Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 100 Entries. Saturday, February 27 View Page My first official post of 2010! Well, it is shaping up to be an exciting spring! My friend Vince will be growing at my house this year, he extended my patch so he can try to grow a monster. The seed line up is amazing thanks to Eddy. Me, will be growing the 991 Urena, Vince, will be growing the 901 hunt. We will be crossing the two seeds, what a great world class cross it will be! Will post pictures soon, patch has a thick cover crop growing right now. Count down is on, just a few weeks away from the real fun. Sunday, February 28 View Page picture of the entire patch, the closest part is my friend vince's new patch, never been grown in before. It still has leaves breaking down that you can see. The far end is my patch, covered in a cover crop mix. We have had a wet winter, the cover crop was planted in january, so less than 2 months ago. Sunday, February 28 View Page up close of the cover crop, rye, peas, clover and something else I forget lol. lots of decomposing leaves still too. I missed a few spots as I threw out the seed lol Sunday, February 28 View Page last shot looking the other way. Patch prep was all done in december, will test again and add a few last things, but pretty much ready to go for spring. Monday, March 22 View Page ok, before patch, one of my other favorite hobbies besides pumpkins and fishing, golf! I had a good game for not playing much, shot an 83 on a par 73 course. Mucho fun. Here I am just finishing a swing Monday, March 22 View Page as you can see, the cover crop has grown! Will be chopped soon and tilled. Monday, March 22 View Page hard to tell in the last picture, but it is up to my knees in the highest spots, very thick. and lots of.... Monday, March 22 View Page lady bugs! a ton of them, and other living things. Quite a bit of life living in there:) Monday, March 22 View Page close up, the peas and assortment of stuff looks good! Hope to get my seeds in the mail any day, crossing my fingers the postal system doesn't mess me up again this year. Wednesday, March 24 View Page seeds arrived yesterday! Now I'm kind of getting excited lol. 901 hunt and 991 urena ready to rock and roll for me and vince. Thanks eddy! Monday, April 5 View Page Vince came over and tilled his patch and mine, cover crop was tilled in great, thanks Vince! Will start seeds in a few weeks, more showers and cold weather today. Only need to put up fence and misting, along with shade cloth and we are done. We rocked and rolled yesterday. 7.2 magnitude earthquake about 100 miles south east of us. Lots of aftershocks and it triggered quakes on other fault lines near us. No major damage in san diego area, but pretty good shaking for sure! Monday, April 5 View Page me and my wife went to point loma yesterday, the original lighthouse that over looks san diego bay that was used in the 1800's. Here is a picture of the lighthouse and a few views to come. Monday, April 5 View Page over looking just part of the bay Monday, April 5 View Page the bay opening where the Cabrillo first landed in the 1500's Monday, April 5 View Page ocean view Monday, April 26 View Page started the 991 urena last night on april 25th, crossing my fingers she pops! Tuesday, April 27 View Page the 991 is alive! The root was about 1/2 to 3/4 inch long after 37 hours in the paper towels. I put it in my 1 gallon water jug with super soil and she is out in the warm sunshine right now. I hear via phone that vince's 901 hunt is alive too, so our cross for eddie has high hopes as of today. pictures soon. Tuesday, April 27 View Page shot of the 991 urena seed warming in the sun today in it's pot Tuesday, April 27 View Page the patch, tilled, fenced, misting system. Vince will grow on this end, I will grow on the far end. About 17 feet wide, 50 feet long. Yes, that is an electrical box in the patch lol. Get creative in small areas in the mobile home park. Tuesday, April 27 View Page one more look the other way. I started my back up seed today, 1424 werner. Hope I don't have to use it:) As long as the 991 grows normal, she will be kept. Monday, May 3 View Page 991 urena is up. I'm not gonna win any beauty contests with this seedling for size or appearance lol. The root system on the seedling is very small so far, it