MAKING THE PERFECT PUMPKIN.
Speaker: Whether at a pumpkin patch or a grocery store, to pick up your pumpkin, everyone is looking for the perfect Halloween pumpkin. But what really makes a perfect pumpkin?
Bill Johnson: Color of course, is important because people have their idea of what they like in a pumpkin color. You know orange, whether it's lighter or darker orange, generally darker is preferred. The handle or the peduncle, the stem into the pumpkin, preferably it needs to be large enough to hold and strong enough that the pumpkin doesn't break when you hold it up.
Speaker: The pumpkin breeders at Seminis Vegetable Seeds, one of the largest producers of pumpkin seeds, work all year to make a better pumpkin for Halloween. Seminis, a subsidy area of Monsanto company breeds pumpkins with stronger stems that won't break as well as healthier pumpkins with more vibrant colors and smoother skin. Seminis pumpkin breeder Bill Johnson looks at thousands of pumpkins in the field each year selecting for breeding those that make good jackolanterns or produce snackable seeds.
Bill Johnson: So in breeding, what I am really trying to do is develop varieties that fit into each of these different niches. We like to have varieties of Halloween type pumpkins that are useful for different purposes.
Speaker: Seminis produces more than 10 different varieties of pumpkins.
Bill Johnson: And this is a type of pumpkin that's a naked seeded pumpkin. It's been bred specifically for high production of seeds without holes. So this is an example of a variety called orange smoothie. This one was selected specifically because it has very smooth skin. It's really good for drawing.
Speaker: It comes down to what makes a perfect pumpkin.
Christy Sondeno: They want a big one or they want a real little win, they are so in between. They don't want bumpy, they want smooth and they don't want green ones. It has to be orange.
Bill Johnson: I look at a lot of pumpkins, thousands and thousands every year and I make lot of selections based on these really ornamental characteristics.
Speaker: Obviously, Bill knows his target audience.
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