The Pumpkin Plants are Growing Nicely

Today I took the pumpkin plants out for their first direct sun of the season. It was the first day in a while that it hasn't been too windy or too cold or that we even had some consistent sun. The plants seemed to like it. In past years the leaves tended to droop after a little while when the plants got their first direct sun light because they weren't used to the intensity. This year I added some additional wattage to the grow "closet" and that seems to have helped. (note to DEA: the glow from the closet is not illicit. Please don't kick the door down.)

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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.

Some Aggressive Pumpkin Plants

I checked the seeds that I started and three of the four of them have germinated so I have transferred them to their peat pots. The 1306 looks to be aggressive plants. Both of those seeds had roots that were already an inch long. One of the 1204 Scherber seeds hasn't germinated yet so I decided to start a 1325 Sperry as a backup. I like the 1325 genetics. It is a cross of a 1161 Rodonis (same seed that grew the world record 1,810) and a 1725 Harp. The 1725 is a seed from the former world record pumpkin. Steve Sperry said that the 1725 was "the fastest growing, best looking plant in the garden" until it had a blossom end split in late August. It is impressive that the 1725 was the best looking plant when the biggest pumpkin that he took to the scale last year was 1520 pounds. I figure it is a seed worth growing.

Giant Pumpkin Seed Starting. Let the Season Begin!

Tonight I sanded the edges of my pumpkin seeds and I am soaking them now in warm water with a drop of seaweed and a little humic acid to help them germinate. After an three hours of soaking I will transfer the seeds to lightly moistened paper towels that will be folded around the seeds and put into Ziploc bags. The Ziploc bags will then be placed at the back part of my computer where it is usually about 85 degrees. An ideal temperature for pumpkin seed starting is between 85 to 90 degrees. In 24 to 48 hours a little root will come out of the bottom of the seed and at that time I will transfer the seeds to my seed starting mixture in peat pots.

For my seed starting mixture I use 80% ProMix BX, about 20% earthworm castings, some myco, and this year I'm going to add a little BiotaMax to the pots. BiotaMax is a combination of friendly bacteria and fungus that will help protect and feed the pumpkin plants. About 48 hours after putting the seeds in the pots they will start popping through the soil. I have the pots in a closet with grow lights and a space heater so I can keep the plants at about 85 degrees. About two weeks later I'll be taking the plants outdoors.

The seeds I am growing this year are the 1204 Scherber (1421 Stelts x 1725 Harp) and the 1306 Mohr (1161 Rodonis x 1288 Wallace). The weight of the pumpkin that the seed came from is the number and the name following is the last name of the grower that grew the pumpkin. The numbers in brakets after it are the female and male pollinator for the seed. Both of these seeds came from Colorado growers. The 1725 Harp pollinator for the 1204 Scherber is a seed from the former world record pumpkin. The 1161 Rodonis in the 1306 Mohr is a seed from the same pumpkin that grew the world record 1,810 pound pumpkin so there are some great genetics in these seeds.
We are off to the races! Hopefully we will be reporting giant pumpkins from these seeds come September.

Pumpkin Season is Springing Upon Us

Yesterday was the annual Rocky Mountain Giant Vegetable Growers Spring Meeting. It had a great turnout and equally as good weather for the event. Seed exchange, lessons on growing techniques and the latest information on soil probiotics biologicals were shared. Giant pumpkin growers have been using natural fungus and bacteria to help grow bigger pumpkins for years. I've been using things like like endo mycorrhizal fungi for years and this last year I tried new bacteria and fungi like Azos, trichoderma and bacillus. This year I plan on using the same produts (except for maybe Azos that I'm not fully convinced yet that the benefits out way the risks with yet) but on a slightly larger scale covering more of the patch than just the stump area and main vine.

Biota Max's has developed a new tablet form of the biologicals I used last year. In 2010 I used the liquid form and it appears that the tablet will be easier to use and it has more varieties of beneficial bacteria which will be great. The idea behind using beneficial bacteria and fungi are three fold:

• Overwhelm the soil with the good stuff so the there is no room in the soil for the bad bacteria and fungus
• Build synergistic relationships between the plant and the soil where the bacteria are fixing nitrogen in the soil and bringing nutrients beyond the reach of the pumpkin plant's roots back to the plant
• Add beneficial bacteria and fungus to the soil that will break down nutrients to a form that the pumpkin plant can use.
• These three things together are often referred to as the soil food web. A healthy soil is balanced, full of beneficial organisms and feeding the pumpkin to help it grow

This week I will be starting my pumpkin seeds for the season. In keeping with the normal pumpkin growers mentality of "more is better" I've added an additional 80watts of grow lights to my seed starting area.

Today I brought my seed starting mixture (Promix BX), earthworm castings from my worm bins and a little humic acid into the house to begin warming them up so they will be ready for planting time. I'll start my seeds in paper towels and once the tap root comes out I'll put the seed into the soil mixture which will probably be on Saturday. A few days later I should have sprouts coming up and we are off to the races again with great hopes for September and October of this year.