might possible be a partial club root. I do have root growth, it's just not even close to normal size. I have clear pots so I can see the lack of roots. I keep hearing that ugly small seedlings can produce monster fruit, let's hope this rings true. Pic's coming soon. Monday, May 3 View Page ok, now for my pictures! Here is the 991 urena! Ok, she's not the prettiest girl I ever dated in my patch lol. One seed leaf was deformed and small and she has a club root. But heck, it's not a beauty contest, but a fat contest right? Many really big fruit come from small ugly slow seedlings. Let's hope this is one of them. Monday, May 3 View Page here is a side view of my pot, right in the middle is 3 roots, about 3 inches below the surface of the pot. I transplanted her today into the patch and I root hunted when I put her in, she had 2 more roots going in other directions, small, but growing. So there is hope. Meanwhile, vince's 901 hunt is in the patch too, it's a monster in size and roots. Makes my plant look like a dwarf lol Monday, May 10 View Page this is the 991 urena as of may 10th. She is growing well so far after a slow start. Small seedling but healthy looking after her ugly start:) All pictures are with my wife's cell phone, so might be a little blurry. Monday, May 10 View Page this is vince's 901 hunt, fastest grower in the patch for size and leaves. Monday, May 10 View Page this is my back up plant, the 1424 werner 08. It club rooted on me as well and was even uglier and smaller than the 991 lol. This is the year of the ugly seedling. Transplanted in patch today. Sunday, May 16 View Page pic of the 991 urena as of today. She is growing nicely, not a fast grower, just steady and healthy. So far so good. Weather continues to be just mild, 75 degree days on average. I have had a change of plan via my fertilizing and spraying of my patch. I will be growing totally organic this year, even for my disease prevention. I will explain my decision in my diary soon, but not yet:) Sunday, May 16 View Page another view of the 991. A few things I will be implementing for the first time this year. I will be burying my vines this year with a mixture of humus, sea weed powder and myco fungul stuff lol. I never emember how to say it. I have never taken the time to do all of my tap roots this way before, I'm sure it will give me a bigger fruit. I will also be spraying a organic fermented tea mixture of lots of goodies, using garlic barrier for bugs, and a milk baking soda mixture for powdery mildew. Will be lots of work doing this all organic for spraying, but hopefully worth it. Sunday, May 16 View Page vince's 901 hunt, growing well! Oh yeah, forgot, will be using the new co2 this year as well, heard too many good things from it. Sunday, May 16 View Page the patch from the street view Tuesday, May 25 View Page 991 urena as of 5/24. She is coming along nicely now and starting to size up and grow well. Main vine is starting to form and should be running on the ground soon. Mild weather, mainly 70's, one day of 84. So far no burn on the leaves. Vince's 901 hunt is having some burn on new growth. Tuesday, May 25 View Page 1424 werner back up plant. This plant was started only 2 days behind the 991. She is tiny lol. Will be pulled soon. Thursday, June 3 View Page main vine on the 991 urena blew up on my this morning at about 2 feet long. Ouch!!!!! Cut it off at around a foot and I will use another vine coming out of the main as my new main. I had to chop off my main last year and do the same thing, put me back a week or so. Other than that, she looks good. Monday, June 7 View Page having serious issues wit hthe 991 urena. The new secondary I trained for the new main has also blown out after only 3 days. This has gone from a one time problem to a trend, very unfortunate. I can't grow a pumpkin if my vines won't stay in one piece!!!! lol. The tiny little 1424 werner that is my back up, well, I got lazy and never pulled the plant yet. It is starting to get bigger and go, finally! Still puny compared to the 991. I'm gonna make a decision soon, I might have to pull the 991, which makes my gut turn. Finally got a chance to grow a world class seed and it does this to me. Pictures soon. Monday, June 7 View Page not much to say with this picture. This is what my 991 urena wants to do with