Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 57 Entries. Tuesday, May 6 View Page Starting in again - way late though as usual Tuesday, June 3 View Page late as usual, but very cool weather, put seeds in ground on sunday March 25. finally got first seedling popping out yesterday, 8 days after seeding. had black plastic over the mound for the week, to help keep it warm. we're off to the races now - 120 days to go. Wednesday, June 4 View Page here's first shot of the little guy. this year, i decided just to put pumpkin right in the ground to start, as i havent had luck with seed pots in the past. had some seeds that i found, that dale fisher had sent me a couple years ago - this one is the 840 fisher 05 est - cross your fingers Thursday, June 19 View Page bet you thought i was done and over for the season well i was, until i contacted russ pugh to see if he or anyone else had leftover plants. he put me in touch with chuck veader, who by the grace of god had an extra one, and then added in another. got them last week, and we're off to the races now. much thanks to both of them. Thursday, June 19 View Page here is the 897 pukos, that chuck gave me Thursday, June 19 View Page and here is 1027 lawson, trying to go right on me, will get him moving in straight line this weekend. yippee Thursday, June 19 View Page by the way, i didnt mention earlier, that the seedlings from the may planting didnt make it, so that why i had to reach out to russ and chuck, who saved the day cheers Tuesday, June 24 View Page Lawson is 6 foot vine now, pukos is doing well, but is kinda stocky and lumbering on slowly. did fish emulsion and some liquid fertilizer last night. next step is to get sprinklers in, and get ready for july. Tuesday, July 1 View Page house is all set up for july 4 - flower gardens doing well, but very dry here, and still smokey from all the california fires. pumpkins are just moving along slowly. got some good fertilzer on last night, watering system set up much better now, and covering runners. no secondaries yet though. will be gone over the 4th, and neighbor will be watering and looking out for things - hard to leave this time of year for a few days, but when i get back will be looking to pollinate maybe mid july. cheers Tuesday, July 8 View Page went to pebble beach horse show for july 4, got 3 blue ribbons. was hoping to get seaweed for my guys at this beach in carmel, but tide was tough and sea lions appeared not wanting to be disturbed. major heat wave now, 100 for next few days. lawson is streamlining at about 10 feet now, and pukos is a stocky 8 feet , but both doing fine Wednesday, July 9 View Page Major fish emulsion and miracle grow last night. secondaries are coming along well. will be 100 degrees for the rest of the week, so watering quite a bit, but it goes to 60 at night, so the guys do get to rest a bit Wednesday, July 16 View Page the pukos is 10 feet long now, a bit of insects going after leaves, so need to control that Wednesday, July 16 View Page lawson is 14 feet - hope to polinate in a week or so kitty is taking nap on bench in background Wednesday, July 16 View Page lawson left, pukos right - facing into setting sun patch needs some weeding and maintenance and better watering systems very soon - been down with broncitas way too long, getting better though - hope to spend more time in patch this weekend before pollination and before they get too big to get in there. Thursday, July 17 View Page got some time to put good soaking of fish emulsion on last night and sprayed sevine. most leaves are ok, but older ones seem to have something eating them a bit. will give miracle grow tonight, and hope to get some good blooms for the weekend Monday, July 21 View Page great weekend - extended watering system, cleaned up patch pollinated pukos with lawson on saturday - 1st one of the season - watered four hours on sunday, then sun came out at noon - all goodness - both plants going like gangbusters cheers Wednesday, July 23 View Page had some leaf wilt, so sprayed sevin after watering last night, hope to get those buggers. hope i got it in time and bacteria doesn't spread - or its goodnight irene. will be 90+ for next few days, hopefully warmth will do it good. Thursday, July 24 View Page pollinated 2nd pukos and 1st lawson today with each other. doing major watering today, then planning alternate day fertilizing with miracle grow and fish emulsion / molasses thru the weekend. not as warm as expected, but still good sunny 80-85 degree days. Tuesday, July 29 View Page got some little guys going, but something is going after the leaves. i have wilt happening, as