Doing the Final Spring Soil Pumpkin Patch Prep

In the next three weeks (weather permitting) I will be doing my final pumpkin patch prep before planting. My soil tests came back looking really good except for my potassium which still has numbers through the roof. My calcium and magnesium numbers are about where I want them to be but my soil is out of balance in the base saturation so when I till the soil in the coming weeks I'll be adding some additional calcium and magnesium to get the ratios back into line. When I till I plan to add some Epsom salts (magnesium), gypsum (calcium), a small touch of blood meal (nitrogen), a little manganese and sugar to the patch. That will all be tilled in about 8 inches deep. After that I'll wait a week or so and then put my hoop houses on the patch to help warm up the planting area. I plan on starting my plants around April 15th this year indoors and hope to put the plants outdoors in the soil the first week of May. I saw a press release this last week from NBC stating that The Marriage Ref will begin this year's episodes on June 26th. There might be a pumpkin man on this year's show. Stay tuned for details.

Pumpkin Patch Soil Testing

The nice weather we have had for the last couple of days in Denver sent me out into the pumpkin patch to get some soil samples for soil testing. You don't ever know when the soil will be nice and dry again before spring.

To have great soil to grow a giant pumpkin you need to know what is in your soil. A soil test from a trusted lab is the only way to go. Putting on fertilizer and compost without knowing what is in the soil is like shooting in the dark. I am sometimes suprised with the results that I get back in the soil tests because there can be a lot of things that can make NPK to high or to low and without a balanced soil it can be hard to grow a big pumpkin.

I learned from Thad Starr that you have to be kind of careful in how you collect your sample. Take soil samples from multiple spots and use a clean spoon without any rust on it or your test results can be thrown off. A drop of sweat on the soil can change what should have been a normal sodium level in the soil to high sodium levels so you have to be careful what you soil comes in contact with. Take samples from about 6-8 inches down where your roots are going to be so that you know what is going to be available to your pumpkin plant.

Most labs can help you interpet what your soil needs but most labs don't know a lot about giant pumpkins need so ask a grower or post your results on bigpumpkins.com to get advice from other experienced growers.

I like where my soil is at right now. It has a sweet smell and you can see the last remanants of the shredded leaves that I put into the soil last fall. Depending on what my soil test shows I plan on adding three yards of well composted cow manure, humic acid and alfalfa in the next 6 weeks.

It's Been Too Long

It was pointed out today to me that it has been some time since my last post on my pumpkin blog. I apologize for that. Since the end of November my family has been on 5 trips, my website design business has been very busy plus I had heart surgery recently so things have been a little busy. The heart is doing great now and I'm already ready to start a new pumpkin season.

I got some pumpkin seeds from Pete Mohr today that I plan on growing this next season. Pete's 1306 seed (1161 Rodonis x 1288 Wallace) I think has a lot of potential. The 1161 is a long grower with an extensive root system and those are traits I want to breed into my pumpkins. The 1288 tends to go heavy and that is another trait I want to breed into my plants. The other seed I will be growing in 2011 will be the 1204 Scherber (1421 Stelts x 1725 Harp). Joe's 1421 was a beast of a plant last year. Probably the best looking plant I've ever seen in Colorado. Even after the pumpkin the vines were 2 inches thick. The 1421 and the 1725 tend to be long growers and the 1725 has tended to go heavy so I'm thinking this could be a great cross too. Neither seed is proven but with the genetics in these plants I expect good things this next season.

I plan on getting some compost and tilling it into the patch the end of March if the weather will allow. I'm also going to try something new, adding some turbinado sugar to the soil as I do so. Turbinado sugar is a less processed cane sugar that still has some of the molasses in it. The idea behind it is to get more microbial activity in the soil by adding it to the soil. Soil microbes need carbon to live and sugar is an excellent source of carbon. In theory, adding the sugar to the soil should increase microbial activity and get the soil going good in the spring.

I haven't heard back from The Marriage Ref yet as to when our show will air. I'll let everyone know when I know more.

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.

Bitter / Sweet Part II

Another bitter sweet day at the weigh-off. Pumpkin #2 ended up a respectable 4th place, I got a personal best, but ended up going about 9% light on the scale again with a pumpkin that ended up weighing 868 pounds. Although it was a bit discouraging I think the seeds in this pumpkin are going to be good ones. The cross is 1161 Rodonis x 1544 Revier. I'm hoping that the 1544 Revier will add the heavy gene and a bit more growing punch to this cross which is the two things that the 1161 needed to improve. The root system and leaves on the 1161 were amazing so I look forward to seeing what this cross could bring next year.

Congrats to Pete Mohr in Longmont on a fantastic new state record of 1,306 pounds. Pete also grew an 1161 and had a great looking pumpkin from it.