it's vines. Haven't fertilized, over watered, no extreme temperate changes, just genetic I guess. Every other plant in the patch is fine. I ran out of vines to train as a new main, and I'm afraid this will just keep happening, it has become a trend. I'm sorry Eddy, the 991 will be pulled. I tried everything I knew how to do, but I can't even get a vine to go 2 feet without it blowing up. I feel bad not being able to grow this plant and get a fruit. Thank you for the chance to try! Monday, June 7 View Page the 1424 werner is now getting the "love" in the patch. This thing is the slowest, smallest, most weenie looking seedling I have ever grown. I was supposed to pull it a week ago:) Good thing I didn't. It is finally starting to take off and grow better. Hopefully I can add a story about how the weakest plant produced the biggest pumpkin ever! Well, see. Monday, June 7 View Page another view of the 1424 werner. Grow baby! And stay in one piece please! :) Wednesday, June 9 View Page haven't pulled the 991 yet, still debating.......... hhhhhhmmmmmm. Hard decision since I only grow one plant. If I keep her and she doesn't straighten out, it will be a disasterous season. Time will tell soon on what I do Sunday, June 13 View Page Here are the 2 competitors, 1424 werner closest, 991 urena above. The 991 urena now has a vine at 4 to 5 feet and no explosions yet! A new record lol. I have about 4 to 5 days I think until I absolutely have to pull one of the plants. If the 991 can pull a miracle turn around, it would be great. I would still be taking a chance if I go with it, but one I'm leaning towards if it keeps going normal. Sunday, June 13 View Page the 991 Sunday, June 13 View Page meanwhile, the other end of the patch , the 901 hunt that vince is growing is kicking my butt! Great plant for him so far. Sunday, June 13 View Page me and vince put up the shade cloth today, we are trying 22% for the first time, hoping to get a lot of sun through, but take the sting out of the heat. Saturday, June 19 View Page tomorrow is the day, 991 urena, or 1424 werner. Still haven't decided. eenie, meenie, minie, moe.... lol just kidding. Been sick this week, so patch has suffered a little. I watered today and forgot to turn off the hose! Found it running 4 hours later lol. Pictures tomorrow of the winner Saturday, June 19 View Page If anyone has followed my diary for the last few years, you know that I have my faith in Christ as a believer. Whether it is large things in my life, or non important items, I go by His lead for wisdom. The 991 urena still looked "iffy" last night, so I prayed by faith for guidance to make it clear, which plant to choose. As I went into the patch this morning, my prayer was answered. The 991 blew out the last main vine on the morning of having to choose. The 1424 werner was kept, the 991 was lost unfortunately. Tt just wasn't meant to be. I pruned up the 1424, buried vines, and fertilized. Here she is as of this morning in the picture, about 6 feet long on the main. Really taking off now in growth. She was the slowest, smallest, plant I have ever grown as a seedling, maybe she can give me a biggie! Meanwhile vince's 901 is at about 13 feet long, twice as big as mine plant, growing great. Sunday, June 27 View Page the 1424 werner as of tonight, 6/27. She is really taking off now and sizing up, 10 feet long on the main. I have a fruit that will be around 11 to 12 feet out, hoping she is the one. Sprayed with garlic barrier tonight, having attacks by catipillars! Saturday, July 3 View Page the 1424 werner today. She is growing well and looking very nice right now. Hoping to pollinate sunday or monday with this liitle guy at 11 feet out.... Saturday, July 3 View Page there she is. Hope she can be the one. Turning the vine right now, it got thick on me, so not an easy process. Monday, July 5 View Page pollinated today! I covered the female last night and secured the cross. As I opened the flower, a beautiful 5 lober that looked perfect inside. I was happy to see a great looking fruit since this is the one I want to go with on the plant. I recovered the female after pollination to secure the cross. Powered packed on both side: 1424 werner x 1475 revier. The revier is an 09 seed that is 1207 young x 1385 jutras, not too shabby lol. Cool and cloudy day, sun just