Kids Plants Are Finally in their Hoop Houses

282 Scherber (daughter's)

Bad weather have prevented us from getting the kids pumpkin plants in the ground for the last two weeks.  To some extent it has been an advantage to have the plants under 80 degree grow lights, but these plants should have been planted 10 days ago.  The seeds were started a little later than mine, but my daughter's 282 Scherber has a vine that is 2 1/2 feet long and there were a lot of roots in that pot.  I'm curious to see if this plant is going to be an aggressive grower, because it seems to be stretching already.

My son is growing a 1689 Daletas.  It is a nice cross of two different 1495 Stelts seeds.  I like the 1495 genetics.  They tend to grow really big pumpkins that go very heavy and often times they are very orange.     The leaves on this plant are very dark green.

1689 Daletas

They put mykos, Root Shield, Azos, humic acid, fulvic acid, liquid seaweed and some RAW B-vitamins (learn more) to help reduce transplant shock.  In my daughter's planting hole we also put a fertilizer pack that Ron Wallace gave to me.  We will hope for the best for both of their plants.

Get Your Pumpkin Growing Products Here & Compost Tea

I've kicked around the idea of adding some of the pumpkin growing products that I use to this website for a few years.  I am the owner of a Denver website design business (pixoinc.com) and that leaves me only with verily enough time to grow my pumpkins and I didn't want to take on the added responsibility.  But then it hit me.  I've got two pumpkin growing children who could use this opportunity, so we are going to be adding a full lineup of great products under the 'Order Pumpkin Growing Products' tab of this site.  Like I've said in the past, there is a lot of stuff on the market today that isn't worth much to a giant pumpkin grower or gardener.  So what I will be listing are quality products that I have experience with that I think can help you grow bigger and maybe save you a little money at the same time.  Watch this site for more details.

Today I watered both of my plants with compost tea that was made mostly from alfalfa pellets. Alfalfa contains triacontanol which is a growth hormone for plants that can help stimulate root growth.  At this point of the season you want to focus on root growth.  Leaf growth is fun to watch this time of the year, but it is the roots that are going to power the pumpkin, so ideally the plant shouldn't be growing a lot of salad which will be powered by nitrogen, but lots of roots.

In the compost tea at the very end of the brew I added 1/8 of a Biotamax tablet.  I water the entire area in the hoop house with it in the hopes of getting a lot of friendly bacteria and fungi going that will help to feed and protect the plants.

Got Shirt?

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Want to Grow a Giant Pumpkin? Get Giant Pumpkin Seeds from The Pumpkin Man!

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After starting your seeds get great advice on growing giant pumpkins from the Rocky Mountain Giant Vegetable Growers.

Common Questions from Friends About Being on The Marriage Ref

Q: How did you get on The Marriage Ref?

A: My wife Amber was listening to the radio and one of the DJs was on the show last year and she mentioned that The Marriage Ref was in town doing auditions. She didn’t think much of it at first but then thought, “Pumpkins!” She has complained for years about the amount of time I spend in the patch. When she got home she shot off an email and within an hour had a reply back asking if we could go to a local mall at 2:00 the next day. We went in and did a 30 minute on camera interview and when we were done the auditioner turned off the camera and said with a smile, “I’ve never seen anything like it. We have got to get you on this show.”

For those of you who don't know Amber she is a fire plug. She is a popular mommy blogger that runs The Denver Post's Mommy Blog milehighmamas.com here in Denver. Last year she was Microsoft's official blogger at the Winter Olympic games and is the love of my life.

Q: When did you do the taping?

A: They taped us at our house for 10 hours the first week of December. Wasn’t easy having a pumpkin that was picked in October available in December for the show but we pulled it off. We then headed to New York for the studio taping mid-December.

Q: What was being on the show like?

A: It was a great experience. The crew was awesome. The other couples were great to hand out with. It seemed that all of the crew had seen our package prior to us arriving and lots of people were coming up to me asking questions about giant pumpkin growing. It was a lot of fun!

Q: What were the celebrities like to be with?

A: We didn’t see the celebrities until we went out on stage. We were back stage and the DJ over the PA system said, “Is everyone ready to meet The Pumpkin Man? The crowd went crazy. It was a little intimidating. Then they came back from commercial break, made the introductions and then we walked out on stage waving to the audience. It was a strange to sit down and look up to see faces that were so familiar. It was even stranger for them to call me by name; asking lots of questions about pumpkins. Usually people (aka Amber) are telling me to shut up about the pumpkins, but this was truly heaven. After the show we had an opportunity to shake hands with all of the celebrities and then do some quick photo shoots with them. I was told that usually Jerry doesn’t do pictures and this was the only episode he took the time to do that.

