Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 31 Entries. Thursday, June 24 View Page Better late than never on the diary I guess :) I always have high hopes early in the season. The new patch is 25' x 120'--four plants. From front to back, the 2010 lineup is: 1161 Rodonis, 1622 Young, 1502 Wallace, and 1444 Presto. Thursday, June 24 View Page 1161 Rodonis--I'm behind where I was last year, but hopeful I can catch up! I'm growing beneath 40% shade to protect from hail and high altitude intense rays from the sun. Thursday, June 24 View Page Here's the "double threat" on the Rodonis. This is starting to get good! I love this time of year. Thursday, June 24 View Page Here is the 1622 Young--an incredible plant. Thanks for the seed Don--I appreciate you giving a new guy a chance at a great seed. Thursday, June 24 View Page 1502 Wallace--looking a little funny after a dog came into my patch, started digging up the stump, chewed off 2 secondary vine tips and the last 3' of the main vine. Had to train the last viable secondary as the new main. He was attracted by the fish I had sprayed earlier that day. We promptly took care of the dog problem though (it's not what you're thinking--I would never do that! We just added an additional 3' to an existing chain link fence for a total height of 7'). All clear since then. Thursday, June 24 View Page 1444.5 Presto (1528 Starr x 1385 Jutras) --Again, the funny shape is due to dog attack. Lost a few secondaries but the plant is quickly recovering. I think this one is still capable of producing a slugger. This plant was originally planned as the backup for my 1528 Starr which didn't germinate. Sorry Thad, I would have loved to grow that one. Love the genetics on the 1444 though and I am excited to see what it can do. Thanks Erik for the seed. Thursday, June 24 View Page Recent events have had me thinking of patch security. Thanks to AlphaCorp for providing the McConkie/Quigley patch security for 2010. Thursday, June 24 View Page Cameras just installed today. Okay, okay--stop laughing everyone and tell me the truth--you HAVE considered installing a video surveilance system in the patch. Everyone has. Thursday, June 24 View Page Irrigation system idea courtesy of Starrfarms.net This will mist, irrigate and fertigate. One valve per plant controls 20 heads and waters under the canopy. The injector will mix liquid ferts with the irrigation water and put it right out the sprinkler heads. I got the micro heads from Tom. Thursday, July 15 View Page Upadated patch shot--the black shade cloth is 40%, the white is 22%. I figured this would be a way to experiment with different percentages for the altitude and climate. So far, the leaves on the 40% look quite a bit better. I have had to supplement the 22% shade with misting every 30 minutes to avoid burn. Thursday, July 15 View Page This is what happens to the leaves that grow outside the shade cover--ouch! Pretty bad sunburn. Some plants take the heat okay, some don't like it. My 1622 Young and 1502 Wallace don't mind the heat, but the 1444 Presto and 1161 Rodonis need mist/shade to avoid heat stress and sunburn. Thursday, July 15 View Page 1444.5 Presto lookin' good. The small one on the left is probably the keeper--better shape, stem, and further out on the vine. Thanks to everyone who's given me advice and answered my many questions! Tuesday, July 20 View Page Day 20 1622 Young. CC 64". Love this plant. Huge stem, fruit is about 13' out. Sunday, July 25 View Page 1161 Rodonis. Late set, 18' out with a ton of plant behind it. I have a lot of catching up to do! I had to cull a couple of pumpkins in front of this one that were slow growers and/or strange shape. I'll probably second guess my decision forever, but it is done now! Sunday, July 25 View Page This is what happened the day after I culled the fruit in front of this one on the 1161. I did take the advice of many wise growers and take a wedge shaped slice out of the stem one day, and then completely remove the pumpkin the next. It still was a little bit of a shock to the fruit, but it's not getting any worse (yet). Since the cull, the chosen fruit has really started to take off. Sunday, July 25 View Page Pumpkin on the 1444.5 Presto has stopped growing at 134 lbs on day 20. Party looks to be over on this plant. Volleyball sized backup has also stopped. Same thing happened last year on some good growers for me. I wish I knew what I was doing wrong. Plant looks totally healthy and the vines continue to grow. Wednesday, July 28 View Page Day 20 1161 Rodonis. CC is 70". Stem is looking better. Friday, July 30 View Page 1622 Young--day 30. Thursday, August 5 View Page Unfortunately, had to pull the 1502 Wallace and the 1444 Presto due to what I believe to be Verticillium. Pumpkins suddenly stopped growing, and the plants were infected. Same thing happened to me last year on all plants. I wanted to try to stop the damage before it spread to the remaining two plants. Treated entire patch with fungicide. Down to two plants, but look at the good news--all it takes is ONE! Saturday, August 7 View Page Here is the 1161 Day 30--est 361#. Growing well, but still have a lot of catching up to do. Monday, August 9 View Page 1622 Young--day 40. Est 710 lbs. Huh...never had one do this before but I'll take it :) Friday, August 13 View Page 1622 Young--Blossom end failure day 44 est 840 lbs. Bummer...this thing thumps like a rock and was on a great pace. Started with four plants--now down to one. I love the pressure! I may be down, but I'm not OUT :) Tuesday, August 17 View Page 1161 Day 40 670# est. Slowed a bit in the last couple of days, but still going well. We had a great patch tour on Saturday. Thanks to all who participated--it was fun! Friday, August 27 View Page Day 50 --1161 Rodonis estimates at 881 lbs. Monday, September 6 View Page Day 60--Frost in the patch last night. Killed a bunch of gourds and field pumpkin plants. Giants survived okay. Estimating at 1000+. Too bad the weather is going to slow this one down. It's been a steady grower--I should have gone with one of the earlier pollinations. I suppose I'll second guess that decision for a good long while. Friday, September 24 View Page 1161 Rodonis...first photos in a long time. She's been safely hiding under shade cloth, wind fence, tarps and blankets. It was strange to remove all that stuff and finally get a look at the pumpkin. Weigh-off is tomorrow. There are a couple of big ones in the state that could challenge the state record of 1104 lbs. Harvested day 78--380.5" OTT. As luck would have it, the verified crosses I had in front of this one were strange shaped or wheel, and since it was my "backup to my backup" pumpkin...I pollinated it with two 1622 Young males after the flower was open on July 8 at 8:30 a.m. So the cross is 1161 x open. Friday, September 24 View Page Tyler Quigley and I at the hoisting. I know, I know--the crane is overkill. But if there is any group of people known for overkill--it's pumpkin growers! Anyway it was fun. We may have taken it up higher than necessary to give the people there a little bit of a show :) I was so nervous I almost threw up. Friday, September 24 View Page Me, Tyler Quigley, and Gordon Tanner at the loading. Since neither Tyler nor I had moved a big pumpkin before, Gordon was an immense help. I did breathe a sigh of relief when she touched down. Saturday, September 25 View Page Luck was on my side today, and the pumpkin now called 1169 McConkie was good enough for 1st place, and a new state record! Thanks again for everyone who worked so hard to put on a great event. Saturday, October 23 View Page I figured it was either this or wait 'til it turned into a pile of mush on my front porch. As barbaric as it may appear, it did bring a smile to a lot of faces. 175' is a long way to fall. Saturday, October 23 View Page McConkie 1169 at impact. Video footage at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbNKVmWj1K4 In all we dropped about 30 giants onto everything imaginable from desks to trampolines to swimming pools. What better way to spend a Saturday in October? Thanks to Hee Haw Farms and Kyle Fox (foxpatch). You guys put together a heck of an event. I'll be there next year.