peeking through, upper 70's, maybe 80 if the sun hangs around. Great pollination weather in san diego! Can't believe it is so cool in July. Sunday, July 11 View Page 1424 werner as of today, really growing fast now. She has been a very trouble free, easy bendo vine plant for training, a real pleasure to grow so far. Just took her a long time to get going in the beginning. Sunday, July 11 View Page day 6 on the fruit at 11 feet out, growing well. Looks like poolination was a success. In the process of turning the fruit to 90 degrees with a rock and glove as a cushion:) Sunday, July 11 View Page vince's 901 hunt closest, my 1424 werner in background. His plant was a fast starter and has already filled up his patch, mine is getting there with about 40% of the patch yet to be filled. Wednesday, July 14 View Page day 9 on my 1424 werner fruit at 11 feet out. She is growing well with no issues at all. A few more days and she will be the keeper for sure. I usually average around 23" on day 10 in my 9 years growing here in san diego. Looks like I am slightly ahead of average so far at 22.5" on day 9. Day 10 measurements mean nothing, but nice to see the fruit growing well. Wednesday, July 14 View Page here is my fruit on day 9! Wednesday, July 14 View Page the plant is really growing like crazy and liking the heat. Thursday, July 15 View Page 99 degrees yesterday, gonna be hotter today! and humid:( The 1424 is loving it though. A little leaf burn on one or two new leaves but minor damage. I had an invasion of catipillars again!!!!!!!! aaargh. Never had this problem before, ever. And of course when I go organic, they show up! I spent an hour walking through the patch picking them off and smashing them. Must have got 30 or so. Guess I will get a little more air flow in my leaves with the holes lol. Ok, the fruit on day 10 has exploded in growth. It jumped to 4.5 inches growth, pretty impressive. I sit at 26.75 inches circ on day 10. As for why I am growing organic, my wife is pregnant with out first child, 4 months, so being safe for sure. Hope I can stop this invasion though. Will spray more garlic barrier soon. Thursday, July 15 View Page 99 degrees yesterday, gonna be hotter today! and humid:( The 1424 is loving it though. A little leaf burn on one or two new leaves but minor damage. I had an invasion of catipillars again!!!!!!!! aaargh. Never had this problem before, ever. And of course when I go organic, they show up! I spent an hour walking through the patch picking them off and smashing them. Must have got 30 or so. Guess I will get a little more air flow in my leaves with the holes lol. Ok, the fruit on day 10 has exploded in growth. It jumped to 4.5 inches growth, pretty impressive. I sit at 26.75 inches circ on day 10. As for why I am growing organic, my wife is pregnant with out first child, 4 months, so being safe for sure. Hope I can stop this invasion though. Will spray more garlic barrier soon. Saturday, July 17 View Page hot hot hot hot, 105 yesterday, same today. Watering like crazy. Day 12 for the 1424 werner and it grew 5 inches circ today. 36.25 on day 12. Fastest starting fruit I have ever had, hope it keeps it up when it really counts! Monday, July 19 View Page day 14 on the 1424 werner. I must say, she is still growing like a champ, put on 5.33 inches circ. Now at 46.66 inches circ day 14. A very tall round fruit! Battle against catipillars continues, casualties on both sides, but they are taking the worse of it for sure! I squashed another 7 of them yesterday. Sprayed milk last night for pm, garlic barrier will be sprayed tonight. Tuesday, July 20 View Page day 15 for the 1424 werner. We have had a real cool down now in the weather, from 105 to 84 degrees. Looks like the 1424 loves the heat! Slowed yesterday, but we gropped 15 degrees in one day. Put on 4.85 inches circ, to be just a hair under 51.5 inches on day 15. Gotta love that this plant loves the heat, just been a really weird summer for us, very cool except for a 5 day span. Hopefully weather will get normal again soon and back up into the mid 90's where this plant cranks it out! Wednesday, July 21 View Page a view of both our plants, mine is closest (1424) and vince's is away (901). Both pumpkin huts are up! Wednesday, July 21 View Page my 1424, growing fast and almost over thr 400 foot