Friday, June 20, 2008

Watching the Atlantic Giant Pumpkin Grow

What a difference five days makes. Finally some growth! The main grew seven inches in the last twenty-four hours and the sides are equally growing out. Gave the pumpkin some fertilizer on Wednesday and put some compost tea on it this evening. Maybe we still have a shot at pollinating by July 4th (although it is a slim chance)! The ideal time to pollinate is around July the 4th. In Colorado's environment that isn't always possible. To get the vine out 12-14 feet by those dates can be a challenge. This year we have seen our fair share of challenges. The good news is that the average temperature is looking to be around 84 degrees over the next 10 days in Denver. That is a pretty decent growing temperature and we want to Grow'em BIG!

2 comments:

nate said...

this is my first attempt to grow a giant pumpkin but the garden is mostly clay. i tilled in about ten yards of manure and compost for a 100 square foot area, is there anything you would recommend?

Jamie said...

That is a fair amount of organic material for 100 square feet. One thing you may consider doing is getting a soil test done. That way you will know exactly where your soil is at and know what you need. Otherwise you may be adding to much of the wrong thing or not enough of something else. You can get a soil test done through CSU or through some of the better garden centers. I wouldn't recommend the off the shelf soil tests that many of the garden centers have because many of them aren't very accurate.

Pending the outcome of your soil test one thing I would recommend is earthworm castings. I've seen some great studies on earthworm castings and plant growth. It is one of the best amendments you can add to your soil in my opinion.