Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 48 Entries. Saturday, April 12 View Page Seedlings from a few weeks ago. Going to grow my own 2465 Dawson this year. First time I've ever grown my own. Saturday, April 12 View Page Soil cables installed. Also added some pro mix to the pit to loosen it up. After 12" it's all clay so I didn't go past that point Saturday, April 12 View Page Amendments from a week ago. Saturday, April 12 View Page Some Perlite additions. Saturday, April 12 View Page One of my three hoops has been planted. Now I'm boarding a plane to Japan for work. First trip of many this growing year. Gonna be a tricky year for me. We will just have to see how it goes. Saturday, May 10 View Page Best looking culls I've ever had. Friday, June 6 View Page Season catch up video. I have one of three pollinated already. The rest next week I think. All plants looking really good so far. Jim's 2177 is the "longest". My 2465 is the biggest. The 2560 Gienger is the most dense. https://youtu.be/Fj9OHtnNAfc Thursday, June 12 View Page 2465 Dawson. This was pollinated with the 2177 Ford yesterday. Thursday, June 12 View Page 2177 Ford. This was pollinated with the 2560 Gienger yesterday. Thursday, June 12 View Page 2560 Gienger. This was pollinated by the 2177 Ford today. Thursday, June 12 View Page Upper right: 2177 Ford. Upper left: 2560 Gienger. Lower: 2465 Dawson Thursday, June 12 View Page June 12th patch tour. https://youtu.be/qpTDISIrDHY Wednesday, July 2 View Page 2465 Dawson x 2177 Ford. Day 22. Estimating a puny 67 pounds. My 2465 was only 66 lbs on Day 20 so there is still hope. It's also gaining about 9" a day which seems pretty good. Looks like the shape of its father and the color of its mother. I wanted the inverse. Wednesday, July 2 View Page 2560 Gienger x 2177 Ford. Day 21. Estimating 55 pounds. Not great but it picked up 10" overnight. Wednesday, July 2 View Page 2177 Ford x 2560 Gienger. Day 18. I don't like the shape or texture at the back. I'm considering a late pollination to replace it. I'll post another picture of the back. Wednesday, July 2 View Page I'm not really worried about whether the pollination took or not but more that the shape is unlikely to produce anything worthwhile. Any thoughts on this shrunken, bumpy look here? Monday, July 7 View Page Plants are the best I have ever grown at this stage but I dont have a standout pumpkin unfortunately. Long way to go yet. Ep. 4, July 4th patch tour. https://youtu.be/9Wl_jXV7Lps Saturday, July 19 View Page I talked to Leonardo Urena today. He made me feel better about my slow pumpkin growth so far. We grow about 45 minutes from each other and have both been dealing with a very cool growing year. Last year was great for us and we both had big PBs. After we complained about the weather for a while he reminded me not to slow down as things could turn around still. On the positive side, plants are doing great! Saturday, July 19 View Page 2560 Gienger, Day 38, doing low to mid 30s a day. When we had 2 days of warm weather it did 45 a day. Saturday, July 19 View Page 2465 Dawson, Day 39, doing 30 a day. Saturday, July 19 View Page 2177 Ford on a secondary, DAP 13. If I take this one to HMB I could still get 99 days out of it. I culled the original keeper. It had turned into a shriveled butt pear thing. This one has a nice shape and the biggest plant in my patch. Saturday, July 19 View Page YouTube Ep. 5, July 18th Patch Tour. https://youtu.be/sbKcQAP6zuA?si=ouvXkv4FbXKJl6Hw Sunday, August 3 View Page 2177 Ford "redo" pumpkin is finally starting to pick up steam. It's still very young and growing on a secondary. I can get 99 days out of this one. Sunday, August 3 View Page 2465 Dawson, smooth skin and still growing in the high 20s a day. But I think it's on pace for a disappointing 1700 pounds. Sunday, August 3 View Page 2560 Gienger still doing 40s a day at Day 53. Usually my pumpkins hit their midpoint around day 50 so if that's true again this year, I'm on pace to break 2k but not my PB. I hope the blossom holds. It's really starting to fold. Tuesday, August 12 View Page 2560 is starting to really get the folded over mouth look. I've never grown one like this. I'm worried about some creases around the blossom but it's out of my hands at this point. It will cross 1400 lbs tomorrow. Greater than 2k is still alive and well. Wednesday, August 