area. Wednesday, July 21 View Page looking the other way from the street Wednesday, July 21 View Page vince's 901 hunt, gonna be a beauty I think, day 26. Baseball on right side Wednesday, July 21 View Page check that, vince's fruit was day 27. Here is my 1424 werner on day 16. At 56 inches around. Weather is waaaay below normal now after a hot spell. We are barely hitting 80 degrees almost going into august! Crazy for san diego. Plants don't like it, they want the heat. Growth has slowed, but still steady. Forecast doesn't look good for now, more of the same:( Monday, July 26 View Page day 20 was yesterday on he 1424, she hit 73.5 inches circ. The weather warmed a little, but now has coolded down as usual this summer, 12 degrees below normal has become the normal this year lol. Next 10 days will give me a glimpse at what she will do this year, doing 18 lbs a day right now. Need to hit 30 if we want something special! Weather needs to warm up! Forecast, below normal:( Friday, July 30 View Page day 25 for the 1424 werner fruit. She grows slow and steady, now at 20 to 21 lbs a day. Weather has still been record lows almost everyday. Slight warming trend supposed to come, oooo please warm up!!!!!! ott of 219.5 inches. Monday, August 2 View Page the 1424 werner day 28, ott is 240 inches Friday, August 6 View Page the patch of this evening. Fighting off some powdery mildew on vince's plant, organic way is harder for sure:) Still fighting off catipillar invasions on my plant. Friday, August 6 View Page 1424 werner tonight, she was 262 ott this morning on day 32. Putting on 20 lbs a day. Was hoping for bigger gains than this after a fast start, but not to be. Weather is in mid 80's for highs, still record cold summer for san diego almost every day. How long will she hold onto the gains? Time will tell. I hope a long time. Tuesday, August 10 View Page day 36, pumpkin is slow and steady with cool weather still. Record lows almost everyday this whole summer. Supposed to warm up this week. 0tt was 279.25 this morning, 450 lbs on the 2003 chart. Good news is that she thumps heavy. Grow baby grow! Monday, August 16 View Page day 43, almost 300 ott,not quite. Slowing down in growth unfortunately, but she should grow out until 75 days at least hopefully. Thumps heavy. Major league baseball for size . Caught it at the Padres game, upper deck batting practice. Nice catch over 2 rows of seats lol. got the bruises to prove it, but got a standing ovation from fans! funny. Tuesday, August 24 View Page day 50 on the 1424 werner, 318.5 ott. Temperature went from 10 degrees below normal to 10 degrees above normal this week! What a summer we have had, nothing normal at all:) Still chugging along slowly, keep going!!!! Sunday, August 29 View Page day 55 on the 1424 werner and I don't know the ott lol, didn't measure today. Yesterday it was estimated at 707 lbs on the old 2003 chart, not sure on the newer one. Slowing chugging along at 12 lbs a day still. Weather is weird as usual. We set a 120 year record for lowest recorded high temperature yesterday in san diego. Amazing summer. Weather is supposed to warm up a little this coming week. I will post pic's soon. The pumpkin is a very nice looking fruit, very high, ribs developing, light orange. Still all organic and we have had good success keeping off the powdery mildew with an organic product mainly made up of fish oil. And milk is used at times too. Hoping to get atleast another 20 days out of her. She just might eek out a few more lbs and hopefully get into the mid to upper 800's. Weigh a little heavy and it would be a nice fruit. Tuesday, August 31 View Page day 57, getting more orange, ribs are really getting bigger even though picture doesn't show it. 102 inches side to side a couple days ago, really tall and really wide, again picture doesn't do the wideness justice. It is my wife's old cell phone for picture. Nice fruit. keep growing! Wednesday, September 8 View Page day 65, ott of 337 inches now, slowly poking along, not much growth anymore besides a few lbs a day. Weather is 15 degrees below normal, maybe go 20 below this week. Crazy summer! Should be mid 90's now, mid 70's for highs all week. Friday, September 10 View Page day 67 on the 1424 werner. The little girl she just won't quit! I remeasured again, not at 339 ott. I guess