Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 17 Entries. Friday, April 27 View Page Today I spread manure on the patch. About perfect weather for outside manual labor. Mid 50's, with a nice breeze. Short sleeves was quite comfortable. Friday, May 11 View Page I'm going with two competition plants this year. I'm hoping for big and orange. This evening I planted the following: Two 1027 Lombardi 11(1161 Rodonis X 1421 Stelts) plants, side by side. The best grower will be kept. One 1348 Hester(1370 Rose X 1068 Wallace) plant and one 1244.5 Rea 11(1161 Rodonis X 1610 Lieber) plant, side by side. One of these will eventually get culled. Thursday, June 7 View Page I culled one of the 1027 Lombardi plants. I kept the one that had a mainvine that was 8" longer. Measured this evening, it was 46" long. This plant seemed to be more sensitive to the heat, but it was a little more vigorous, and that's one reason I kept it. I culled the 1244 Rea, in favor of the 1348 Hester. They both had club roots at germination. The 1348 was a little larger plant. Measured this evening it had a mainvine of 28". Friday, June 22 View Page The first female on the main of the 1027 Lombardi is at about the 10.5 ft. mark. It's bright yellow and football-shaped. I like that:). I'm guessing it will open in 5-7 days. This plant is growing well. The 1348 Hester plant hasn't produced many good sidevines yet. The mainvine seems to be growing good though. The first female on the main is somewhere in the growing tip, which is O.K. with me. I'm hoping for several more good secondaries before the pumpkin. I found a female on a secondary of the plant; it was yellow and round. Thursday, June 28 View Page This morning I pollinated a 5 lobe female, on the 1027 Lombardi, with pollen from the 1348 Hester. It's at about 10.5' on the main. The next female on the main should open in about 4 days. Hopefully one of these two females will be the keeper. This is the earliest controlled pollination I've ever done. Monday, July 9 View Page Time for an update. The 1348 Hester plant has a yellow leaf issue. I'm not sure, but it might be Yellow Vine Disease. It looks exactly like what happened to one of my plants in 2007; if you want to see a pic of it. Most of the leaves on the mainvine have turned yellow, and it's spreading down the sidevines. This plant will be pulled in the near future. The 1027 Lombardi plant is growing great, and looks healthy. The first two pollinations didn't take(I'm guessing it was because of the heat). The first one(6-28) stopped growing after about 5 or 6 days. The second one(7-2)never really got going. There's an open-pollinated one at about 17'(pollinated on 7-7), that looks good so far. Another should open on 7-11. I'm hoping one of the two will be the keeper. I'm also hoping that the keeper will grow big, with a such large plant behind it. I need to catch up with weeding and vine burying this week. Tuesday, July 17 View Page Day 10 for the pumpkin on the 1027 Lombardi. Circ.= 30.25". Tuesday, July 24 View Page I'm mostly caught up with weeding and vine burying on the 1027 Lombardi plant. Friday will be day 20 for the only pumpkin on the plant. I'll post the circ. number then. Friday, July 27 View Page Today was day 20 for the pumpkin on the 1027 Lombardi plant. It's circ. is 74.5". Sunday, August 12 View Page My pumpkin on the 1027 Lombardi is still growing. Today was day 36 for the pumpkin. The plant looks good. I think this one will have a shot a going over 1K, if all goes well. I would really like to break my personal best of 1041 lbs. Tuesday, August 21 View Page My pumpkin on the 1027 Lombardi plant is still growing. Grow my pumpkin!....grow bigger!!!....if you don't mind. Monday, August 27 View Page Day 51 for my pumpkin on the 1027 Lombardi plant. I did my first OTT measurements of the season on it this afternoon. Here's the numbers: Circ.= 139", S-to-S= 87", and E-to-E= 88"; for a total of 314" and an estimate of 653 lbs., according to the 2005 chart. 1000 lbs.+ is a possibility if things go well and the weather cooperates. Wednesday, August 29 View Page I'm planning on taking my pumpkin to the Delano weighoff on Sept. 29. One month of growing to go. I hope my pumpkin holds together and keeps growing till then. Monday, September 3 View Page Day 58 for my pumpkin on the 1027 Lombardi plant. Circ.= 144", S-to-S= 90", E-to-E= 90.5"; for an estimated 719.5 lbs.(2005 chart). Over the past 7 days this pumpkin averaged an estimated 9.5 lbs./day. I haven't posted any pics yet this season, mainly because I'm using a different computer, and haven't figured it out how to do it on this one yet. Friday, September 14 View Page Day 69 for my pumpkin on the 1027 Lombardi plant. Circ.= 148", S-to-S= 91.5", E-to-E= 92.75"; for a total OTT of 332.25". It's estimated at about 771.5 lbs. on the 2005 chart. This pumpkin averaged an estimated 4.7 lbs. over the past 11 days. I'll be cutting this pumpkin off the vine in about two weeks. I don't expect much more growth on it. It's growth slowed down more than I expected, compared to other pumpkins I've grown in the past. I don't attribute this to the genetics of the seed, but possibly on a few other factors(one being the hot dry late summer we've had). I water with an overhead sprinkler, but soaking rains would have been much preferred. Monday, September 17 View Page The forecasted low for tonight is 32 degrees F. I picked some tomatoes, peppers, watermelon, and Butternut squash this evening. Thursday, October 25 View Page I took my pumpkin, grown off the 1027 Lombardi, to the Delano weighoff on Sept. 29. It took 5th place, and weighed 875 lbs. It went about 6% heavy according to the new chart. I'm happy with the result. That's the second largest "official" one I've ever had weighed; not counting a dmg one, a few years back, that went over 1000 lbs. For my records, the 875 Wallace 12 was set 18' on the mainvine, on a plant of about 700 sq.ft. It was open pollinated(thank you bees!).