Wow, really? I don’t remember having seen that growth pattern before, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. I may just have been unobservant. So there’s still room for hope! Thank you!
Oh, it’s an annual thing for me. “They’re so tiny! They’re not growing! Why are they not growing?! I did something wrong! I’ve killed them! Wait, did that just grow two feet in a week? Where did that blossom come from?”
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Ha ha ha ha! 
That’s really heartening to hear!
Accession PI-438572 grows vigorously in my greenhouse.
No signs of flowering yet, but I think the species is day-length sensitive, so I don’t expect flowers until September.
Here’s a photo of a leaf of PI-438572. I don’t observe any “fig” shape at all. Does anyone else have leaf photos to share?
Don’t pull out those the insects stripped. Providing the stem hasn’t been eaten below the seed leaves, they might pop back.
Yes, definitely. The stems are still green and look healthy, and I’ve seen plants regrow after something like that, so my hope is they’ll still live to fruit.
My plants in the greenhouse are big and beautiful but no blossoms yet. The other set outside the greenhouse are still pretty small but starting to vine.
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Wow, those look amazing!
Any blossoms yet?
I expect blossoms about the end of August…
Every year, (on my other variety), they flower just before frost, or just after…
So, the other variety you grow, are the plants frost-tolerant? Or do you usually have to protect them? Cucurbits that can handle frosts would be awesome.
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In 2009, the first year I grew for market, I spent like $100 to buy a huge sheet of plastic, that only covered 1/3 of my tomatoes. I had already harvested many truckloads from the patch. And I harvested several more after the frost. But I got really clear that it’s not a good return on investment for me to try to protect crops from frost. Therefore, I don’t protect things from fall frosts, and usually wait to set things out in the spring until all danger of frost has passed.
The fig-leaved gourd that I grew in past years typically gets damaged by frost the first week of September, and goes on to make fruits later in the month. I grow it this year as well.
Cool! So it only needs about a month to mature the fruits enough to harvest, once they start forming? And the plants can survive the mild frosts you get during that time? That’s great news!
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My fall frosts tend towards fickle and unpredictable, but I’ve never had a crop failure on the ficifolia due to frost. My strain arrived from several degrees more northerly latitude. (I’ve had crop failure due to the next door neighbor’s herbicides).
That’s awesome! Being able to handle a light frost is highly desireable in any species. That gives you an extra month (or at least a few weeks) of growing time before hard freezes start.
PI-438572
Took over greenhouse.
Sends down roots at every leaf node that touches the ground.
Interesting pigment near some leaf nodes.
Fig-leaved trait developing on newer growth.
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Well done, plants!