Q: How much of the show was scripted?

A: Almost nothing. During the taping at the house sometimes the director would tell you to say something and sometimes I would do it and other times I would just simply say, “I’m not going to say that” and they wouldn’t argue. On stage nothing was scripted. We didn’t know what was going to be asked and although we met with a writer to talk about “strategy” before going on stage it was our own words on stage.

Q: What did you do after the show?

A: We were so pumped up after the show that we walked around New York for hours. The truth was that we wanted to walk for the first hour. The second and third hour was mostly walking around trying to find a late night bite to eat. The city that never sleeps proves challenging when you are trying to find a restaurant at 11:00pm.

Q: What is the story with this Pumpkin Blog

A: I write this blog just as much for myself as for other newer giant pumpkin growers. On a weekly basis you can follow my pumpkin plants from patch prep time to harvest. I pretty much tell you everything I do to grow a giant pumpkin. Often I'll go back to my blog to see what I gave the plants and how much I gave them so I can keep track of things and see what is working and what is not. I like to call it the biggest giant pumpkin blog in the world. Feel free to leave a comment on any post and usually I'll get back to you within 24 hours with a comment of my own.

Q: How big is the world-record giant pumpkin?

A: 1810 pounds! Grown last year Chris Stevens.

Q: What happens now?

A: I am open to sponsorships, speaking engagements, commercials and I do give autographs. LOL

If all of that doesn't pan out then I’ll continue to grow my giant pumpkins (got two beautiful plants going right now--come to Jared's Nursery in Denver for the weigh-off the last Saturday in September and say hi), play with my kids, love my wife and run my business as a founder of a website design and online marketing firm that caters to small and medium sized businesses.

Fighting for Our Pumpkin Rights on NBC's The Marriage Ref

Every couple has their differences. In many ways it can be healthy. If this is your first time reading this blog then you may not know that I have a passion for growing big pumpkins (wife calls it an "obsession"). This sport is not easy. It takes, time, knowledge, time, effort, time and a little luck to grow a giant pumpkin. I spend about an hour a day in the pumpkin patch tending to my two plants. My beloved wife would tell you five.

This last fall we were given the opportunity to air our dirty laundry to a few million of our closest friends across America on NBC's The Marriage Ref. Our episode will be on the premier show airing on NBC on Sunday, June 26th. Check your local listings but in most areas The Marriage Ref will be on around 9:00 or 10:00 in the evening.

The show was a great experience for both the winner and the loser and we greatly look forward to the premier. I did my best to fight for gardeners and giant pumpkin growers everywhere who "spend to much time in the patch." Get real time Facebook comments during the show on my Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/giantpumpkins.

Get giant pumpkin seeds from The Pumpkin Man at the online pumpkin seed store.

Sing Along! I'm The Pumpkin Man, The Pumpkin Man

Watch Jerry Seinfeld serenade me with The Pumpkin Man song on NBC's The Marriage Ref.

As Seen on TV...The Pumpkin Man Goes National!

A little teaser of Jamie 'The Pumpkin Man' Johnson on NBC. Watch The Marriage Ref on June 26th!

Some Additional Biology While in the Hoop House

About half the time when I water the pumpkin plants while they are still in the hoop house I only use compost tea. I figure if I can give the plants some additional beneficial bacteria and fungi while the roots are still small then why not give them something more than just water. Compost tea gives very little NPK but should be giving the soil the biology that helps break down the nutrients in the soil to a form that the pumpkin plants can more readily use which should help the growth of the plant and overwhelm the soil with good bacteria that will keep the bad biology in check.

If you haven't started already, it isn't to late to get some giant pumpkin seeds for this season. Competition quality seeds started at this point could get you a pumpkin over 300 pounds by the end of the season and it is a lot of fun to do as a family (or to just show up the neighbors come Halloween time).

Order Giant Pumpkin Seeds from The Pumpkin Man!

