Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 104 Entries. Tuesday, April 30 View Page Line up : 1770.5 Lieber 1872 Wallace 1582.5 Werner 645 Zappa Also going to test out a cross from last year with a smaller plant, my 574 est.Cross was my 772 from 2010 x 1495 Stelts. Tuesday, May 7 View Page Something made me walk out to the patch this afternoon about 20 minutes before I was to leave for work.I took a glance at my early plant that I started for a fair, and saw something that made me do a double take... I said " it can't be !". Yep, cuke beetles all over my plant, on May 7th ! I ran back to get my pump sprayer and took care of them. Fortunately, it was cloudy at the time of spraying, so I am hoping the plant is ok. The earliest I have ever seen cucumber beetles in past years was very late May. Monday, May 13 View Page Temps got below freezing early this morning, found frost on the one hoop that was in the shade at 9 am. Plants all look good. The 1872 Wallace looks be be the biggest with the 1582.5 Werner close behind. My early fair plant (1770.5 Leiber), really took off the past two weeks, way ahead of last years. The main is around 12 foot with the first sides around 4 foot. Had a female on May 6th, way too early and no males were ready anyway. Sunday, May 19 View Page Some of my leaves are starting to get yellow. Is this a magnesium or manganese deficiency ? My soil test did not seem too bad. I will post my test after a few more leaf pics. Sunday, May 19 View Page One more leaf picture. Sunday, May 19 View Page This is my spring test. Wednesday, May 22 View Page Pollinated the 1770 Lieber on the main vine on May 18th, about 12 ft out, and a side vine, ( 1st rt side) May 20th. Looks like they both took. Cuke beetles are very bad, had to spray 2 days in a row. All plants seem to be doing well. Wednesday, June 5 View Page Took a vacation last week with my family. We had frost last Sat, Sun, and Monday. I had my early fair plant covered Sat and Sunday, uncovered it early Sunday morning then left for vacation. I took a chance that it would not frost Monday morning. This is what it looks like now : Wednesday, June 5 View Page Supprisingly, it did not hurt the vine tips, and the pumpkin is still growing, but very slow for its age. It is at day 17 and only soccer ball size. The cold snap and 1/3 of the leaves that I lost are not helping any. Wednesday, June 5 View Page I did another pollination on that plant (1770 x self) yesterday june 4th.It was very cold in the morning (38) and the flowers did not open until 9:30. Wednesday, June 5 View Page On a good note, all my other plants are doing great. The biggest surprise is my own seed (574 est 2012, 772 Zappa x 1495 Stelts), it really took off the week that I was away. The 1582.5 Werner and 1872 Wallace are around 6 foot, hoops will be torn down soon. The smallest plant is my 645 Zappa from 2010. Last year I used that seed as back ups in all my hoops and they were my biggest plants. Wednesday, June 5 View Page Started giant tomatoes and field kins on Monday June 3rd. Field pumps that I started : 209 Werner 81 Wolf several of my 91.5's for back ups. Still need to get sunflowers in ! Thursday, June 20 View Page Pollinated 1872 Wallace x 1582.5 Werner, about 10 ft out. My 1770 Lieber fruit is 33 days old and barely growing. Ott is about what a good 20 day number should be. I think the frost damage really set it back. It may get cut soon and I may go with a side vine fruit. Thursday, June 20 View Page I planted 4 sunflowers in the ground on 6-18,they were started indoors. I also direct sowed about 8 more. I also planted two field kins,the 209 Werner and 81 wolf. Giant tomates should be ready to put out in the ground in a week or two. Wednesday, June 26 View Page On 6-25-2013 pollinated my 645 x 1770 Lieber, and 574 est x 1582.5 Werner. Wednesday, June 26 View Page Pollinated today 6-26-2013 the 1582.5 Werner x 1872 Wallace. Thursday, June 27 View Page This is the 1770 Lieber plant taken on the 23rd. Around 450 sq ft. With the warmer temps lately, the plant is really growing nice now. The newer leaves are getting much bigger in size. I cut the fruit from this plant on Sunday the 23rd, just wasn't growing good enough, and was deformed as well, as you will see in next pic. Thursday, June 27 View Page Looks like a big yellow apple, around 100 pounds. Thursday, June 27 View Page Field pumpkins, 81 wolf on the left, and the 209 Werner on the right.I plan on crossing them. Pic taken on the 23rd of June. Thursday, July 4 View Page Two pollinations on the 144 Cantrell today,both x the 249.5 Brammer. Mellon plants all look good. Thursday, July 4 View Page Pollinated my 574 est x 1582.5 Werner, but will call it open since it was opened. 