Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 174 Entries. Friday, January 6 View Page First post of 2012. Well, my plans have changed. I was planning on taking the year off, but I got the bug again lol. Me and Vince are actually tag teaming this year at my house. We had two seperate patches, and we plan on growing one plant that covers both areas to try and really go for it this year. Our seed to be grown, the fruit pictures, my own 980 Fredricks 2011 (1544 Revier x 1610 Lieber) 8% heavy, Gonna go big and orange and grow our own! Excited to see what my seed will do. In the middle of patch prep this coming week, temps i nthe 80's in January, weird warm weather. As always, we'll dedicate the patch to the Good Lord above who allows us to grow every year with His Blessings. Wednesday, January 25 View Page picture of patch a few days ago. I was in the process of spreading out 4 yards of aged manure, under it is a layer of shredded leaves about 2 inches thick. If you aren't aware, I grow in a mobile home park where a mobile home used to be:) You can see the electrical and water hook up in the middle of the patch. The last 3 years, I have grown on the far end in 400 sq feet, and my friend vince has had his own patch on the other end, both patches together are about 800 sq ft. For the first time, we decided to co-grow one plant over the whole area. Time to see what the 980 Fredricks 2011 can really do! Wednesday, January 25 View Page I have always had shade issues on my side of the patch, a huge tree blocks the sun until 11 to 11:30 am. The park trimmed the tree for the first time in 5 years, here is a shot of the trimmed tree. Looks like I will get more sun this year! Wednesday, January 25 View Page Me and the wife took a 2 hour cruise on the san diego bay for fun. One of my favorite places to fish, but this was just a fun time out for a date. Where else can you enjoy 70 degree weather in January! Wednesday, January 25 View Page the bay bridge! Some beautiful views of God's handy work for us to enjoy. Friday, January 27 View Page here is the patch all tilled up and waiting for a couple of months. I put so many shredded leaves in the patch it isn't even funny! The great part about the mobile home park, all of the landscaping guys just bring me leaves from every tree in the park until I say, NO MORE! lol. Probably 30 to 40 trash bags of leaves if I counted. Friday, January 27 View Page My son Joshua is growing up, 13 months now, walking and talking! Here is a photo during vacation at mission bay, we were pumping up ghost shrimp for bait before fishing! Tuesday, January 31 View Page the picture of the whole patch tilled up. I tilled my side and vince tilled his side, kind of just sharing the work and the plant the whole year. All I can say is, the area looks big compared to what I am used to growing in, 400 sq ft to 800? man, gonna be different! Tuesday, January 31 View Page one more view. I'll probably throw in some starbucks grounds of coffee and expresso the next few months. seems to help the organic matter and over all dirt health and worms love it. And best part of all, it's free for the asking! Wednesday, April 4 View Page greetings from the Fredricks! well, it's still a few eeks away from my pumpkin starting so my wifewanted an organic garden in our backyard for food. The funny part is, I have grown huge pumpkins over the last decade, but never grown a regular garden! So I really don't know what I am doing:) So her in the picture is the potato patch. I think it's a spud, yam, sweet potato and some other kind of potato! lol I don't even know if I am starting them right, but I read a online post and we will see what happens. Wednesday, April 4 View Page the garden! I bought a organic tomato plant and an organic bell pepper. Other plants will include beets, onions, zuccini, and herbs. We only get 3 hours of light in the backyard, so not sure if the results will be good! Wednesday, April 4 View Page a quick shot of half the patch. I put so much organic matter and leaves in the patch it hasn't broken down yet. Warm temps here in winter, but not much rain. So I soaked the patch after taking this photo. There is a boat load of leaves in the patch!!!! Wednesday, April 4 View Page My son Joshua, now 15 months. He is growing up fast and all over the place. A great blessing from the Lord above. Tuesday, April 10 View Page well, the potatos were a total failure! lol They all rotted. So much for the online help! On a positive side, the tomato and pepper plants look good. Got seeds for the rest of the garden finally. Started the zuccini today! Pumpkin prep will take place in 2 weeks or so. Just waiting for the right time to start. Thursday, April 26 View Page We have lift off!!!! :) Ok, not exactly lift off, but my seeds have sprouted! I started 4 of my own 980 fredricks seeds and 3 of the 4 have an inch long rot now in my paper towel. I will pick two of the seeds and transplantthem into my pots. Have you ever wondered while picking seeds wich one might grow a 1400 lber and which one might grow a 700 lber? And hoping you choose the right one???? lol eeenie, meeenie, minie, moe! Pictures soon. Thursday, April 26 View Page need to do spell check, that should be an inch long root, not rot. rot is definitely a bad word. :) Friday, April 27 View Page vince called me last night, all of his 980 fredricks seeds germinated. But our pollinator 1704 urena rotted. So I popped my 1704 into a zip lock baggie and paper towel advanced seed method for