Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 145 Entries. Wednesday, January 7 View Page Started 5 plants today in 1 gallon pots will narrow down to 3 once they start growing. 829.5 Christensen 874 Pley 1003 Christensen 827 Christensen 683 Christensen really hoping the 1003 germinates Saturday, January 10 View Page Jan 12th here are 4 of the 5 pots only the 1003 sprouted this morning and is out in the sun. I started them in here and put them out in the day with the lid on and bring them in at night and put a 40 watt bulb in there. Tuesday, January 13 View Page Here is the pit I dug in the yard where I plan on growing three pumpkins, then maybe narrowing down to 1 once a plant sets a fruit. Dug it last year but this year I expanded it to about 4 by 4 feet added some sulfur and a bag of leaves and a bag of manure, they will just grow out onto the lawn. Tuesday, January 13 View Page I have to start them in january here so they don't fry when it hits 115 in the summer, but the soil is still way to cold about 55 degrees, in the past they havent really started growing much until late march early april when the soil warms up to about 70 degrees. This year I bought a 48 foot soil heating cable. Holding right at 70 degrees. Tuesday, January 13 View Page The only spot I have room for a pit doesnt get much sun at all until late february, because of a six foot block fence to the south of the pit, so this year I got some mylar type stuff and rapped some pieces of plywood in it to reflect some sun. Tuesday, January 13 View Page Put the first pumpkin in the ground today the 1003 Christensen. It is still the only 1 to sprout. The next 10 days should be pretty good weather. Highs around 70 lows around 40 and sunny. Saturday, January 24 View Page All 5 pumpkins are now up. We are having a very warm winter and they seem to be doing fine with no greenhouse or hothouse. Highs around 75 lows about 45. Soil temp with the cables is now up to about 78 degrees. Saturday, January 24 View Page 1003 christensen is growing the best so far. Sunday, February 1 View Page The 1003 christensen. It has been colder lately and have not had as much growth. Highs around 70 lows in the upper thirties. Sunday, February 1 View Page Most of the other plants don't get as much sun as the 1003 so they are a lot smaller Sunday, February 1 View Page Had a mishap with the plants last weekend. After I put them all in the ground, I didn't take the time to right down which was which, I just took the pots with there names on them and set them by the plants, and figured i would write it down this weekend. My neighbor picked all of the pots up and stacked them, so now I the only plant I am 100% sure about is the 1003, the other 4 are mixed up. Friday, March 6 View Page Here are the 5 plants going to pull at least 2 out tommorow. Friday, March 6 View Page The 1003 Christensen is still growing the best. Friday, March 6 View Page One of the leafs on the 1003 Saturday, March 7 View Page Now that it is warming up I have been watering every third day. Each time I water I mix up about 20-25 Gallons of water and add a about 5 tablespoons of peters 20-20-20 and a little fish emulsion. Tuesday, March 17 View Page I am down to 3 pumpkins in the pit. One is growing East, one West, and one North. This is the one that is growing east. Tuesday, March 17 View Page Here is the 1003 Christensen still growing the best. The vine is about 5-6 geet long now. Tuesday, March 17 View Page Here is the pumpkin growing to the West. Tuesday, March 17 View Page In all the diaries of people with giant pumpkins the leaves look alot darker than mine so I have fertilizing the plants more in the last couple of weeks. I am watering 30-50 gallons every 3rd day with a few ounces of fish emulsion and about 5-7 tablespoons of peters 20-20-20 and some iron magnesioum zinc b1 vitamin stuff. You can see from the previous leaf picture that they are darkening up. Tuesday, March 17 View Page Ive been trying to bury the vines but it is sort of hard without really tearing up the grass they are growing out over, and since its not my grass, I have just been laying a compost trail where they are going to go. The leaves are taller this year. last year they were only about 1 foot tall, but this year they are at least half way up the 3 foot pieces of plywood covered in mylar. Tuesday, March 17 View Page The 1003 has its first female pumpkin, should open in about a week. Since there aren't any growers that I know of growing in AZ this year, and I mixed up the other plants I am probably going to self pollinate it when it opens. Is this a good idea? Thursday, March 19 View Page The weather is warming up and is