“Molasses and Plant Carbohydrates”
Sugars relating to plant functions for maximum economic
production
Printed by permission of Texas Plant & Soil Lab, Inc., www.txplant-soillab.com
ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS that affect when and how much sugar to use:
a. How much nitrate is in the soil, and plant sap (petiole test).
b. Soil moisture conditions.
c. Sunlight intensity.
d. Temperature.
e. Wind
f. Fruiting stage / load
g. Growth / vigor [shade lower leaves]
The right amount at the right time can improve fruiting and produce normal
plant growth with less attraction for disease and insects.
Needed for healthy plants - fruit production - plant development &
maturity.
Roots take nutrients from the soil and transport them up the stalk thru the
petiole (stem) to the leaves where the sunlight aids the production of
photosynthates (sugars are not the ONLY product of photosynthesis)
carbohydrates (C, H & O), principally glucose (C6H12O6) and then other sugars
and photosynthates are formed.
Plant Sugars and other photosynthates are first translocated (boron is
essential to the translocation) to a fruiting site. If fruit is not available, the
sugars, along with excess nitrates, spur the rapid vegetative growth of the plant
at the expense of creating fruiting bodies (first sink) for the storage of the sugars.
Once the proper balance of environmental factors (heat units, light intensity, soil
moisture, nutrient balance, etc) are met, the fruiting buds form and then fruit
formation gets the first crack at the sugar supply.
Any excess sugars are then translocated to the number two sink, (growing
terminals,) to speed their growth. The left-over sugars, etc. then go to the
number 3 sink, (the roots,) to aid their growth. Here the new root hairs take
up nutrients to help continue the cycle of sugar and other photosynthate produc-
tion, fruiting, growth of terminals and roots.
ADDED SUGARS CAN AID THE PLANT IN SEVERAL WAYS:
-
MOLASSES is probably the best outside source of many sugars, such as table
sugar, corn syrup and several more complex sugars such as polysaccharides
found in humus products.
- Sugar can be added to the soil in irrigation water, drip & pivot being the most
effective.
* In the soil it can:
- Feed microbes to stimulate the conversion of nitrates to the more
efficient NH2 form of N to synthesize protein more directly by the plants.
- The roots can directly absorb some of the sugars into the sap stream to
supplement the leaf supply to fruit where it is most needed, and ALSO directly
feed the roots for continued productive growth.
- This ADDED sugar can also help initiate fruiting buds in a steady-slow
fashion while maintaining normal growth.
-EXCESSIVE amounts of ADDED SUGARS applied foliarly can shock the
plant resulting in shortened growth internodes, increased leaf maturity & initiation
of excess fruiting sites. This can be a short term effect lasting only a few days.
Pollination, soil moisture, nutrient balance and sufficiency as well as
adequate light for photosynthate production decide how much of the
induced fruit can mature.
What About Calcium?
What would all 1000 + pumpkins tell you if they couldn’t talk ? My best guess is, "Thanks for the calcium". If you don’t believe the giants– ask the following people :Stan Pugh—if my memory serves me correctly, while Joel was interviewing Stan on the 2002 Holland video, Stan mentioned he had added about a 1000 lbs of gypsumto his patch. What did Stan’s patch produce in 2003 ? 1057,1000, 729, and several that made runs at a 1000 or better before splitting.
Joel Holland and Kirk Mombert– in a 2001 Main Vine Article from the "How did they do that?" series– both recommended 10 lbs of calcium nitrate per 100 square feet. Joel and Kirk both have personal bests over 1100 lbs.
The Bischoff Bunch– In 2002 we added 5 lbs of gypsum per plant. 6 plants produced 3 fruits– the fastest grower split at 250, and we had 300 and 400 lbs. In 2003 we added 10 lbs each of calcium nitrate and gyspsum per plant. From 8 plants came a 938lber, 758, 619 and one that split at 751. Don Langevin-
A portion of Don’s How To Grow World Class Giant Pumpkins Book 3 is devoted to calcium. This is excellent readingand it furnishes in great detail the plant and fruit needs for calcium. Why do plants need a continuous supply of calcium? We could furnish you with a 10,000 word essat and put you to sleep, or just let you know that mothernature has to have a constant supply of calcium to the roots , to form the glue that holds all of the plant parts together. It’s okay if too much calcium is supplied, it just makes all of the cell joints stronger. You probably know what happens when you short mother nature on calcium.
Things to think about .....1.Limestone, oyster and eggshell are good for adjusting PH. They can’t supply calcium fast enough to provide a fast growing Atlantic Giant’s needs.
2. Calcium nitrate is by far the best choice to get your plant started. You can use it as long as you want the Vine to keep growing. If it is applied to the leaves, the leaves will use it all. If it is applied to the ground, the roots will send the nitrate to the leaves along with some of the calcium, the rest of the calcium will go to the fruit.