an emergency quick start. Let's hope she germinates! My 980 Fredricks seeds are in their pots awaiting their arrival into the world. I pretty much am lazy with no germination box, just stick them outside in the sun during the day and in the house at night. So they take a little longer to come up than if I was babying them:) Monday, April 30 View Page both 980 Fredricks seeds are up and look very healthy, so far so good. The 1704 urena pollinator came up, whew! Will transplant plants in a few days. Weather is cool and cloudy right now. I will have pictures soon, I promise! Wednesday, May 2 View Page the 980 seeds with roots going a few days ago! I had my wife line them up and I closed my eyes and picked two after saying a prayer. Even though growing a pumpkin is just for fun, we let God be in control for the garden:) Wednesday, May 2 View Page in the pots they go, empty one gallon water jugs pre cut, cool so you can see the roots develope. Wednesday, May 2 View Page here are the two 980 fredricks in their pots outside in the patch before transplanting. Very healthy and growing. Wednesday, May 2 View Page the patch, or part of it still being prepped Wednesday, May 2 View Page my son joshua watching everything I do! Sunday, May 13 View Page here is the 980 fredricks. Very healthy so far. Both my 980 seedlings seem to be a little slower and smaller starting out. Probably putting out massive root systems below. Let's hope the saying holds true, your smallest seedling grows your biggest pumpkin. Sunday, May 13 View Page the other 980 that is competing for life! Sunday, May 13 View Page my wife's garden is coming along nicely. A green pepper! Sunday, May 13 View Page the tomato plants have really taken off too. Sunday, May 13 View Page Joshua is 17 months today! He is a blessing for sure. Friday, May 18 View Page 980's are growing slowly and healthy so far. Will cut down to 2 plants soon since a couple of them are almost touching. So far they are one of the best plants I have had in the heat. We hit 85 and I left the misters off to see what happens, not even a little wilt. Happt as could be. Hopefully it continues. Saturday, May 19 View Page yanked one of the 980's this morning. I had no choice, they were starting to run into each other with their leaves. Cross your fingers! Monday, May 21 View Page Just a note on the 980's up to this point. Seem to be very heat tolerant plants so far. We hit 90 degrees yesterday and I did not mist or shade cloth them yet, not even a hint of wilt and no burn anywhere. Very impressive! Maybe they got a little heat tolerance from last yearm who knows! Wednesday, May 30 View Page yes, the pictures are blury! lol. The lense had a smudge on my wife's cell phone lense. Well, pictures long over due. Ok, here is the story: Vince and myself are growing together. The Plan: I start 2 980 fredricks, and vince starts two. We put four in the patch and cull to one. So I started my 2 980's and put them abour 12 inches apart since vince was gonna bring over two more and we would have them far away from my seedlings so we could grow them awhile before choosing. After my plants were in the patch for awhile, vince isn't showing up with the other plants. I assume he is just taking his time to transplant them. Few days later, no vince, no 980's. Telephone call: Hey vince, where are the plants???? Wednesday, May 30 View Page Vince's reply: Jim, what plants? Huh? Great team work and communication! lol. All of his 980's were at his house growing or given away, except one. The one that was so ugly that vince wanted to throw it away. It was small, ugly, and the first true leaf came out parallel wit hthe seed leaves and straight up. A ugly duckling for sure. Anyway, I said bring it over, we need a backup! Well, you can guess the story, the previous picture and this one is that 980. Turning out quite nice actually. A little on the smaller side still, but sizing up a little now. It is the front runner now because it seems a little more heat tolerant than the number one plant. All old leaves are fine in heat, but new growth is sensitive on the other 980. The 980 pictured is a little sensitive on new growth too, but a little better. I will laugh if we end up with this plant and grow a monster off of it and I'll always remind vince he wanted to throw it away. Wednesday, May 30 View Page the other 980! A few charred leaves from a hot day, but she is a real beast. Very thick vine. Hhhhmmm, decision, decisions soon! Wednesday, May 30 View Page the 980 fredricks. The ugly duckling is on the far side, the nearer plant was the original number one choice. I will cull to one in a few days! Tuesday, June 5 View Page only one 980 left in the patch! Culled the other 980, It's go time. Well, wondering which one I picked??? I'll post pictures soon and reveal the answer. Friday, June 8 View Page 980 Fredricks is growing strong. We just got a new camera and I am trying to figure out how to get the photos to my diary. Lol. A couple failed attempts so far. Battle is against sow bugs again. And I had an outbreak of aphids on my plant, never ever seen this so early. Hope it's not a sign of things to come. Had catipillars too! Plant looks good, about 6 to 7 feet long main. One of my leaves around the stump just snapped off. Wind I'm assuming? Almost ripped off the vine. Strange for sure. I'll get pictures up when I get it figured out. Jim Sunday, June 10 View Page the 980 Fredricks, the winner from the two plants Sunday, June 10 View Page surprise, I