Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 84 Entries. Tuesday, January 13 View Page Patch and fishing update. The patch is all tilled finally a few days ago. I did not add any more manure, just a butt load of leaves lol. More gypsom, some iron, and soil sulfer to lower the ph. The soil has been sitting for over a year now and never grown in. 3 yards of manure last year and about 15 yards of leaves total have been put in. The soil was not the greatest to start with, so not real sure what I will grow next season. Mean while, fished south bay san diego with a total of 86 fish in 4 and a half hours. 54 spottied bay bass, 1 halibut, 1 bonefish, a 30 jacksmelt. Here is a nice average spottie we caught. They fish like small mouth bass and have a nast attitude, much fun. Tuesday, January 13 View Page that last post should end in "Nasty attitude, mucho fun." Need to read and correct before posting lol. Anyway, for anyone who loves fishing, this is a great photo. A nice bonefish. Bonefish live in the carribean and extreme warm waters, they fight like a bonita and people pay big bucks to catch them. They migrated up to the bay a few years back in a big el nino, they don't live this far north normally. The population seems to be getting smaller in the bay, but a few still can be caught. A rare treat. Wednesday, January 28 View Page This was taken on the first week of January. Vince, my fellow pumpkinista helped me till up the patch. We put a lot of leaves in as you can see. Wednesday, January 28 View Page a close up look at the soil and my tiller. Been a great little tiller I bought from sears a few years back, starts on the first pull everytime. Wednesday, January 28 View Page The patc has of today, the 28th of January. My wife in the back ground:) All of the leaves got tilled in, but the grounds guys at the park here help me by dropping off even more leaves on the edges of the patch. I will use them to cover the ground when I grow to keep weeds down and soil moist, then they decompose fast into soil during the season. Hard to see, but a good 7 yards of leaves easy on both sides. Wednesday, January 28 View Page one more look, going the other way. All we need is more rain, it is very dry and warm right now! Saturday, April 4 View Page The 2009 season is upon us. Thanks to Eddy, my 1014 holland arrived today. My two seeds I will be starting in the next day or so are: 1014 holland 05 and 1408 daletas 07. If all goes well, I will ultimately cull to one plant, but use the other to pollinate before pulling it all out. I think the cross would be awesome. Will post soon when seeds started. Monday, April 6 View Page Here is a picture of my starting line up, the 1408 daletas and 1014 holland. If one does not germinate, I will just go with my gut on a back up seed. Patch will be tilled in a week or so, which is ok since I will start my seeds inside. I have really never documented how I start my seeds, so this year I think I will take pictures for fun and show what I do. I will start my seeds on Tuesday. I was originally gonna start 2 1014's, but they got lost in the mail. But hey, I will wait another 2 days to see if by chance they show up. Monday, April 6 View Page I apologize for blurry pic's, I'm using my wife's old cell phone, not the best at close up shots! This is how I have done seeds for 7 years, take off the shell and put them in between a paper towel that is moist and then.... Monday, April 6 View Page the suspence!!!!! lol Put the towel in a zip lock baggy and place ontop of vcr! It is rocket sience:) Honestly, I keep it simple. I have seen growers use fancy huge germation boxes and other things, but why spend all the money and be complicated when simple gets the job done just as good. Now, time for the seeds to be warm and moist! Wednesday, April 8 View Page as of this morning, 36 hours after starting seeds, I am happy to report one inch root growth on the 1014 holland and 1408 daletas, they are alive! Both have been put into their soil pots and I will await their arrival in the next few days. Monday, April 13 View Page here is a picture of my 1014 holland, about 24 hours after popping up. Very healthy looking seedling. Both the 1014 and 1408 came up at the same time. Patch will be tilled on Thursday afternoon, so plants will go in the ground on thursday immediately after tilling. Monday, April 13 View Page Here is the 1408. Very healthy as well, a few yellow spots on the seed leaves for a unique look:) Thursday, April 16 View Page today was the day. The 2009 patch is now officially started. I want to thank my good friend vince for all his help! Here are my two plants, 1014 holland and 1408 daletas, ready to go! Thursday, April 16 View Page My friend vince helping with the tilling. Thursday, April 16 View Page this is the patch all tilled up. It is around 400 sq foot, maybe just a hair over 400. The patch is a total mystery. The soil wasn't very good to begin with. I did my best over the last year to ammend it and let it sit. My salt is high and so is my potassium, but that was last fall. I have shade issues in the morning as well, lots of trees