29 September 2017

 

Pictures of loading day 23 September, could not have ever gotten them loaded without a great group of friends.

 

Thank You!

26 September 2017

 

So the season is over and I have had my best year ever. 1302.5 and 1173.7 pounds. I am very happy with those results, but it comes with a bitter taste. As you can see over the last 8 years I haven't had a pumpkin go heavy. This year growing the 2145 McMullen and the 1756 Howell/Jolivette I was sure that I would turn that around, both have grown many pumpkins that went heavy, over 20%, but again it was just not meant to be.

 

See everyone next year!

19 September 2017

 

I have never had to take the end of my tunnel down to get a pumpkin out, they have always fit thru the door, not this year.

16 September 2017

 

This is a stem view of the 2145 McMullen, if this pumpkin does not go heavy then I will never grow one that does.

15 September 2017

 

Time lapse pictures of the 1756 Howell/Jolivette taken about every 5-7 days since pollination, fascinating how the shape changes.

15 September 2017

 

Cleaned up some dead leaves today. Haven't had these views of the 1756 Howell/Jolivette for 2 months. Will it go heavy?

13 September 2017

 

Only 10 days to go, so far the pumpkins all seem healthy, can't say the same for the plants. All is good.

7 September 2017

 

When the year started this season I wanted a PB over 1060 lbs in July I decided over 1400 lbs was my goal, now I want to get over 1400 & 1500 lbs. I am just not sure which one will be the heaviest.  

3 September 2017

 

Plants good as done the weeds R surviving have a rock & a balloon 1 will go heavy & 1 bigger which to pick? ? ?

18 August 2017

 

1756.5 Howell/Jolivette Only prediction is that it's going to be a bear to load, need lots of beer and pizza.

18 August 2017

 

2145 McMullen estimated a personal best and will go heavy an outside shot at 1400 lbs.

18 August 2017

 

2230.5 Wallace never really got going has an outside shot at 1000 lbs but will need to go heavy.

17 August 2017

 

Things slowed 2 a crawl w/ 36 days 2 go the forecast shows in 10 days everything will shut down. #

13 August 2017

 

From left to right the 2145 Wallace and the 1756.5 Howell/Jolivette, a different perspective.

10 August 2017

 

1756.5 Howell/Jolivette 1200 in the rear view mirror the steadiest growing pumpkin I have ever had 114” side to side

10 August 2017

 

2145 McMullen estimated a PB developing a personality almost getting an attitude if this don't go heavy nothing ever will

4 August 2017

 

1756.5 Howell/Jolivette on the other hand still has smooth skin did 34 lbs day 53, 1100 lbs in the rear view mirror

4 August 2017

 

2145 McMullen has taken it's foot off the gas, hasn't put on the hand brake yet but it is getting wrinkled old looking.

30 July 2017

 

2145 and 1756 have 1000 lbs in the rear view mirror, 54 days to go. Not sure where this is going but I am enjoying the ride.

25 July 2017

 

We are going through a cold front so I decided to spend my retirement savings on electricity. I can set the heater to 1000/1800/2800 watt. I decided on 1000, will monitor growth  and see how it goes.

23 July 2017

 

2145 McMullen Day 45 about 800 lbs during my best year I estimated that on 10 August

22 July 2017

 

1756.5 Howell/Jolivette is giving the 2145 McMullen a run for its money and it makes a really cool hat rack. Probably the best shaped pumpkin I ever had.

22 July 2017

 

2230.5 Wallace day 40 I like this pumpkin but have no idea what to expect, it has steady growth but nothing to write home about

18 July 2017

 

2145 McMullen Day 40 has continued to put on steady weight over the last 20 days, can only hope it continues.

 

#KnockOnWood

17 July 2017

 

From left to right the 2230.5 Wallace and the 1756.5 Howell/Jolivette at day 35.

 

My brother Bob passed away 2 days ago. RIP Bob, you will never be forgotten.

13 July 2017

 

2145 McMullen day 35 good news is that it wasn't till 31 July when I had estimated this heavy with a personal best, bad news is that I still have 3 more days of 10C nights.

12 July 2017

 

1756.5 Howell/Jolivette day 30 very happy with this one as it is giving the 2145 a run for his money

12 July 2017

 

2230.5 Wallace day 30 still the runt but it is in 5th gear, growing over 5" circ. per day the last 10 days a long way to go

10 July 2017

 

So I have a long gourd that is growing only 2 meters off the ground, I have no idea if this is going to work but I figured what the heck.

8 July 2017

 

2145 McMullen I am estimated 110 lbs heavier then my best D30 measurements ever. Didn't make 40 lbs per day but did hit 36 lbs.

7 July 2017

 

1756.5 Howell/Jolivette day 25, I really like the symmetrical shape of this pumpkin, known for going heavy I have high hopes for this one.