chose the original number one 980 that was larger and cut the smaller ugly duckling. I went with my gut and the heat tolerance seemed the same as they got older. This plant is very aggressive and large so far. I am really battling the aphids real early like never before. Sprayed organicide twice in a couple days trying to knock them out. This is a picture of the stump. I covered it with some plastic so it stays dry. I cut out a few leaves around the stump since they were burned a little and had the aphids in that area. I figured they would be cleared anyway soon and with the 800 foot patch this year, no need to worry. Sunday, June 10 View Page one more view. The vine pattern is my own this year. Vince and I decided to take the main and bend it to the right and have the pumpkin on the outside of the patch. All vines to the left(on the photo) are being bent backwards and running down behind the stump. like spider legs. All vines that will come off of the other side (right side on photo) will just run down straight. Vince got the easy side, I got the bendy hard side! lol Monday, June 18 View Page the 980 Fredricks, really growing fast now. More than doubled in a week in size. Monday, June 18 View Page Hey Vince, here is what we have been waiting for. The one! She will be around 13 feet out. Sunday, June 24 View Page yes, it looks like snow in the patch! Kidding. Me and vince are trying an extreme extermination. we put DE (I think that's the name) it's crushed fossils like shells that are sharp at the microscopic level that kill soft bugs like pill bugs. WE still have an invasion and they like to chew off the tap roots on the secondary vines. We threw up more shade cloth and no misting to keep the powder dry for a couple of days. The 980 grows very well, but even the tap roots not getting munched seem to grow a few inches and stop. Not sure if the liitle bugs are chewing them off underground too or if the plant just has a tiny root system. I've learned that root system size means nothing. I had plants with huge tap roots grow ok pumpkins, and plants with small roots grow monsters. So who knows at this point. But I wish I saw better root growth going down!! Sunday, June 24 View Page the pumpkin at 13 feet. Crossing our fingers. The flower has a small deformity on opposite side of picture. Hoping it's normal inside. Have another at 17 feet. We need to polinate one of these two or were in some trouble:) Sunday, June 24 View Page some more white stuff. Starting to get wet now I think. Tuesday, June 26 View Page pumpkin at 13 feet opened today, inside was a mess. Deformed lobes all over the place. Kind of had that feeling with the deformed flower. All hope rests on one pumpkin on main at 16 to 17 feet. She looks absolutely perfect on the outside! Cross your fingers. she will go in 4 to 6 days. Thursday, June 28 View Page 980 as of today! Still fighting pill bugs and lossing some roots!!! Arrgg. :) Thursday, June 28 View Page vines growing strong for sure. Thursday, June 28 View Page the one! Ok, hopefully the one! Perfect looking, 17 feet out. Outside of patch on grass, which is perfect so I don't have to go into patch when pumpkin sets Thursday, June 28 View Page the pumpkin at 8 or 9 feet on main at day 8. Loosk like the orange genes got passed on! Will cull this fruit soon as I set the one at 17 feet Monday, July 2 View Page polinated on 7/1, 16 or 17 feet out. Perfect looking 5 lober:) Hope she takes, since the next fruit out is 22 feet out and a bad spot. I selfed it 980 Fredricks x self. Vince's son is growing the 1704, seems to have a soil deficiency so I decided to use the 980 pollen since I know it is good. Taking no chances. Pictures soon! Sunday, July 8 View Page Plant took a beating today from the heat on the new growth, old growth is fine. Lost 8 leaves atleast that got toasted! oouuch! More that got burnt on the edges. Gonna get hot the whole week. Put up more shade cloth. Pumpkin on day 8 tomorrow, slow and steady growth for now. Pictures soon. Monday, July 9 View Page half of the patch as of today! Monday, July 9 View Page the other half of the 980 fredricks. It is pretty funny.... Monday, July 9 View Page Vince and myself are each growing half of the plant. We have always competed against one another. In the past, Vince's plant always, and I mean always won for the neat contest. Perfect dirt, plant looks even and uniform. Mine, I use the same method, but it always looks messier and the plant has leaves kind of big but not uniform. Here is a photo of vince's side! look how all the leaves are the same height, perfectly spaced, etc. Monday, July 9 View Page now my side! The leaves are bigger on my side, but some are higher, some lower, crowded. I was laughing because this is the same plant!!!!!! How the heck does it look so different???? LOl I guess the plant picks up our personalities? :) Monday, July 9 View Page pumpkin on the main vine at 17 fett, 8 days old. Monday, July 9 View Page one more view. Will get pumpkin situated nicely soon all cozzy and with something under it. Hot hot hot, more leaf burn!!! :) Keep smiling! I hate leaf burn lol Wednesday, July 11 View Page day 10 on the 980 Fredricks. She started out slow and has picked up the growth. She hit 28 inches on day 10 circ. Monday, July 16 View Page the 980 as of today. Still growing a foot a day on all vines! Monday, July 16 View Page almost filled in the whole patch, I would say 5 to 7 days and it will be filled. That would put all vines chopped around day 21 on