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Would you like to take a shot at having the biggest jack-o-lantern on your street or maybe a world record pumpkin? I've got some of the best genetic seeds in the world for you. Order now to grow a giant! It is a great activity to do with your children or to show the neighbors who is the best gardener in the neighborhood. Each seed are the same type of seeds that competitive giant pumpkin growers use and have world record genetics. Shop giant pumpkin seeds

It's Grow Time

Every seed germinated and it is pumpkin plant growing time. My experience is that for the first few days after the plant pops out of the seed starting mix the plants grow really fast and then they slow down for a bit and then take off again later. The seeds that I've planted are two 1204 Scherbers, two 1306 Mohrs, a 868 Johnson and a 1325 Sperry. My kids will probably grow one of the later two plants. They did a great job of choosing their seeds, preparing the seed starting mix, filing their seeds and soaking them. They decided not to use the paper towel method to get their seeds started but I suspect the seed will be popping out the soil any day now.

We Interrupt the Fall Patch Prep for Marriage Counseling

The weather this fall has been unusually warm so I've been waiting for the leaves to fall so I can finish my fall patch prep. Finally I've accumulated a good pile of shredded leaves to till into the pumpkin patch and I set aside some time for today to till my fall amendments into the patch when our plans got changed at the last moment.

Amber had heard an announcement on the radio that the producers for the NBC show The Marriage Ref were in town doing auditions for next season's show so she shot off an email and to her surprise got an email back a short while later saying that they wanted us to come down for an interview today.

I already had a busy day planned so I started my tilling early so I could get everything done before going to the audition. The Marriage Ref is an NBC show where couples air their humorous disputes before judges and a live audience and then there is a decision made on which person is correct. The dispute that Amber and I were going to take is no surprise. Pumpkins. A discussion that has come up more than once over the last three years. Amber isn't against me growing pumpkins. As a matter of fact she wants to to grow a big pumpkin. But she doesn't want me to take any time away from the family to do it. It has been the source of more than once discussion in our home. Being pretty opportunistic people, it wasn't beneath Amber or me to air our dirty laundry to millions for the chance to win $25,000.

I wore my Rocky Mountain Giant Pumpkin Growers gear and Amber wore pearls for the audition. We worked out our positions before going which wasn't hard because those lines have been drawn in the sand for years. After filling out some paperwork and going through some basic questions they turned the camera on and started the interview.

Both of us kept a level head as we stated our positions and tried to make the whole thing funny during the interview but there were moments of passion. Both Amber and I felt like we did pretty good but weren't sure where we stood when our interviewer said we were done and to turn off the camera. I knew we nailed it when the camera was off and our Marriage Ref interviewer shook her head, smiled and said, "I've never seen anything like it. We have got to get you two on the show."

They asked for the pictures that we had brought and for us to video tape the pumpkin before it rotted away and said that they would be making their final decisions very soon but there is a good possibility they want to bring a camera crew by the home in the next three weeks to do the interview for the show.

Who would have guessed that the final "weigh-off" wasn't done and that I still had a chance to win first prize with my pumpkins?! This weigh-off I'm going to take my Honey down and get that $25,000 prize.

Now back to our regularly-scheduled program already in progress....

Today, as I mentioned, I did my fall patch prep. I tilled in about 3 yards of shredded leaves, 4 pounds of blood meal, 5 pounds of 7-2-3 fertilizer, five pounds of elemental sulfur, 1 pound manganese, 15 pounds of gypsum and about 5 pounds of alfalfa pellets. After raking it smooth I will let that sit for the winter and I'll get a soil test in the spring to make my final adjustments. In the spring I'll probably add some finished compost with my final amendments before planting.

Got Seeds? And another First Place!

Congrats to Bode and Haddie on a great pumpkin season. Yesterday they got another first place finish with their pumpkin. An eating establishment in Aurora will be putting it on display this next week. I asked the kids if they wanted to sell it and told them it meant they wouldn't be able to carve it as a jack-o-lantern and my son replied, "I want toys." He is a chip off the old block.

Haddie and I got the seeds out of the pumpkin this evening. I really like this cross. Both pumpkins are a nice orange, with an almost ribless skin and the 208 Johnson was flawless inside. If you would like some of the 208 Johnson (1129 Orleck x 1161 Rodonis) and you will grow them next year please let me know and I will get you one.

Kids Pumpkin Plant

My children's pumpkin is plugging right along and is 181 pounds today. It is a very nice pumpkin with a great shade of orange (picture doesn't do it justice). I think they have a good shot at about 215 pounds by the weigh-off which would beat their personal best by 130 pounds. Great job kids!

