Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 29 Entries. Monday, April 28 View Page Hi everyone, Here is what I have started, for this years patch. 1225.4 Jutras '03 719 Tanner '07 522 Zaychkowsky '06 1019 and 1402 Bosworth '07 588 Young '06 731 Jepsen '07 772 Poirier '06, 1302 Zuhlke '06 400 Snyder '07 617 Horton '06 Can you tell I like big and orange? Monday, April 28 View Page Giant watermelons 195 Bhaskaran '07, 183.5 Bhaskaran '07, 172 Bhaskaran '07 and the #5 White '07. Thanks to the generosity of the growers on this site for both my giant pumpkins and watermelons that I am growing this year. Saturday, May 3 View Page Planted pumpkins in the garden yesterday, I start the seeds in 4.5 inch peat pots. I am paranoid that the pumpkin roots will not penetrate the pots so I always peel the pots off before planting. I did have some spiraling roots at the bottom of the pot. I pulled them out and planted the seedlings in the garden. I have been keeping my pumpkins in a cool greenhouse so the adult leaves were very small even though the plants were 11 days old. This made it a little tough for leaning the plant in the direction I wanted. I really had to squint to see which way the adult leaf was going to open. Needless to say they needed to be planted because the root system was already quite large despite the small tops. Saturday, May 3 View Page Here is what went into the garden 1225 Jutras 03 772 Poirrier 06 588 Young 06 1019 and 1402 Bosworth 07 522 and 511 Zaychkowsky 06 1302 Zuhlke '06 731 Jepsen and 719 Tanner '07 617 Horton '06 Also I plan on growing the 746 Snyder'06 (this one will go in later, I cooked the first two 746 seeds that I tried to germinate. I am hoping for better results the second time around. This pumpkin looks like it grows really beautiful pumpkins. (Note the pumpkins listed in pairs are competing for spots, the ones that I like better will stay, the others will be culled after I observe them for a while. In each pair I definitely do have my favorite that I am pulling for.) Wednesday, May 21 View Page Here is what I have selected as my final line up. Pumpkins 511 Zaychkowsky 06 (1260 Weir x1068 Wallace) 1019 Bosworth 07 (604 Bosworth 06 x 1068 Wallace) 588 Young 06 (736 Young x 710 Companion) 1302 Zuhlke 06 (1370 Rose x 810 Dill) 617 Horton 06 (783 Daletas x 670 Daigle) 731 Jepsen and Luce 07 (500 Northrup x 981 Zunino) 500 Poirrier 06 (1332 Werner x 500 Northrup) 746 Snyder 06 (1250 Kline x 346 Webster) 1225 Jutras 03 (1016 Daletas x 845 Bobier) 772 Poirrier 06 (500 Northrup x 1332 Werner) Thank you to the generosity of all the growers who gave me seeds, I have an awesome line-up! Wednesday, May 21 View Page I have four watermelons going 172 Bhaskaran 07 195 Bhaskaran 07 (I have two of these) #5 White I lost a couple of plants to damping off. (211 White and 183 Bhaskaran) We have had a cool wet spring here, I have tried to keep my soil on the dry side when we have had rainy and overcast weather. (yet still have had problems) The pumpkins seem less affected and less likely to have problems with damping off. Knock on wood. Tuesday, October 28 View Page This is the 511 Zaychkowsky in late August. It was grown off of a secondary vine which had split. Luckily the vine made a huge callous and the pumpkin did just fine. I brought it to the Bethlehem Fair(September 4) where it weighed 715 pounds. It was solid as a rock, it went heavy. It is crossed with the 1225 Jutras 03. Tuesday, October 28 View Page This is the 772 Poirier. What a beauty! This picture doesn't do it justice. By far the prettiest pumpkin I have grown. The shape and color were perfect. The pumpkin was entered into the Goshen Fair On Labor day weekend. It weighed 596 pounds and went right to the chart. It was grown off of a secondary. The father is the 588 Young '06. After I harvested this pumpkin, the plant produced 4 more pumpkins in the 200 pound range. All were nicely shaped and were beginning to color up nicely. Thank you for the seeds George and Becky the 772 is the real deal! Tuesday, October 28 View Page This is the 1225 Jutras '03, it went down in mid august with a stem split. It was estimated at 492 pounds. Unfortunately the seeds were not mature, this would have been an interesting cross for big and orange. It was crossed with the 772 Poirier. Tuesday, October 28 View Page I almost forgot to mention, A big thank you to Matt Debacco for the generous gift of the 1225 Jutras seed. Tuesday, October 28 View Page This is the 1019 Bosworth '07. What a ride! This pumpkin was doing 50 pounds a day for a while. It was still doing 30 a day when it went down to a rib split. Final taping was 375". It was weighed at the Goshen fair (late August), it weighed 967 pounds. It was only 52 days old, which may be one of the reasons it went so light. It was still a baby, It had light yellow skin and no canteloping. I crossed it with the 772 Poirrier, I only got about 20 seeds and they all had white tips. Thank you for the seed Brooks, This seed has some serious growing power! Wednesday, October 29 View Page This is the 1302 Zuhlke '06 (in mid August) pumpkin was growing very nicely, it would have been a dark orange too. Unfortunately it went down to a blossom end split in early September. I had planned on bringing it to Durham. I am thinking it would have been around 700 pounds, if it had made it. Wednesday, October 29 View Page This one was grown on the 617 Horton 06, it went down to a blossom end split in August. It was about 300 pounds when it went down. I had another nice one on the same plant it went down with a stem split too. I had a rough time this year, with