Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 110 Entries. Wednesday, January 4 View Page The new pumpkin house is coming on but it’s taking forever to get all the pea shingle out. Wednesday, January 4 View Page I’m still having real problems with the onions at the moment and have thrown a few out. I sent off a soil sample but I think the problem is with the conditions in the unit. My guess at the moment is that in the germination room they were getting a huge amount of light and a temp of about 18C during the day. The plants I potted up were amazingly strong with very powerful growth. Now that they are in the onion house the light although very good, is not as good as the germination room. The lights are also throwing out a huge amount of heat and during the day it has been getting up to 22C. My feeling is, that the balance between heat and light is not good enough, producing soft growth, and leaves getting stuck in the necks. Hopefully now that the roots are growing well I will see an improvement in the next couple of weeks without losing to many more. Friday, January 13 View Page I had an afternoon fishing and had decided to try and catch a nice Perch . I only had one small Perch but had about ten beautiful Crucian Carp up to about 2lbs each. Happy days. Friday, January 20 View Page I got the Perch I was after and just check out the colours, absolutely stunning and my favourite fish. Only 1lb3oz, but I’m happy with that Wednesday, January 25 View Page I got to go fishing with Steve, a great friend of mine today. We were the only ones fishing the lake and we made the most of it catching 16 fish between us and missing countless others. This cracking 10lb pike took a white coat hanger (spinner bait). Wednesday, January 25 View Page This 13lb 14oz croc took off like a Polaris missile Wednesday, January 25 View Page At this rate I’m going to have more fish than plants in my diary but the onions are doing OK and I will post a photo on the 1st Feb. This is another 13lb 14oz fish and the biggest of the day, the ten fish I boated added up to 81lbs and all swam off safe and well. Wednesday, February 1 View Page At last some growing photos. The onions are doing very well at the moment and have really settled down . I’ve had to pull back the top plastic sheet most days to cool it down so that I balance the temperature with the light. The result is excellent good quality stocky growth and the onions are now over a month ahead of last year. They average 7inches cir Wednesday, February 1 View Page Apart from one tall thin onion most are still very similar at the moment and the largest is 7.75 cir. Wednesday, February 1 View Page Oh yeh, I went fishing again today and my god was it a cold NE wind blowing or what. Most of the fish were hard on the bottom and were caught on dead baits this time. I still managed to land eight fish with certainly made up for the cold wind. Saturday, February 18 View Page It’s taken weeks of work to get all the pea shingle out of the new patch but we are nearly there and the patch is looking awesome. Stuart and I think we will have at least six days with a digger and dumper when we get back from Vegas moving all the soil from the other patches followed by twelve sheet steams of about one and a half hours. Saturday, February 18 View Page We have to get these starter lilies out before we go all 25,000 of them. It’s not normally at problem but as it’s a “one off crop” we have no seasonal staff to help so it is just a case of getting on with it. Tuesday, February 28 View Page Vegas was amazing and with a lot of help from Thad, Eddie and Jim I got through my talk, so thanks for the help boys.(I’m not sure that your yawning was helping Jim) Tuesday, February 28 View Page The onions are looking great and I’m surprised how much they have grown in the last week. Check out the RTI shirts we got free and as the onions had RTI myco they can get a little advertising. Thursday, March 1 View Page The onions are still about five weeks ahead of last year. The average 12.2 inches cir and the largest is 14 inches cir Saturday, March 10 View Page Here’s the line up for this year and we have to be in great shape with seeds like this going in. Growing the onions is a real challenge and good fun but nothing compares with growing pumpkins. Thursday, March 15 View Page Last week I pulled one onion out that got stuck in the neck and now I have a load more doing the same thing. The new leaves have been huge which is probably down to very good light and even cutting down the necks with a knife has not worked. The onion that I pulled up had its middle leaf all crunched up and I fear the rest will soon follow. It’s obviously a bit of a blow after all the hard work I’ve put in but I just have to take it on the