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!

Correction: 1161 is Growing Just Fine

Found out I had some mis-measurements on the 1161 and it is actually growing pretty good the last few days. The stump is a mess, but the pumpkin is growing fine. I cleaned up the stump again today. The rot has gone in about 1/3 inch and doesn't seem to be improving much. If anyone has any tips on how to clear it up I'm all ears.

I should have an announcement on the 1236 Harp pumpkin this Sunday. Stay tuned!

Gave both of the plants some secret sauce tonight. It may be a bit late in the season for it but I figure it can't hurt.

What Not to Do Part II When Growing a Giant Pumpkin

When measuring a large pumpkin make sure you don't have belt on. Silly me left some small belt buckle dents in the top of both pumpkins yesteday. I bleached the pumpkins and I'm trying to keep the spots dry today to get them to heal up.

The 1236 has found it's groove again since the patch tour and I'm pleased with where it is at right now. The 1161 has slowed down and I'm pretty sure I know why. The stump rot that I've been battling has gotten worse. Lots of a gel like substance coming out of three spots on the stump this morning. I cleaned it out again, bleached it and put on more sulfur dusting powder. This time I added a clear, plastic cover over the stump to keep it dry. It should have enough ventilation that it won't get overly hot (one end is opened and I poked small holes in the sides to help let some air through) but it will also keep the water off the stump and hopefully dry it out.

Good Times at RMGVG Patch Tour

Yesterday was the Rocky Mountain Giant Vegetable Growers patch tour. Translation: my opportunity to not only talk about pumpkins without someone rolling their eyes, but it is actually encouraged.

Swen Has got a Big One

Once again Joe has got one of the biggest pumpkins in Colorado. His 1421 is a giant by Colorado standards and looks to go heavy. Joe was quiet on the exact measurements for the most part but it looked to be about 681 pounds. Good going Joe. You deserve it after last season's troubles and the tough start this year.

Johnson Patch Diversion
The RMGVG made an unplanned stop at my patch yesterday. I live just a couple of miles from Joe and it was suggested that the group stop by and it was fun having everyone over. Eyeballing it, it looks like my pumpkin is the 2nd or 3rd largest by size but, as I'll talk about shortly, size isn't everything.

I remember my first patch tour. I think I learned about as much that day as I did most of the rest of the season about what it takes to grow a big pumpkin by seeing other grower's patches. I still have lots to learn but it was nice to have the opportunity to share what I have done with some of the other newer growers.

Biz Part II

The Biz's 1019 is a beast again this year. About the exact same size at this point as the state champ pumpkin from last year but this thing looks even gnarlier. I would be surprised if it didn't beat out his 10% heavy pumpkin from last year on going over the chart. This is a pumpkin to be reckoned with.

The Wiz

The Wiz was down playing his pumpkins but I think he has two pumpkins that could potentially get up into the 3rd place position by the end of the season. He has a beautiful pumpkin growing at his house that is looking to be a Howard Dill Award winner and it is putting on size quickly.

I don't see my pumpkins keeping up with Joe's or Biz's. I'm not seeing the gains that I should be getting right now and unless things change I'll be left behind. Pete's got a pumpkin that is coming on strong too and the MadMan Mark will definitely be bringing a big one to the weigh-off as he does every year.

I got some secret sauce from Pete yesterday that could make a minor difference. I actually got it more for the lawn then for the pumpkins but it won't hurt the pumpkins so it is worth a try.

I also got a recommendation from the Biz and Wiz to water more which I'm going to try this week. I've always felt like my gains should have been a bit more then they were so I'm trying to switch things up a little to see what results I get. I'm now going to water 6 days a week rather than 4 and I'm going to increase my overall watering for the week by 40 minutes and see how the pumpkins react. If things don't improve then I'll switch back.

It's Like Christmas in August, Baby!