around. So, we will give it our best shot and just see what happens! Thursday, April 16 View Page me putting in my babies! The season starts. Thursday, April 16 View Page chicken wire up for protection! It has been a cold spring, but, weather report says close to 100 degrees by tuesday! Ouch! Thursday, April 16 View Page done! Sun setting, plants in the new home. Now, lets grow a monster! Sunday, April 19 View Page way hot!! 100 degress today, be 104 tomorrow! Shade cloth up for my little guys! Monday, May 4 View Page picture of the 1014 Holland. Growing well. Hopefully she continues normally, so far so good in the heat. Leaf number 5 put out two leaves, but I inspected further and found no double vine in anyway so far. Monday, May 4 View Page 1408 daletas, growing good too, but looks like it will run the wrong way, some leaf burn in the heat so far. Thursday, May 7 View Page been hot lately, around 90 or so. The 1408 daletas took a hit today, major leaf burn on the 5th leaf, it was in that new developing stage, I would say 50% of the leaf is gone. That was with the mister on too. The 1014 holland did fine today, no burn at all. Keeping an eye on the plant hoping it doesn't double on me, time will tell. Sunday, May 10 View Page the 1014 as of today. She is really began to size up in the last 3 days. The wood plank is 2 feet long next to the plant for size comparison. I did a lot of small pruning on her today before the picture. Lots of secondary mains beginning to come out of the stump. I cut off 3 of them to keep it clean. I made a gut decision today also... Sunday, May 10 View Page another view of the 1014 holland. My decision was this. The main vine was looking very "iffy". It was had more leaves than normal and seemed on it's way to becoming double vined. It was very thick and sticking straight up too. So, I cut it off!!!!!! :) I have 3 vines coming out of the stump or the beginning of the main that look very normal that are starting to grow. I will choose one and make it the plants main vine. I thought this would be a wise decision, might put me back a few days but it should have no ill affects on the plant or fruit size. I figure it is better to be creative and go with your gut now than wish I had done it a few weeks later. Plant is very healthy and aggressive Sunday, May 10 View Page aaaahhhh, the 1408. A small plant in size still. Very normal looking, just two problems, it is growing the wrong way and it can't handle heat worth a darn! ALmost every leaf has some kind of burn on it. Once the leaves harden up, they are fine, but in the developing stage, not good! So it looks ugly with all the burn. Poor little thing, had high hopes for her. As of now, the 1408 is my back up, as long as the 1014 holland keeps going well, I will eventually pull the 1408, but she will stay for awhile, maybe she will kick it into gear! Sunday, May 10 View Page the patch, 1014 close, 1408 far away Sunday, May 10 View Page just for fun, a look behind our mobile home, we take walks alot, a beautiful little park we live in. Friday, May 15 View Page 1408 daletas as of tonight. It has picked up in growth somewhat and seems a little better in the heat. MAybe it will compete for the patch still? We'll see Friday, May 15 View Page 1014, plant is just huge compared to 1408. I trimmed up some of the growth around the stump, problem was, I trimmed the cut main a little more to make it look nicer and made a mistake. When I trimmed it up, where I cut it was hallow inside still. So now I have an open vine sticking straight up. Not the best thing to do!!! Dumb me. :) I put up shade cloth over the tip since it will be really hot the next few days. I also put up a little tent cover over the cut main so my mister sprinkler will not put water into the hole in the vine. I think it should be ok, but mad at myself for the mistake. MY heart wants to grow this plant, it looks extremely big and aggressive, qualities that are hard to pass up. I will give both plants another 2 weeks before culling probably. Sunday, May 17 View Page this is what the 1014 looka like with the shade cloth out. The secondary I choose for a main is about 2 feet long. It has turned into a log already for size, very big vine. The vine looks very normal, no doubles on it for now. This plant is very big, not growing at a fast pace, just slow, big and steady right now. Thursday, May 21 View Page 1014 holland is looking great. The new main is almost 4 feet and running very strong, very aggressive big vine that is totally normal in everyway. Since chopping the main, I have had no double tendencies, not even the slightest. I'm kind of getting excited and nervous. This plant is the biggest plant I have ever grown in 8 years of growing, just a monster. Leaf number 6 is already 25 by 24 inches. It reminds me of my 950 boyton I grew, very big and aggressive, very round thick leaves that look like umbrellas. ONly difference is this plant is even bigger. The 950 was gonna pop off a 1100 lber until it split at 950 estimated, weighed light. So, let's hope the 1014 will perform with no splits:) Long way to go, very long way, so I will