the fruit. Perfect timing so all energy starts to go into fruit growth and see what she can do. Monday, July 16 View Page the fruit on the 980 Fredricks, she is at day 15. Steady growth as of now. She's about 50 inches circumference. Friday, July 20 View Page 980 growing steady for now! All you orange lovers take note, the 980 Fredricks is gonna be a great orange producer for sure. Everyone I know growing it has fruit that look like will be very beautiful in shape and color. And it's gonna through some big fruit too! I'm probably biased since it's my own seed, but I am loving the results from people who are growing it. Friday, July 20 View Page some big leaves on the 980 fredricks at the ends of the vines. My hand in the photo for size Friday, July 20 View Page vince's side almost filled in! Friday, July 20 View Page day 19 on the 980 fredricks, nice shape and color! :) Wednesday, July 25 View Page the 980 fredricks day 24, ott is just over 225 inches. Wednesday, July 25 View Page from the front side. Looks like she will be a beauty in shape and color, slightly wider than long, but not much, decently tall fruit. hard to get photos while she is in the hut! Wednesday, July 25 View Page one more angle. She has puzzled me with her growth. She slowly walked up to 20 lbs on day 19, then jumped up to 27 lbs day 20. Last 4 days she did 26 lbs respectively. All weight estimates are on old 2003 chart, some bump them up a few lbs if ya want. Never had a fruit have such a high weight gain day 20, but never had a fruit stay even on day 20 through 24. Usually they slowly ramp up through dat 30 or so. No sure if she will go up, stay put or go down early. hhhhmmmmm, time will tell. Thursday, July 26 View Page day 25, ott 234 inches. growth picked up a little for the first time instead of staying even. Could this be a good sign? Time will tell. 31 lbs yesterday on the 2012 chart. Hey Chris, I like the 2012 chart! lol If, and I say if, she can come up some more in weight and then hang onto the gains for awhile, she will be a nice fruit. We should know what kind of fruit it will be in 2 weeks time I think. Her growth and gains have been real steady up to this point. Friday, July 27 View Page chris, you never heard of putting the pumpkin on a mattress for a good night's sleep??? lol It really puts a nice touch to my pumpkin hut. what do ya think?? Saturday, July 28 View Page powdery mildew has popped it's ugly head in the patch, right in the middle of the patch where it is harder to get it sprayed. Going organic has it's challenges. It's a pretty good attack, will cut off a few leaves and spray that area in the morning. Hey Vince, are you still out there???? lol I need some help spraying this thing! ;) This plant is so big, not used to spraying a 900 sq foot plant. I did not measure the pumpkin today, will measure tomorrow. I can't stop saying it, she's gonna be pretty orange! Sunday, July 29 View Page day 27 for the 980 fredricks, still chugging along at 30 lbs a day 2012 chart, 249.5 ott, 360 lbs or so. I am ahead of last years fruit by a decent margin so far. Plant is a beast, main vine is bigger than my arm! lol Leaves are solar panels, and the male flowers are huge! Me and vince were probing the patch and the male flowers stalks are as thick as a newly formed vine! Anyway, not about plant size I know, but it's fun. Mildew attack is on! Vince sprayed tonight, I will spray monday. If you have followed my diary for the past few years, you know 400 sq ft plant is all I ever grew the last 4 years. I can see why 800 is better. You have more plant to power the fruit early on, and more healthy leaves later on to power the fruit as well. So I am guessing you get a longer pwer growth cycle and so far I am seeing that. 400 sq ft patch looks old as the pumpkin gets older with no new leaves. I will post pictures soon for fun of all the big stuff and the fruit. Tuesday, July 31 View Page day 30, 980 fredricks. ott of 270.33 inches. She's averaging 31 lbs a day the last couple days. 445 lbs, my largest fruit at day 30 ever, let's see what day 30 through 60 holds, it is the key to what she will do! Wednesday, August 1 View Page bad news!!!! I found rot on the main vine in 4 places this morning. Ouch!!!! Stump is ok. I mist in my high heat area, so disease can happen easier. I did what I could to slow it down. Crossing my fingers. The only good news is that the main is the size of my arm, so it has a lot of vine too it. This hobby is always putting me on the brink of disaster or success. Hey vince, pray! :) Wednesday, August 1 View Page just for fun, remember when I said the 980 was a huge plant? Here is a male flower I took off the plant. My hand and a large flashlight for size. What caught my attention is the thickness of the leaf stalk! It's huge:) Anyway, just a fun photo. Saturday, August 4 View Page 980 fredricks, evening of day 34. Saturday, August 4 View Page front side view! She is gonna be gorgeous in color and shape, and pretty big too:) Big and orange growers take note, this is a great little unknown seed for a monster orange fruit. Everyone growing the seed, and I mean everyone I know, has a beautiful color, smooth skinned fruit, very consistant. Saturday, August 4 View Page 3 of ther 4 rot areas on main look dry now. This is the one that is still giving us issues. It was the worst of all the areas too. Keep sulfering it, most of the area dried up except one spot on the top left of the photo by the ground, still oozing. Hope it heals!!!!!!! Saturday, August 