Pumpkin Patch Tour & Greenhouse

A little bummed that I'm going to miss both the Utah club's pumpkin patch tour and the RMGVG patch tour.  The Utah tour is the weekend before we move to Utah and the Colorado tour is the weekend after.  I couldn't be moving at a worse time.

I'm looking at getting this 24x28 foot greenhouse for the new house.  If anyone is familiar with the quality of the Grower Solutions greenhouses please let me know.  I want to make sure I make the right purchase.

http://www.growerssolution.com/PROD/24-ft-greenhouse-package-kit/24ftquonsetpkg

Time to Get Back into the Pumpkin Patch

This week I plan on tilling the pumpkin patch.  On Thursday there is supposed to be storm, so I'm going to till on Wednesday.  I'll be tilling in some peat, alfalfa, humic acid, silica and expanded shale into the patch.  The expanded shale is something new that I'm trying this year.  From what I've read, it should be good for our Colorado clay soils.  I'll also be putting down about 4lbs of myco into the patch as well.  After the storm, I'll be seeding the patch with a cover crop of winter rye in all but the planting areas.  That cover crop I'll till into the ground when the plants vines start running.

Today I started working on two new hoop houses (kind of like a small green house) for the plants.  These hoop houses are about 2 feet longer and 2 feet wider than my current hoop houses.  I need hoop houses for my kids' plants, do I thought it was time for an upgrade.  These new hoop houses are designed just like my old ones, but with the increased size I"ll be able to keep the plants in the hoop house for another 3-7 days.

I'll be starting my pumpkin plants on April 15th, indoors under grow lights.

1791 Growing Like a Weed

By tomorrow the 1791 plant's main vine will be at the end of the hoop house.  Looking back at last year that is about 5 days ahead of last year's plants.  A good problem to have but it can cause some problems.  We get heavy winds here in Denver this time of year and with the hoop house it isn't a problem.  But when the plants get out of the hoop house they have little to no protection.  One year I removed the hoop house a little too early and the next day there was strong winds.  The plant survived of course but was a little beaten up after it all.

The 1791 plant has developed some big leaves.  It is going to be a very different plant from the 335.  The 335 has shorter stalks and the leaves are smaller.  The big leaves look impressive but they tend to fall over later in the season and can be a little harder to manage.

Hot One in Denver Today

It is supposed to get to 94 degrees today in Denver. Anything above about 91 degrees pretty much shuts pumpkin plants down growth wise because the plant is just trying to keep up the evaporative transpiration going on. When the pumpkins are growing you will see 1/2 inch of growth during the daytime when it is above 91 degrees and see 2-3 inches at night. Colorado's hot days and cool nights aren't ideal for growing giant pumpkins so you have to try to create an environment that makes them think they are in Iowa or Ohio.

I have a 14% shade hail netting cloth over my patch. That helps reduce the heat a little in the patch and reduce Denver's leaf damaging high UV rays. I also have the sprinkler system set on a timer so the plants get misted throughout the day so the leaves get cooled off and the humidity is a little higher.

Since my plants aren't quite ready to come out of the hoop houses I've covered the hoop houses with white sheets to help reduce the heat and I have the hoop houses fully opened up today.

The Unsatisfied Pumpkin Grower

Three weeks ago I was complaining because the patch was too dry. Two weeks ago I was complaining because it was too cold. One week ago I was complaining because it was too wet. Today I’m complaining because of too much hail.

Some growers just can’t be happy.

Wishing for some warmer days so I can get the main going a little more. Hard to get the hoop house to 80 degrees for more than a couple of hours these last two weeks. The rain is good for the patch but this much is overkill. Some low 80s so I can get the hoop houses to about 90 degrees would get those mains growing a little faster so I can get them on the ground and get them running.

A Little to Cold for the Pumpkin Plants

Had something happen last night that hasn't happened before. The 1204 hoop house got a little froze. Not sure why. The hoop house has a 250 watt heat lamp bulb in it but the leaves were pretty beaten up this morning after a 29 degree night. The night before it got down to about 31 degrees but the plants came out fine.

The other hoop house has a thermostatically controlled space heater in it and those plants looked fine this morning. My guessing is that the 1204 plants will snap out of it but will be slowed up for a day or three as they get back into shape. Kind of disappointing however. In the past I've usually just had a standard 75 watt bulb in the hoop house and never had any issues like this.

1161 Main Vine Finally Lays Down

The main for the 1161 Rodonis plant finally laid down today. The main is about 2.5 feet long but it had been hanging about an inch off the ground for days. Now things are going to really get fun. Lots of new side vine growth this week on both plants so the vines will start running like crazy over the next 6 weeks.

Vine burying is a lot of work but that is what I will be doing for the next 6 weeks. This isn't my favorite time of the season. It is fun watching the vines grow a foot a day but it can be time consuming hard work getting all of the vines buried so roots will come out of the leaf nodes but it is vitally important in growing a big pumpkin.

The 1161's main vine is a nice looking one. Might even turn out to be one of those big, beefy thick vines that I've seen on some plants. My 755 plant had relatively thin vines in 2008.

Gave the plants some compost tea today.

My hoop houses are looking pretty beat up these days. Small holes are starting to appear and the poles are all leaving opposite of the wind. Three 50+ mph wind storms and a snow storm can be brutal on a hoop house. Good thing I'll probably only need the hoop house two more weeks at the most.

The Pumpkins are in the Ground, Finally!

About a week late, but the pumpkins are finally in the ground. The roots didn't seem to be bound up from being in the pots so we should be okay. Now we just have to survive nights that are still hovering around freezing and making sure that the hoop houses get opened up early enough that the plants don't cook. This time of the pumpkin season isn't my favorite. For the next two weeks the plants tend do just sit there and plants are very tender so I tend to worry (but as Joe Schreber once said it, "that is what we do.").