2nd on main for insurance. Sunday, July 7 View Page Took my boys out for some hybrid striper fishing last week during my plant shut down. I caught this one which weighed in around 8 1/2 pounds. My older son caught a small one also. Sunday, July 7 View Page Taken on 7-6, this is the 1872 Wallace, which is my best plant this year.Will post day 20 numbers next week. Sunday, July 7 View Page Oops,that last entry was the 1770 Lieber. I had to set one on a side vine unfortunately. Plant is terminated, all but the main which is aproaching 30 feet. Sunday, July 7 View Page 1770 lieber at day 20 , today 7-8. ott is 140 inches. Sunday, July 7 View Page This was a cool thing to see. A wasp was feasting on a cabbage moth worm , on my giant cabbages. Sunday, July 7 View Page I still don't have a fruit set on my 645 plants main. I may have a side vine set. I have should have one ready later this week on the main. This plant is in the wettest part of the patch and is really suffering. the side vines are barely growing, and the plant has been turning a yellow color from being too wet for too long. Thursday, July 11 View Page Pollinated my 645 x 1770 Lieber, perfect 5 lobe flower. This one is on the main vine about 20 foot out. I have one on a side vine that was pollinated 4 days ago, hopefully this one on the main will catch up. Thursday, July 11 View Page Sunflowers are approaching 2 ft. tall, I hope my timing is ok. Friday, July 12 View Page What causes this ? Bad pollination, temperature....???? This is on only a few of my ox heart tomatoes. Is this common with the ox heart variety ? Wednesday, July 17 View Page 1770 Lieber day 29 (yesterday), 202 ott, 192 lbs. I need to do some serious pruning on 1/3 of the plant. Wednesday, July 17 View Page 1582.5 Werner day 20.178 " ott, 133 pounds, 75.5 " cc. Crossed with the 1872 Wallace. Very happy with the size on this one, looks to go orange too. Wednesday, July 17 View Page 1872 Wallace day 26, 208" ott 209 pounds. cc is 89 ", doing around 20 pound a day, love the shape, but going to be a light colored one. Wednesday, July 17 View Page Decided to tape the 1582 this morning.Very happy to see it is gaining around 27 pounds a day. cc gained 5.5 inches . Wednesday, July 17 View Page a few days ago I noticed that the first side vine on my 1872 had some yellowing leaves out at the end of the vine. The rest of the plant is nice and green, so something is wrong. I did my walk around today and it is yellow vine starting for sure. I have seen only a few squash bugs this season, but it only takes one. I cut the vine right up at the stump. Hopefully it will not spread. Saturday, July 20 View Page No more beer bottle for size reference for this one, it's time for the 5 gallon bucket. The 1582.5 Werner is cranking the weight on now, put on 40 pounds the last 24 hours at day 24. I will do a taping tomorrow for a 5 day average. Saturday, July 20 View Page My melons are looking better than ever this year. This is about 1.5 plants in the pic. Saturday, July 20 View Page This is the other 1.5 plants. I have a total of 3 plants. 249.5 Brammer, and I believe 2 144 Cantrell's. I culled a few off today, mostly pear shaped ones that were not growing as fast as the better shaped melons. Saturday, July 20 View Page Always amazed at how well they can hide. No idea how old this one is but the shape is the best I ever had. Too bad I have one twice the weight and it is a short fat one. I will leave them for several days then make a cut. Saturday, July 20 View Page Giant Kossak Kohlrabi, These are very tasty and not woody at all. This one is just under 6 lbs. Sunday, July 21 View Page My 1872 Wallace is officially over. Yellow vine disease made the growth come to a sudden stop. I only had 1 vine that got very yellow, which I cut off, but it was to late. I was really hoping to get some seeds but I think it is way too young (30 days old). I will leave it till day 40, then cut it out and pull the plant, maybe the seeds are maturing. Friday, July 26 View Page Day 30 today for 1582.5 Werner, 267" ott, 430 lbs. 30 pounds a day last 7 days average. Plant size is 730 sq. ft. Friday, July 26 View Page 1770 Lieber day 39, 253" ott for 368 pounds. very steady gainer, 19 pounds a day last 9 days. Friday, July 26 View Page Pulled out the 1872 Wallace plant :( I may have some viable seeds though, cross is 1872 Wallace x 1582.5 Werner. Friday, July 26 View Page My 645 from 2010, day 15 , open poll.This plant has been wet for too long, starting to dry out now, we'll see if the plant greens up. Friday, July 26 View Page My 574 est 2012, about day 16 open poll also. Just testing this seed out in a different garden, no water system, just hose when needed. Going to be a pretty one. Friday, July 26 View Page Decided to use black plastic for veges this year. No weeds, bigger plants, and more heat for the roots, and retains moisture well. This will be an every year thing, very impressed. I have never had or seen peppers and tomatoes this nice. Wednesday, July 31 View Page 574 est, day 20, 176 ott, 129 pounds. Plant is 280 sq ft. Wednesday, July 31 View Page Note, last entry was Day 20 yesterday, the 30th. This is my 645, day 20 today, the 31st. 168.5 ott. Not bad considering how wet this plant was the past month. Wednesday, July 31 View Page 1582.5 Werner, day 35. 