my pumpkins splitting on me. It was very wet here in CT. Rainfall came in bunches, with some storms delivering 3-4" a pop. The plants were only watered once with the sprinkler all season. Wednesday, October 29 View Page This is the 731 Jepsen/Luce. (In mid to late August) It grew a couple hundred pounds in September. I brought it to Durham where it weighed in at 520 Pounds (13th place). Not bad, considering this plant did not receive sunlight until 11:30 every morning. It grew slow and steady on a very small plant. The 772 Poirier is the male pollinator. I am confident in the big orange genetics in it's seeds. Wednesday, October 29 View Page Thanks goes out to Steve Zuhlke, Wilbur Horton and Steve Jepsen for the seeds. Wednesday, October 29 View Page This is the 588 Young '06. It was my second fastest grower behind the 1019 Bosworth. It was growing 30 pounds a day when it went down to a stem split the first week of August. (It was over 300 Pounds) The plant was very vigorous, it filled out its spot before all the rest. Wednesday, October 29 View Page That last picture was actually the 772 Poirier. I will get a picture of the 588 Young next. Wednesday, October 29 View Page Here is the 588 young 06. Both this picture and the previous one were taken in early August. Wednesday, October 29 View Page This one is off the 746 Snyder. I had two grow on the 746 Snyder '06. (both were about 400 pounds) I grew this plant without any vine burying. I made a large raised bed with a slope to the south. Then I covered the whole thing with second cut hay mixed with cow manure. The pumpkin vines do root down on their own, but it is very minimal. Even the ones that did root down, it was only the root that comes out of the bottom(of the vine), you never got the one that loops over the top of the vine. Wednesday, October 29 View Page Thanks to John Young and Kevin Snyder for the seeds. Sunday, November 16 View Page The pumpkin on the left is the 520 Ciesielski 08, it was grown off of the 731 Jepsen 07. The pumpkin on the right was grown off the 500 Poirier (reverse cross of the 772) It weighed 466 pounds. Not bad considering this plant didn't receive sunlight until 11:30 in the morning. Also it didn't have any real soil to grow in. I just spread some hay and manure directly over some grass. By the summers end worms had become active and the soil was nice. I am sure the 500 can grow really big. This one went about 50 pounds heavy. Nice color just like the 772. Sunday, November 16 View Page From left 520 Ciesielski, 466 Ciesielski and two grown off of the 746 Snyder 06. Both of them were around 400 pounds. I must have got the oddball seed, usually the 746 produces deep orange and round. Just check out PA Punkin Pharmer's diary. I guess you never really know what you are gonna get with these pumpkins. I brought one of these pumpkins into a heated shed we have here. We will see how long it keeps. (I have had a big max last 1.5 years.) indoors.) Sunday, November 16 View Page The 596 Ciesielski (772x588 Young 06) This pumpkin was a real highlight for me this year. What it lacked in size, it made up for in beauty. Sunday, November 16 View Page At the Bethlehem fair, the 715 Ciesielski grown off the 511 Zaychkowsky. In the background you can see the 1,074 Wallace. Dick won first place with that pumpkin. Sunday, November 16 View Page The Garden tractor pull at Bethlehem, always alot of fun! Sunday, November 16 View Page That's me behind the 967 Ciesielski dmg. (1019 Bosworth 07 x 772 Poirier 06) On the right is the 596. Sunday, November 30 View Page Many people are interested in seeing pictures of the 500 Poirier pumpkin. Unfortunately I only have a few pictures of it. Here is what I can tell you. It was open pollinated in the beginning of August. (it had about 54 days to grow) Final OTT measurements total 268". (412 pound estimate). It was weighed at Durham 466 pounds. The plant was not given prime patch space and it did not receive any pruning or training. Vines were not buried, and the plant was not in the direct sun. The fruit color was excellent, the blossom end was slightly sunken on one side, the other side was filled out. (see following picture) Incomplete pollination? Some sort of deficiency? PHOTO-Starting on the right hand side; The first two pumpkins are off the 746 Snyder 06, the next is the 500 Poirier 06, then the 731 Jepsen 07. Sunday, November 30 View Page This picture shows the other side of the 500 Poirier. (second from front) I didn't see any deep ribs or other reasons for concern about this fruit. In many ways it does resemble the 772. I think the 500 may have a better chance of going heavy to the charts. The 500 may be just as good a seed to plant as the 772. Maybe next year we will find out! Sunday, November 30 View Page This picture is from the Bethlehem Fair. The Carolina Cross watermelon was grown off of the #5 White seed '07. It weighed 55 pounds. My biggest this year was grown off of a 172 Bhaskaran '07, it was brought to Durham and it weighed 63 pounds. Not a very good year for melons, I lost my plants to disease after a few soaking rains, followed by very cool nights in August. Also to make matters worse, the melons could have been alot sweeter. Last years melons were very sweet. (Weather conditions were much drier and also warmer.) Giant Watermelons are a ton of fun to grow and I feel that they can be grown fairly well here. I don't see any reason why a 200 pounder can't be grown here in New England. Bart Toftness and Joe Jutras both grew melons this year. With top growers like that growing them, the weights will surely go way up in the future.