now just about perfect for growing pumpkins highs around 85-90 and lows around 55-60. The plants are now growing almost a foot a day, I have never managed more than 6 inches a day in past years. Monday, March 23 View Page Pollinated the first pumpkin on the 1003 today. Unfortunately there were no flowers open on the 1003 so I had to pollinate it with one of the unknown plants. It is only at 7 feet out theough, and the plant only has about 50 leaves so hopefully it wont be the keeper. There is another pumpkin that should open next week at about 10-11 feet that I hope to self pollinate. Thursday, March 26 View Page It has been very windy and cool lately the plant has a lot of wind damage. The growth has slowed with the cooler weather. Here is some of the wind damage. the vines are cracking lengthwise. Thursday, March 26 View Page here is the 1003 it took a lot of wind damage and I cut quite a few ripped up leaves off. It is no longer the strongest growing plant. Thursday, March 26 View Page Here is the pumpkin plant growing to the East. It is probably the largest now. Thursday, March 26 View Page Here is the plant growing to the West. It has really taken off lately. Thursday, March 26 View Page Here is the pumpkin on the 1003. It is not growing much, and one of the leaves that was blowing really tore up the underside before I cut it off so it will be culled as soon as I am sure I have another one set. Thursday, March 26 View Page Here is the next one to open on the 1003 at about 12 feet out. Thursday, March 26 View Page Here is the first one on the pumpkin growing to the East. Should open in a few days. Monday, March 30 View Page Pollinated the pumpkin on the vine growing east today with the 1003. It is at 10 feet out and I hope to keep it if it sets. Tuesday, March 31 View Page Pollinated a pumpkin on the plant growing to the west today at about 8 feet out. Thursday, April 2 View Page The 1003 is now the weakest plant. The first few secondaries were growing fine, then all of the sudden no more secondaries will grow. The main is still doing about 6" a day but the secondary's are just shriviling up before they even grow. The first 5 are normal from the 6th secondary on they are less than an inch long and shriveled. If you know what the problem could be feel free to email me. Sunday, April 5 View Page Here is the 1003 you can tell it isnt putting out many secondaries. Sunday, April 5 View Page The pumpkin on the 1003 that was pollinated yesterday. Sunday, April 5 View Page Here is the pumpkin growing to the West. It is a small plant but the secondaries are growing strong. Hopefully I can get a 200+ lb pumpkin out of it. Sunday, April 5 View Page Here is the pumpkin that was pollinated a few days ago on the West Plant. Sunday, April 5 View Page Here is the plant growing to the East. It is the strongest plant I have ever grown. if I grow a new P.B. it will be on this plant. Sunday, April 5 View Page Here is the pumpkin on the East plant at day 6. Monday, April 6 View Page Pollinated Pumpkin #2 on the West plant today, and pumpkin #2 on the East plant. Tuesday, April 7 View Page Pollinated a pumpkin #3 on the West plant today. It is on a back main vine. High's today in the mid 90's so it will prob. abort. Nice weather after today with highs in the 70's lows in the 50's next week Wednesday, April 8 View Page The Pumpkin on the east plant measures 17" on day 10 which is pretty small, but I am running out of time, so it will probably be the keeper. Thursday, April 9 View Page Pumpkin on the West plant measure 12" on day 10. Yes that is right only 12", so I will be culling it if I can get another to set. Friday, April 10 View Page Pumpkin on the East plant measures 22" on day 12. Saturday, April 11 View Page Here is a current picture of the East plant. Today was the first day it has rained since the pumpkins were set out and probably the last time it will rain before I pick them. Saturday, April 11 View Page Here is the pumpkin on the East plant 24.5" on day 13. Hopefully it only did 2.5" because it was about 55 today and rainy. Saturday, April 11 View Page Here is the second pumpkin on the East plant. This one is growing faster so far but It is getting to late in the season here so i may just end up keeping the first one. Saturday, April 11 View Page Here is the 2nd and third pumpkins on the 1003 will probably go with the third. Saturday, April 11 View Page Here is the 1st and 2nd pumpkin on the West plant. The first is already on day 12 and barely 15" will be culled as soon as I am pretty sure the 2nd one took. Sunday, April 12 View Page East pumpkin measures 26.5" on day 14 Monday, April 13 View Page East pumpkin