just relax lol Friday, May 22 View Page shot of the 1014 holland this evening. I put a major league baseball in for size comparison. She is growing nicely! Friday, May 22 View Page a shot from the other side. You can see where I cut off the main in this photo and how it has a little tent canopy over it protecting it from my overhead watering with a micro sprinkler. The wood on the ground is 2 feet long for size comparison. Friday, May 22 View Page one last view from the front. When you only have one prime plant, you can take a few shots lol. Big umbrella leaves that like to flop for now:) Friday, May 22 View Page the entire patch, 1408 in the front, 1014 in back. 1408 grows nicely too, average size, a little burn in the sun still. Will pull the 1408 soon. Sunday, May 31 View Page picture of the 1014 holland today. We haven't seen the sun in 3 days, a deep marine layer. Cool temps. Plant is running good. Two unknowns. One, this plant likes to flop and droop with it's leaves even with misters on. Even when it is cloudy it still likes to flop. It might just be the gentics and nothing to worry about or it could be a problem later. It hasn't got real hot and it is flopping, so concerned the plant might be bad in high heat. Time will tell. Second, lesser goldfinches are chomping on my leaves, these little birds like to peck and eat them. A few of my leaves look like swiss cheese. Besides this, plant is great, dark green, normal vines easy to train. I see a small pumpkin on the tip, probably will be about 11 feet out? Not sure, Might pollinate it, but atleast 2 weeks away. As for the 1408, I culled in about 7 days ago. Sunday, May 31 View Page side view of the plant Sunday, May 31 View Page one more view from up front. Wednesday, June 10 View Page a picture of the 1014, growing nicely. Weather has been low to mid 70's, clouds, some sun, very cool summer spring so far. Wednesday, June 10 View Page a look at her again. Main is 13 feet or so, not measuring. Pumpkin is around 12 feet out and will open in 3 to 6 days probably, depending on weather. The 1014 doesn't like heat for sure, so I will be putting up shade cloth to cover the patch on friday, give it the best shot at going big I can! Wednesday, June 10 View Page here is a picture of the fruit at 12 feet out. There are two more pumpkins on the tip, will polinate and take the best one. Wednesday, June 10 View Page had my first pumpkin flower today on the plant, it was on a back secondary, I cut it off, definitely not in a good place to keep:) looks nice Sunday, June 14 View Page shade cloth up! Pollinated today at 12 feet on the main, nice 4 lober, a self. Cross your fingers:) Sunday, July 5 View Page been awhile since I posted. Well, been a hard two weeks, I ended up in the hospital for 4 days with flu symptoms and a bacterial infection in my gut. My strenght has been absent for awhile so the patch took a little neglect. But thanks to my dad, I have got things ok for now. My pumpkin at 12 feet on the 1014 holland is the keeper. She is 21 days old, not breaking any speed records, but steady growth that is increasing. The next 10 days will tell the story if she is gonna go big or not. 66.25 inches around on day 21, gaining 4.5 to 4.75 inches a day. I don't mind steady growth as long as it keep getting bigger gains, that is how it will go big. Time will tell. Pictures soon. Friday, July 10 View Page a shot of the 1014 holland Friday, July 10 View Page the fruit, not what I was hoping for in weight gains, but we will grow it out as best we can. About 19 to 20 lbs a day right now, day 26. No record this year unfortunately:) Friday, July 10 View Page front end of fruit, hard to get a picture Saturday, July 18 View Page day 34 for the 1014 holland fruit, slow and steady is the word!!!! Still gaining 18 to 20 lbs a day. I need her to sustain the growth for a while longer if she is gonna be decent in size:) 110.5, 70, 70, ott 328 lbs. Monday, July 20 View Page hot hot hot, all last week, all this week. My gage reads a little higher than the temp, but atleast 100 and muggy everyday. Monday, July 20 View Page the patch looking from my portch. I have the pumpkin totally covered, may be a little hot inside, but I worry about vandalism where I live. Lots of teenagers and last year my fruit got damaged by kids. Monday, July 20 View Page day 36 for the 1014 holland. She never has gained more than 21 lbs ott a day, but she has been very consistant. I still have a chance for a good fruit, not gonna be a record like I wanted, but you can only do your best. I hope she goes heavy. Still gaining 21 to 19 lbs a day, estimated at 370 lbs. Monday, July 20 View Page front end of fruit, hard to get a shot Saturday, July 25 View Page day 40 for the 1014 holland, circ of 125.33, the ott puts the fruit at 444 lbs, she thumps heavy. Temps went from 100 down to 88, fruit has grown well in hot temps, I'm hoping it doesn't slow down with low temps now. Still doing 18 to 20 lbs a day. Wednesday, July 29 View Page 1014 holland day 44, ott puts the fruit at 516 lbs, last 4 days of gains go 17 lbs 16 lbs, 20 lbs, 18 lbs. Still hanging in there. Fruit has a great sgot of going into the 700 lb range, hope she weighs heavy, and who knows, maybe a miracle 800 lber. Slow and steady the whole season. Hope she keeps going. Thursday, July 30 View Page day 46 for my fruit, 135.5 circ, 82 ss, 81 ee, the ott puts it at 547 lbs. Still doing 15 to 16 lbs a day. Slow and steady. Temps have really dropped off into the low 80's, I hope it gets back up to 90 or so, plant seems to like the warmth for growth. Thursday, July 30 View Page pictures will come soon:) Thursday, July 30 View Page stump on the 1014, pretty big in size. Thursday, July 30 View Page the 1014, right at 550 lbs. Keep growing! 