2010 Pumpkin Seed Lineup?

Over the next three months many pumpkin growers will agonize over what seeds they will plant next year. Many will use pumpkinlink.com to help them determine what seeds to grow. So far the following seeds are my front runners in no particular order. This list might change a little over the coming months but these are the seeds that have caught my eye so far:

1129 Orleck (985 Werner x 1041 Mckie)
The 1284 that Dan grew from this seed was an impressive 19% heavy, it had a great shape with light ribbing. Almost everything you would want from a pumpkin. The question is can this seed perform consistently and does it have the power to go really big. I think it does. The 1041 on the male side was the same pollinator on the 1528 Starr and it went about 12% heavy. The rainbow that landed on the 1284 as we were loading it onto the trailer wasn't a bad sign either.

1385 Jutras (1068 Wallace x 998 Pukos)
This seed has quickly proven itself to be one of the top 5 seeds of all-time and it has done it in just two years. The 998 pollinator in this seed grew the former world record 1,689 pounder. This year a 1385 Jutras grew the new world record 1,725. Need I say any more? A seed with great potential.

1236 Harp (998 Pukos x 1385 Jutras)
The cross for this pumpkin would be enough for most anyone to want to plant it but the pollinator is what makes this cross especially interesting. This 1385 was THE 1385 that grew the world record 1,725 pounder. The seed is of course unproven but I'd like to be the one that proves it. Genetically the seed is 75% 998 Pukos with the remainder being a very good 1068 Wallace.

1019 Grande (651 Grande x 1385 Jutras)
This seed grew the new Colorado record at 1,283 pounds. Jim's plant seemed to do fine in Colorado's changing weather and he busted the state record in what most consider a relatively poor growing year. The 1283 went an impressive 11% heavy. It had some structural flaws but it was so thick it didn't become an issue for it.

546 Zaychkowsky (898 Knauss x 1068 Wallace)
I bought this seed a year ago because of the interesting cross. I'm not aware of anyone having planted it yet and I'm not aware of any cross of this kind ever being planted. But the cross is intriguing. The 1068 went down but according to Eddy it was doing very well when it did. I see potential in this seed being used as a pollinator since it is genetically 75% 898.

1048 Scherber (1343 Lyons x 1385 Jutras)
By Joe's standards this was a bit of an off-year for him but the 1048 was a good looking pumpkin that went a touch light on him. The intriguing thing for me about the 1048 is the 1385 pollinator. The 1385 unfortunately went down in late July but it was by far the most impressive pumpkin in Colorado at that point of the season. Hard to saw what it would have done but since it appeared to be a week ahead of the Biz's pumpkin just before it went down it could have been another state record for Joe if fusarium hadn't gotten to it. Both pumpkins had a nice shade of orange to them so good color is a potential added bonus from this seed.

1528 Starr (1350 Starr x 1041 Mckie)
This seed produced two 1,400+ pound pumpkins this year and Thad's went around 12% heavy. The pumpkin had great shape, shallow ribbing and had a really nice shade or orange. The 1528 for Thad was salad growing beast and the pumpkin would have gone over 1,500 pounds if he didn't decide to take it to an earlier weigh-off because it was still putting on 5-8 pounds of day when it was picked.

1161 Rodonis (1231 Pukos x 1450 Wallace)
This was probably the top performing seed based on percentage grown over 1,000 pounds in 2009 and there was a number of really big ones grown from it this year. You have to love the cross in this seed. The 1450 pollinator in the cross of course grew Mr. Rodonis' 1566 two years ago.


Wish I had more spots to grow on because I would grow them all if I had the chance. Nothing wrong with any of these seeds. I think there is one more seed coming from a kind grower back east that might change my lineup this year but if I were to plant today and pollinate tomorrow this is probably what I would do:

1385 Jutras x 1236 Harp (75% 1385 genetics with a world record growing pollinator on each side of the cross. This is a cross that I could see building some great genetic lines from IF I can show some promise from either of them by growing a 1,000+ pounder from either or both of them.)

1236 Harp x 1385 Jutras (reverse cross of the above)

1129 Orleck x 1385 Jutras (Put some heavy into the 1385 and mix 4 of the best genetics together: 985 Werner, 1041 Mckie, 1068 Wallace and 998 Pukos.)