well as bugs eating. i put a combination fungacide and insecticide on last night, and held off normal watering, so the application might be more effective. will take pics tonight and inspect more closely. Thursday, July 31 View Page another night of massive watering. looks like the fungicide helped out. piling dirt on vines. looks like a couple pollinations took. august will be phun Monday, August 4 View Page This is first pollination on the pukos, doing well, about ten feet out. note though all the holy leaves, looked better after funicide last week, probably have to make that weekly habit. Monday, August 4 View Page 1st pollination on lawson, with the pukos, 14 feet out Monday, August 4 View Page many secondaries of the lawson, seemingly attaching the camera person - run for your life - ahhhhhhh Monday, August 4 View Page full patch view, lawson in front, pukos behind - will probably run out of room in the patch over next two weeks. may need to plan an escape route thru the electric wire, where's those clippers? dont step in the water. august will be a great month, auto sprinklers working, routine established, nice 75-80 degree days, would be nice for a bit more sun and heat, but steady as she goes - 60 days left until county fair. Wednesday, August 13 View Page pukos - day 22, many vines going under and around it, hard to clear out, and some scratches on top, i think from birds, so i put net over it, and we'll see - about 100 ODD, so 25 pounds Wednesday, August 13 View Page 2nd lawson, firt one stopped growing after size of baseball. this one has come on strong in last few days. its on secondary, and i had actually covered vine with soil, but removed that now, since this is going so good. 97" ODD, 25 pounds Wednesday, August 13 View Page patch is getting way to big, will be terminating and burying many vines over next few days. fungicde worked well. did good folier feed of seaweed solution last night. temps will be 90-100 next few days - doing good nightly watering, and misting every two hours on timer during the day, want plant to get warmer and get going now. next two weeks are key Friday, August 15 View Page lawson circumference increased 20% to 44 inches, its like blowing up a balloon, amazing. estimated weight gain in last two days is ten pounds. got a yard of compost/dirt and will be covering all ends this weekend and cleaning up patch. the inertia is starting to roll, its quite a ride. Monday, August 18 View Page spent much time in patch this weekend. culled all wanderers, and covered with dirt / compost mix Monday, August 18 View Page i swear that as soon as i cut a bud or a branch, another one would pop out on the other side. put sulfer powder on last night to help with some leaf problems. the constant watering is probably having effect on bugs and mildew, so i left water off last night, and temps went down a bit, should only be 70-75 today Monday, August 18 View Page lawson is ott of 134", weight at 58 pounds covering with water permiable material, to help keep it from scratching, dont know if its birds, some critter, or what, but this seems to help Monday, August 18 View Page pukos is ott of 154", for estimated weight of 84 pounds too hard to get anything under it at this stage, and lots of vines around it. this has me a bit concerned, but we'll watch it closely. did get a mat under the lawson though Wednesday, August 20 View Page both plants looking good, but crowding each other out, with runners reaching to the sky now, much more trimming to do. if growth rates continue like last week, may have a 500 pounder this year - fingers and vines crossed Monday, August 25 View Page well the pukos was growing good, but its end was pointing up to the sky, and it was starting to bury its own vine, so.... Monday, August 25 View Page i moved the vine very gently, and it broke right off bye bye pukos Monday, August 25 View Page so now the lawson is all by itself. ott of 183 for weight of about 131 pounds now. they were crowding each other out also, maybe lawson will grow better now, and i'm not touching it for nothing Monday, August 25 View Page here's a better shot, with watering can as size indicator we'll see what it can do over the next 4-5 weeks one day at a time Tuesday, August 26 View Page lawson put on 17 pounds yesterday - ott of 190, weight is 148 - maybe 200 by labor day - go baby go. i think today is day 28. down to 48 last night, high of 92 - will be quite warm next few days. did half bottle of fish emulsion yesterday, watering alot at night, and have timer on during the day, 20 minutes, every 2 hours Friday, August 29 View Page 105 degrees yesterday - lawson