16 lbs a day now. A major league baseball in for size comparison. Thursday, July 30 View Page another shot of the fruit. Looks like she will be atleast light orange, not a bad looking fruit. I can't get a picture of the front very well, but it looks nice. Wednesday, August 5 View Page day 52, 1014 now estimated at 617 lbs, just under 311 ott. Last two days were hot, humid, and lots of high clouds. Growth lowed down to 9 lbs a day with the cloudy weather. Today is hot and all sun, see what she does. Monday, August 10 View Page day 57 for the 1014. She keeps going slow and steady. Weight gains have been consistant at 9 lbs a day for the last week or so. She has an ott of 318.75", 145 cc, 87ss, 86.75ee. I am usung the 3rd pumpkin book chart for estimation, not the latest 2008 version and the estimation is 665 lbs. Just 35 more lbs to 700. She thumps heavy, soooo, I guess my hope is she will go to about 750 estimated and weigh heavy in the 800's. Time will tell, hopingto get 75 days out of her, I will take more lol, but that's pretty good for san diego area. Wednesday, August 12 View Page the 1014 sitting at 320.5 ott day 58 Wednesday, August 12 View Page one more shot of her. Monday, August 17 View Page day 63 for the 1014 holland, the ott 326.25, this puts the weight at about 712 lbs now using the older estimation chart of 03, bigger if I used the 08 chart. But hey, hot weather grower, I go conservative, it will weigh the same no matter what chart I use;) Putting on 6 lbs a day as of now. Hoping it will grow out to 75 days Wednesday, August 26 View Page I don't know what day it is lol, day 71 I think hehehe I should check, the ott was 331" 2 days ago, haven't measured, that was 743 lbs using the old ott chart. Just crawling a few lbs a day now, she will get weighed on sept 5th! Tuesday, September 1 View Page the 1014 on day 77 or so. Still crawling along, now at 333.15 ott, 757 lbs on the 2003 ott chart, bigger with the new one. She will be weighed this saturday at my house on a certified scale. Hoping for my heaviest personal best from an intact fruit lol. My biggest fruit in 05 was at 359 ott and split ending her life soon. The one that got away, she was gonna be a monster. But 754 lbs is my heaviest fruit that really stayed together and counted. I'm hoping I weigh heavy and go 800. Not my goal of 1000, but a good year! Saturday, September 5 View Page The day came for the weigh off, here she is. Final ott put her at 750 lbs ott on the 2003 chart when I got her all uncovered and measured properly. 332 ott Saturday, September 5 View Page side shot of her Saturday, September 5 View Page me and the fruit! Saturday, September 5 View Page my wife with the 1014 Saturday, September 5 View Page our certified scale, 754 lbs is the san diego county record for a non damaged fruit. My 861 in 05 was split and went down early, the one that got away! :( Saturday, September 5 View Page news came out and did an interview, it was fun. Saturday, September 5 View Page time to lift her up! Saturday, September 5 View Page close to the scale Saturday, September 5 View Page on the scale, we tared out the tarp so it would be accurate, and the weight is.... Saturday, September 5 View Page 779 lbs, 29 lbs over the ott and a new san diego record. I was hoping for 800, but still a nice fruit! The walls were very thick at 7 to 9 inches, the bottom was concaved in the middle and thin, it really hurt the final weight. Saturday, September 5 View Page my wife and the 779 fredricks 09 Saturday, September 5 View Page bottom of the fruit, can't see it in the photo, but it went in pretty good right in the middle Saturday, September 5 View Page we stood her up and cut her open, not so many seeds, and lots if immature seeds. She was a self Saturday, September 5 View Page lots of people came too! Saturday, September 5 View Page cutting her up! Saturday, September 5 View Page this marks the end of the 09 season. Me and my wife with the 779 Fredricks 09. We gives thanks to Christ Jesus for all our blessings and we look forward to 2010. Saturday, October 10 View Page well, season is over so it's time to fish! I went to one of our lakes here in san diego called el capitan. I was blessed by the good Lord to have this beauty on the end of my line. The largest freshwater bass I have ever taken from our boat. Me and dad, and my wife totalled 7 bass. We went for catfish the majority of the day, but they were not biting. But a fish this big made my day no matter what!