Pumpkin #2 - AKA Larry

I just loaded up the 1161 Rodonis (AKA Larry) on the trailer for tomorrow's giant pumpkin weigh-off at the Flower Bin in Longmont. The 1161's measurements are only two inches OTT less than the 1236 Harp which translates to only about 24lbs. I was hoping it could catch the 1236 this week but the pumpkin is 95 days old and just didn't have enough energy this late in the season to do it. It kept growing right to the end however putting on 8 pounds over the last three days and a great 210 pounds in the month of September.

Pumpkin Party and RMGVG Weigh-off

A big thanks to everyone that was at the Johnson Pumpkin Party on Friday. I think we probably had 100 people in attendence and for those who weren't able to make it this year we hope you can make it next year and see some even bigger pumpkins.

Saturday was a bitter/sweet day at the weigh-off. The weather was ideal and the attendence was great but the pumpkin didn't go as heavy as we anticipate. The 1236 Harp eneded up at 820 pounds, a peronal best, but 16% lighter than what the estimation charts said it should weigh (150lbs less). You can't be overly sad about growing your biggest pumpkin ever however.

If anyone would like some seeds please let me know. The cross for the now 820 Johnson is 1236 Harp x 1161 Rodonis.

My children were the big winners on the day. Their 1129 Orleck ended up at 208 pounds taking first place in the Juniors division and set a new Colorado state record for Juniors. Great job kids!

The winner at the weigh-off was a monster 1,532 pounder by Kevin Marsh of South Dakota. Congrats Kevin. It was a great looking, solid pumpkin.

This coming Saturday the 1161 Rodonis will be going to the scales and I anticipate that it should weigh more than the 1236 Harp did.

One Week From Today: Weigh-off Time!

Just one week from today and pumpkin #2 goes to the scales (first picture). We've had great weather this growing season and I feel relatively good about where I am at right now. I'm disappointed that the 1236 kind of tanked this month but the 1161 has shown some good, consistent long growing. It looks like by weigh-off day the 1236 and the 1161 will have the same measurements, but because of the small split in the 1236 and the growth that the 1161 is still putting on I'm going to take the 1161 to Longmont and hope it goes heavy to the scale.

My son Bode and the 1236 are in the Denver Post today. Great article: www.denverpost.com/news/ci_16107463

These are the last pictures until Jared's.

With a Week Until Vine Cutting the 1236 Gave Me a Scare

The 1236 gave me a little startle yesterday as a crack showed up just above thestem. Any pumpkin that has a hole that goes into the cavity is disqualified as damaged. The split right now is very small and is probably a growing pain but I will be keeping it dry to make sure the pumpkin holds together.

The 1236 continues to grow slowly and the 1161 is still putting on the pounds. At this point I think the 1161 will weigh more than the 1236 but I will probably take the 1236 to the Jared's weigh-off because of the split and because the 1161 is still growing fairly well.

The 1161 has has had a weird trait that I haven't ever seen on any other plant before. All of the leaves after the pumpkin are very small and it has been that way all season. It isn't untypical for leaves to be just a touch smaller after the pumpkin but these ones are uniformally 1/2 the size of a regular leaf from the stem on. It's clear that the pumpkin is a sink and is sucking all the nutrients to it. Joe Scherber suggested it might be because the cavity in this pumpkin is the size of a baseball. I'm not sure that is the case but I know the cavity will be small. Just hope that means big heavy on the scales.

1161 is the Dark Horse

I've purposefully been a little neglectful in mentioning the 1161 pumpkin (aka Larry). It has been doing a bit better than I have lead on. It still isn't as big as the 1236 in measurements but currently in weight gains it is still averaging 9 pounds a day right now. I don't believe it will have caught the 1236 by the Jared's weigh-off but it might very well pass it by the following weekend's weigh-off and I expect it to go heavier to the charts than the 1236. I guarantee the cavity for the 1161 is going to be small for this pumpkin.

The RMGVG Weigh-Off at Jared's Nursery

The question was asked where the giant pumpkin weigh-off is at. The first and main weigh-off is at Jared's Nursery. The second weigh-off is at the Flower Bin in Longmont. Details can be found at http://www.coloradopumpkins.com/.

Slow But Steady

Not much growth these days on either pumpkin but there is still growth so that keeps us happy. Sent out the RMGVG press releases today for the Jared's weigh-off. It is going to be a fun event with some suprising outcomes!

Larry The Pumpkin

I've mentioned before that the 1161 Rodonis pumpkin is named LarryBoy (Larry for short). Larry was inspired by a child that is about the same age as my son but a whole head taller and at one time almost twice as wide. At about 3 months Larry was nearly 28 pounds. You might understand why I might name a pumpkin Larry. To the right is the picture of the pumpkin and a picture of Larry.

I discovered yesterday that something, probably a vole, has been biting at the 1236 pumpkin. I wiped the area down with bleach and sulfur powder and put some moth balls around the pumpkin to keep it away. Vole will no longer be with us if I find him.

I gave the plants some compost tea this evening with the secret sauce.