I guarantee this lineup will change 5 times between now and April. I still have a lot investigating to do and questions to ask before I make some final determinations. I'll probably plant 6 of the seeds with 3 being used as backups. What germinates, what is growing well, what pollen is available and what catches my eye between now and July 1st will be the determining factors. Hopefully I make the right decisions. After not having a pumpkin go to scale last year I am more inclined to just make sure I have a pumpkin over 1,000 pounds then to go after the state record.

Send My Good Wife to the Olympics!

Okay this is a pumpkin blog, but my good wife (AKA the pumpkin widow) is a finalist in a Microsoft blogger contest to be sent to the Olympic games as an accredited blogger to blog about the games. She puts up with a lot during the pumpkin growing season and I would greatly appreciate it if you would go and vote for her. It only takes about 10 seconds. Thanks for your support!

Vote for Amber here: www.officewintergames.com/vote.aspx

Happy Halloween from Colorado

About 20 inches of snow that fell up until yesterday morning. In the high 50s today and 80% of the snow is already gone. Sure glad my patch prep was done a while ago.

New World Record Pumpkin

It is official. A new world record pumpkin. Christy Harp of Ohio grew the heaviest pumpkin ever put to a scale. The pumpkin weighed an amazing 1,725 pounds. Congrats to Christy and Nick on such an amazing feet. The pumpkin was grown from a 1385 Jutras seed.

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.

They Grow Big Pumpkins in Oregon

Thad Starr was kind enough to let me stay with him on my trip to Oregon to go to the big weigh-off. Thad had a beautiful orange pumpkin that he grew from his own 1528 seed. Also got a chance to meet and help load up the pumpkin of Dan Orleck on the trip who also had a great pumpkin grown from his own 1129 Orleck (985 Werner x 1041.5 Mckie) seed. Both of their families were super nice and I had a great time at the weigh-off meeting a lot of great growers.

Fall Patch Prep is Done

I tilled in the sudan grass today along with about 3 yards of compost and a little gypsum. Didn't need anything else as my NPK is a touch high for everything right now. The middle section of the patch still shows a fair amount of grass popping up because I lost two bolts in the handle of the tiller while I was tilling so I had to go quickly over the remaining area for fear I would break something.

I'm really happy with where the soil is at right now. Much better than where it was at in the spring. The tilth is greatly improved and the organic matter should be much higher. In the Spring I'll add a little more compost from a pile I started this summer.

Friday morning I'm going to sow some winter rye and put clear plastic sheets over it to heat it up and get it growing. Tomorrow night it is supposed to get down to 30 degrees. I'm going to cover the kids pumpkin plant tonight and put a couple of light bulbs under it in the hopes of keeping it alive. It has been making some nice gains the last couple of days and I'd like to keep it going 1.5 more weeks. Right now it is estimating at about 72 pounds which is close to my daughter's personal best of 85 pounds last year. If it can survive tomorrow I'm guessing she and her brother can get it up to 100 pounds.

Check Out the October Issue Of National Geographic

This pumpkin grower is in the October issue of National Geographic. There is a small article that I'm quoted in. I don't remember saying the quote, but hey I got into one of the most recognized and respected magazines in the world. Had to smooth things over with the wife a little. Lol

Congrats to Jim "The Biz" Grande on a New Colorado State Record Pumpkin!

Jim Grande smashed the previous Colorado state record set by the Master Joe Scherber by nearly 150 pounds yesterday with a giant pumpkin weighing 1,283 pounds. The pumpkin was grown from his own 1019 Grande seed. The weigh-off at Jared's nursery yesterday was a great event. To see video highlights from the weigh-off go to www.pumpkinlink.com/rmgvg2009.html.