4 View Page stump is massive! :) Saturday, August 4 View Page plant is hanging in there. Saturday, August 4 View Page other side of plant. Saturday, August 4 View Page stump area! Tuesday, August 7 View Page heat is on. Hot hot hot hot hot!!! We'll see if growth slows in high heat or stays steady. Upper 90's now, supposed to get hotter this weekend. That's not good!!! Friday, August 10 View Page day 40 on the 980 Fredricks. Heat has been awful the last 4 days, close to 100 and humid. Fruit growth is still ok, but slowed down some. Not sure if it is heat related or just going down a little. Will be hot for another few days and then cool down a little. ott was 324, or 753 lbs. By far, the biggest day 40 ever in this patch. I'm praying for cooler weather!!!!! :) Saturday, August 11 View Page Lord, can you please turn down the heat? it's been really hot for a week, and still is really hot. The plants don't like this. Amen. Sunday, August 12 View Page heat and humidity are eating up the plant. Vine rot is getting worse because of it too! I need another 45 days out of the plant, gonna be iffy because of the vine rot!!! We will hit 800 lbs today on day 42. I think it's on track for 1150 to 1200 "if" I can keep the vine together, and that's a big if. Sunday, August 12 View Page heat and humidity are eating up the plant. Vine rot is getting worse because of it too! I need another 45 days out of the plant, gonna be iffy because of the vine rot!!! We will hit 800 lbs today on day 42. I think it's on track for 1150 to 1200 "if" I can keep the vine together, and that's a big if. Sunday, August 12 View Page plant is holding up ok on the new growth, old growth has taken a beating from 100 degree days over the last 8 days or so. This is vince's side of the 980 Sunday, August 12 View Page Hey Chris, I think the skin and color will be identical, perfectly smooth, gonna go beautiful! I have never had a smooth skinned fruit like this in all my years growing. This is day 42, 800 lbs. A monster for san diego climate for sure. She has dropped down into the 23 lbs a day range and holding. How long will it hang on? we'll see. Sunday, August 12 View Page weather forecast was for cooler temps. Yeah right!!!! Vine rot and plant health NEED cooler temps soon or we will suffer an early end to the season. We need 80 plus days out of her. Supposed to be close to 100 the next 3 days still:( Monday, August 13 View Page for all you orange lovers, here are a couple photos of the 980 Fredricks. It is hard for me to get a good color shot during the high sun since it is under a blue tarp which kind of distorts the true color of the fruit. What a beauty! And.... Monday, August 13 View Page and the front side! The only marks on the fruit are grower scratches and catipillar chew marks. Monday, August 13 View Page hey chris, my stem isn't quite as long, but I think it's thicker than yours! lol It is the fattest stem I have ever seen, and it's the same size pretty much the whole length! Hey, more pumpkin weight right? Friday, August 17 View Page weather isn't cooperating, not just hot, but way humid! 100 again today. Not good for pumpkin growth. Gonna be very hot next 3 days still. Hey Chris, I called your cell tonight but no one picked up! Saturday, August 18 View Page pumpkin has slowed down in the high heat, and we are on the down turn for growth. Final weight will depend on weather, and it has been bad for 11 days or so now. Hoping for atleast 32 more days of slower growth. on a good note, I was measuring the pumpkin today and it is darn hard to measure the circumference. I found out that I wasn't measuring the widest part lol, so I gained 2 inches instantly on circumference! Funny:) OTT is 348.75 inches on day 48, 930 lbs estimation. The 980 Fredricks which I am growing taped 353 last year when done, so we should pass it up soon! Praying for cooler weather. Sunday, August 19 View Page something big, and orange in the patch. 980 Fredricks day 49 Sunday, August 19 View Page she's purty! A couple stretch marks in one spot, but otherwise smooth as can be! I pulled the tarp off to get a good photo. Sunday, August 19 View Page the family went to the san diego maritime museum on san diego bay. Me and my son on the russian submarine! It was a big sub! Sunday, August 19 View Page me and joshua in the american submarine! Much nicer inside this one! Tuesday, August 21 View Page good news and bad: bad: vine is still rotting in various places, badly in one spot. I dried up a bad spot with fan, and another one was found today. I even found a small spot on the stem starting to rot. Definitely have disease in the patch! Holding this thing together with tape and paper clips!!!!!! Good: growth slowed down to 10 lbs a day, then picked up to over 20 again! 