291 ott. Down to 22 # per day for the last 3 days. Very cold the last 3 days. Wednesday, July 31 View Page Should be 27 days old, but can't remember. around 65.5 pounds. Plants are still very healthy. Note : Take better notes for melons next season. Wednesday, July 31 View Page Have 3 open pollinations on an 81 wolf. My son tried to pollinate the 81 this morning x the 209 Werner, but the twist tie held only the top of the flower shut and the middle was popped open slightly, and of coarse their were two bumbles in it. So it was the 3rd open on that plant. Saturday, August 3 View Page Lost the 1770 Lieber. It stopped growing for some unknown reason around day 45. Around 250" ott, around 350 pounds. Plant looked healthy and was growing very well still, just got a little out of control with pruning. No bug issues. I have to note, walls were extremely thick. Stem side was 7-8 inches and everywhere else was close to 6 inches except the blossom end. The cross is 1770 Lieber x 1582.5 Werner. Seeds look mature. Saturday, August 3 View Page Side view, not very nice. Saturday, August 3 View Page Mellon update : #1, 137"ott 77 lbs. #2, 131"ott 68 lbs. #3, 125"ott 59 lbs. All are very healthy, but they did not like last weeks cold snap. Sunday, August 4 View Page Got an issue with a few of my leaves on the 1582 plant. It is usually on a few consecutive leaves, 2 here, 3 over there, etc. It does seem to be mostly on the 1st secondary vine, which is the oldest. Any Ideas ? My guess is gummy stem or spray damage, or possibly fertilizer damage when I toss the pelletized fert under the leaf canopy, some ends up on top of the leaves. Sunday, August 4 View Page another Sunday, August 4 View Page another Sunday, August 4 View Page last one. Saturday, August 10 View Page Leaf issues on my 1582. This is starting on the edges. It starts out a lighter green, then seems to turn brown, then spreads inward. It is still a rather slow progression. The dew is a tea color in this pic where the leaf is curled. Saturday, August 10 View Page one more. Saturday, August 10 View Page Last one Sunday, August 11 View Page It appears that my giant pumpkin season is over. The 1582.5 seems to stopped growing 3 days ago. I thought I smelled a foul smell Friday morning near the fruit. Strangely the smell went away. The pumpkin still seems to be sapping, but no growth. I guess I will watch it closely to see if it starts to get soft. On a good note, I have a very good melon growing and all my tomato plants have at least 1 big mega bloom on them. My 81 wolf has a few going and the 209 has some opens. I should be pollinating 2 on the 209 tomorrow on sides x the 81 Wolf. Sunflowers are really growing now, around 7 foot. Tuesday, August 13 View Page Those stakes on the sunflowers look dangerous. I hope they don't attract lightning ! I got them up about 16 foot this year. Tuesday, August 13 View Page This can't be good. It has been seeping sap for close to a week now ( 1582.5 ), but now this is not looking like the normal sapping. This is getting the dreaded grey color and yes it is smelly. Tuesday, August 13 View Page A side shot of the 1582.5. The part that really sucks is that the plant seems very healthy yet. Tuesday, August 13 View Page This is kind of a cool shot, my best melon if front of the 1582.5. Tuesday, August 13 View Page 249.5 Brammer melon. Not sure of ott, but should be around 120 pounds. I will check over the weekend and post some #'s. Tuesday, August 13 View Page The 249.5 Brammer is very wide, I could not get high enough to get it all in the pic. Tuesday, August 13 View Page This one is the 144 Cantrell, which is doing well also. Looks like a solid melon. Tuesday, August 13 View Page The lower garden with veges, my sons 2 melons, and my test plant, my 574 est 2012 ( my 772 x 1495 Stelts). This soil did not get tested, just some old manure in the spring. Plant health is good on this one. Tuesday, August 13 View Page This is the 574 est fruit. I would guess 275 pounds.We will tape this weekend. Tuesday, August 13 View Page This one is my 645 from 2010. Around 275 pounds as well. Starting to look like a nice looking one :) Wednesday, August 21 View Page I took the 1582 Werner out of the patch last Friday. It was at day 51. It stopped growing at around day 45. The outside was oozing on one side for over a week, possibly an infection of some kind ?? Plant and vine all looked healthy. I did not want to leave it on any longer and chance on the seeds rotting. It taped at 807, and weighed 816 on a very accurate scale. This pumpkin went crazy between day 20 and 35 up until we got the cold snap. Before the cold snap it was doing around 40 # a day. Wednesday, August 21 View Page Blossom end. Wednesday, August 21 View Page The inside looked great, no rot at all. The oozing gell was only penetrating about a half an inch in from the skin. Seed count was very good too. The blossom end was around 3.5 inches with the rest around 6 inches. Went right to chart. Wednesday, August 21 View Page Got some impressive mega blooms on each plant. Wednesday, August 21 View Page One more. Wednesday, August 28 View Page Something is going on with a few of my tomato plants. Wednesday, August 