Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 38 Entries. Friday, February 8 View Page Time to start my 2013 diary, I suppose. Nothing growing on the patch yet (except some rye, which isn´t really growing either, it seems to sleep under the fluffy blanket of snow), hence I couldn´t quite decide what to show on my first picture entry...snow?...NO! This ensemble of labels, stickers, envelopes and plastic bags makes me much much more look forward to spring. A big ThanXalot to the friendly donors. There are some more, and it feels so good to have a "plan B" just in case that one of the above seeds fails to do its job. A big Thankyou to all of you who made me happy with your positive response to my bubble requests. Saturday, March 16 View Page Couple of times I had noticed the questions arising as to the ideal patch size, both on the message board and also asking this question myself. Therefore, in March 2012 I have analyzed the correlation between the square footage of a patch and the average pumpkin weight for the following four seeds (1385.5 Jutras, 1161 Rodonis, 985 Werner, 998,6 Pukos), which have been planted quite often within a narrow time frame (i.e., which therefore did enjoy or should have had a chance to enjoy a similar standard of AG cultivation, similar knowledge of the grower). From pumpkinlink.com I had picked a list of all their progeny from 800 lbs up, had searched for their plants square footage on aggc and have Excel�d the results. The results sort of confirm that 500-600 sqft should already be an excellent area for an AG patch. Let�s start with the 985 Werner and 998.6 Pukos. In the top diagram you can see all pumpkins analyzed, and in the bottom diagram you can see all pumpkins from areas of 500+ sqft. Now we can see that the pumpkins on areas less than 500 sqft cause a steep skew of the trend line, whereas the trend line is much more flattened when we leave those pumpkins out of the analysis�there�s not so much average weight increase per square footage from 500 to 1000 sqft. Saturday, March 16 View Page Now let�s go ahead with the 1385.5 Jutras and the 1161 Rodonis. Basically the same trend is there, i.e., the pumpkins from patches smaller than 500 sqft cause a steeper skew of the trend line. However, this effect is less pronounced and one could argue that the 1385 and 1161 are more susceptible towards patch size increase and 985 and 998 are not. I suspect a different origin for this weight/sqft correlation of the 1385 and 1161: After the 1725 Harp and 1810 Stevens had been grown, more and more people have been trying to get more out of those particular two seeds, and those experienced growers who sort of did everything right (soil prep etc.) just wanted to be on the safe side and didn�t want to lose any pound of the potential by limiting the patch size. I suspect that with the same care the same plant would have grown a similar size pumpkin in a slightly smaller patch (maybe 100 sqft less)...but I cannot prove this hypothesis. Saturday, March 16 View Page Since the values are quite scattered and don�t allow for precise conclusions (except the observation that the pretty heavy pumpkins already appear on 500�600 sqft patches and that there is a slight upwards trend for weight with increasing patch size), I have also plotted the average pumpkin weights per 100 sqft increment. (increment 250 = 200�299, 350 = 300�399, 450 = 400�499, 550 = 500�599, 650 = 600�699, 750 = 700�799, 850 = 800�899, 950 = 900++) We can see a clear trend, i.e., the notable increase goes into a plateau stage at ca. 500�600 sqft. (The reason why the 1385.5 Jutras is messing up the picture at 350 sqft is the 1166 Mohr, which is the only pumpkin in this sqft range for this seed, grown by a pretty successful grower (in my opinion), and therefore this one data point is not representative. With additional data points from the other 3 pumpkin seeds the average already looks much more representative. Saturday, March 16 View Page Finally, here is a list of the data points which went into the last diagram. Wednesday, April 17 View Page This year I decided to start one half of my line-up early and the other half mid April as in previous years...to see if there will be a difference. Here are the seedlings from the three line-up candidates and some back-ups which had been started on March 28th. Currently they are sitting in 25 L buckets. Saturday, April 20 View Page Here comes the next set of seedlings, the second half of my line-up and some back-ups. Seeds were started on April 12th. Basically that�s how I did it this year (also with the seeds from the first series, see previous entry), I had filed and soaked the seeds for 15 min and then put them in this kind of sewer pipes (6 inch diameter pipes, cut into pieces of 7 inch length and a slit along the full length), which had a plastic bottom plate held on the pipe with some stick tapy, easy to remove. Pics show the seedlings on April 19th, 2 days after they popped through the surface. Now they are transplanted into larger pots (12 L) in such