355 ott on day 51. Hitting some historic numbers for san diego. Bigger than last years county record size wise, and approaching my biggest ott ever which I got 359 ott in 2005 with a split fruit. Will pass that number soon. "If" we can keep the vine or stem from rotting, she's gonna be big for this far south. Not sure how long we can keep the vines healthy. Thursday, August 23 View Page day 53, 358.65 inches, 1009 lbs! yahooooo! ok, it's just an estimate on the new chart, can't get too excited. lol Saturday, August 25 View Page main vine is on life support. Rot dries up with a fan, but when taken off of fan, it returns quickly. If I had 4 fans life would be good! lol I think we can get her to make it another 30 days, but barely. But unfortunately I don't think we can keep the fruit on until the weigh off october 28th, way late for our climate. So not sure if fruit will make it to weigh off, and if it does, it will be off of vine for a looong time:) Thursday, August 30 View Page here's a shot of the vine on the 980, pretty big! You might be thinking, I've had main vines that big before..... well, this is just a secondary vine! major league baseball in photo for size comparison. Thursday, August 30 View Page no for the big boy! lol, main vine shot, with same baseball in photo. About 8 feet out on the main vine. It's so big at the leaf node that it's way bigger than my arm, I mean way bigger. Thursday, August 30 View Page just another vacation photo, father son on the flying fish ride! Anyway, it has gotten very very hot again, not good! day 60 on the 980 fredricks, 367.25 ott, 1080 lbs and still slowly chugging along. We need cooler temps to keep her going awhile longer. Thursday, August 30 View Page if you didn't know, this pumpkin is a tag team effort, me on the right and vince on the left. the 980 fredricks day 60, 1080 lbs and slowly growing. Don't mind my hair lol ! we both split up the work evenly for the whole plant. Thursday, August 30 View Page smooth skin besides a few stretch marks as it has gotten older where the skin seperates from growth. The top of the fruit is almost red in color, it is closest to the top of the tarp and gets hot and closer to sun. The fruit has been under blue shade and hasn't seen sun yet. The left side of fruit isn't as orange since it's the darkest side. I want to open up the fruit to the sun so it can color up everywhere, but it has been too hot. Thursday, August 30 View Page vince is a happy guy with this pumpkin! He deserves every minute of it! keep growing! Saturday, September 1 View Page 99 degrees again today! Will this heat ever give up? The 980 Fredricks seems to be doing ok despite the heat. More historic numbers for san diego for myself and vince. 370 ott day 62, 1104 lbs. We are blowing away anything we have ever seen in san diego. We NEED some cooler temps because this plant is healthy enough to grow the fruit another month with some luck. 90 days is the longest I have ever gotten out of the patch. Whatever happens, it has been another blessed year from our Lord and Savior Jesus. What a blessing just to have a pumpkin. As for the vine and stem rot, we finally have it under control knock knock, for now. Fans going 24/7. Next hope, 1200 lbs! Tuesday, September 4 View Page the heat continues, 105 degrees as a type this. Never gonna end! Thursday, September 6 View Page any advice or help appreciated, blossom oppened up in two areas, like growth splits. water bleach last night, sulfered it today. discoloration areas concern me. Maybe from the bleach 10% or wondering if rot will soon come. Thursday, September 6 View Page sulfured, praying, help!!!!!!! Saturday, September 8 View Page blossom does not appear to be rotting so far, a good sign. Splits continue to slowly go deeper, deepest pushing an inch inside the fruit, but still sound. safest bet is to cut off the fruit, but vince wants to keep it on. We are rolling the dice for sure! Water has been shut off for two days now, no misting, no watering. Probably won't water again this season. Fruit will still grow since it will take awhile for dirt to dry out. Every day I kind of grimmace before looking at the fruit wondering if it will go through to the cavity. yikes!!! Nerve racking lol The splits occured after we co2 the foliar, must have spurred growth. I think we could have pushed her to 1200, now we just limp to the finish hopefully. Sunday, September 9 View Page blossom cracks seem to be holding, no change in 2 days! A good sign, still a long way to go. Monday, September 10 View Page day 71 on the 980 fredricks. splits seem to be ok, whew! hope they keep staying ok! ott of 374, still growing slowly. hope to eak her out as many days as possible and weigh her on sept 29th. Saturday, September 15 View Page crazy hot, wow!!!! I think it is around 108 at my house!!!! Really bad news, we had a death blow in the patch today...... Saturday, September 15 View Page my fan died!!!!!! lol. scared ya huh Chris! But it really is bad news lol. Now I am down a fan, oh well, two weeks to go. Hopefully the vine won't rot off in two weeks! Saturday, September 15 View Page for all you 980 Fredricks guys out there growing it next year, here are a couple other pumpkins grown off of it. My friend John with his truck stopped by the house. They all look orange so far! His best is 400 lbs, but he had a bad year. He sprayed something on his plant for disease, the whole plant when it was you and fried all of his vines! Ouch! lol He still managed these two. Can you read what's on the one???? Saturday, September 15 View Page that should have read "young" on last post:) Anyway, can you tell who he is voting for? Lol Saturday, September 15 View Page the beast hiding under the tarp from all of this bad heat! Heat has really been bad this year. Growth has stopped the last 2 days on the fruit with temps being around 108. Will it pick up after the heat goes away? Will the heat ever go away? lol. Two weeks to go, day 76. Saturday, September 15 View Page vince's side of the patch still hanging tough for so late in the year and all the heat. Saturday, September 15 View Page Joshua checking out the patch! Monday, September 17 View Page the 980 is still alive! She is still slowly growing