28 View Page One more pic. I thought is was spray damage, but it seems to be spreading now. Sunday, September 8 View Page 249 Brammer, stem side,still growing. Got a lot of new vine growth over the past warm week and a half. Sunday, September 8 View Page blossom side, 249. Sunday, September 8 View Page One more of the 249. Around 180 pounds today. It seems like the growth slowed down this week. I have not been watering enough the past week , so hopefully todays water will kick it back in gear. Sunday, September 8 View Page Going all out for this one. Decided to construct a low hoop over the melon and 2/3 of the plant. And of coarse a space heater. Plant still in excellent shape. Sunday, September 8 View Page A 144 Cantrell, still growing. It and the 249 are around day 60. Sunday, September 8 View Page This one I am not sure , but my son says it is another 144 Cantrell. It looks a lot like the 249 as it is getting a flat top like the other one. Whatever it is , it is catching up to my biggest one, and is at least 10 days younger. It is around 162 pounds today and around day 50. Sunday, September 8 View Page Had some of those sneaky aphids trying to colonize on my melons last week. Thanks to the yellow jackets for letting me know !!! Saturday, September 28 View Page Patch update. No giants left. Struggling with the field pumps this year.As soon as they start to get orange, they rot. Lost a few nice ones. Melons are all still growing. The 249.5 Brammer has put on 35 pounds the past 30 days.The present ott is bigger than the currant state record as of today. Would love to get 10 more pounds, as I think it will go light. My #2 melon is taping at 185 pounds. This one has been slowly creeping up on the biggun. I have 2 tomato plants that both have a very impressive fruit. They are both getting late blight now, so I expect about 1 more week of growth at most. One may possibly challenge the state record. We shall see in two weeks. Sun flowers are not as good as last years. Had a lot of germination issues. Monday, September 30 View Page My early tomato entry. Nothing like waiting for the last day to make a decision. Monday, September 30 View Page The other side. Monday, September 30 View Page Just incase John did not get it earlier today. Monday, September 30 View Page 249.5 Brammer still growing, but very slow. I never give them names ( at least not yet), but if I did, this one would have to be named, "WIDE LOAD". The basketball is on the same thickness board, and is slightly uphill of the melon even. Monday, September 30 View Page The other side of the 249.5. Monday, September 30 View Page One last picture until the weigh off, with Mr. Buds on guard. Obviously he has not been patrolling good enough. I found that a ground hog has taken up residence IN the lower end of the patch. The box trap is set ! Sunday, October 13 View Page This one was very nice, but unfortunately had to be pulled apart. It was a double on one stem. I guess this is rather common. It went from the upper 5# range to about 3.5 #'s, lol ! Still a very good day for me . Sunday, October 13 View Page The big ball on the left had to be pulled off. Still, each piece was nice. Sunday, October 13 View Page 3 melons loaded and yes my lower back is feeling it. We had 569 pounds of melons, 2 adults and somehow fit 3 kids, 5 chairs, a cooler, and a bag full of snacks in too. I may have to send this to toyota ! lol !!! Sunday, October 13 View Page This is the stump from my 208.5 . All 3 of my melon stumps were in great shape all season. After a closer inspection of this one, I found that a rodent had dug in up under this stump. I wonder if it caused any weight gains to drop ? Sunday, October 13 View Page The plant and most of the vines are still in very good shape. The 249.5 Brammer was a super good plant, and the fruit grew very well considering the cold wet July we had. Sunday, October 13 View Page The 249.5 Brammer on the scale. It went around 9 pounds light with my measurements, but plenty good for a new State Record. 208.5 Zappa 2013. Also good enough for 1st place. Took 2nd also with a 190.5. That wont happen next year if Mr. Neptune is back, lol ! Sunday, October 13 View Page The 249.5 Brammer on the scale. It went around 9 pounds light with my measurements, but plenty good for a new State Record. 208.5 Zappa 2013. Also good enough for 1st place. Took 2nd also with a 190.5. That wont happen next year if Mr. Neptune is back, lol ! Sunday, October 13 View Page What a sight to see ! You could almost fit a 55 gallon drum inside this beast ! Who says you need a long one to get a big weight ? Sunday, October 13 View Page None of my competition melons and pumpkins would be possible with out the help of my wonderful wife and two boys who help cover everything with blankets, close hoops in the evening, water, and other things that I am forgetting. Thank you all for all the help, I could not do this hobby with out them. Sunday, October 13 View Page I think this picture that my wife took is worthy of finishing my diary for this year. Be safe and healthy everyone.