I've been doing the measurements on the pumpkins by myself this season. My wife is supportive of my hobby but so supportive to actually do more than ask how much the pumpkin grew that day. And that is okay. The pumpkins for the last week have been big enough that they are getting hard to measure. Especially the 1236 because it has ribs that don't follow the circumference lines so finding the right line and keeping the tape from slipping is hard.

Today I found out that I have been mis-measuring the 1236 pumpkin. There is a rib below the rib that I've been using for my circumference line that is much wider than what I have been using before. I found an extra two inches today and it was like Christmas morning. Two inches represents about 22 pounds. Its good timing too because the RMGVG patch tour is tomorrow. That is like a girl dropping 22 pounds the day before her class reunion. Great rejoicing!

I like to set growth marks for certain dates and I've been falling behind this week. Cooler temperatures and cloudy afternoons have slowed things down. This extra two inches puts me very close to being right back on track.

The 1161 has problems again (actually they have never gone away). For the third time I've found the stump rotting. A kind of gel is coming out of three spots on the stump. This time it seems a little worse than the last two times. Once again I cleaned out the spots of all the soft stuff but this time I put 100% bleach on the spots rather than diluted bleach. I then put sulfur dusting powered over the whole stump which I rubbed into the stump.

I gave both plants some CO2, magnesium and manganese last night.

This Year Compared to My Rookie Season

Officially I've only had one Atlantic Giant pumpkin go to scale. That was my 755 pounder so at this point in the season it is the only pumpkin I have to compare this year's pumpkin to. On this day two years ago my pumpkin was 319 pounds lighter than the 1236 pumpkin. In fairness I got this years pumpkin pollinated two weeks earlier than my first year's pumpkin. In looking at the chart for my 755 Johnson I actually had a really good first 30 days. It actually beat this year's pumpkin by 3 inches at the 30 day mark and was on target to go over 1,100 pounds. Then, very soon after that, it tanked. Ouside of some one day spurts it did very little. There is a lesson in that. Slow and steady wins the race says the Biz.

Gave the plants a very small touch of magnesium, manganese, CO2 for the calcium tonight.

The Best of Pumpkin Times and Worst of Pumpkin Times

The 1236 had it's single biggest growth day today. The 1161 had one of its slowest weight-gain days in the last 5 days. On the same number of days it is only 1 inch behind the 1236 but it doesn't seem to have much umph in it the last few days. Wondering if I stepped on the main vine or something when trying to get all of the sucker vines. I'm hating the sucker vines lately.

Gave both plants some CO2 and compost tea with fish & seaweed mixed in.

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.

Pumpkin Growth

Growth for both pumpkins has been a touch slower than expected for the last few days. Particularly for the 1161 plant. They are both still on the low end of exceptable but I was hoping for more of a ramp up at this point. I knew the leaf damage would slow things down, but I was hoping for more.

I grow my pumpkins on sand so there is good drainage under the pumpkin and so the pumpkin can slide as it grows. It's always fun to see a mound of sand on the edges of the pumpkin because then you know it was growing that day. I noticed a very slight split that had healed on the blossom end of the 1236 pumpkin yesterday in a rib. Don't like the spot it was in at all. The good news is that it seemed dry and healed so it was probably just a growing split which are not a big deal. The 1161 had some similar very minor splits on the stem. I put a touch of diluted bleach on both and will be watching them (and praying).

My web design business has been very busy for the last three weeks and it is taking a small toll on the plants. Yesterday was the first time I've spent any significant time with the plants in a week. Most of the time was spent getting sucker and tertiary vines cut out of the jungle.

If You Aint Blowing Em You Aint Growing Them

I took things up a notch today with my fertilizer program. I feel like I'm not getting everything I could out of my pumpkins and after talking to a couple of great growers I poured it on today doubling the amount of fertilizer that I would normally give to the plants. Today's gains were slightly above normal for the 1236 and below normal for the 1161 but neither of them are giving the bigger gains that I would expect from them at this point. The extra fertilizer is an experiment to see if a nutrient issue is what is holding the pumpkins back a bit.