chin and look forward to the pumpkins. Sunday, March 18 View Page Stuart's been moving the soil from our ol patch Sunday, March 18 View Page Three patches done Monday, March 19 View Page Stuart recons he has moved 100 tonnes of soil into the new patch and it’s now ready for steaming. I’m working on the steam pipes and have a couple of days welding ahead of me. I talked to Stuart about the onions and we decided to cut right into the neck on both sides to try and release the leaves. I made some very long incisions which look awful but it’s the only thing I can do to give them a chance Wednesday, March 21 View Page I've been working on the pipe work for three days and one more should just about do it. Wednesday, March 28 View Page The onions had their last chance and as so many of them had got stuck in the neck I decided to call it a day and pull them up. It’s wasn’t an easy decision but one that had to be made. I took myself off to the lake and had this absolutely amazing 1LB 11OZ Rudd which is a new PB for me and by far the best fish I’ve had this year. Friday, April 6 View Page Soil sample is back and no real dramas. Our soil people over here recommend 6.5PH and in the States they seem to be heading for just over 7PH, so with some lime we will be somewhere about right. We will put on a little nitrogen base dressing and take it from there. Friday, April 6 View Page Making sure we are accurate Friday, April 6 View Page Stuart rotavates them in Friday, April 6 View Page Good by weeds and soil disease . We are steaming for three hours once the sheet is up this year which is way over the top but it’s only money. Friday, April 6 View Page I beat my PB Crucian carp yesterday with this 2lb 1oz spring beauty. Friday, April 6 View Page We do tend to eat well when I go fihing with my buddy Steve Saturday, April 7 View Page At last all the seeds went in today and we are nearly half way through the steaming Sunday, April 8 View Page At last all the seeds went in yesterday and the steaming is going well Monday, April 16 View Page Dinner is served. Thanks for the trip to Bass Pro Eddy Thursday, April 19 View Page After countless weeks of work the pumpkins are finally in Thursday, April 19 View Page The RTI family are lovely people so here is a little advertising for them.I made up this great little shaking pot, it works a treat. Wednesday, April 25 View Page All the line up plants are doing very well and although a little smaller than the rest the 1404 is looking OK. This is one of the 1634’s with a 1173 behind. Wednesday, April 25 View Page We keep the night temps at 60F or 15C at night and the main vents in the glasshouse are set at 70F or 20C. Our weather is rubbish at the moment so these are lucky plants Sunday, April 29 View Page We have had an absolutely miserable weekend; at least the pumpkins have been as warm as toast. Monday, May 7 View Page I had almost a great day fishing yesterday which ended up with me going for an unwanted swim and letting my new PB Carp off 22lbs go before getting a photo. Apart from that, I did have a great day and this scale perfect 17lb common was the next biggest fish of the day. It’s a great setting to get a photo. Monday, May 7 View Page All the pumpkins are looking great. I think this is one of the Checkon's Monday, May 14 View Page All the pumpkins are off and running. This is the 1404 Saturday, May 19 View Page It’s hard to explain to people that these six plants will fill all this area, but in 3 or 4 weeks this house will look totally different. Saturday, May 19 View Page This is one of the Werner's Tuesday, May 22 View Page I’ve been baiting up a swim on a very difficult water to fish for three weeks and here is my reward. A massive Tench for the UK that weighed in at 9lbs 5ozs. It’s a new club record and nearly a pound heavier than the old one. I also had one at just over 7lbs Tuesday, May 22 View Page We did start at 4am so Steve cooked up a delightful salmon dish washed down with a chilled bottle of wine Tuesday, May 22 View Page Just before dinner I hooked into this huge pike which was just 3oz under 20lbs. Tuesday, May 22 View Page After that Steve ccoked up some beef sliders so we had to have another bottle of red. Tuesday, May 22 View Page Watch your fingers Wednesday, May 30 View Page All the plants look great at the moment. This was one of them(I forget which)a couple of days ago. Sunday, June 3 View Page Here are all 6 of our plants and first up is the 1495. We are tarting up 3 plants every day which is taking about 20min per plant. Sunday, June 3 View Page The first 1381 is probably our most vigorous plant but has just developed a blind main stem. We have pollinated a pumpkin yesterday at a little over 12ft out but after that we will be on the first closest side