7 July 2017

 

2230.5 Wallace day 25, grew 6.5" circumference last 24 hours, has it finally decided to put it into 5th gear?

3 July 2017

 

2145 McMullen day 25 still growing 4" per day which is good, has a short stem which is bad I am already cutting roots from main vine PB at D25.

2 July 2017

 

1756.5 Howell/Jolivette day 20 averaging 3.9" per day last 10 days and is growing at a rate I can live with ?

2 July 2017

 

2230.5 Wallace day 20 only averaging 2.9" per day last 10 days steady growth but nothing special plenty of time left, we will see

28 June 2017

 

Big pic of the 2145 McMullen plant. Even though I have a bunch of sunburned leaves I am very happy, expect to deadhead all vines in 14 days.

28 June 2017

 

2145 McMullen day 20 averaging more then 5" circumference per day last 10 days, how long will that last?

27 June 2017

 

1756.5 Howell/Jolivette day 15 I have high hopes for this one, it has started to show signs of kicking into gear.

27 June 2017

 

2230.5 Wallace day 15 I really like the shape and color of this one if only it would kick into gear I will know in the next 5 days.

23 June 2017

 

The 2145 McMullen at 15 days, it has decided to kick things into gear largest pumpkin I have ever had after 15 days.

22 June 2017

 

2230.5 Wallace Day 10 and the runt of the litter though I do like the length of the stem a lot, hopefully this is a sign of the potential.

22 June 2017

 

1756.5 Howell/Jolivette Day 10, on a similar pace as the 2145.

22 June 2017

 

1756.5 Howell/Jolivette x 2145 McMullen, 4 lobe, 17’ This is only a backup and will be the last pollination this year.

20 June 2017

 

88F in the shade 118F in the green house I have many leaves with sunburn tomorrow it is going to be even hotter

 

18 June 2017

 

Day 10 and the 2145 is doing average which is typical for me never had one start off like a sprint. Next 20 days will make or break my season.

13 June 2017

 

2145 McMullen x 1756.5 Howell/Jolivette, 5 lobe, 12.5’ in a week I am going to have to make some decisions,

12 June 2017

 

1756.5 Howell/Jolivette x 2145 McMullen, 5 lobe, 11’ all of my prep for heat crisis was for naught weather changed only 23C and cloudy. I now have each cross I wanted for all 3 plants. I will continue to pollinate over the next 7-10 days to ensure I have a backup. By 21 June I will be down to one pumpkin per plant.

12 June 2017

 

2230.5 Wallace x 1756.5 Howell/Jolivette, 4 lobe, 7’ I know it's not ideal distance on main vine but as I have said before

11 June 2017

 

This 1756.5 Howell/Jolivette will be ready tomorrow but the temps are worrying me that it might not set so I have setup a shade clothe that will shade it as the sun moves from east to west. After the pollination I will add a bag of ice in a towel and place it next to it for additional cooling. The temps went fro 90F at 8 AM to over 111F at noon, and it will get hotter.

8 June 2017

 

2145 McMullum x 1756.5 Howell/Jolivette, 5 lobe, 9’ really want this one to take it has a good position to the vine and is the cross I wanted. If not I have another at 13' that will be ready in 3-4 days.

5 June 2017

 

1756.5 Howell/Jolivette x 2145 McMullen the first pollination of the year, the lobes are a bit malformed can't tell if it is 4 or 5 lobes and it is only at 7.5' so it probably won't be a keeper but all is good still have over 2 weeks in my pollination window.

1 June 2017

 

1756.5 Howell/Jolivette my best plant right now already have 2 females and a handful of males will be using this one to pollinate all others.

1 June 2017

 

2145 McMullen is doing well, first female is there, I expect to pollinate in 3 weeks which is my typical window. I want to cross this with the 1756 and reverse.

1 June 2017

 

2230.5 Wallace is slow but healthy, probably won't be able to pollinate till first week of July, hopefully the pumpkin will be a fast grower. Want to cross it with the 1756.

1 June 2017

 

My long gourd, I have almost zero experience growing these will be a interesting learning year for me

28 May 2017

 

I had to have a green house. This is the hottest May I have ever seen, it is 92F outside the green house TGFW #ThankGodForWater

21 May 2017

 

The next 14 days forecast is the best I have seen in years for May, if I am not ready to pollinate by mid June I can't blame the weather.

 

Let the pumpkin "plant" race begin.

18 May 2017

 

So, I saw a post from Steve Connolly about a Bluetooth temperature and humidity sensor called SensorPush, and since my patch is 75 meters away I decided to give it a try, and guess what, it works! At first I could only get a signal from my front door, but I just got a signal inside the house. This will save me a lot of walking just to see how the temps are.

