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Muddy Waters

I see a lot of folks are doing this with different seed lines.I still think it makes more sense for the plants to be the same seed. What Im looking for is the better plant & not the challenged plant.Typically if I start 4 plants on a specific seed line.Seed lines are very different.The 2009 Wallace is a slow starter.So it would not be a good comparison with many others.BuTT in the end will blow the others out of the park.When running a Marathon the runner in the lead at the 1 mile mark rarely wins the race.Just my 2 cents. Call me crazy most people do.lol

Do what you want I just hate seeing good seeds & plants wasted at this not so good comparison.The 1317 rarely splits.I have never heard of it splitting.There are only about 28 left in my stash.So rip it out & toss it in the trash.lol (tear running down Bubbas cheek)

Ok Now all you Bubba haters start kicking my other cheeks LOL!!

5/24/2016 7:08:43 AM

Central Illinois

I do that, but its just in case one of them doesn't make it, usually one of them is my seed of choice and the other is a back up. I do hate wasting seeds though.

5/24/2016 7:28:58 AM

Glosta

A wasted seed is one that sits in a draw or freezer. Giving any plant a chance in soil is no waste at all. Just think of all the backups that never make it out of pots.

5/24/2016 7:40:54 AM

Muddy Waters

Mine all go to local homes.No plant is ever not planted.There always a guy in June looking to grow a pumpkin for the first time.

5/24/2016 7:47:30 AM

Torrance, Ca.

I start a few of all the seeds I want to grow. Everything is planted side by side and doing well for once.

I have a couple 1676 Daletas, 1744 Fulk and a 2023 Mathison in pots if any of the growers in my area need a plant.

5/24/2016 9:22:54 AM

Upa Creek, MO

lol So Cal, "for once". I was thinking the same thing out back in the patch last night. This is your year!

5/24/2016 9:58:09 AM

Mill Bay, British Columbia

I have a backup for our 1495 Stelts but did not have a second 1495 seed to use. Unless I have multiples of seeds, my backup plant is almost always another seed....just the way it goes bubba.

5/24/2016 10:19:24 AM

Muddy Waters

The 1495 is a great seed mother of my 1317.If you plant a really fast starter next to it. You will be throwing a out a possible great seed. I start multiples to find the defect.So im not wasting a spot all season.Faster starter doesnt always grow the biggest.Although my 1317 has been the best starter in my patch for the past 2 seasons.This year the 1734 has stole its place.No lights no cables its beating the 1317.

5/24/2016 10:36:21 AM

Muddy Waters

I dont think these Pumpkins like grow lights. My plant without grow lights are doing better then the ones with them

5/24/2016 10:37:40 AM

Torrance, Ca.

My 2009 is by far the slowest of all the plants I started. All plants are light years ahead of it. I'm told it starts this way so I'm hanging on.

We'll see Luke. lol its been a rough couple years.

5/24/2016 11:58:20 AM

Eganville, Ontario

I like to have insurance. I always have one of the pair of plants being my clear cut #1 seed in each cold frame. Unless something really wrong happens to my #1, then my back-up beside it will never make it out of the cold frame. But if something strange happens, at least I won't miss a beat and still have a pretty good seed growing and ready.

I have the old 1725 Harp growing right now and beside it is a much newer seed. I don't care about vine length so much as making sure the Harp looks fine before culling the back-up. It would take a real surprise to cull the Harp. No mater the speed of growth of the back-up, it just won't make the final plant as long as the 1725 Harp is healthy.

However, if something happens to the 1725, that garden plot still has a chance to grow something instead of packing it up for the year because of no back-up plant.

5/24/2016 2:38:29 PM

Mill Bay, British Columbia

Fortunately Bubba, the 1495 plant is awesome and the backup will get culled in a day or 2....for me a backup plant is just in case slugs, a squirrel, wind or some other unforeseen tragedy happens to my chosen seed. For me, it looks like 1495 Stelts (smallest AG seed I've ever seen) and the 1623 Wallace will be my plants this year.

5/24/2016 6:46:02 PM

Anamosa, IA BPIowegian@aol.com

This year we planted three hoop houses with 2 of the same seed in each one. In the other 3 hoop houses we planted one seed we really want to grow and one more fairly good one as a backup. Seems like every year one of our favored seeds grows a ribbon vine or has some other defect and we end up wasting a growing spot. This way if our best seed fizzles out we still have something decent to fill up the space.

5/24/2016 7:05:46 PM

Mn

I've been told that double planting is for "another name for cats" :) haha

5/24/2016 7:18:56 PM

Mn

And of course that is why I double planted

5/24/2016 7:19:48 PM

Minnesota(dw447@fastmail.fm)

When I allot two different seeds to one growing space, I area with RyanH's methodology.

5/24/2016 8:10:01 PM

Muddy Waters

Ryan makes good sense. Whoever told you that Q Tip is another word for dumas

5/24/2016 9:57:15 PM

Louth , Ireland

I took double planting to extremes this season. I started 12 seeds where I want 2 to grow. There's great genetics in all these seed and the all have a 1/6th chance of making the cut.

There were several reasons as to why I've done this:

1. I'm growing in Ireland in a small Polytunnel, environmental conditions, far removed often times from where the parent plant grew. I don't know what's going to do well for me but the more diversity of genetics in my patch the more likely the cream is to rise to the top. I'm only going to grow my own seeds next year, this year is a breeding exercise in effect.

2.We've all been stung as rookies with poor doer plants that we didn't have back ups for. I've manage to maim two seedlings through my own stupidity this season, I still have back ups.

3 I do believe that a good pumpkin in October is made by meeting targets throughout the season. 3/4 of growing area covered by pollenation.
Pollenation in late June. It takes both nature and nurture to hit these targets.

5/25/2016 4:10:31 AM