OTT at 211, for estimated 203 pounds - yeah, got past 200, now for 300, 400, who knows what september might bring? Tuesday, September 2 View Page lawson is ott of 225, so i guess about 248 pounds put blanket on last night, letting it rest a bit for a day, then more food over the week, as temperatures stay in 90's, but 45-50 at night Tuesday, September 2 View Page here is pic of whole plant - lawson at left - wow Wednesday, September 3 View Page OTT of 230 now - just getting wider every day - could be 300 pounds by friday - did 1/2 gallon of fish emulsion and some seaweed extract last night - phew Wednesday, September 3 View Page Tragedy struck last night.... i was gently trying to measure the lawson and in the process of winding up my tape measure, alas, it was caught on the intake...... and broke at 9 feet, 7 inches a moment of silence ensued.... oh the irony, the agony, the shear senselessness of it all passed down generation to generation, it had served the family for over 60 years, since WWII, repair is in progress Thursday, September 4 View Page hardly any growth yesterday, maybe too much water, and its not getting sun until around noon, although it was 96 degrees, and should be over 100 today. dont stop now, we have 3-4 weeks of growing to go. go baby go Monday, September 8 View Page nice weekend, cooled down a bit on sunday, have a vine crack problem at the stem, that i'll be addressing tonight, ott of 243, about 308 pounds, i think the next 192 pounds may be the toughest - we'll see - found a 50 pound sister pumpkin in middle of patch, didnt even know it was there, not any longer Tuesday, September 9 View Page Fixed vine split last night with sulfer and duct tape. End of vine had to be sacraficed, but rest of plant is huge, so hopefully will keep going. gave nice dose of liquid fertilizer and put blanket on. temps are 30 degrees cooler than just a few days ago - daylight is waning. Friday, September 12 View Page somehow water wasnt on yesterday, and saw no measurable growth, and its turning more orange in colour. so i gave it some good spray fertilizer, and a good amount of water last night - gophers were floating down the road, horses had muddy hooves, birds taking baths, kitty not happy, etc. going for last hurrah, trying for over 400, maybe 500, we'll see Tuesday, September 16 View Page looks like lawson made it over another hurdle at 406 pounds, the race is still on, hope he doesnt stumble over the last one like in the olympics Tuesday, September 16 View Page i thought i had posted this last week - this is lawson with watering can as of sept 8th - will get updated one posted tomorrow Wednesday, September 17 View Page can't find my darn camera, hope its not underneath lawson, who i think now is measuring at ott of 288, for weight of 466 pounds - real close to 500, now gotta figure out what to do with him Saturday, September 20 View Page found my camera, after many days , in some weeds in the patch, must have fallen out of pocket - so finally here is pic of lawson at 511 pounds - i'm at my goal Saturday, September 20 View Page thanks to russ pugh and chuck veader, i had a wonderful summer adventure, still learning and yearning for better info. but when you have a big one, many things happen that take experience to handle. had first 'rain' here last night in over 6 months - probably hard to imagine in rest of the nation with all the hurricanes and wet summer, but all pumpkins on west coast would be hydrated only by watering systems. next chore will be to see if it keeps going, may bring it to fair, or just display at home , decisions, decisions - cheers - all your diaries are great Monday, September 29 View Page So, Lawson is now 311 OTT, or 606 pounds. What phun. Cool foggy nights, temps in 80's during the day. If i can figure out how to move it, i'll bring to harvest fair, if not, then it will soon take over the world. Monday, October 6 View Page All dressed up and ready to go to the fair, with the help of a bunch of friends, got it loaded up. Bagels and cream cheese for all. wonder what the weight differential was between our two contestants. Monday, October 6 View Page Santa Rosa Harvest fair line up - i'm 2nd from bottom at 440 pounds, much lighter than i thought, mostly due to the bean bag shape i guess. 1150 won. thanks to russ and chuck for all their support and help. everyone at fair were great. cheers Wednesday, November 5 View Page its a cinderella story book ending Wednesday, November 5 View Page harvested lawson a month ago, but left patch on its own - 17 self pollinated white pumpkins in october - one was about 200 pounds, used for cinderella's coach