13 May 2017

 

Planted 3 long gourds today, I do not have any experience with them so this will be interesting. I prepared over the winter building a new trellis, it is over 3 meters tall and 4 meters long. My goal for this year is over 100 inches long.

 

I also planted a variety of other gourds dippers, kettle, kikinda, pelota and herkules keule, should be fun.

12 May 2017

 

We have had cold nights with frost the last 2 weeks, now the weather is starting to get better and I expect to see some plant growth. The 1756.5 Howell/Jolivette is doing the best, the 2145 McMullen is trying to keep up but can't and the 2230.5 Wallace is slow out of the blocks.

 

The optimum pollination for me would be 20-25 June, I will be surprised if all 3 plants will be ready by then but hope dies last.

30 April 2017

 

I have added new strategy this year with the hope that the work that Ron Wallace has put in will make my lack of understanding how to get a good start and a healthy root system bring a new personal best this year.

30 April 2017

 

Transferred the plants to the green houses today from left to right the 1756.5 Howell/Jolivette, 2145 McMullen and the 2230.5 Wallace, the 1916 Barron will be my backup.

30 April 2017

 

As hoped for the weather the next 14 days is good for my climate; we won’t get real pumpkin weather until June. I still need to protect the plants from frost.

23 April 2017

 

The weather trend is looking very good, as long as things don't change I should be able to plant my Atlantic Giants into their green houses by 30 April. Still to early for plants without green houses.

17 April 2017

 

Typical mid-April weather this week, hard frost till Saturday, we will get this again mid-May, thank gosh for green house heaters.

16 April 2017

 

Moved my best seedlings to bigger pots into a GH with heat to harden them off the pots with out a white marker are all from my 927.7 (2032 Mathison x 1985 Miller).

15 April 2017

 

This is what I can do without anything special, unfortunately it cost me a 2145 and 2230.5 meant for next year. Oh well, you never stop learning, but I do feel like an idiot. 

15 April 2017

 

Do not ever use a new starting mix w/o testing it first. These are 15 days old and worthless. 16 years at this and still learning lessons.

 

I have started new seeds and they are better because I threw away the other crap starting mix, but now I am 2 weeks behind. Getting some pumpkins set by 20 June will be pure luck now.

 

Note - I did not use any WOW products in the starter mix, they are not the problem.

7 April 2017

 

Decided to have these exciting new products shipped to Germany so that I can give them a try. I am pretty much an idiot when it comes to adding nutrients and other good stuff to my patch so I am hoping that these will be fool proof...LOL

1 April 2017

 

Today is seed starting day, my intended line up will be the 2145 McMullen, 1916 Barron and the 1756.5 Howell/Jolivette.  My backups will be the 2008 Neptune and 1781 Zywiec. I will also be starting a bunch of squash for my friend Michel. All seeds will be planted if they germinate, my neighbor Karl-Heinz will also get one.

15 February 2017

 

The weather has been great the last 2 days, 12C and sunny so I decided to transport some compost to one of the green houses. Total 600 kg and I used my new pumpkin patch assistant (Gator). Getting old and I need all the help I can get.

13 January 2017

(Friday the 13th)

 

We had strong winds overnight, hurricane level. This is the second year in a row that I have had this happen, this year is worse, the plastic is torn to pieces and the side poles are bent almost in half, not sure if they can be straightened out. Since I went through this last year I am taking it easy and (knock on wood) hopefully this is the worse thing that happens this year.

25 December 2016

 

The German Santa was very good to me this year. There is a lot of responsibility having such a famous seed, wish me luck. 96 days till seed starting.

17 November 2017

 

The testing with my home made grow light system is turning out to be a total success. The atlantic giant has a 3rd true leaf and the jalapenos and basil also showing true leaves. Usually I would have had to transplant to bigger containers and pile soil up around them to fight the leggy effect.

 

I will continue to monitor to see how long I can leave them because I can move the lights up, only about 3 inches more, but that should be all I need to have a successful spring.

 

#FingersCrossed

30 October 2016

 

Doing some tests to see if my new grow light device works as designed. I have a bunch of jalapeno and AG seeds in the germination chamber and as soon as the cots show they will be moved to the new grow light area. I have always had problems with plants getting leggy, if this works then I will have solved that problem. Fingers crossed.

19 September 2016

 

The 2017 season started today, went to check a patch with a cover crop and found that the weeds had taken over. Had to remove everything by hand, now I will spray some roundup and hope to kill all weeds.

 

I have three patches and plan to prep all three different. One will get extra compost, the other will just get a round of needed N-P-K etc, the third will be getting a new patch prep substance I have never used before. Don't want to say what it is yet because if it does not work I don't want to be embarrassed, it will cost about $800.