a way that I fill the bottom of the pot with some soil and myco, put the pipe on top of that, remove the bottom plate from the pipe, remove the tape which covers the slit, fill the pot with soil and myco, and then I just remove the pipe (and the slit allows me to open the pipe a little bit, makes it easier to lift it without moving the root bale). The plants probably won�t take notice of any kind of transplantation (by means of disturbance), they will only feel the advantage of more freedom for their roots and a different soil with more goodies. For this second set of seedlings I have used 12 L pots (instead of the 25 L pots used for the first set of seedlings), because I don�t want to keep them in those pots for so many days. Wednesday, April 24 View Page Today I got the first plants into the patch. Thursday, May 2 View Page On April 30th I had transplanted the second half of my line-up (which had been started on April 12th). Wednesday, May 8 View Page Had been a warm and sunny day today. Plants look like being a couple of days ahead of my 2012 plants :-) Wednesday, May 15 View Page Last week hadn�t been too warm, but now it�s like summer (for the next two or three days) and the plants enjoy some sunlight. Wednesday, May 15 View Page Rye sown on April 15th, today I had to get the mower on the patch for a new "haircut". Monday, June 10 View Page Haven�t posted pics since many many days, but there hasn�t been any progress worth being reported. Therefore, just a patch view. Within more than 3 weeks the plants have grown like in one week...because we�ve had awfully cloudy and cold and rainy weather during the past weeks. Fortunately, the rye is making the patch look much more friendly, what a beautiful green. Sown April 15th, had to mow the third time already. That stuff doesn�t mind that cold and wet weather, and I wish the pumpkin plants wouldn�t do that either. Monday, June 10 View Page My initial plan with some seeds started on March 28th was to have some pollinations done around mid June. Well, the plants aren�t large enough yet (they could have been, IF...!!!), but they are laughing their ass off and showing their fingers...I wish these little females were somewhere between 10 and 12 ft now, not at the tip of a 3 ft main vine (with a final position at maybe 4.5 ft). Anyway, at least the plants are friendly enough to let me know that they can actually produce females. Monday, June 24 View Page After two weeks of horribly cold weather and clouds and permanent rain (last weeks of May) the patch had been flooded a little bit (June 2/3). Well, the plants hadn�t had a dive, but on their little mounds (about 4 inch high) they still suffered the high ground water level and the cold soil. Even after 3 weeks of significantly better weather most of the plants didn�t kick back into normal gear, apparently their roots are just damaged too much. This is my 854.5 Frei, a plant which had been started on March 28th and which was way ahead of my 2012 plants until mid May. I will leave it in the patch for a little while, just to see when the little 854.5 Frei (2) will overtake. Sown on June 17th this little one should benefit from the (now) warm soil and have a good start. A unique experiment, never thought that I would start AG seeds mid June. Tuesday, June 25 View Page The story of back-back-back-back-ups continues. The 854.5 Frei is planted back-to-back with a 907 Wagler. The latter will replace my 1140 Finders plant. I will try to keep the 1140 as a little genetics plant to get a pumpkin with some seeds out of it. Currently the 1140 plant looks like it cannot grow a big one this year. Just see the next pic. Tuesday, June 25 View Page This is the 1140 Finders plant on June 22nd. This plant and some others on my patch had suffered cold soil and permanent rain for 2 weeks (end of May) and a little flood across the patch the first days of June. Right here right now I wish to emphasize that I am one of the lucky ones who haven�t lost too much during the last couple of weeks (only the root systems of some AG plants). There are many others in Germany who actually do suffer alot from the floods of the past weeks. Janni (GPW) started to initiate a seed auction as a fundraiser to support those who have lost much more than just a couple of pumpkin roots. For those of you who would like to donate a seed for that fundraiser, please visit Jannis thread on the message board for further details: http://www.bigpumpkins.com/msgboard/ViewThread.asp?b=3&p=479106 ThanX heaps! Tuesday, July 9 View Page It�s time for a little update. The seedlings have developed some true leaves now. Currently 4th true leaf is under construction and thereafter it looks like a nice cluster which could become a tip of a main vine. Their roots are way ahead of the little plants and the stumps are getting thicker each day. Can�t wait to see their vines grow. Wednesday, July 10 View Page Guess which plant had been started on April 12? The 1770 Lieber. This plant did suffer quite alot from the previously mentioned weather conditions, and