Hail Netting #2; A Test

Possibly under the false assumption that we will see sunny days in Colorado again, I put up a 2nd piece of hail netting, on top of the 1st piece this afternoon. I came up with this idea over the winter.  My current hail netting has a 14% shade factor, which undoubtedly helps on the hot Colorado summer days.  However, on the really hot days it isn't quite enough to be ideal.  I learned from Pete's patch a few years ago that these plants don't need a ton of sun.  Pete grew on the east side of his house.  The patch was probably 225 square feet, which is small.  And he pulled a very nice 1306 pound pumpkin out of the patch that year.  After about 1:00 about half of his patch was in the shade.  By 2:00 most all of the patch was in the shade.  You would think that would be a problem but our big temperature swings from high 50s at night low 90s during the day seem to be a bigger problem.  Since his pumpkin was in the shade during the hottest part of the day I theorize that his pumpkin was able to grow more during the day because it didn't have to deal with as big of temperature changes during the day.

Putting that theory to the test, on only the west side of the patch, I've added an 18% shade cloth.  I'm not sure if in this case if 14% + 18% actually equals 32% shade, but for sure the plant won't have to deal with as much brutal sun after the lunch hour.  We will see if that works.

That is, if, we ever have a full sun day in Colorado again.  Its been a very screwy spring and early summer this year.  88 degrees right now but completely cloudy this afternoon like it has been every afternoon for the last month.

However, if there is one truth to Colorado weather, if you don't like it, just wait an hour and it will change.

This evening I sprayed the entire patch with one Biotamax tablet and then watered it in.

Weeds in the Pumpkin Patch

Its that time of the year.  The time where the weeds start popping up like, well, weeds.  Now is the time to start getting them out of the pumpkin patch while they are small and their root systems aren't well established.  Once most weeks get to any size they can become very difficult to pull and even harder to get rid off.  My preferred method, when the weeds are less than three inches high is a weed cutter.  They do a good job of cutting the weeds off at the roots when the weeds are small and most won't come back.  You can relatively quickly get a relatively large area in 15 minutes.  A weed cutter simply has a hoe type handle with a metal loop on the end that you pull back and forth through the soil, cutting the roots a couple of inches down.  Most of the weeds fully are uprooted using this system and it is nearly as good as pulling the weeds by hand, but a lot faster.

Worm Casting for Giant Pumpkins

Just before Christmas I ordered some worms for my worm bins. I lost all of my worms last year after a deep freeze in January (the new worms are being kept in the basement). There is nothing better for growing then worm castings and making compost tea. My bins are very basic. A large plastic tote with a fair amount of organic material. It doesn't take much to make the worms happy. I'll throw in table scraps (mostly just vegetables, coffee grounds and occasionally a little flour and the worms seem perfectly happy. I also spray down the bin once or twice a week to keep it lightly moist. In the spring I put the worm castings in my soil mixture that I start my seeds in and I'll also put some castings in the hole that I plant the plants in the pumpkin patch. Worm castings are more rich in nutrients then most composts and rich in soil microbial biomass.

Organic Gardening

My friend Ray has started an organic gardening website that you should check out. Visit www.plantyourown.com to participate in organic gardening forums and read some great articles. He even has a great giant tomato contest that you can participate in this year.

Rocky Mountain Giant Vegetable Growers Patch Tour

Yesterday was the annual RMGVG patch tour. With it you go around and visit others growers pumpkin patches to see how they grow but more importantly you get a chance to spy on the other competitors pumpkins. The big winner so far this year was Joe Scherber. There has been some talk about Ken's pumpkin having the biggest measurements on bigpumpkins.com but I know what Joe's measurements were on that same day and lets just say that it was 400 pounds bigger than any other pumpkin we saw yesterday. His pumpkin is older than Ken's but still packing on the pounds. A very impressive white pumpkin grown from the 1725 Harp seed.

Game Over & Compost Tea with a Little Seaweed Today

I went and saw Joe Scherber's pumpkin patch today. I love visiting Joe's patch and hate it. Joe has a great setup and is always more than willing to share his depth of knowledge but his plants always look so good that it makes you want to cash it in. For the most part my plants are on par with Joe's. I started a little later than him this year but our plants are generally about the same size except for one. His 1725 Harp plant is a beast. If it can grow pumpkins like it can grow salad it is game over this year.