after the 108 temps! Thursday, September 20 View Page with the season coming to a close, I want to express how thankful I truly am this year. I know we all get pretty excited about pumpkins, but in reality, they don't mean much in the scope of life. I am blessed beyond measure with my wife, son, and family. Having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ is everything in my life as most of you probably know. So whether you had the best season ever, or the worst, remember what truly counts in life. How we treat others and how we love people. It's a sad fact that love grows cold these days in many ways and very few people truly try to do what is right in God's eyes. My prayer for everyone of you who have enjoyed my diary this year is that God's blessings would be upon each of you. If anyone is reading this and you never have had peace or contentment in your heart for "life", you are always welcome to email me, I would love to share how God has changed my life in more ways than I can put into words. Finally, best of luck to everyone as we weigh our fruit! But remember, have fun no matter what, it's just a pumpkin! Monday, September 24 View Page september is finally cooling down! It was only 104 at my house today lol Monday, September 24 View Page fruit on the 980 has stopped in size, 376 ott or so I think. Pumpkin has not gotten much bigger over the last 10 days or so, maybe a little. But the curious part about her is that she is still showing growth splits in the skin and sapping in those cracks. So she is obviously growing somewhere!!! Makes me think she is growing more internal and the sapping and cracks are from growth pressure inside. I'm terrible at knowing if a fruit will go heavy or not, but I wouldn't be surprised if she does go heavy, which would be impressive for the hot summer and heavy new chart. In 5 days we will know! Tuesday, September 25 View Page took down the shade cloth, pumpkin tent, getting things ready to weigh on saturday! Here's a few photos of the 980 this morning. The news came out for fun too and did a live interview from the patch. Tuesday, September 25 View Page it's a weed mess in the patch!!!!! Tuesday, September 25 View Page she's got a few more growth splits on the skin from late season growth. Skin is still smooth as can be besides the growth splits. Tuesday, September 25 View Page nice view from the porch! lol Tuesday, September 25 View Page what will she weigh????? I have no clue:) heavy, light, right on? Thursday, September 27 View Page ok, I want to explain how this will work. Saturday, 11am, the 980 will get weighed at my house on a certified ground scale for an official weight. With this being a new county record fruit (Well hopefully), I can't risk keeping her on the vine another month with vine rot and a little stem rot. So, we want to play it safe and get it done. The weigh off is not until oct 28th, way late for this far south. Fruit will be stored at a loca church, and if it lasts, will be taken up to the weigh off. Yes, it will loose a lot of weight probably, but life goes on. It will just be fun to go up if we can. And, hopefully the famous Chris Dunn (socal) will show up with his wounded 985 monster saturday and get an official private weight on his fruit too. 2 days! Thursday, September 27 View Page some more 980 updates from growers in my area. Remember the romney 980? Spoke to grower tonight and he said it's turning even more orange as it's off the vine. Just real pretty! Spoke to another gentleman tonight who loves to grow every year in san diego. He grew a 980 and said it was a super orange pretty fruit too! We spoke on the phone tonight. Seems like everyone has a good looker with it. I'll say one thing, it's consistant! Saturday, September 29 View Page weigh day is here!!!!! What a blessing to have help this year moving the fruit. My son Joshua with the 980 Fredricks before the excitement. Saturday, September 29 View Page look who showed up for the day. It's the famous socal grower Chris Dunn! And look what he brought..... Saturday, September 29 View Page his 985 estimated at 950 on the new 2012 chart! Saturday, September 29 View Page certified 4 foot ground scale so we get accurate weights! And our local church rented a forklift to help move the pumpkins. Now, this is funny. I hear a rumble in the distance, hhhmmmm, must be the fork coming???? ..... Saturday, September 29 View Page and this HUGE thing pulls up! lol This thing was a monster. I was WOW! All terain really mean all terain! Saturday, September 29 View Page Chris is up first!!!! And he's looking kind of nervous! Saturday, September 29 View Page easy baby, easy! Saturday, September 29 View Page almost there! Saturday, September 29 View Page we set her down. put on the straps Chris brought and lift her up again for the scale. Saturday, September 29 View Page we have touch down!!!!!! whew, nervous for the first time doing this with a machine Saturday, September 29 View Page and the weight is.......... drum roll! Saturday, September 29 View Page 833 lbs!!! She came in about 120 lbs light to the new 2012 chart. Chris was a little disapointed, but hey, awesome, awesome fruit for a first attempt!! My hat is off to you for what you accomplished this year my friend! Saturday, September 29 View Page now it's time for the 980 fredricks! Saturday, September 29 View Page Now me and vince are really nervous. This new chart is very hard to come close to, especially in a high heat southern area. Will we even weigh 