherwood( 1129.5* Blalock x self)
1177* Haist (1028* Johnson x 409* Haist)
800* Neily ( 836* Neily x 848* Mackenzie)

the 1486 was right on chart taped 1481 (414 OTT)

10/28/2013 8:19:08 PM

Deerfield, Michigan

Does anyone have a link to a picture of Edwin Pierpont's 1264?

10/28/2013 11:52:00 PM

Eurasia

@ afveteran
http://squash.giantstogrow.com/Top500Squashes.php

10/29/2013 11:02:05 AM

Deerfield, Michigan

Thanks pumplobster

11/1/2013 3:34:30 AM