vine Sunday, June 3 View Page The second 1381 Sunday, June 3 View Page Our 1404 has caught up with the other plants and were very happy with her Sunday, June 3 View Page The first 1634 is nice and vigorous Sunday, June 3 View Page The other right next door has small leaves and is totaly the opposite Sunday, June 3 View Page You might get the last post twice, hey ho. Here's Stuart giving the plants a nice seaweed Saturday, June 9 View Page You almost have to look twice at the speed these plants are growing. We have been pollinating for the last 9days but it will be a while before we know which pumpkins to go with. The Checkon that we lost the main vine is growing very well but we my need to use some “Artistic licence” to fill the 673sqft patch. I posted a question on the message board last week but there was no response, so if anyone out there reading my diary has a recommended NO3 (available nitrogen)reading on their soil sample I would be very great full if they could mail me. Our recommended rate is 101PPM and we feel it is a little low. Monday, June 11 View Page What a fish. Stuart smashed his PB with this 33lb Salmon this morning in Scotland. It’s the biggest Bar of Silver from this river this year. How I’m I going to top this ? Well done Stu Saturday, June 16 View Page Here's a load of photos of the pumpkins and our plants. We have 5 of the six plants pollinated but will carry on pollinating just in case. This is a 1634 x 1381 pollinated on the 4/6/12 Saturday, June 16 View Page And the plant Saturday, June 16 View Page The 1404 x 1381 pollinated on 4/6/12 Saturday, June 16 View Page And the plant Saturday, June 16 View Page The 1381 x 1634 pollinated on the 3/6/12 Saturday, June 16 View Page And the plant Saturday, June 16 View Page Guess what, under here I found a huge toad, how can we not have a PB now. Saturday, June 16 View Page The first two 1495's were not set so today I pollinated the 1495 with the 1404 (how could you make a better cross than that) Saturday, June 16 View Page And the plant Saturday, June 16 View Page This 1381 x 1495 was pollinated on the 6/6/12 Saturday, June 16 View Page And the plant Saturday, June 16 View Page On the whole everything is was going OK with our patch but now we have one of Kelsey’s secret weapons in the patch we are very happy Friday, June 22 View Page After setting the 1495 we managed to crack the stem when bending round to its final position. All we can do with this plant is assess the situation as the pumpkin grows. We will attempt to set one on a side vine but we are looking at the end of the month which is too late for us and we would miss the warmest nights. Friday, June 22 View Page On whole the rest of the plants and pumpkins look fine. Monday, June 25 View Page Is this going to be our lucky toad ? Monday, June 25 View Page Here’s where we are in the patch this week. All the pumpkins seem to be a little slow in growth this year but it might just be a lack of sun. First up is one of the 1634 plants and not too unhappy with this one. Monday, June 25 View Page The pumpkin we had selected on this 1381 suddenly went a peculiar shape and as Stuart is away I had to make the decision to get the knife out. Monday, June 25 View Page This is the last chance for this 1381 Monday, June 25 View Page A few hours after my post about the 1495 we decided to go with a side vine which will open in a couple of days time. Monday, June 25 View Page This is Stuart's favorite pumpkin at the moment and is on a 1381 Monday, June 25 View Page I'm a little disapointed with the shape of the 1404 Monday, June 25 View Page And finally my personal favourite at the moment the other 1634. Apart from a few blister marks on the top the shape looks good and the plant is a monster. Thursday, June 28 View Page I terminated the 1404 pumpkin today and we will be going with a pumpkin pollinated about 4 days ago so I hope it is set. I obviously did the dissection thing and as I suspected had a deformed inside which would have split in the next week for sure. You would be getting a photo but I deleted it instead of saving it so here is a nice combination of plants in my garden Thursday, June 28 View Page We got this leaf sample done and I looks like we are not far of the money but we are a little low in Magnesium even though we have extra in the soil. At the moment I’m putting it down to the fact that we have a higher potassium level and the plant is doing the luxury uptake thing. That said I’m not sure so more research will have to be done. Thursday, June 28 View Page As I have been doing all sorts of hours lately at work I took the day off to do a little fishing. I had six beautiful carp like this and one bigger mirror carp. No where near to that amazing grass carp that Mehdi put in his