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Sunday, August 29, 2021 Matt D. Connecticut

Entry 79 of 90  
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Second Round of Giant Pumpkin Plant Material Testing

At the time of pumpkin harvest one last round of plant samples were taken to see if anything could be found by the Diagnostician. After many trials and rounds of attempted culturing only some fusarium was found which based on a section of vines visually diagnosis this may have been present in one area. However, this was unlikely the cause of the plant collapse.

So, after getting this data and general plant/field scout it seems the sudden collapse may either be genetic (which seems unlikely) or is related to the Spider Mite infection (more likely). While the exact causal agent cannot be identified it seems that the Spider Mites were connected to the collapse of the plant. Spider mites are not common in giant pumpkins so there is little evidence to cross compare, but the lack of the lab fining much can rule out many bacterial and fungal potential causes.

The predatory mites certainly did seem to help with the elimination of the spider mites, but the damage may have already been done as plant stress was high with pumpkin growth and hot weather.

So, while this restricted the weight of the pumpkin at least it will be going to an official weigh-off.
 



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