therefore I decided to plant a back-up (the 101 Shymanski), sown end of April, still in the pot 1st week of June because this plant was so weak and small and therefore I hadn�t given this plant away to friends...and therefore it was the only back-up plant left...which eventually went into my patch on June 17. Today its main vine has reached the 7ft and the next best female will be pollinated. Tuesday, July 23 View Page Feels like June 23rd (or something like that), but not like July 23rd, because today I did the first pollination (101 Shymanski x 1381 Delaney). Fortunately, I had planted the little 101 Shymanski plant in my patch on June 17th after I noticed that all the other plants had extreme troubles to recover from the flood, now it is the first one to have a nice female (4-lober, at about 8.5 ft), and even if it cannot grow a new PB for me this year (only 67 days left), it could probably grow a real beauty...fingers crossed. Wednesday, July 24 View Page It looks like a miracle, about a month ago I was playing with thoughts such as pulling my 1140 Finders plant or keeping it as a pollinator plant or keeping just one or two vines of it for a genetics pumpkin??? (After too much rain and too cold soil the plant was looking worse and worse from day to day.) Even two weeks ago it wasn�t looking too nice, had very short internodals and very small leaves...looking worse than a buttercup squash plant. Suddenly...there�s a main vine with nice leaves and enough space between the leaf nodes and some good secondaries and...a female will appear soon at about 8 ft. This plant must have awesome genetics. Changed my mind now, will definitely keep this plant to see what it can produce in August/September. Wednesday, July 24 View Page From the previous entry you can conclude why I have chosen the 1140 Finders to become a pollinator this morning. That�s a beautiful 5-lobe female on the main vine of my 1655 Ford plant (which did survive the last months best and is my strongest plant so far). 1655 Ford x 1140 Finder, now it�s time to wait and see if this pumpkin will grow and produce some viable seeds. Wednesday, July 24 View Page In the background is the 1140 Finders plant, and in front you can see the babies which were sown on June 17th into the patch. Never had so young plants with so amazing (thick!!!) stumps before. Friday, July 26 View Page Did three pollinations this morning. This is the probably most important one of them, 1140 Finders (main vine) x 1655 Ford (3 males). Friday, July 26 View Page This is the probably second most important pollination, 1655 Ford (1st secondary, will probably separate this vine from the plant to grow a little genetics pumpkin) x 1770 Lieber (2 males). That�s the cross I definitely wanted to do this year, because it is the cross of the two heaviest selfed 2012 pumpkins which actually went significantly heavy, basically a MONSTER x MONSTER cross. After all the things I�ve read about many of the 1770 Liebers which have been planted this year, I�m so happy that the two first males of my 1770 plant (which just appeared in time for this pollination) had nice stamen with heaps of pollen. Friday, July 26 View Page ...and finally the 1381 Delaney (secondary) x 1730 Werner (1 male), sort of a safety pollination, because it�s the 1st pollination on my 1381 Delaney plant, and if the female on the main vine (which should open in the next few days) has any issues (seeds in the flower or other bad deformations), then I will be happy to have this pumpkin. Saturday, July 27 View Page Today another pollination on my 1655 Ford plant (again on a secondary and again x 1770 Lieber, 2 males)...looks like I might be growing two little genetics pumpkins on that plant in addition to the main pumpkin (if they grow) Saturday, July 27 View Page ...and the other pollination this morning, 1381 Delaney (3 lobes, main vine) x 1655 Ford (3 males). Was hoping for a 4- or 5-lober, had already removed a 3-lober from the main vine 5 days ago (because it was an open pollination), but it seems this plant loves to produce 3-lobe females. The next female on that main vine will probably open in 7 days...pretty late. Friday, August 23 View Page Look what we�ve got here: In addition to the 101 Shymanski, which has been proven to grow orange fruit, my 1140 Finders plant looks like it wants to grow orange as well. The little 101 Shymanski fruit on the main vine combines them. What a cross! [(1807 Stelts x 1647 Wallace) x (991 Urena x 1161 Rodonis)], a cross like [(giant x giant) x (giant maker x giant maker)], and both parents with orange fruit (well, golden yellow fruit right now, but pretty good yellow for something like 20-25 DAP, in my opinion) Friday, August 23 View Page The 854 Frei plant, sown on June 17th into the patch, finally had a female ready for pollination on August 19th (the cross is x 1730 Werner). Looks promising so far, this little egg might still overtake all the other pumpkins in my patch. Time will tell. Sunday, September 15 View Page Well, it�s September, it�s cold, and