Estimating Weight
     Thanks to years of research and effort by a group of growers, there are two methods a grower can use to estimate the weight of an Atlantic Giant pumpkin as it grows through the season. Growers use these weight estimates to gauge progress and interpret what the plant may need or is lacking as weights increase or slack off.
- The first method that can be used is by simply measuring your fruit at mid girth parallel to the ground and bouncing that measurement off a circumference chart
(See Table 2 Below). This method can give a rough idea of weigh, but can be skewed due to the wall thickness of a fruit or odd shape.
- The most accurate and widely used method is known as the Over-The-Top method or OTT. This method is done by adding up 3 measurements; circumference, side-to-side measurement and end-to-end measurement. For circumference, use the technique described above. The side-to-side measurement is made by holding one end of the tape on the ground vertically below the side of the fruit and stretching it up to the side, over the top of the fruit and down to the ground vertically below the other side. The end-to-end measurement is the same as the side-to-side only it is measured from the ground vertically up the stem end, along the surface over the top of the fruit and down to the ground vertically below the blossom end. Make sure you run the tape vertically down to the ground from the furthest extending point, not along the surface under the fruit for both the side-to-side and the end-to-end measurements. Add these three measurements together and bounce the total off the OTT chart
(See Table 1 Below).