measure 28.75 on day 15. Not quite the growth I was hoping for. Thursday, April 16 View Page East pumkin measure 34 inches on day 17. It has been abnormally cold lately and it is supposed to be 45 tonight in Central phoenix which means upper 30's at my house. So I have a blanket over the pumpkin. Ive been afraid to overwater of fertilize because of the cold, just been watering about 30 gallons to the plants every other day, along with a foliar of fish emulsion. It is supposed to be in the mid 90's all next week so I will really start to push the pumpkins with alot more water and fertilizer, and hopefully I can get better growth. Saturday, April 18 View Page Pumpkin on the East plant measures 37.5" inches on day 19 only 1.75" a day the last 2 days. Hopefully it will pick up when the warm weather returns tomorrow. Sunday, April 19 View Page East Pumpkin 40" today so up to 2.5" today. The Heat is here to stay, so starting today I am gonna really push the pumpkin. Going to start watering about 100 gallons a day and double my fertilizing, and hope it doesn't explode. Sunday, April 19 View Page The 2 above post should each be 1 day earlier. I am usually on the computer at night and forget about the time difference. Sunday, April 19 View Page The East Pumpkin on day 21 42.5" cc. Tuesday, April 21 View Page Day 23 only 45.5". This weather sucks a few days ago it was 35 at night and it wouldnt grow, now its 105 in the day and the pumpkin wont grow. Thursday, April 23 View Page Day 25 50"cc Sunday, April 26 View Page Pollinated a pumpkin on the 1003 today. Monday, April 27 View Page East pumpkin day 28 56.5" cc Monday, April 27 View Page Pollinated a pumpkin on the west plant today. Tuesday, April 28 View Page East pumpkin measures 60" on day 30 Friday, May 1 View Page East pumpkin 64" on day 32. The plants had really slowed down in growth, but now they really growing again. Not sure if it is due to the nice weather 60-90 or the foliar of milk, molasses, baking soda I have started spraying them with daily to fend off powdery mildew. Will post pics of the patch this weekend. Saturday, May 2 View Page East Pumpkin measures 68" cc today day 34. Polinated 2 pumpkins on the west plant, and 1 on the 1003. These plants still don't have any pumpkins larger than a softball that I am sure are set. If these don't take I will Probably just rip them out to give more nutrients to the East plant since they are allplanted 8 inches from each other. Sunday, May 3 View Page East plant Sunday, May 3 View Page 1003 plant Sunday, May 3 View Page Largest pumpkin on the 1003 Sunday, May 3 View Page West plant. Easily the biggest plant now. Hopefully I will get at least 1 pumpkin to set on this plant. Sunday, May 3 View Page Last hope pumpkin on the West plant. Sunday, May 3 View Page Pumpkin on the East plant 69.5" cc Sunday, May 3 View Page Another shot of it starting to turn orange. Friday, May 8 View Page The heat is here. 100-108 every day now. Plants are starting to wilt almost all day and dieback. East plant measure 77" cc on day 39. I think I finally have a pumpkin set on the west plant. 31" on day 12 Friday, May 8 View Page The 1003 which was the plant I was most excited about has yet to set a pumpkin and will be ripped out this weekend. Sunday, May 10 View Page The East plant. Sunday, May 10 View Page East pumpkin 80" CC on day 41. Going to start measuring OTT as growth slows 177 OTT. Sunday, May 10 View Page East pumpkin. Sunday, May 10 View Page West plant. Sunday, May 10 View Page Shade structure over the West plant. Sunday, May 10 View Page Pumpkin on the west plant 36.5" cc on day 14. It seems like the later i set pumpkins they start out faster but quit faster too. 2 years ago I set some at this time and they started out great, but were done by day 30 and barely broke 100 pounds. Sunday, May 10 View Page Even though I don't have huge hopes on a pumpkin set this late, when they grow this fast I get a little excited. Sunday, May 10 View Page West Plant still has a lot of vigor, here is a vine 25 feet from the main that is still doing 6" a day. Will terminate all vines soon. Sunday, May 10 View Page Last succesful pollination on the West plant. It is way too hot now. 26" cc on day 8. It is starting to lose its shine though so it is probably dying. Monday, May 11 View Page Terminated all vines on West plant today. West Pumpkin measure 39.5" cc on day 15 Tuesday, May 12 View Page East pumpkin 82"cc 184 OTT on day 43. West Pumpkin 42.5" on day 16. Wednesday, May 13 View Page West pumpkin 45.75" cc, 108 OTT on day 17. The fruit is shaped almost perfectly and has a nice long stem. I have never had this good of growth before with such high