diary but most enjoyable all the same. Friday, June 29 View Page I’m just putting these last pollination photos on for Stuart who is away at the moment and all are a little late. We would like to have them set on about the 16/8/12 ideally. This is the 1381x1634 poll 20/6/12 Saturday, June 30 View Page The 1404 x self, not an ideal cross but the only one available pollinated on the 25/6/12. This one has “I want to grow over the top of my stem” written all over it but this is the 1404’s last chance. Saturday, June 30 View Page And finally the 1495x1381 pollinated on the 28/6/12 Last chance for this one as well. Wednesday, July 4 View Page How appropriate is this, it’s my Sarah’s birthday today and we when to the Hawk conservation trust. There we saw Cheyenne, an American Bald eagle flying and its Independence Day, how cools that. Wednesday, July 4 View Page I lifted the 1404 up of the ground and let her own weight drop her down. She hit the sand and hopefully will not grow over her stem. Tuesday, July 10 View Page Here I am again at “stupid o’clock” in the morning, raining as usual but I had a few pike but more importantly a couple of wonderful specimen Tench. The pumpkins are a bit in limbo at the moment and were not sure what this season will bring. We had our GPC Skype meeting on Sunday and big Don happened to mention the problem they have with pollination when temps get too high. Then it dawned on me, here we are putting a poly bag over a pumpkin in a glass house to stop cross pollination We just learnt another lesson, Tuesday, July 10 View Page Looking thru my reels down the lake it is strangely beautiful Thursday, July 12 View Page It’s been a strange few weeks in our patch, the plants are great and the roots are fantastic. I was having our usual Skype meeting with the board and Don mentioned he was having problem with pollinations due to the heat. Then it dawned on me that we were covering our females to be pollinated with plastic bags and on a sunny day it was too hot. So just when you think you know a lot about pumpkin growing you are brought back down to earth. Any way I had two amazing specimen Tench this week and it was not hot. I’ve made these very long adjustable rod rests to use when I fish in the boat and they work a treat. Thursday, July 12 View Page Bleak at “very stupid o’clock” in the morning but quite beautiful. Monday, July 16 View Page The Olympic flame came through our town on the weekend. Monday, July 16 View Page In the patch it’s just not happening this year and despite our best efforts I think we will only have three pumpkins that might make the 1000lb mark if we’re lucky. At the moment our feelings are that the pollinations have been the main problem this year. We’ve see pumpkins abort at 50lb plus before but never so many. If it is a pollination problem it’s very good news because we can do something about it in the coming years. It’s identifying these sort of problems that can be the hardest thing of all. To be fair although we might have had problems with heat on some days we’ve had the wettest three months on record which will not be helping. Here is a typical aborted pumpkin on the 1404 Sunday, July 29 View Page Well I have to say that this year’s patch has turned out to be a bit of a disaster zone despite our hard work. It’s obviously not great be we are fairly relaxed about the situation which is down to learning a whole load more which is great for the future. We’ve had this pollination problem which can be sorted out in future years for sure but not only that we had our first ever foamer. Over in the UK we have had the wettest weather in June and July on record. In June we noticed a pool of water around the main stump of a 1381 and we thought it was just a drip of water coming in from the roof. The leaves at the front of the plant started wilting and we had no idea why as all the roots looked perfect. We have now come to the conclusion that it was a foamer that has occurred due to the very wet damp humid conditions as the stem has rotted. If we could ever afford to heat our crops we would as it would take away these random conditions. A lot of growers are experiencing pumpkins aborting at 20 to 30 days and we have seen the same which makes it very hard to start a new pumpkin. I’ll put a photo of the remains of our patch up tomorrow but for now here is a beautiful 22lb8oz common I caught yesterday. Monday, July 30 View Page On Day 56 our biggest 1634 is only 650lbs but the plant looks great. Monday, July 30 View Page The other 1634 is even slower and on day 55 tapes 546lbs but again were very happy with the plant. Monday, July 30 View Page We had one good growing week in May and our second good week was last week. Were told that the Jet stream has now moved and we will