13 View Page Visualizing the growth. Here are my OTT curves from last year and this year. The red is my 2560 from last year that ended up weighing 2465. The Pink is my 2560 in the patch now. The Blue is my 1713 from last year and the Yellow is my 2465 from this year. Crazy to see how close these two pumpkins growth curves are. Wednesday, August 20 View Page 2560 Day 70 and still healthy. Should cross 1600 tomorrow. Did 26 lbs a day for the last 10. Every which way I crunch the numbers, this thing gets real close to 2k at the end. I have to move it again today and this has not been easy with this thing. Also worth noting, I only just finished terminating the 2560. Very late and weeks behind my other plants. Will this give me a late push? Time will tell. Wednesday, August 20 View Page Question for growers who have faced this type of "mouth folding" pumpkin. The blossom end is getting close to touching the fold. In your experience, should I cut it or leave it alone? Thursday, August 21 View Page Nub-ectomy successfully completed. Fans and Zero-Tol to ensure no infection. Thursday, August 21 View Page 2465 Dawson is getting a nice color. Saturday, August 23 View Page August 23rd patch tour. Things are moving in the right direction! https://youtu.be/xC2_znJwNA4?si=qxsg_AbUTlGDvu1p Thursday, August 28 View Page My big one has a small amount of sticky sapping on the main vine. It's not a lot but consistently flowing. I spray it with Hydrogen Peroxide daily and have a fan on it 24/7. It's a new one for me. Seems mostly harmless but I wanted to see if anyone has words of warning or other actions that should be taken. Wednesday, September 10 View Page Ep. 8 Patch Tour. Finish line in sight. My 2560 is doing incredible. Between days 70 and 90 it has significantly outperformed my 2465 from last year. 32 days until HMB! https://youtu.be/h2QYC3qfggg?si=8YBDwshSnNeDE7mS Wednesday, September 10 View Page 2560 in the lower left. 2177 Ford on the top. 2465 Dawson on the right (unfortunately lost the plant due to a main that rotted). Thursday, September 11 View Page Wow, It's like finding money. I checked my tape against a real tape measure and realized my tape was under measuring. Free inches!! Thursday, September 18 View Page This thing just continues to impress. It will be 100 days old tomorrow and indications are it's still doing double digits a day! We have warm nights now and my plant is still really healthy. 24 days until HMB. Friday, September 19 View Page A short tour of the patch. 9/19/25. https://youtu.be/iV_NhsuKYis?si=Y3VIfrx4TSKCXLP7 Wednesday, September 24 View Page Lost the main on my 2465 Dawson over a month ago. Been keeping it alive with two little side vines. Going to take it to Hard Rock in two days. When I came out today I found a soft spot so I decided to lift it to inspect and doctor. Wednesday, September 24 View Page To my relief the spot was very shallow. I scraped it with a spoon, sprayed it with hydrogen peroxide and set it on a pallet with a fan. Should be able to get a weight and hang out with all the other pumpkin folks this weekend. Phew! Friday, September 26 View Page Loading my 2465 Dawson on Friday for Hard Rock. Friday, September 26 View Page Loaded my Moms 2006 Wolf for Hard Rock Saturday, September 27 View Page 1268.5 and 11th place at Hard Rock. Not bad for a pumpkin that has been on life support with no vine for 6 weeks. Saturday, September 27 View Page Congrats to Russ (Vineman)! Last year he was in a similar spot. His pumpkin vs. a huge beautiful orange HD winner. But this year he flipped the script and took the win! Very much deserved. And Brads pumpkin was stunning. The center pumpkin in the photo is from my 2465 Dawson seed grown by Madison (DumpKing). Great weight off all around. Sunday, September 28 View Page Cleared the East patch, tilled and put a cover crop down. Barley and Vetch. Sunday, September 28 View Page Just the big one waiting for its turn. 110 days old tomorrow. 14 days until harvest. Measured a few days ago and it was still giving double digits. Thursday, October 2 View Page Short video of the Hard Rock National Pumpkin Weigh-Off. I included a short clip of the finale between Brad and Russ for the top spot. Also, 11 days to go before my big pumpkin is harvested for HMB. https://youtu.be/lEGYASAoQ4c?si=nyMqd7UlOO-eA2GY Friday, October 3 View Page 10 days to go.