1000???? We also did an ott on her with 3 guys, looks like I was a little liberal on my ott of 376. She was 370 ott doing it very accurately. Gulp! Saturday, September 29 View Page here we go! That new ott puts us at 1104 on the new 2012 chart. How to loose 50 lbs in a minute lol Saturday, September 29 View Page it's hard to see your fruit fly in the air and be ok with it! Saturday, September 29 View Page she's on the scale!!! Saturday, September 29 View Page here we go! What will she weigh? It's been 10 years of growing trying to break 1000 in san diego. Did we finally do it??????? Saturday, September 29 View Page 1116!!!!!!!!!! Amazing!!!!! It went slightly heavy to the new chart. Me and vince are thrilled that it weighed so much in one of the hottest summers in a long time. And to go a little heavy to the new chart, it's a great feeling. Saturday, September 29 View Page the park passed out "guess" the weight tickets. Write down what you think it will weigh and win a gift cerfificate. Chris nailed it right on the head!!! lol Saturday, September 29 View Page Chris, Vince, and me (Jim) with the 1116. My screen name is team faith and it was started for brothers and sister's in Christ as Christians who grow. This literally is team faith in the photo. A great blessing to have Vince and Chris as friends and brother's in the Lord Jesus. Saturday, September 29 View Page Me, my wife, and son. What a blessing. Saturday, September 29 View Page me and vince! Saturday, September 29 View Page my mom and dad Saturday, September 29 View Page on the trailor, headed to the church for display. If she lasts, up to pumpkinmania in a month. See how much weight she looses in a month off the vine. Crossing my fingers she lasts!!!! Special thanks to Sonrise Church and Chris. The lifting ring was awesome Chris! Wednesday, October 10 View Page the 1116 has been at the church on display. Sad news! It will not make it up to pumpkinmania weigh off on the 28th. She has gone down to rot on the blossom end. High heat and an unseen internal rot from I think one of the cracks in the blossom did her in. She is still in one piece on display, just not sure how long she will last with air into the cavity. Wednesday, October 10 View Page she will officially be called the 1116 Gorge! Myself and vince grew her, but two last names Fredricks-Gorge is too long. After 10 years of growing, he deserves it more than me! One last shot of the new county record, the 1116 Gorge (980 Fredricks x self) 1% heavy to new 2012 chart. 370 ott. One heck of a pumpkin in high heat! Thursday, October 11 View Page Vince, I think I spelled your name wrong???? lol Should be 1116 George. Too funny:) Sunday, October 14 View Page we went up to Julian today as a family. We stopped off at Tom's pumpkin patch since he wanted a visit and he grew the 980 Fredricks this year. He grew two 980 fruit, this one here and another one already moved. They both looked so smooth skinned and beautiful orange. His personal best was 270 lbs. This 980 was estimated at 385 lbs. So he was very happy. Out of all the 980's I've seen, the 1116 was the lightest orange of them all lol Sunday, October 14 View Page Tom had a serious stem stress issue! :) The pumpkin grew over the vine. I don't know how it didn't rip off! Sunday, October 14 View Page Joshua playing with the beauty! The only mark on the fruit was a spot ontop where one of Tom's horses took a nibble! Sunday, October 14 View Page maybe this was the culprit????? LOL Nice horse:) Sunday, October 14 View Page Joshua picking apples up at Julian. On the 1116 frontier, I stopped by the church today to see how she was doing with the blossom end into the cavity. She actually surprised me and looked pretty good besides the hole. There is a fan on her. I'm tempted to bring her up to pumpkinmania if she holds ok for a "show" entry. we'll see. Time will tell if she hangs around and if I want to do it:) Wednesday, October 31 View Page It's the great pumpkin charlie brown! Me and my son Joshua. I look like such a dork! lol Wednesday, October 31 View Page Joshua's first trick or treat house ever! I don't think he knows what to do! Thursday, November 1 View Page My beautiful wife and son. Thursday, November 1 View Page the big fall festival at sonrise church. It's pretty big, with tons of rides and attractions. This is inside, people get their picture taken with the 1116. So we had to stop by for a photo too! Thursday, November 1 View Page can we take these things off yet? lol Time to go home. I'm tired of being a pumpkin! I'm much better at growing them:) Thursday, November 1 View Page can we take these things off yet? lol Time to go home. I'm tired of being a pumpkin! I'm much better at growing them:) Tuesday, December 4 View Page day 65 on the 980 fredricks. The heat is taking it's toll. We have had temps at 100 or high 90's for 90% of the last 30 days. It's just been too hot. Fruit has finally slowed way down. Hoping we ca neak out some small lbs for another couple weeks, but I think 1200 estimation won't happen. If we would have had some luck with the weather, it would have gotten bigger I believe. Looking at our options for when to weigh this thing, pros and cons for the weigh off it late october. I will discuss with vince, but my gut tells me to weigh the fruit around the 1st of october with all of our rot issues, and store it somewhere, hoping it lasts until the weigh off. It would loose a lot of weight, but atleast we get an accurate weighing of the fruit. Time will tell.