temps about 105 daily. My biggest previous fruit was on a plant with 120 leaves. This one has 300+. My thought is this pumpkin is going to slow down quickly and ripen prematurely when 110+ heat comes but so far it is still on state record pace. Thursday, May 14 View Page East pumpkin 84" cc 187 OTT. West pumpkin 49" 115 OTT Thursday, May 14 View Page West plant outgrew its shade structure today. Went to pick it up and it was stuck to the pumpkin. Friday, May 15 View Page West pumpkin Friday, May 15 View Page West pumpkin 52.25", 122 OTT on day 19. Doing just over 3" a day. The next week is going to be hotter, 105-108 so we will see if it can keep up the growth. Friday, May 15 View Page East pumpkin 84.75" or 189 OTT. on day 46. Hoping it tops my personal best of (207 OTT, 207lb) but not looking likely. The circumfrence is almost as big but the OTT is smaller. Monday, May 18 View Page The heat is here 108 today and really humid, pumpkin leaves were on the ground all afternoon. Monday, May 18 View Page West Pumpkin 58"cc 136 OTT on day 21. The pumpkin is starting to get a little lopsided, and slowing down with the really hot weather. Hopefully it will pick up again when it cools down. Monday, May 18 View Page East pumpkin 87CC 194OTT on day 48 Monday, May 18 View Page above posts should be Sunday not Monday Monday, May 18 View Page Set a new record today 13 straight days above 100 in may. Today was the peak of the heat and almost 110 and there was almost no growth from anything. The rest of the week will have highs in the mid 90's and hopefully growth will pick back up. Tuesday, May 19 View Page West pumpkin measures 64"cc 146 OTT on day 23. It is starting to get pretty lopsided and worry me a little. East Pumpkin 89"cc 198 OTT on day 50 still growing 105 today and then should have great growing weather for the next week with highs in the mid 90's Just got some nutrical and will start using it as a foliar soon Thursday, May 21 View Page East pumpkin 90.25"cc 200 OTT on day 52. It is a nice looking pumpkin. Thursday, May 21 View Page Another shot of the East pumpkin Thursday, May 21 View Page Decided not to pull the 1003 as I found this little guy. If it dies I will pull it. Thursday, May 21 View Page West plant 69.5" cc 157 OTT on day 25. Thursday, May 21 View Page Another shot of the West pumpkin showing how lopsided it is getting. Thursday, May 21 View Page 1 More shot of the West pumpkin. Saturday, May 23 View Page It has been cloudy and cool for the last 2 days and growth has slowed East plant 91.5" cc 203 OTT on day 55. West plant 74" cc 168 OTT on day 27. Monday, May 25 View Page East plant 92.5" cc 206 OTT on day 57. Should be a new P.B tomorrow. West plant 78" cc 175 OTT. at day 29. Looks like growth is already slowing for some reason. Pumpkin on the 1003 is 46" cc but already has a huge dill ring right in the center and will probably crack open soon. I may try to cut about half way through the stem to slow growth and see if it will not split. Has anyone done this. Monday, June 8 View Page Most of the patch is about done for the year. I will start picking the pumpkins in the next week. Monday, June 8 View Page Picture of the East plant now a personal best 96" cc 212 OTT on day 71. Monday, June 8 View Page Picture of the West plant I about 88" cc 195 OTT on day 43. This plant was growing great until about day 25 when it really started to slow down, I think it was prob just too much heat for it. I guess the story is here in Phoenix if you want a huge pumpkin you have to get it set in before april. Monday, June 8 View Page Another shot of the West plant. Monday, June 8 View Page Here's the 1003 that was set late. Looks like a nice pumpkin from the front right? Monday, June 8 View Page Wrong. It weighs about 50 lbs I'm suprised it made it this long though. Tuesday, June 16 View Page Just about to pick the East pumpkin. Final measurements are 99" cc 215 OT on day 78 for an estimated weight of 218 lbs Tuesday, June 16 View Page And the final weight is........222 lbs 2% heavy and a new personal best. So it is the 222 Brandon 2009 ?Christensen x ?Christensen Tuesday, June 16 View Page Here is it's resting place in the house on an oil pan until the weighoff on October 6th. 4 months is a long time for a pumpkin to sit. Thursday, June 18 View Page Picked the 1003 pumpkin today because it started to get a soft spot on the bottom. It measured 60" cc 142 OTT" for an estimated weight of 69lbs. Weighed in at 89lbs 29% heavy. I will have to see what the inside looks like. Thursday, June 18 View Page 1003 Monday, June 29 View Page Picked the pumpkin n the West plant today. It was 96" cc 215 OTT for a final weight of 