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Carefully selected seed stock, precisely measured soil nutrition, and doses of moisture may allow you to have a pumpkin the size of a Volkswagen, too
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Scientific and technological advances are giving a turbo-boost to the "sport" of competitive gardening, transforming a once-obscure hobby and attracting a whole new crop of devotees. Men and women who had never given a thought to growing their own dahlias or tomatoes are drawn to the challenge of learning complex biochemistry, plant genetics and microbiology to produce new generations of super-plants. Airplane pilots and housewives, architects and truck drivers, are diversifying the pursuit of competitive gardening far beyond the genteel realm of the Chelsea Flower Show.
Technology also has spread the hobby geographically. A computerized watering and cooling system helps one grower to produce giant pumpkins in the 100-plus temperatures of Phoenix. Timed heaters and a greenhouse with an automated ventilation system allowed J.D. Megchelsen to become the first person to grow a 1,000 pound pumpkin -- nearly a half-ton -- in the frozen tundra of Alaska.
In a remarkable blitz of one-upmanship, the world record weight for a giant pumpkin had been broken 15 times between 1988 and 2006. But the hot-tub-sized, three-quarter-ton fruit were growing so freakishly large even the growers had begun to wonder, how much bigger could they get?
Technology also has spread the hobby geographically. A computerized watering and cooling system helps one grower to produce giant pumpkins in the 100-plus temperatures of Phoenix. Timed heaters and a greenhouse with an automated ventilation system allowed J.D. Megchelsen to become the first person to grow a 1,000 pound pumpkin -- nearly a half-ton -- in the frozen tundra of Alaska.
In a remarkable blitz of one-upmanship, the world record weight for a giant pumpkin had been broken 15 times between 1988 and 2006. But the hot-tub-sized, three-quarter-ton fruit were growing so freakishly large even the growers had begun to wonder, how much bigger could they get?
Competitive!
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In the quest for ever-bigger pumpkins, growers must figure out what it is that's holding them back, says Texas A&M University horticultural professor Stephen King. Do the plants need thicker stems to carry more nutrients to the pumpkin, stronger root systems to support the rapid growth? "Once you reach a plateau, in order to make another jump you have to find something to change," Dr. King says.
Like most competitors, pumpkin growers are always looking for new techniques that will give them an edge over their rivals. Larry Checkon, the 2005 world champion, decided to try aspirin after reading several recent agricultural studies proving that the acetylsalicylic acid in aspirin stimulates a plant's defense systems, making it more disease resistant. The prescription: one to two aspirins dissolved in a couple of gallons of water, then sprinkled over the plants' leaves.
In 2006, Ron Wallace was seized by the potential of beneficial fungus. His research in soil chemistry had led him to a scientist at the USDA's Horticultural Crops Research Laboratory in Corvallis, Ore., named Dr. Robert Linderman. Dr. Linderman's specialty was something called mycorrhizal fungi.
Many fungi live symbiotically with plants and animals, and mycorrhizal fungi specialize in roots. It acts as a bridge between soil and plant, penetrating into nooks and crannies of the dirt where the bigger roots can't reach and ferrying nutrients and water back to the plant. The fungi produce stronger, more disease resistant plants that grow bigger and yield more fruit.
This was the secret weapon Ron and Dick Wallace hoped would launch them into the winner's circle in 2006. The growing season had officially begun when the plants went into the ground in early May, but pollination in early July was the starting gun for the race that really counted.
Growers hand-pollinated the female flowers on every plant to control the genetic parentage and to make sure each selected female was thoroughly fertilized. Ultimately, just one pumpkin would be grown on each plant so that all the energy would be poured into a single fruit. To be a world champion contender, a pumpkin needed growth accelerating to 40 to 50 pounds a day in early August, putting on a total of 800 pounds during that month alone.
Like most competitors, pumpkin growers are always looking for new techniques that will give them an edge over their rivals. Larry Checkon, the 2005 world champion, decided to try aspirin after reading several recent agricultural studies proving that the acetylsalicylic acid in aspirin stimulates a plant's defense systems, making it more disease resistant. The prescription: one to two aspirins dissolved in a couple of gallons of water, then sprinkled over the plants' leaves.
In 2006, Ron Wallace was seized by the potential of beneficial fungus. His research in soil chemistry had led him to a scientist at the USDA's Horticultural Crops Research Laboratory in Corvallis, Ore., named Dr. Robert Linderman. Dr. Linderman's specialty was something called mycorrhizal fungi.
Many fungi live symbiotically with plants and animals, and mycorrhizal fungi specialize in roots. It acts as a bridge between soil and plant, penetrating into nooks and crannies of the dirt where the bigger roots can't reach and ferrying nutrients and water back to the plant. The fungi produce stronger, more disease resistant plants that grow bigger and yield more fruit.
This was the secret weapon Ron and Dick Wallace hoped would launch them into the winner's circle in 2006. The growing season had officially begun when the plants went into the ground in early May, but pollination in early July was the starting gun for the race that really counted.
Growers hand-pollinated the female flowers on every plant to control the genetic parentage and to make sure each selected female was thoroughly fertilized. Ultimately, just one pumpkin would be grown on each plant so that all the energy would be poured into a single fruit. To be a world champion contender, a pumpkin needed growth accelerating to 40 to 50 pounds a day in early August, putting on a total of 800 pounds during that month alone.