Today I did a lot of vine burying on my two pumpkin plants. Vine burying helps keep the vines from twisting in the wind and more importantly encourages root growth at the leaf nodes.

This evening I game my plants some compost tea with some seaweed in it. Some studies have shown that the hormones in seaweed can help with flowering on plants. A new female flower showed up today on the 1204 Scherber pumpkin plant at a nice spot on the main vine so in about 1.5 weeks I hope to have a pumpkin growing on that plant.

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.

5 Most Common Questions About Growing Giant Pumpkins

The following are the 5 most common questions to me about growing giant pumpkings:

1. do you use special seeds?

Yes! Atlantic Giant seeds are the only variety of pumpkin seed that will get over 500 pounds and the Atlantic Giant seeds you get in the hardware store probably aren't going to do it for you. You need seeds that have had controlled crosses of the best seed stock to get the real giants. With them to grow a pumpkin over 100 pounds is not very difficult. If you haven't already started some seeds now is a perfect time! Get seeds from the Pumpkin Man at http://seeds.denverpumpkins.com.

2. What do you feed a giant pumpkin?

A well composted soil that is balanced is key to growing a giant pumpkin. Most of what will determine if you are going to grow a giant pumpkin happens before you even put the plant in the ground. A great soil comes through some hard work and soil tests to make sure the levels of nitrogen, potassium, potash and calcium are in the right ratios.

3. What do you do with the pumpkin at the end of the season?

I'll usually put it on display in the driveway until Halloween. It is real hoot to see people's reactions when they drive by.

4. How much time does it take to grow a giant pumpkin?

Most competitive giant pumpkin growers will spend about an hour a day on a plant. Wives/husbands of pumpkin growers are referred to as pumpkin widows during the growing season.

5. What is the secret to growing a giant pumpkin?

The real secret is that there are about 1,000 little secrets. Giant pumpkin growing is wonderfully complicated. Soil sciences, genetics, plant biology, chemistry and more go into growing a state or world record. Rarely does a giant happen by accident. The good news is that most growers will tell you anything that you want to know about growing a big pumpkin if you ask. As a matter-o-fact you probably won't be able to get them to shut up once you get them started. Lol

Got a question for The Pumpkin Man? Leave a comment by clicking the Comment link below.

A Little Test with Biotamax

Last year I tried a new product called Biotamax. Yesterday I decided to do a little test with it on the lawn. Biotamax comes in a tablet form that is full of benefical fungi and bacteria know as soil probiotics. The trichoderma in biotamax can help control plant pathogens in the soil. Esentially they eat the bad stuff and help the plant grow.

My lawn has suffered from a fungus the last two years. Late last summer it appeared that I got it under control but the lawn has never looked very good. I've had soil tests done on the soil so I know the problem isn't nutrient related and there has been a number of mushrooms in the lawn so I believe a fungus is the culprit. After a good 24 hour rain I sprayed Biotamax on the grass to the left of the red pole. to the right I sprayed Spectracide Immunox Desease Control. In two weeks I'll be checking back in to see which part of the lawn is doing better.

Not a very scientific study but it will be interesting to see how a non-chemical fungus control might work.

Pumpkin Plants in the Ground and Snow on the Hoop Houses

Yesterday evening I put my new pumpkin plants in the ground to replace the ones that were damaged/dead. In the first hoop house I put my 868 Johnson (1161 Rodonis x 1544 Revier) plant (kids were going to grow this one but they liked the look of the 1084 Grande (1385 Jutras x 901 Hunt) better because it was bigger). The 868 plant has a great dark green color and looks just like my 1161 plant from last year but thicker. The second plant in the hoop house is the 1306 Mohr (1161 Rodonis x 1288 Wallace). This poor plant hasn't grown much at all since the hoop house got blown to Kansas. It must have been damaged some because it just has not seemed happy since then. I still have hopes for it.