Congrats to My Children and Their Great Pumpkin

My two children have been growing pumpkins for three years now and have become quite the experts for 4 and 6-year-olds. Last year their pumpkin beat my pumpkin by 50 pounds (my pumpkin was destroyed by a hail storm but a win is a win). This year, even after their pumpkin plant got thrashed by a big hail storm, they have already beat their personal best. Their record was previously set last year at 85 pounds. As of this morning they are sitting at 100 pounds according to the charts and they still have 40 growing days left to grow. I think they might even get to 250 pounds at their present growing rate. One amazing thing to me is that even though their plant is only about 100 square feet the day 20 measurements were actually a bit ahead of my 1236 Harp day 20 measurements and I expect this pumpkin to go very heavy to the charts. Congrats to the both of them on their hard work!

Kids 1129 Orleck & Photos of the 1236 & 1161

The kids and I did the 10 day measurement on the 1129 Orleck they are growing today. They have been doing a good job of watering it and feeding it leaves (my 6-year-old daughter feels strongley that leaves are the key to a big pumpkin--and she might be right). After the kids pumpkin was devestated by a big hail storm last month it has come back into shape. On day 10 their 100 square foot plant had a pumpkin that is 23 inches which is bigger than my day 10 measurements on either of my pumpkins. I really debated if I was going to keep this plant for myself. It was a really great looking plant when it was in the pot and then it took a bit of a nose dive I decided not to grow it myself. It was growing like a champ until the storm hit it and it looks very nice now except it is small because it basically had to regrow all the leaves and half the vines over again. This pumpkin should go heavy to the charts. It's brother was 20% heavy. I crossed it will the 1161 Rodonis so it should have some good, heavy genetics in those seeds. The first two pictures are of the 1161 Rodonis and the second two are of the 1236 Harp. The Harp is much bigger but four days older.

My wife was griping today about a lack of pumpkin pictures. Usually she gripes about me going to the patch but today she gave me my camera and sent me over the fence to take some snap shots. These will be my last pictures until the patch tour.

The Kids Pumpkin

I've failed to mention on the blog how the kids pumpkin plant is doing. It was hit in a big hail storm really bad a month ago but as of two weeks ago you would have hardly known it had happened unless you looked really close. The kids would have had a pumpkin set on the main vine three weeks ago but they lost three feet of the main in the storm and 90% of the leaves so the plant has been busy growing back. They now have two nice pumpkins on the plant. If the 2nd pollination (1129 Orleck x 1161 Rodonis) that was done on Monday takes then theywill go with it. the 1st pollination is growing very nicely and I love the semi-long shape these pumpkins have. I think this is a very good cross that should go heavy. The kids personal best is 85 pounds and I would be suprised if they don't have that beat within a month. 250 pounds for them this year might be a real possability.

Kids Excited to See Their Pumpkin Plant Pop Through the Soil

This morning the 1316, 1236 and 1129 plants popped through the soil. Four and a half days after they were sanded and soaked. Mid-day today the 1019 showed up. The 1161 and 1528 were started 1.5 days later so I suspect we will see them tomorrow afternoon.

A New Personal Best Pumpkin for the Kids

My children set a new personal best at the Arvada Festival of Scarecrows yesterday with a pumpkin the weighed in at 85.5 pounds. That beat last years pumpkin by 1/2 pound. They got a nice 2nd place ribbon, award certificate and $30 gift card for their pumpkin. It was a really cold day but we had a good time.

Congrats to My Kids on their Pumpkin

My two kids grow a pumpkin this year together. This is Bode's first year. Their plant didn't have a leaf on it after the hail storm and even though it didn't get wattered for a week it rebounded over the course of a month and on August 31st they finally got a pollination. To look at the plant the end of August you wouldn't have known there ever was a problem until you took a hard look and saw a quarter of the main vine gone in a couple of places and some remnant thrashed leaves grouped in with the new leaves. In all the kids did very well. After growing just 40 days on only 100 square feet and only a couple of weeks of descent weather they have a pumpkin that tapes about 90 pounds. We will put it on the scale tomorrow at the Arvada Festival of Scarcrows weigh-off in Olde Town Arvada. Good luck kids!

The pumpkin may be used by a professional carver at the Food Network's competition in Denver next week.