Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 22 Entries. Thursday, April 11 View Page Hi Ive tried growing AG's a few times usually at 200 to 300 pounds I have lost my plants to SVB. This time around Ive done alot more reading and watching videos, especially Frank and Tina Finders on youtube.I live in central Il, here on March 24th we had our biggest snow of the year, that same day I was planting tomatoe and bell pepper seeds in the hobby room.(an old one car garage attached to the house) Now to April 9th I have filed down 4 pumpkin seeds and have them planted, I filled the bottom half of the containers with potting soil, and the top half with seed starter. I bought two 1260 Pugh 10' and was given several seeds types from Zappa, I used his 1217 Zappa 11' as my other two seeds. I want to thank Dan Maccoy and Jeff Podraza for also donating seeds to me. I gave my neighbor some of the Zappa and Maccoy seeds so maybe I will have news of those also. Friday, April 19 View Page I now know Ive started to early !! I guess just too excited and not thinking, plus I dont remember plants growing this fast. I had plans to make a hoop house, I have started it but its slow going,the large amounts of rain have overflowed the septic tank, and the garage door opener quit in the same day, and I am still trying to paint the kitchen. Spring...everything happens at once. I will plant some new seeds in a few weeks,the ground is completly soaked . Tuesday, May 28 View Page Ive been slow on updates, the pc hard drive had to be replaced and I only have a few programs up and running. Covered the main patch with a tarp about 3 weeks ago,had the tarp off a few times so the wind could blow over it and while I wasnt home it rained be for it got recovered, seems like it rains 4 days a week here, the farmers have only been in the fields 2 days that I know of. Tuesday, May 28 View Page I finished this frame about 3 weeks ago temps were in the 80's and the soil was 60 so I didnt plan on using it, but two days ago we had a low in the upper 40's and the rain seems never ending. I hope to get the sheeting attched tomorrow and get this into my patch thats been covered with the tarp, the spot for the 2017.5 Zappa 11. I think the temps will be good now,the hoop house is mainly to keep the soil from getting so wet. Tuesday, May 28 View Page I may have added an extra 1000 pounds to Zappa's weight I know He would mind that though Friday, May 31 View Page Here is the hoop house that I set up and planted in yesterday its the #1 plot ,planted with the 1217 Zappa 11' , sorry for the confusion of the seed name, the packeage it came in got wet on planting day. I added mycorrhazae to the planting hole. The hoop has weathered its first thunderstorm, and there are more on the way. Friday, May 31 View Page This is patch #2 planted yesterday with a 1079 Podraza 11. this area has never had a crop grown in it , for many years it has grass clippings and hickory nut hulls dumped in it, and last year several loads of horse manure were dumped here also. Friday, June 21 View Page I would say my year is over, I should have went with the first batch of seedlings I had . I may still get a pumpkin that would make the kids happy if I can pollinate in the 90S. Friday, June 21 View Page I did find this curious its a plant I thought about using as male , its growing in mostly shade, at the leaf nodes there are multiple flowers, does this happen often? Tuesday, July 23 View Page I have a dent plant ,just no pumpkins, but it will add some experience. I haven't grown a plant in 10 years or so. This is the 1079 Podraza 11 ,the 1217 Zappa 11' stump was split open quite a while ago, the wind di it in.It is still growing and I used it to pollenate the 1079 Podraza 11 just a few days ago. Tuesday, August 6 View Page This is my 1079 Podraza 11 Can anyone tell me what is causing this problem, one side of this plant grew slower than the other, the slow side started to get this problem first, now it is starting on the other side near the vine tips first. Notice in the first picture how one vine has the problem and the next one doesnt Tuesday, August 13 View Page My pumpkin doesnt seem to be growing lately , its only the size of a basketball anyway. This problem started about a week ago, foaming stump I guess. Saturday, August 24 View Page The 1079 Podraza 11 that I thought was foaming was actually rot, the pumpkin got dull and died, so I cut off the rotted stump just to see how the plant does, its still growing even with the damaged leaves. I pulled my drip tape and moved it