I heard from Nick Harp today. I had asked him if the 1725 just jumped in growth after day 30 or if it just never slowed down. At this point in the season last year the 1725 wasn't doing much. His response was, "the 1725 took off after day 30, or rather didn't slow down much."

Gave both plants a tablespoon of fish & seaweed along with 1/4 cup of of Fox Farm 3-4-3.

I See Daddy in the 1236 Harp

I was walking by the 1236 pumpkin this evening and I noticed something I have never seen in this pumpkin before. Daddy! To this point I've seen a lot of the 1236 mama, mostly in the orange color. But today I saw something forming in it's shape that hasn't been there before. The 1725 shape. Almost exactly. Below is a picture of the 1236 superimposed on the 1725. Outside of the widest part of the shoulders the outlines of these two pumpkins is almost exactly identical. The slope down to the shoulders, the ribbing, almost everything (except for the size) is nearly exactly the same. I think this is a good thing.

The 1161 grows almost identical to the 1236 every day. Not loving the sucked in blossom on this pumpkin. Did a compost tea drench around the stumps for both plants today.

30 Day Measurements

30 day measurements are usually considred important because it is right in the beginning stages of big growth. Often you know if you are a contender by the 30 day mark and then over the next three weeks you find if you were a pretendar. Lets say I'm pleased but not thrilled with my 30 day measurement. If your name is Joe then you might understand what 100 means.


The picture below is the 1236 Harp. At the same number of days the 1161 measures a little bigger but the 1236 has such a square shape that it looks a lot bigger. A very pretty pumpkin at this point like the mama. Leaf fungus is under control right now. I'm concerned that the beating the leaves have taken will effect the growth come September so I'm hoping to pack on as many pounds as possible before then.

I gave the plant some fish and seaweed yesterday along with some CO2.

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.

It's A Long Season and Getting Longer

I checked the stumps today on both pumpkin plants and found a problem with the 1161 plant. There was the very beginnings of some rot around the base of the stump. I cleaned up the area, pulled a touch of dirty from around the stump, cleared out some leaves in the area of the stump so it could get more sun and put on a 30% dilution of bleach to kill whatever is eating at it and then patted it dry. This year has sure been a battle. My first season was nearly trouble free except for some minor hail damage. If I can have a pumpkin to take to the scale at the end of the season it will be called a success.

Doc Says Its Angular Leaf Spot

Looks like my leaf problem is Angular Leaf Spot according to Dr. Matt DeBarrco. From everything I have read I have to concur with his diagnosis. There are a lot of things that look like what I have but the rate of deterioration and the look of the holes in the leaves it all seems to match. Most of the leaves I have lost on the 1161 were the leaves that were damaged in the hail storm. Angular leaf spot likes damaged leaves. Today I didn't seem as much new damage on the leaves as I have the previous days. I think the hail damaged and old leaves got taken out and the rest of the leaves that are healthy are holding on for now. I ordered good fungicide by the name of Phyton 27 today that I will hit the plants with when the weather cools down on Monday.

Growth on the 1236 was slower today but the 1161 hit a new personal best for one day growth putting on 6.5 inches today.

I gave both plants some compost tea with some fish & seaweed and a pinch of blood meal added this evening. Also gave both plants some worm castings from my worm bins. Vine growth has been a little slower than I would expect right now so the pinch of blood meal in the compost tea was to help push them along a little.

Ugh! Problems in the Patch But Still Good Growth

I recognized yesterday that the leaves were having some problems. Some big problems. A little over a week ago I saw what I thought was some leaf burn on the plants. About 5 days ago I noticed that some of the older leaves had gone dull and then a day or so after that I saw that the "burn" on the edge of the leaves was progressing rapidly. I now recognize that the burn is some kid of fungal infection. Both plants have it and I'm loosing about 5-10 leaves a day because of it. All of the leaves on both plants look a little dull from it. Now the battle is to keep the plants healthy enough to get a pumpkin to the weigh-off. No state record for me this year. I'm hoping to just get some viable seeds out of the pumpkin.

