Monday, May 21, 2018

Female Flower on the 2145 at 6-7 Feet

I won't keep it, but I noticed on the 2145 plant that there is already a female flower on the main vine.   That is a somewhat good sign.  Means the plant is kicking into gear and sometimes it means it is a plant that will throw a fair number of females.  That is a good thing, because at 10-14 feet from the stump you want a female(s) to appear when the plant has gotten sufficient in size/mass to start growing a pumpkin.    It is kind of frustrating when a plant doesn't produce many females. 

I once had a plant have a female at 8-9 feet.  I foolishly took it off.   Next female didn't show up until about 20 feet.  The pollination took and was growing really well, but I had to take it off because the pumpkin was badly male formed.  A segment did form correctly and the pumpkin would have definitely split.   It was another 5-6 until the next female showed up and at that point I was way to late into the season.  Lots of female flowers means lots of pollination opportunities.

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