growth is like...September growth (no matter how old the pumpkins are). Anyway, they are developing some kind of orange color (right: 1140 Finders x 1655 Ford, left: 101 Shymanski x 1381 Delaney). Unfortunately, the main vine pumpkin on the 101 plant has aborted (it was the cross 101 x 1140). Sunday, September 15 View Page Thus, both of the crosses of the previous entry contain a pollinator which grows non-orange pumpkins. The 1655 Ford (150 sqft contest plant) grew a light yellow fruit, which split on day 25, and the 1381 Delaney?...well, here we go, looks less orange as well (but seems to be heavy as rock). The cross is 1381 Delaney x 101 Shymanski. Sunday, September 15 View Page And now, "Pumpking patch experiments" proudly presents: "Better later than never!" The 854.5 Frei. Sown on June 17th, straight into the patch, pollinated on August 19th (854.5 Frei x 1730.5 Werner), now the plant has reached a size of about 150 sqft (well, because of the temperatures of the last couple weeks everything seemed to slow down), and this little main vine pumpkin is growing. Something like 45 lbs on 27 DAP, but in the context of time of year, and age and size of the plant, I must admit that I�m impressed by this little guy. Even more impressive is its attempt to join the club of yellow-orange fruit in my patch. The 854.5 Frei shwos a great performance as a "1161 Rodonis remake", and I guess the "x 1730.5 Werner" doesn�t hurt in terms of "+%heavy genetics" and "orange genetics"...even though it won�t become a giant (before X-mas), I will let it grow to produce some viable seeds (hopefully!!!), I like this cross. Sunday, September 15 View Page Ooooops, forgot to attach the pic. And now, "Pumpking patch experiments" proudly presents: "Better later than never!" The 854.5 Frei. Sown on June 17th, straight into the patch, pollinated on August 19th (854.5 Frei x 1730.5 Werner), now the plant has reached a size of about 150 sqft (well, because of the temperatures of the last couple weeks everything seemed to slow down), and this little main vine pumpkin is growing. Something like 45 lbs on 27 DAP, but in the context of time of year, and age and size of the plant, I must admit that I�m impressed by this little guy. Even more impressive is its attempt to join the club of yellow-orange fruit in my patch. The 854.5 Frei shwos a great performance as a "1161 Rodonis remake", and I guess the "x 1730.5 Werner" doesn�t hurt in terms of "+%heavy genetics" and "orange genetics"...even though it won�t become a giant (before X-mas), I will let it grow to produce some viable seeds (hopefully!!!), I like this cross. Monday, September 16 View Page Oooops again! Just noticed a mistake in my first Sept.15 entry. Instead of "(right: 1140 Finders x 1655 Ford, left: 101 Shymanski x 1381 Delaney)" it must read "(left: 1140 Finders x 1655 Ford, right: 101 Shymanski x 1381 Delaney)". Tuesday, October 8 View Page On Sept. 29th there happened to be a weigh-off in G�rlitz...and even though the months June, July, August looked like after such a crap season it wouldn�t be worthwhile to attend a weigh-off, some fine veggies saved my season (and on another positive note: I managed to fit everything into my car, didn�t have to use a trailer this year). The AG: Positive news first, this cross (1140 Finders x 1655 Ford) is an excellent cross, it combines the genetics of the two strongest plants of my 2013 patch, both of which had awesome root systems and managed to survive the cold and wet soil in May/June best. Second positive info: Awesome color for a 1140 Finders offspring, isn�t it? Finally, the third positive news: Seeds might be available for a very long time, because people aren�t looking too much for seeds out of a 289.7 lbs pumpkin, because they don�t know the history of this little decorative item ;-) Negative news: Well, none! The FP: (94 Lyons x self) became the 109.8 Wagler. My first FP, my one and only FP plant this year, a pretty good start, I suppose. The marrow: (85.5 Thomas x open) became the 71 Wagler. This marrow plant almost grew like an AG plant and had produced many marrows (5 others weighing between 40 and 70 lbs...none of them having any kind of split...and some smaller ones) The carrot: Apparently, the carrots didn�t mind the cold and wet weather in May this year. This decorative root (a "Flakkee" carrot) weighed 4.0 kg (8.8 lbs), and out of a total of 30 carrot plants I had many which easily smashed my 2012 PB of 3.2 lbs. ...Conclusion: For those who want something to take to a weigh-off: Grow some carrots! 1 sqft per plant, and simply ignore them between May and September, you will be surprised ;-) Wednesday, October 30 View Page A lantern with thick walls :-) Monday, December 2 View Page Look what I�ve found in the mail...a really nice surprise :-) Thank you Bart for all the effort you�ve put into that 150 sqft contest - as a coordinator - as a grower - as the one who grew a nice fruit off my 738.5 Wagler 11 seed - and as the one who is keen on getting this project growing and keeping us motivated.