In the second hoop house I've put the 1308 Todd (50 Todd x 901 Hunt). This was a plant that I was seriously considering planting at the beginning of the season. The plant that Barry gave me is a very nice looking one with a very thick stump on it. This plant is very intriguing because Barry didn't start the seed that grew the 1308 until the end of the first week of May because he wasn't even planning on growing last year. He still had a pollination about the same time as the other main growers in Colorado and the pumpkin grew right until picking the 2nd week of May. The 901 Hunt that was crossed into that pumpkin went 26% heavy last year and thumped like cement. I'm hoping the aggressiveness of the 50 Todd with the heavy of the 901 will produce a pumpkin that will fix some of the problems I had last year.

In with the 1308 Todd is the 1204 Scherber (1421 Stelts x 1725 Harp). My good 1204 was frost bitten unfortunatley and this plant was slow from the start but it started to take off this last week so I have hopes for it. It had a very nice root system on it when I pulled it out of the pot. I love this cross and would love to put Joe's 1725 clone into it.

In about two weeks I'm going to have to decide which plants to go with. I'll look at the color, growth, and overall health of the plants when I make my decisions.

With the cold weather and snow today in Denver I've got the space heather going in one hoop house and in the other hoop house I have the heat lamp and a 75 watt bulb. All of the plants looked really happy this morning which was good.

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.

The Pumpkins Are Still Alive

After being away on vacation for the last 7 days, being chased by hurricanes, I am happy to report that the pumpkins still seem to be growing. Under the tender care of Master Scherber I wouldn't expect anything less (an suprising the staple marks have healed nicely). Growth this last week for the 1236 Harp definitely was slowed down. That is to be expected when you have 43 degree nights in Denver and less then great weather conditions the better part of the week. I am happy to report however that the 1236 has broken the 1,000 pound mark according to the circumference charts so I can call the season a success as long as the scale agrees with the measurements three weeks from today.

Right now the 1236 has slipped 1/2 inch behind the goal I had for it but hopefully some descent weather will prove that this pumpkins still has enough power left in it to grow for another three weeks. I'd love to see it get in the 1,100 pound range but at the current growth rate I don't think it will make it.

The 1161 seems to still have a little more growing power in it these days and has cut the circumference gap with the 1236 down to 5 1/2 inches although it is not nearly as tall a pumpkin so unless it is super thick or the 1236 is an air bag I don't think it can ever catch it. It will have a week longer to grow than the 1236 so right now I would say it has a shot at reaching the 1,000 pound mark. For most of the season it has been 12-16 inches behind in circumference measurements to the 1236 so I think it still has something to prove.

The kids' 1129 Orleck plant is still trucking along. It has crossed the 200 pound mark.

I gave both plants 1/2 cup of seaweed yesterday along with two tablespoons of fish & seaweed.

Big Hail in Denver Again!

My plants survived today's storm but the 1161 took a bit of a beating. The hail netting held perfectly, but at times the hail was coming in at a sharp angle and got the right hand side of the 1161 plant. The 1236 maybe got 5-10 holes in it but no big deal. I was thinking just this morning how pristine the leaves looked on both plants. No leaf burn, green color, nearly perfect. Not any more.

The hail netting did just what it was designed to do. 90% of the hail bounced off to the sides and it didn't tear or break at all. Without the netting my season would have pretty much been done. The kids pumpkin plant isn't dead, but very beat up (see last photo). I feel bad for them but it will come back and grow a pumpkin.

Pumpkin Plant Update & Colorado Growing

The pumpkin plants are doing well even though our Colorado weather is not so great. The picture to the right was taken this morning. More snow in the forecast for tonight and then we should be back into the 60s again. I have a thermostatically controlled space heater in one hoop house and I have 150 watts of light bulbs in the other hoop house so the plants should be fine.

So far the 1161 Rodonis is my best plant. The 1528 Starr slowed down about a week before planting it outside and it has never recovered. The 1316 Harp and 1236 Harp are about the same but in different ways. The 1316 Harp doesn't seem to like the heat at all and gets droopy leaves when it gets hot. It also looks like it is going to double vine. The 1236 Harp is about the same size as the 1316 but has lighter color. I'm guessing that in the next 1.5 weeks I'll be to the point that I'm going to have to decide which plant to keep.