over to the last plant the 1217 Zappa 11', it had the main stem split and I thought it was a goner, I let it grow wild,but I did end the vines and kept it weeded. I slid in the drip tape (the vines are not buried) under the vines, and ran them parallel with the main, so it would stay dry, this would have been done sooner but I only had enough tape for one plant. The pumpkin is small,but has noticeable growth each day, a week ago it was about basketball size. Saturday, August 24 View Page I have about a dozen leaves on the 1217 Zappa 11' that look like this, anyone have an idea what is causing this, they have looked this way for a long time, not getting better but no worse either. Monday, September 9 View Page This is the 1217 Zappa 11' I havent measured it yet, but I am getting the itch to.I noticed a few beads of "sweat" on her today,very small and in about 8 spots, I hope it isnt an infection. I have been moving the vine every other day just enough to keep it from rubbing the kin. Every third week I spray an insecticide and fungicide changing varieties , and every week I rotate a mix of these fulvic, humas , kelp,calmag and a 8-16-16 fert with seaweed. Today the temps are to be 92, and still no rain, I finally did the math ,the patch is aprox 320sq ft, and I put in 153 gals of water every third day. I dont know what this equals to in inches but if I dig between the tapes at 4" down, I can squeeze the soil into a ball but it will easily crumble apart as I open my hand,I think its still to dry. Monday, September 23 View Page I have taped my pumpkin, its my PB on 9/14 OTT 330 LB on 9/21 OTT 369 LB I would guess one of those figures must be off, I believe the second one more than the first, I do think the best growing is over, the night temps have been in the mid 40s and the temp under the blankets was 69 at the lowest point. I have managed to get the morning temp under the blankets back up to 74 by doing a better job of covering and removing the blankets during the day. Day temps are going back up this week to around 80, and the clouds have past,still no rain. Sunday, September 29 View Page Today was a good , and a bad one . The OTT was 454lb another PB, it gained 85 pounds over the last week. The bad side it has a cracked under the stem and has a pinhole in the top side of the stem, both areas seem dry and have no oozing. Sunday, September 29 View Page Here is the crack, it is about 1.5 inches deep Thursday, October 10 View Page My next OTT was 7 days later at 446 , a lose of 8 LB but I knew the ground was uneven so I wasnt quite sure, and plus another crack appeared above the stem. I knew and the local Jr High School wanted the pumpkin for a dance in a few days so I cut it loose and had it weighed today 508 LB !! Thats my PB and am very happy with it having not grown for many years and near zero rain. I want to thank everyone for their help especially Shazzy, for the seeds and his advise he has given me over this season. Heres the pumpkin with one of my (great) nephews Friday, October 11 View Page I received more 1217 Zappa 11' seeds today from Zappa I really enjoyed growing that plant this year, my plans are to grow them again next year , maybe it will show some improvements in my grow skills. thanks again Zappa Wednesday, October 30 View Page I have had two soil tests done one is called garden north the other garden south, I would appreciate some help in understanding them. Ive been reading up info from western labs tutorials, but by the time I figure this out,if ever, it will probable to late to get the amendments done be for winter. If you want the ratio of Ca to be 8:1 or 10:1 to potassium dont I need more calcium.I know that would make my Ca too high though. I have a great source for horse manure I could use for raising OM%, but I shouldnt use it becuase of the Potassium levels ? Garden north has never had ferts added to it, it has had leaves, grass clipping, and hickory nuts/ hulls added to it, they are in a differant family than walnuts , but I have decided to stop using them in the garden, becuase it may inhibbit growth. Garden south has been grass for aprox 10 years, has only been fertilized in one location( 2013 stunp area) it has had old potting soil dumped on it over the years, but I have stopped doing that to prevent decease. I cant not use the all of the SQ FT of each garden, either due to tree stumps or shade, but I will ammend the entire area, for future use. This is garden NORTH Wednesday, October 30 View Page Here is the results for garden SOUTH, thanks for any help you can provide