3. Gypsum (Calcium sulfate) is a must and the best slow release source of calcium. The smaller the particle used, the faster it is available to the roots.
What are the Bischoff’s going to do in 2004 ? Each plant will receive about 10 lbs of calcium nitrate between May 1st and August 1st, injected into the drip irrigation system. 25lbs each of fine course ground gypsum per plant will be distributed over the patch and tilled in. We are going to use 400 square feet and one plantper fruit. The Bischoff Bunch wishes you all lots of luck and sunshine for your 2004 patch.
Charley Door- the cloche clip method
A Charley Door can be attached to a cloche with the use of batten tape, cloche clips, or lath. All of which will require the use of framing. But once the frame is constructed the cloche clip method will probably offer the greatest ease of disassembly and reuse. By its nature a cloche is just a temporary structure. And by incorporating features that allow parts of the cloche to be quickly disassembled and then later reused, a cloche builder may end up saving some of his or her parts.
The steps for installing a Charley Door using the cloche clip method are given below:
1.Determine the area in which you wish to frame the door. Depending on how your Charley Door is laid out, you will have to determine where to put the door.
2.Many times the door can be framed with the use of an end post and a length of 2” X 3” board. Both the end post and the 2” X 3” board will need to have lengths of PVC fastened to them . A ½”, Schedule 40, 600 PSI, PVC pipe is used. And the fastened PVC lengths are used with cloche clips to attach the door. So, once you decide just where you are actually going to put the door, you will then have to decide just how long of a 2” X 3” board you will need, and what length of PVC to use. Figure on cutting at least 2 lengths of PVC. And that each length should be about 2” shorter than the above ground length of whatever you going to fasten it to. Both the 2” X 3” board and PVC can be cut with a handsaw.
3. Holes will have to be drilled into the lengths of PVC in order to fasten them to the frame. Use a 3/16” drill to drill through the walls of the PVC, and a ?” wood boring bit to drill the clearance holes for the heads of the fasteners. The PVC will tend to grab a larger drill. So, in order to prevent accidentally drilling the ?” holes through both walls of the of the PVC, a wood boring bit is used. I will usually start drilling the 3/16” holes at about 1” from end of the PVC. Then I’ll drill the rest of the 3/16” holes at something like 6” apart, trying to evenly space the holes along the length of PVC. And then I’ll use the wood boring bit to drill the larger clearance holes for the heads of the fasteners.
4.Fasten the PVC lengths to the frame with 10 X 1 Flat Phillips wood screws. I’ll usually place the end of a length of PVC about 1” down from the end of whatever I’m fastening it to.
Use a ?” pilot drill to drill down through the PVC and into about 1” of the top of 2” X 3” board. Then use a 13/64” drill to just drill though the walls of the PVC so that a 12 X 2 Pan Phil/Slot metal screw can be used to fasten the PVC to the top of the board . The head of the fastener is then covered with a piece of duct tape to help protect the use of any poly-film covering from abrasion.Using cloche clips attach the Charley Door to the framed area of the cloche. The sides and the top of the Charley Door should be placed on the inside of any a joining poly-film covering. Space the cloche clips for the door at about 3-12”.
Dean Biss
LAZY MEN’S POLLINATION TECHNIQUES
by Dean Biss
Lately I’ve been practicing a kind of lazy man’s pollination technique. That is, I’ve still been tying the female giant pumpkin flowers closed both ahead of and after pollination, but instead of tying or covering the males, I’ve been collecting them before they open and storing them in a labeled paper bag in the refrigerator.
The male flowers don’t seem to open in the fridge, but that doesn’t mean that the pollen doesn’t mature. And so I’ve been just letting them sit a day or two in the fridge, and then just opening them up by hand before I pollinate with them.
I usually try and collect unopened males that are a little more on the mature side. And it’s also a good idea to put a date on the paper bag before it and the males go into the fridge.
Mike Nepereny of the Atlantic Giant Genetics Cooperative likes to collect the male flowers that he intends to pollinate with the night before. That is, he ties the female flowers closed the night before, cuts the unopened male flowers he intends to use, and then brings the males in his house or the shop to store for later use.
Phil Hunt of the Giant Vegetable Growers of Ontario association also likes to collect the unopened male flowers in the evening. In Phil’s own words, “I bring mine in the night before also.” He describes, “I take them out of the fridge when I wake up at 5 am.” And, “I let them warm up for about an hour and if they aren't opened by then, I put them in a sunny window or by the heater in our truck or sometimes by the kettle if I'm heating it up for my wife's tea.” Phil has even had to “pry some open” just so he could use them for pollination.
The whole idea here is to be able to make the hand pollination process as quick and as easy as possible. That is, while still protecting the flowers that are actually used in making the cross. A grower will also have to make sure that the pollen he or she uses is mature enough to freely be removed from the stamen.
You know maybe these aren’t really lazy men’s pollination techniques at all? Maybe they’re really smart men’s pollination techniques!