The best looking plant so far of all of the plants isn't my plant. The kids 1129 Orleck is the best plant to this point. Nice green leaves, good vigor and maybe the biggest in size of all of the plants. The kids are going to grow big and heavy this year. I'm second guessing if I should have kept the Orleck for myself. It will be a good pollinator.

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.

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.

Some Additional Pictures of the Pumpkin Patch After the Big Storm

The following pictures were taken about 14 hours after the hail storm. Additional details in the post below. The miracle is that the pumpkin is still growing. Don't know how much longer however. I'm hoping to get it far enough along to get seeds out of it but there are a few spots that clear, gel like liquid are oozing out of which is probably a sign that the battered spots are beginning to rot. I've been spraying diluted bleach on the pumpkin and trying to keep it dry in the hopes of saving it. None the less it has put on about 5 1/4 inches since the storm without any leaves on the plant and I would say that isn't half bad.

Pumpkin Patch Fall Soil Prep and Amendments

50% or more of the work for growing a giant pumpkin isn't done during the growing season. It is done in the fall and early spring. It doesn't matter how great your pumpkin seed genetics are if you don't have a great soil to grow it in. I'm starting a new patch for 2009. My good neighbor Chris is allowing me space on his 3 acre property to grow 4 plants next year. A BIG thanks to him for letting me do this. He has gone above and beyond by having his employees use his earth movers to help me move the soil and compost piles.

Soil preparation starts with a soil test. Unless you know what is in your soil you don't know what you need to add. The soil for my new patch was pretty poor. It was compacted, low on NPK, low organic matter and had a high ph of 8.1. To build the soil I added poultry compost, alfalfa meal, bone meal, green sand, humic acid, organic 10-5-5 fertilizer with calcium, tree leaves, elemental sulphur, peat moss and aluminum sulphate. That was all rototilled in deep.

After that I put down a cover crop of annual rye grass and white clover seed. I then spread a 4-4-5 fertilizer with mycorrhizal fungi and sprayed it all down with Neptune's Fish & Seaweed, compost tea, molasses and some fat free milk. The last 5 items were added to help build the microbiology in the soil. The good bacteria and fungi will then start working those soil amendments and turn them into great soil. After that was completed I then ran the sprinklers and covered the main growing areas with 10x25 clear plastic sheets to help build warmth in the soil to get the cover crop going before we get a hard freeze.

In early spring I will do another soil test and will probably add additional composted manure and other amendments as needed. I will also add some worms to the soil as I didn't see any in the dirt today.

As I re-learned today, if you think it will take 3 hours to get your patch prep work done count on it taking 6 hours. Man am I sore and tired tonight.

Organic Verses Chemical Fertilizers for Pumpkins

You can find a lot of great websites with long debates about organic verses chemical fertilizers. When it comes to pumpkin growing I only use organic fertilizers because of the value to the soil food web they provide. You can grow a very big pumpkin using Miracle Gro or any of the other chemical fertilizers. Some people knock the chemical fertilizers because the pollution they can cause. I do believe there is a problem in that regard but it isn't as big as one might think. Organic fertilizers can cause many of the same problems. The real advantage, in my mind, in regards to organic fertilizers and pumpkin growing is three fold:

1. The soil food web. Organic fertilizers feed what is called the soil food web. Chemical fertilizers can diminish the soil food web. The soil food web is the community of bacteria, fungi, protozoa, dirt, plants, and organic material in the soil working together synergistically to feed and help each other. You see the best of this in jungles and forests where the plants thrive without much outside intervention. Organic fertilizers typically build this community and add to it. Chemical fertilizers can diminish some communities in the food web and this breaks the natural cycles. So what you end up doing is feeding the plant rather than the soil.
2. Salts. Most chemical fertilizers when they break down leave salts behind. These salts will build up over years of fertilization and could hurt your pumpkin plant some.
3. Micro nutrients and hormones. Some organic fertilizers contain micro nutrients and plant hormones that most chemical fertilizers do not have. A good seaweed fertilizer contains growth promoting substances like auxims, cytokinins and gibberellins that can increase the size of your plant and in turn your pumpkin.

Some people go a little psycho in regards to the whole organic verses chemical fertilizer debate. The reasons above is why I only use organic fertilizers. They can be a slightly more expensive, but I think they are worth it to add a few more pounds to the pumpkin.