Let the Pumpkin Season Begin!

I've soaked and planted my seeds this morning.  I've started two 1475 Scherber (1725 Harp x 1161 Rodonis) seeds, a 1647 Wallace (1725 Harp x 1725 Harp) and my 924 Johnson (1204 Scherber x 1810 Stevens).  As you can see the 1725 is in most everything (the 1204 Scherber is 1421 Stelts x 1725 Harp).  That is somewhat by design and somewhat by accident.  My favorite seeds are the 1161 Rodonis, 1421 Stelts and the 1725 Harp.  My seeds all pretty much have just those genetics.  When looking at all of the seeds out there these three stood out to me and they all just happen to have a lot of 1725 Harp in them.

I like the 1475 Scherber because the estimated weight put it as the biggest pumpkin by far ever grown in Colorado.  The plant was beast.  Like nothing else I've ever seen.  Joe told me the day that he pollinated that pumpkin that is the pollination would take that nobody else could catch him and I believed him when he said it.  The pollinator was a clone of the 1161 Rodonis that grew the 1725 Sweet pumpkin.  You could see in the clone plant how that plant was just made to grow.  Even on a patch of soil that was less than desirable it produce a respectable pumpkin.

I like the 1647 Wallace because in my mind it has the highest likelihood of producing consistent offspring because it is a sibling cross.  In other words the mother was crossed with another plant whose seed came from the same pumpkin.  Genetically speaking sib crosses tend to produce genetics that are more similar to the original plant genetics.  They aren't the same, but the next best thing.  The pollinator in this cross had an estimated weight of 1789 pounds when the pumpkin went down to a split in August.  It still had another month to grow and could have broken the world record by a lot.  The mother in the cross went 11% heavy to the charts.  In my mind this is the ideal cross.

My 924 Johnson I think has some very good potential.  Not only were the mother and father good looking pumpkins their genetic backgrounds on both sides are fantastic.  I know of a number of people that are planning on planting this seed and I think someone will grow a very nice pumpkin from it.