I'm relatively happy with where the plants are at. Wish they were a touch bigger, but the color is really good (exept the 1528 is a little light in color) and they seem relatively happy.

In one hoop house I've put a space heater with a thermostat to keep the plants warm at night and in the other hoop house I've got two light bulbs and a 5 gallon jug of hot water to keep the plants warm.

The picture inside the hoop house is the 1528 Starr and the 1161 Rodonis. In the other hoop house is the 1316 Harp and the 1236 Harp. So far the 1316 Harp is the best looking plant of all of the plants. On Saturday the plan is to plant the 1129 Orleck and the 1048 Scherber.

I've put barb wire around the hoop houses to keep Biz from poking around and stealing all my secrets. lol

Pumpkin Patch Drainage

One thing you think about some but can't really test is the drainage of the pumpkin patch during a big rain storm. The ability of the patch to absorb water is one aspect but the other aspect is the ability of the patch to allow excess water to run off the patch once it can't absorb it. My patch has okay drainage. After 5-6 hours of rain you start to get puddles which can be a potential problem for the plant. We have had about 12 hours of none stop rain and I'm grateful for it. The plant is still relatively small and nice and dry in the hoop house but outside of the hoop house a number of puddles formed that I'm going to need to take care of. If it wasn't for some long and heavy rains I wouldn't have recognized these issues and might have had problems later in the year. The picture is from the back window of my house. If you click the image you will see small channels cut in the soil beyond the fence where the hoop houses are to temporarily help with the drainage.

The Great Thing About Hoop Houses

The last few days have been relatively cool in Denver. 60s and 70s for the most part and more of the same for the next few days. The great thing about growing a pumpkin in a hoop house is lower temperatures really don't matter. It is 11:00 right now and it is a perfect 84 degrees in my hoop house with an outside temperature of 66 degrees. Windy days are also not a problem for plants growing in hoop houses. The wind goes sailing by with just a gentle breeze coming through the hoop house. Colorado growers have talked about the challenges of growing in our enviroment for years. I believe the three main things that cause us trouble is lack of humidity, big and quick temperature changes, hail storms and high UV light. The hoop house kind of evens things out in many ways. In my hoop house, with a 75 watt bulb in it at nigth (with the light shielded from the plant), the temperature usually doesn't get lower than 53 degrees at night, the humidity is higher because the plastic holds the moisture in, the plastic cover protects the plants from smaller hail and I would believe at least some UV rays would be filtered out by the plastic. The biggest challenge with hoop houses is not letting it get to hot. On a cloudy day where the sun breaks through the clouds the temperature can easily rise 10 degrees in 15 minutes. In an hour or so the temperature in the hoop house can easily get over 100 degrees. I have a wireless thermometer in my hoop house and I work from home so I can easily watch the temperature all day and modify how much I open the hoop house to control the temperature.

Update (2:00pm): Pea sized hail just hit and the hoop houses held strong so no damage to the plants at all. At least one item on my least has held true to this point. Almost a year ago my plant got hit by hail and I lost about a foot of the main vine. Mitigating risk is a big part of growing big pumpkins.

The (Pumpkin) Iceman Cometh

While in Canada for the Holidays with my inlaws the Iceman was was kind enough to swing by and pick me up and take me out to his home and pumpkin patch. Eddy is a super nice guy and I really enjoyed time with him talking everything pumpkins and touring his 4 acre property. Eddy's seed collection is extensive (to put it mildly) and his generosity is legendary. He has at least 4 large boxes full of great and classic seeds and his patch setup is very impressive.

Eddy grew a 1011 pound pumpkin two years ago which beyond impressive. When you live in a place with a short growing season, cool days and cold nights you have to do something special. Especially when there is a risk of snow as late as June. Eddy has 6 green houses with an additional one being built that has heating cables throughout the ground, diesel powered heaters, and an extensive watering system. That is the only way a person could grow a pumpkin that far north and at that altitude. It was fun comparing challenges of growing in Colorado and Alberta and what needs to be done to grow in high altitude locations. Got some good ideas from the Iceman that I'm going to try next year.

Even with the extensive seed collection that Eddy has he has decided to start growing his own seed lines and he is starting with the classics. He has acquired some of the best seeds from 7 to 12 years ago and he is going to start with some of the origional genetic lines in the hopes of creating some powerful seeds with some very interesting crosses. It will fun to watch to see what happens in Alberta over the next few years.

Thanks for the time and the advice Eddy!

The Pumpkin is Planted!

A couple of weeks late, but the the pumpkin plant is finally in the ground. I put the green house on it with a 60-watt bulb to keep it warm last night. We are now officially off and running!

To plant your pumpkin you should mound your prepared soil (soil preparation is talked about below) so it looks like Table Top Mountain. The top should be a couple of inches higher than the surrounding soil. Plant your pumpkin a few inches from the edge of the mound with a little mycorrhizal fungi in the hole where the roots will be touching. This will give you more area for the sun to warm the soil around the pumpkin and help it get a good start during cool Colorado spring nights.

Don't be afraid to put some dirt under the vines to support them as the plant transitions to its new home.

Tucking the Baby in at Night

Tomorrow is supposed to have a low around 32 degrees with a chance of snow. To keep Haddie's pumpkin warm tonight I built a little green house and put in a light to try to keep it warm. I put the green house out about two hours ago and just went out now to add the light. The plant was okay but not happy. The 60-watt bulb hopefully will keep her warm enough tonight to survive the next 36 hours.