Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 23 Entries. Friday, April 20 View Page Seed Line Up: 901 Hunt "07", 1566 Rodonis "07", Back ups : 1080.6 Hunt "10", 1266 Nieuwenhoff "11". Final Till completed Heating cables in, Hoops up, Seed Starting Date is April 23rd 2012. Sunday, April 22 View Page 2 Main Plants : 1566 Rodonis and 901 Hunt, Back ups 1080.6 Hunt and 1266Nieuwenhoff, Seeds have been filed and are now soaking in 80 F . Sunday, April 22 View Page Going to try Giant Matters again this year, Started tonight will be 3.85 Landry 2011 and 4.25 Lyons 2010. Tuesday, May 1 View Page Transplanted the 1566 Rodonis, and 901 Hunt Into there Hoops this morning, Temps changed alot more then forcasters were calling for, Luckly i got the heating cables working and had ceramic heaters on thermostates for back up they were running full bore when I arrived home from work at 1am this morning as outside temps were 38 F degs inside the hoops the soil was a nice 69 F and air temp 70 F :-), Suppose to warm up next couple of days!! Thursday, May 24 View Page Heres a picture of my Father, Enjoying something he loves to do.... Monday May 21st my father had a massive stroke, He underwent surgery to save his life, he never woke up from the surgery as he has fallen into a coma, I pray every day for my father that he will come back to us.. Love you Dad !! Thursday, May 24 View Page After being away from home with my father in Hospital for 4 days I arrived home as i needed to get some good rest a good shower a good meal and just some time to get stuff off my mind, I figured my plants would have been toast as its been HOT here and i only left each hoop a little bit open at the top, the plants were dry and needed a drink, for the Mood i was in i almost said screw it i was about to pull the hoops and pull the plants and call it a season i was done!!.. But then I recalled all the help my father gave me lugging 20 yards of manure / compost into the new patch in the fall, I donno who loves growing pumpkins more my father or me LOL, he always makes at least 2 trips a week over just to peek in on the plants, So figured I would let them be as it will help keep my mind off everything else and my father would probably kick my butt if i pulled the plants and gave up LOL. 1566 Rodonis "trouble plant" is flat vined i did surgery on the tip tonight to see if i could get her to split into 2 normal vines if it doesnt work I will take next best secondary as new main, I also pulled the 901 Hunt as it was flat vined and putting out tripple vines at each node, I didnt want to grow 2 troubled plants so i culled it, I am left with the back up 1266 Nieuwenhoff (1663 Zoellner x 1161 Rodonis) Great cross, real nice agressive plant look forward to growing it this season, Thanks John for the seed!! So for 2012 I am growing the trouble 1566 Rodonis and 1266 Niewenhoff!! Best of luck to everyone this season I plan on updating when i can. Sunday, May 27 View Page 1566 Rodonis Right, 1266 Nieuwenhoff Left. Saturday, June 2 View Page Started Second Batch of Giant Matters tonight : 3.85 Landry x 4 , 4.25 Lyons X 4, 4.25 Lyons X 4, 3.55 Watson X 4,. Set Giant Sunflowers out May 25th Growing well so far, 3 of 10 were taken down by rabbits. Sunday, June 3 View Page Kin update : 1266 Nieuwenhoff is currently best plant in patch, nice low canopy, nice color and steady grower main out about 6 ft now, 1566 Rodonis got beat up by the wind pretty good, tomorrow I will cut main back almost to stump and grow out first 2 secondarys as are currently out 4 ft will train one as new main and use other side as filler. Sunday, June 3 View Page Update on Dad: Dad has been in coma for 2 weeks now, he opened his eyes the other day but isnt fully awake yet, Doctors in ICU are hoping he will fully awake soon so they can take breathing tube out and transfer him up to 7th floor for treatment, We keep praying for you Dad!!, Sunday, June 17 View Page Plants are growing well, Will be pollinating fruit later this week, 2 on 1566 Rodonis and 2 on 1266 Neiuenhoff :-), I will cull down to best one on each plant around day 15. Tuesday, June 19 View Page 1566 Rodonis X self 9 Ft out from stump on secondary. Thursday, June 21 View Page 1566 Rodonis x 1266 Nieuwenhoff 10 Ft out on Secondary "New Main. Thursday, June 21 View Page 1266 Nieuwenhoff X 1566 Rodonis 13 ft out on main :-). Thursday, July 12 View Page Pollinated 23 Ft out on tip of Main July 12th, 1566 Rodonis x 1266. Sunday, July 22 View Page Welp, considering the Temps its been here, Plants actually look "OK" for this time of year, 1566 Rodonis seen is nothing but lettuce :-( Sunday, July 22 View Page 10 Days Later, 1566 Rodonis x 1266.... Time will tell, nice football shape long stem, hopefully i get the 1000 lb im after, lots of plant behind this fruit around 550 SQFT, all growth terminated including main after fruit. Monday, July 23 View Page Pollinated June 21st, Aborted 17 days later, was never really big, too close in, Heat who knows it was ugly. Wednesday, August 8 View Page well.... Not really sure what to say about this season, I seem to have better luck when i only grow one kin, Between the 2 kins sharing the 1200 SQFT patch Im over 700 lbs LOL, 1266 is hurting... no stump too much vine borer damage no longer measuring.... 1566 Rodonis woulda been a great fruit Day -10 and Day 20 measurements were amazing but found an vine borer that got into vine 2 feet out from Pumpkin caused alot of oozing from vine, was able to pull svb today but had to slice the vine up pretty good sulphur powder the vine and am now letting it dry, This kin will be my only chance at hitting 700 lbs to beat my 648.5 from last years " thats the goal anyhow" LOL... Shes sitting around 280 lbs as of Day 24..... not sure how much more she will grow hopefully the borer didnt do too much damage time will tell i guess. other then that the plant itself is in way better condition then previous years. Wednesday, August 15 View Page Lost my 1566 Rodonis last night to a BES... Maybe next year. Sunday, September 16 View Page Well, another season is over, Not the results I really wanted but at least I got 2 kins for Halloween!! Learned alot this year from mistakes made hopefully 2013 brings better results, Best of Luck to everyone this fall. Dave Sunday, September 16 View Page Well, another season is over, Not the results I really wanted but at least I got 2 kins for Halloween!! Learned alot this year from mistakes made hopefully 2013 brings better results, Best of Luck to everyone this fall. Dave Sunday, September 16 View Page Took a soil sample and will mail off in the am so i can get a head start on fall prep!! :-)