Besides all the troubles, the 1236 did it's biggest single day gain of 28 pounds today. It is right in it's growth cycle now so hopefully it can work through it's problems and keep growing.

I sprayed some fungicide on the plant to try to slow down what is going on but I don't even know what I have. Been doing lots of research but haven't been able to figure it out yet.

Pumpkin Patch Pictures and a Lot of Heat

It's going to be close to 100 degrees today and highs in the upper 90s for the next 5 days. All of this week has been hot and it has effected the pumpkin growth. Good growth at nigth and not much growth during the day. Running the misters hard to try to keep the leaf burn down but the older leaves are taking a bit of a beating the last few days.

This first two pictures are of the 1236 and third one is the 1161. I may not win 1st for heaviest pumpkin but the 1236 could give me a shot at the Howard Dill Awared for prettiest. I'm still pushing for big however and both plants just might have enough to do it. The world record 1725 pumpkin at day 31 was at 115" which actually isn't all that big. My goal for the 1236 plant is to equal that and it has a shot at it. 6" a day for 9 days and it will make that goal.

Right now the 1236 is in the zone of rapid growth that usually kicks in between day 20 and day 30 (Joe reminded me yesterday that it is usually around day 23 when it starts). It is in this window and then September that seasons can be made and lost. 30-40 pounds a day is not uncommon. It is the pumpkins that can sustain that growth that typically end up doing the best.

Gave the pumpkin plants some compost tea this evening with 2 tablespoons of seaweed mixed in.

Getting the Pumpkin in the Right Gear

The 1161 finally showed some descent growth for the first time. The 1161 finally matched the 1236 for inches grown in a day. I think it might finally be waking up. After terminating vines like crazy over the last three days I think it is getting the message and putting on the pounds.

It is going to be very hot over the next 5 days. Gave the plants some CO2 to help them with the heat. It will be interesting to see how the pumpkins do with the heat. Will be running the sprinklers a little longer during the plants regular hourly misting.

This Might Just Be the Greatest Movie Ever Made!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0ji-rxMlDo

Pumpkins & Leaves

Pictures to the right is the 1236 Harp pumpkin. The pumpkin is much more of a dark yellow than the picture shows. Grew a solid 3 inches overnight. I think it must have it's papa in it. It you look close enough you can see my reflection in that pumpkin because of all the shine in it. Second pictures is of the patch. Lots of leaves. Would like to see some pumpkins popping up over that canopy soon.

I've come up with the names for my pumpkins this year. The biggest one is going to be RedemptionBoy and the second one is going to be LarryBoy. As you may recall last year's was HailBoy and the year before that was DillBoy. DillBoy was named in Honor of Howard Dill, the "inventor" of the Dill Atlantic Giant pumpkin. Last year's was named because of the hail storm that took the plant and pumpkin out. RedemptionBoy is going to be named because hopefully I can have a pumpkin this year that will redeem the previous year's disaster. LarryBoy is a bit of an inside joke. We have some good family friends whose oldest son is name Larry. He is three months older than my son but at 9 months old he was nearly double the weight. It wasn't an unhealthy thing as much as genetics with this kid, but frankly his parents would say he was fat in every direction. I'm hoping to have a Larry pumpkin this year.

Went to the Shenfish, Wiz and Biz patch last night with Joe. All of their plants are looking healthy and the pumpkins are growing big. Shenfish has a monster growing on his 1544 plant that is a wheel. Didn't see Joe's pumpkins, but he mentioned that he has a bigger pumpkin on his 1544 plant than what the Wiz and Biz have. Glad I got some pollen from Joe to pollinate the 1161 with. A lot of growing season left to go however.

Did lots of vine burying this morning. Between illness and rain I had done very little work in the patch this last week. The ground is still fairly wet. I didn't see official numbers but I'm guessing we got about 1 3/4 inches of rain between the 4th of July storm and the mid-week storm. The plants seem good however.