4th Annual RMGVG Pumpkin Weigh-off, Denver, Colorado

The Rocky Mountain Giant Vegetable Growers are pleased to present the 4th annual giant pumpkin weigh-off. The biggest weigh-off in Colorado. It is fun for kids of all ages:

Saturday, September 26th 11:00AM
Jared’s Nursery & Garden CenterLocation: Jared's Nursery and Garden Center 10500 W. Bowles Ave, Littleton, CO

10:00 Junior Division Weigh-Off.
11:00 AM Adult Division Weigh-Off

Galleria of Ghouls -- Free Large straw maze -- Free Straw obstacle course -- Free Music --
Pumpkin Pie Baking Contest -- Face-painting $3-$5 --
Junior Division Pumpkin Weigh Off

Food will be available from:
Magill's Ice Cream , Papa Johns, Tommy's Subs, Woody's Hot Dogs

Directions from C-470 and Bowles: Go east on Bowles to Oak St, go south to the 2nd entrance turn left into our bulk yard, there will be parking attendants. West on Bowles from Kipling: OR Go 1/2 mile west on Bowles to Oak street, go south on Oak to the 2nd entrance.
PLEASE DO NOT PARK AT THE CHURCH LOT

Grow Lights Gone Wild

A friend recently bought a home as an investment. The home was previously used for the illegal growing of a controlled substance. My friend called me and said, "there is lots of hydroponic and grow light stuff, take anything you want."

I belive last year my seed starting lighting didn't have enough wattage so I was excited by the opportunity to get some additional lighting. Apparently the operation at this house was very large. Some of what I got wouldn't work very well for my needs. For example, the 1000 watt HPS light bulb is very cool but would be a little bit of overkill for six pumpkin seedlings. My wife would certainly kill me when she saw the electric bill.

Compost for the Pumpkin Patch

I got about 3 1/2 yards of really nice composted cow manure today. It is three-years-old and just perfect for what I need. My nutrients were on the high side in my last soil test. Since then I turned the soil three feet deep so I suspect I am now more in the normal range. This mature compost should add the organic matter I need without adding a lot of extra NPK to the patch.

Putting on the Pounds in the Late Season

Today's high was about 54 degrees and the over night lows for the next two nights will be in the low 30s. This is pumpkin killing weather. Pumpkin plants don't like frost in the least and when there is frost your season is done. More than likely your pumpkin will survive the frost okay but there is a risk of splits. The leaves however are another story.

In an attempt to keep the kids' pumpkin plant growing I've covered the small plant with clear plastic and then put two light bulbs in with the plant to add a little heat to the space. I don't know if it will work or not but I figured it was worth the 15 minutes to set it up and give it a try.

The best way to protect the plant late in the season is the way Pete did it with remay wrapped around a wood structure (see picture in previous post). It costs a little but it adds warmth and frost protection late in the season to keep the pumpkin growing a couple of extra weeks.

The Kids' Pumpkin is on Target

With 23 growing days remaining the kids right now are 23 inches away from beating their personal best last year of 85 pounds. This year they are growing a 793 Van Hook (1450 Wallace x 1041 Mckie) which should go heavy. It has been a very good plant so far. To bad the hail wiped it out in July but to it's credit it rebounded. This pumpkin has only been growing for 18 days on a small 100 square foot plant but the pumpkin already has a 40" circumference.

The Iceman Cometh

Eddy "the Iceman" was in Denver yesterday. Always appreciate his fun personality and great knowledge. Did a short patch tour and talked pumpkins and politics all night. One of the big discussions was around what Pete Mohr is doing in his small 250 sq foot patch again this year. 1,004 pounds last year and around 1,100 pounds so far this year. You know whatever he is doing he is doing it right. I'm going to spend time building my organic matter in the patch and trying to get more heat into the patch. Those were the two things I learned from his setup.

Sorghum-Sudan Grass As a Green Manure Cover Crop

The Sorghum-Sudan grass that I planted is a real grower. Warm temperatures have helped push it along. I decided to go with it this year rather than annual rye grass or some of the other commonly used cover crops because I had a little more time to let it grow since my patch prep was started early and I had read some great things about it.

Sudan grass is a warm-season annual grass that is an excellent green manure. It has a high biomass, grows fast (up to 6 feet in Colorado), adds a little nitrogen, blocks out weeds, helps build mycorrhizal fungi in the soil, loosens subbsoil with deep roots and has nematode and disease suppression qualities.

I planted it about two weeks ago and it is already about 3 inches tall.

