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Connecticut

Anthesis Data Summary (Question 3 of 8)

3-Why are Anthesis-applied pumpkins smaller at day 20?

Giant pumpkin growers never believe that smaller (at any stage of pumpkin development) could ever be a good thing, but this is true. I had to deal with many complaints from growers that were comparing Anthesis-applied pumpkins to non-treated (control) pumpkins that the Anthesis-treated almost always had smaller day 20 numbers. I got the sense that some growers may have not applied it to later pollinations because of this reason, even though I reassured them this was a good thing. The reason is, growth, as we see it, is actually cell expansion, which is a sign that cell division is slowing or has stopped altogether. The Anthesis-applied pumpkins were smaller at day 20 simply because they were still potentially going through cell division, and cell expansion (what we see as growth) was being delayed. Essentially, the pumpkins were putting their energy to increasing cell division, which reduced the visual growth. What is important to remember is, while the day 20 numbers are smaller, the later season growth was reported as above average. Many of those growers that initially complained about the small day 20 numbers, later in the season also commented to me that they had the best late season growth they had ever seen. It can be hard to convince growers with slide shows, articles and e-mails, but when they experience it firsthand, this speaks volumes.

12/1/2015 6:12:44 PM

Mtn. Green, Utah

Matt--thank you so much for your work in this area. You have the respect of many growers including myself. I absolutely agree that late season growth is what separates a good pumpkin from a great one. I was wondering if there is or will be data available that details OTT #s for the DAP to compare to a 'normal' growth curve? What I'm really going for is not so much final OTT or even weight but what % of the growth has occurred at day 40, 50, 60, etc.

12/2/2015 11:09:06 AM

Upa Creek, MO

Great post!

12/2/2015 11:31:57 AM

Torrance, Ca.

Thanks again Matt!

12/2/2015 2:03:37 PM

Connecticut

Matt M.
I appreciate your kinds words as it is nice to hear that growers like yourself appreciate the enormous amount of time and effort that has gone into the development of Anthesis.
To answer your question, I do have data that shows growth over a season that should provide the answer you are looking for. At the present time, I have only sent the graphs to newsletters that requested an article but I will be sharing this information and actual graphs with everyone in the New Year. As a teaser I have one graph that compares two untreated pumpkins and one Anthesis treated pumpkin with about 7 data points from day 25 to 75 showing the different curves over the growing season. You will see that all the pumpkins are similar early on but after day 40 there is a noticeable separation with one of the pumpkins;-)

Another graph will show year to year comparisons of pumpkins grown in the same location with only one year having an Anthesis treatment. This one has almost daily measurements so the growth curves from about day 12 to 70 are easy to see. The same pattern is shown with the late season growth being notably different in the Anthesis treated.

Both of these graphs came from the generosity of other growers so I want to thank them both for providing their measurement data to me. I think next year it is going to be hard to find comparisons simply because most growers that I talk to say they are going to apply it on everything based on this year’s results.

Smallmouth
I still have 5 more posts with more information so hopefully the quality will continue.

So.Cal.
You are welcome.

12/2/2015 10:28:03 PM

Central Illinois

Great respect and appreciation for what you do !

12/3/2015 8:06:41 AM

Mtn. Green, Utah

Wow. I can't wait. Thanks again.

12/4/2015 1:21:22 AM