she is still putting on 7 lbs a day. Pretty good for san diego's life span for a fruit. The most I ever got out of a fruit was 78 days and it was doing 1 lb a day for the last 4 days. I keep spraying co2 on her once a week, I figure it can't hurt! She looks like a boulder rock from the front. How long will she grow? 800 lbs on the 2003 chart, bigger on the new charts. Come on baby keep going! Friday, September 10 View Page should check spelling, "now 339 ott" :) Monday, September 13 View Page here is the 1424 werner pooping her head out of her cover briefly, she sits at 340.25 ott, feels heavy, looks heavy, we'll see! Day 70 today. Still slowly growing. No size comparison in the picture, but the pipe structure she is in is over 5 feet wide. Didn't get the whole tarp off of her in the photo. Sunday, September 19 View Page day 76 of the 1424 werner, now sitting at 344.25 inches ott, still slowly growing. In 9 years of growing, I've never gotten more than 2 lbs of growth total past day 76, right now I'm still growing 3.5 lbs a day. we'll see when it stops! Thursday, September 23 View Page day 80 on the 1424, still growing. Never had a fruit grow this long before. Don't know what to say, went all orgarnic, had a cool summer, and used co2 all growing time. 346 ott Monday, September 27 View Page day 84 on the 1424 werner. I'm in never before seen territory in 9 years of growing. No fruit has ever, and I mean ever gone more than 78 days. And the 78 day fruit was only once, I average 75 days of growth in our climate. Well, day 84 and the 1424 is still going! 3 lbs a day still. I didn't measure in awhile thinking it was done. Not sure if it has anything to do wit hthis seed, our cooler summer, the co2, all organic, who knows. Vince's fruit only went 74 days or so in the same patch. Saturday is the big day! Today, wow, 110 degrees, super hot, way above normal the last few days, and the next couple days. My ott puts me around 880 lbs in the 2008 chart. If I weigh 3% heavy, over 900 lbs! Well, if it weighed real heavy, dream season of the 1000 lber. If she weighs light, oh well! lol Monday, October 4 View Page Weigh day has come and gone and it was a fun event! I have all the pictures in the near future. I grew a personal best but the fruit did not weigh heavy unfortunately! A little light. I'll give all the details soon! Wednesday, October 6 View Page weigh day! Me and my pumpkin before harvest. Always a fun time! Wednesday, October 6 View Page me and my wife, we are expecting in december! Wednesday, October 6 View Page vince hanging out on his pumpkin being interviewed. Wednesday, October 6 View Page my turn at the interview! Wednesday, October 6 View Page the patch! Wednesday, October 6 View Page vince's fruit on the scale! Weight, 727!!!!!! very heavy fruit off of the 901 hunt, new best for him. Wednesday, October 6 View Page time to get my fruit going!!!!! Wednesday, October 6 View Page we tared out the tarps, used a certified scale for an accurate weight. My fruit sitting on the scale after we weighed it. What was the weight???????? Wednesday, October 6 View Page 860 lbs! She went 20 lbs light, oh no!!!!!!! lol. Thought she would go heavy with her genes or atleast even. Anyway, a new personal best for me, and a new san diego county record fruit beating the old record of 779 lbs held by myself last year. Wednesday, October 6 View Page even the neighbors dog got in on the act! Wednesday, October 6 View Page me and the mrs again! Wednesday, October 6 View Page loaded up by man power, off for display at a local church for a few weeks! Wednesday, October 6 View Page unloading at church Wednesday, October 6 View Page hangin out at church! Wednesday, October 6 View Page i stopped by to check them out on my way to work! Monday, December 20 View Page some pictures I should have posted awhile back, the 860 Fredricks 2010 all carved up, eating a pumpkin! Monday, December 20 View Page another view on halloween night! Monday, December 20 View Page This is my last post for 2010. Here is my son, Joshua! Born 12-13-2010, a big little guy! Now a week old and making our lives interesting! lol. A great year and many blessings abounded. Me and my wife thank our Lord Jesus Christ for our son and how He provides for us in everyway. May you all have a Blessed Christmas and see you next year!