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Bountiful,Utah,USA

when I looked at one of my first pumpins to open and be Pollinated I saw 6 heart shaped structures making the entire stigma about as big around as a 50cent piece. The next female on the same plant had only 4 1/2 of these heart shaped structures in it's flower. I wondered if the small Stigma was due to dammage that the plant endured when a rodent chewed up the end of the main vine. That was till I noticed today on another plant that's stigmas up untill now had the usual 5 structures. This morning a flower opened that had 5 1/2 structures in its stigma. I would think if it were genetics that caused this all of the stigma would be the same. Is this a common caracteristic in giant pumpkins?

8/3/2004 6:08:58 PM

Menomonie, WI (mail@gr8pumpkin.net)

The females are all different...What you were seeing is what we refer to as "Lobes" 1st one was a 6 lober hope you pollinated that one.

8/3/2004 6:22:08 PM

Indiana

Very normal to have a varrying number of lobes. I have had 3, 3.5, 4, 4.5, 5, 5.5, 6, and 6.5 lobes on various plants. Never seen anything under 3, or over 6.5 here at our place.

Tom

8/3/2004 6:23:28 PM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

Those structures are properly called segments. Together they do make up the Stigma. Most of us here call the segments "lobes". It is not uncommon to have any where from 4 to 6 lobes. Sometimes they do not form completely & thus appear to be "half there".

Both environmental & genetic factor would play a role in determining how well formed a stigma is.

8/3/2004 6:24:18 PM

Utah

here is a picture of a 7 lober a few days after pollination:
http://www.bigpumpkins.com/DisplayPhoto.asp?pid=345

I know there have been other flowers with more... 10-12 ...
something like that.

but tremor has it right ... its both genetic and environmental.

8/4/2004 1:09:02 PM