The Kids Pumpkin Plant is in Business

I've been a bit remiss on updates for the kids pumpkin plant. After the storm the plant was devastated. Vines were crushed. Leaves almost gone. I didn't think it had a hope. The damage on their plant wasn't as sever as mine because the plant grows along a south facing fence and the storm came from the north mostly. I don't think the plant was watered for at least a week after the storm but on its own it started to come back. Very slowly new leaves would appear each day. There was even a female flower a few weeks after the storm that we pollinated but the pumpkin aborted.

Eleven days ago we pollinated another pumpkin and this one has taken and it is growing like a champ. The plant is only about 100 square feet in size but the pumpkin is putting on gains that are comparable to a full size plant. I think if the weather can stay good until halloween than they should have a descent sized pumpkin (that is a pretty big if however).

This plant is the 793 Van Hook (1450 Wallace x 1041 Mckie). Lots of heavy in those genes so maybe there is a chance that Haddie can beat her personal best of 85 pounds from last year grown on a Prizewinner plant.

How-to-Grow Giant Pumpkins the Organic Way

Get How-to-Grow World Class Giant Pumpkins the Organic Way book by Don Langevin at 15% off! How-To-Grow World Class Giant Pumpkins –The All-Organic Way is the latest in a four-part series dedicated to the pursuit of growing giant pumpkins. The information is useful for all skill levels of giant vegetable gardening, and in true Langevin fashion, is in an easy-to-read format.

Don teaches everyone the most in-depth practices of growing technique and soil science, from the state of the art mycorrhizal inoculants and biological controls, to the basics of composting and organic matter. This book is an instant classic that will propel even a novice gardener to world
record heights.

To get the book just mention denverpumpkins.com on the order form before Thanksgiving and pay just $16.95 with free shipping included.

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Pumpkin Patch Prep in August

No pumpkins means there is more time to get ready for next year. Yesterday I took patch prep to a new level. Thanks to Chris, owner of CBS Trucking & Excavating and the property that I grow pumpkins on behind my house, we brought out the big guns for the patch prep. Using a backhoe Bob dug down 3 feet deep in the entire patch so we could loosen up the soil deep. There were lots of big rocks that we tossed out of the patch in the process as well. My roto tiller only goes about 8 inches deep and the soil was pretty compacted so the roots were somewhat limited in how deep they could go so loosening up this soil should make a difference.

At about two feet deep we put in a two inch layer of squeegee to help with drainage and to create a hydroponic area for the roots. As I understand it Quinn Werner has something like this and he doesn't grow small pumpkins. Helpfully it will help add an extra 100 pounds on my pumpkins next year. After putting the dug out soil on top of the squeegee and leveling it out I put down 6 pounds of soil sulfur, 2 pounds of humic acid, 1 pounds of 7-5-5 organic fertilizer and 5 pounds of 12-0-0 blood meal that Ross at Soil Menders gave to the growers at the patch tour (thanks Ross!). That was then roto tilled in lightly accross the entire patch. I was also going to put in some compost that CBS trucking had but it had disappeared so I'll get some compost and add it in November. In all I think the hard work will pay off. The soil had fluffed up enough to be 6-8 inches higher than it origionally was before the dig.

After roto tilling I put down some sudan grass seed and then racked the whole area patch area. Sundan grass is a fast growing grass that is a great green manure. I first heard about it from Joe Jutras and Ron Wallace on the SNGPG video. The grass will grow to 4 feet of more and has roots that will go down as far as 3 feet. They roots help with myco innoculations and will add good organic matter to the patch. I am a little late in the season for this grass but I should be able to get it growing for 6 weeks which will be enough time to get it at least a couple of feet high before the frost hits.

Soil test was sent in last week so that will help me determine what else I need to add to the patch in November. What I have added so far was just spoon feeding and mostly consisted with what I had leftover from this season.


I Started a new compost pile this week as well. The horse manure came from the great grandson of Man of War so hopefully there will be some good growth hormones in it to grow big next year (Lol). I also added a bunch of leaves that were leftover from the big storm as well as some grass clippings. It is already heating up nicely and should be ready for final patch prep in April.