be back to rain again. They were not wrong. Monday, August 20 View Page I was going to put in a diary entry last week but Sarah and I had the most horrendous week ever. It started with me having a serious accident in a sailing boat which left me with a skull fracture and unable to see. I won’t go into the gory detail but I spent most of the week in hospital but thankfully my eye site is coming back. In the middle of the week Sarah’s mother died. She was 92years young and a lovely person which we will all miss dearly. Here is our biggest pumpkin which is about 900lb and I hope will go 1000lbs Wednesday, August 22 View Page First of all thank you very much for the emails, it’s very much appreciated. I think Stuart and I have just made a major step forward in our pumpkin growing. I was having a chat with the GPC team before a meeting and Don mentioned the trouble he has pollinating with high temps. In fact he goes to great lengths to keep the area cool around the flowers and felt that temps over 30C or 90F were well worth trying to avoid. So we did some tests A flower in plastic bag (the way we have always pollinated) 36C or 102C A flower in Muslin under shade 26C or 82F So there you go, something so small can make such a huge difference. We’ve always had more problems of fruit aborting in the glass house patches compared to the poly tunnel but the tunnel was always cooler. It’s a bit of a Eureka moment and a very welcome bit of good news. Saturday, September 8 View Page Our biggest pumpkin is now taping 1004lbs and this one is around 850lbs Saturday, September 8 View Page This looks like the way we will be doing the pollinating next year. With shading and a muslin tent with a bucket of solid ice the temp was 15C or 60F Saturday, September 8 View Page In a poly bag it was 35C or 100F,oh dear. Thursday, September 27 View Page Meet our new soil for the future. I’m not sure when we will need this soil ,but we decided to start conditioning some more soil so today I cut an area of grass ready for manuering Sunday, October 14 View Page Stuart and I weighed in all three pumpkins this week and as the RHS was offering a load of money we sent our two smallest pumpkins and bagged£1500. (Vegas here we come). The biggest pumpkin weighed in at 1050lbs grown on the 1634 and was 10%heavey As usual our largest pumpkin always goes to our own show and we were pleasantly surprised to see it weighed in at 1160lbs 8% heavy and also grown on the 1634. I would like to thank all the people that turned up with or without pumpkins and I hope you all had as good a day as we did. We certainly have a very friendly group of growers young and old and future looks very bright for the show. Monday, October 15 View Page It is straight back to work on our future soil and I collected 9 trailers of well rotted manure (1.5 tonne each) and I will get another 9 more. Thursday, October 18 View Page Well that’s six patches covered with horse manure and we are also brining back our other two patches as I’m not growing the onions this year. Basically it’s pumpkins or nothing and we have plenty of tweaks to put into practice. One of these is the venting What Temp? What Humidity? What CO2? A the moment next year we will be Venting at 18C (66F) night and day. We will put a block programme in to always have and min vent for 85% or above humidity. We’ve been playing around all year with venting in the day light (when the plants are munching CO2) and at the moment we are thinking of putting in a block programme to open the vents to about 30%min during these hours. A word of WARNING for all indoor growers!!!!!! If you keep the vents shut during the day, yes you will get the temps up but your plants will HIT THE WALL with CO2 depletion. Just booking the flights for Vegas £1040 for us both !!!!! Oh well it’s only money. Thursday, October 18 View Page We feel there is no need to steam this year as the soil should still be fairly clean. The reason for starting preparing soil outside for the future is because in the next couple of years we hope to build a new nursery which will have a PRD unit (Pumpkin research &development). The new nursery will not have steam so we will have to move soil in and out every few years or so to keep those unwanted pathogens at bay.. Saturday, December 1 View Page We have been making the door of the packing shed wider so that we can get the tractor in. Saturday, December 1 View Page Stuart found this "Black Gold" worm casting so we are putting on a bag per patch this year. Saturday, December 1 View Page I just managed to get the tractor in and got to work on the patch . Monday, December 31 View Page What a perfect way to end the year, the weather was rubbish but to catch a fish like this on floating crust in December is exceptional