230 lbs. 5% heavy. Another new personal best. It is the pumpkin in the front. Monday, June 29 View Page Another shot of them. They will stay here until the weighoff in october. I would say this was a succesfull year since I had two new pb pumpkins. Monday, June 29 View Page Today I will rip the rest of the vines out of the patch, and dig up the pit, and add a bag of manure, a bag of peat moss, a bag of gypsum, some humic acid, greensand, soil sulphur, and some fertilizer. Monday, June 29 View Page The growing seasons are wierd here. You really have two of them, that are split not by the winter, but by the summer. It ends in early june when it hits about 110-115 and starts again when the monsoon gets here in mid July, and cools things off back down under 110. As soon as it does I will start another round of pumpkins and watermelons in July. I have never done nearly as good growing in the fall, but hopefully this year I will. Friday, November 6 View Page I took Second and Third place at the small weighoff in Gilbert az. Friday, November 27 View Page Here are a couple of pictures from a trip to eastern arizona last winter. Not all of arizona is as warm as Phoenix. Friday, November 27 View Page wrong pic above. Friday, November 27 View Page Snow you guys probably see plenty of it but I get excited when I see it. Friday, November 27 View Page Have recieved to many good seeds this fall to just grow in my usual patch so I will be starting a new patch at my fathers House. He lives about 20 miles east of me at the base of a mountain. It looks a little different there from my house heres a pic looking out of the back yard Friday, November 27 View Page Another pic. His soil is mainly rock so am building a raised bed. Friday, November 27 View Page By the back wall will be the location of the raised bed. You can see a small area where I sarted picking the ground, but decided it needed watered first. Friday, November 27 View Page the raised bed is 16 by 16 feet. I have a small rototiller that I tried to use to break up the ground below, but it wasnt really digging in and it would hit rocks and bounce up in the air and bend the blades, so I loosed up the area with a pick and digging bar and removed the large rocks and few boulders, and then rototilled the ground to a depth of 6 inches. I then 4 inches of good soil, and gypsum and and blood and bone meal. Friday, November 27 View Page I sort of built the bed in lifts adding about 4 inches of soil of at a time and amendments and rotilling it in. Here is after the first lift. Friday, November 27 View Page I got 10 cubic yards of sandy loam soil that is supposed to be 33% screened topsoil 33% mulch and 33% manure. Here it is sitting in the driveway. I also mixed in a cubic yard of sand. Friday, November 27 View Page Here is the bed just before the last bit of soil was added. There is 6 inches below ground of a mix of native soil and good soil, and about 10 inches of good soil above ground, so all together it is about 16 inches deep. Friday, November 27 View Page The finished bed 3 cubic yards manure 3 cubic yards mulch 4 cubic yards topsoil 1 cubic yard sand. 100lbs gypsum. 10 lbs bone meal. 5 lbs blood meal 5 lbs hollands 5-4-0 sound gro. Friday, December 11 View Page Recieved some more fertilizers and supplys from peaceful valley farms today. Tommorow I will be adding 10 lbs kelp meal, a cubic foot of worm castings, and 5 lbs of alfalfa to the new patch and tilling it in. Friday, December 11 View Page I have been growing sweet potatoes in the old patch, they were just hit by the first freeze, so today I will pull them out and add, 40lbs gypsum, 5 lbs bone meal, 5lbs kelp, a couple lbs of alfalfa meal, and a little bit of worm castings. Friday, December 11 View Page I also have a small 10x14 patch in my back yard where I will be trying to grow a couple of watermelon plants. Hit the cover crop of rye grass with the weed wacker and will till in along with amendments soon. Friday, December 11 View Page Had the first freeze last night. Here are some tomato plants at the back of the watermelon patch that got nipped by frost last night, even though I had a sheet on them. Friday, December 11 View Page I think I have my lineup set for this year, and will be starting the seeds for the new patch next week. I will be planting four seeds in each patch, and probably culling down to 3. (I should really only have 1 plant per patch but I always get to nervous to put all my eggs in 1 basket.)The seeds in the left row will be going in the old patch. They are 1355 Bhaskaran 09, 1237 Horton 09, 1094 Horton 09, 763 Young 09. The seeds in the middle row will be going in the new patch. They are 1467 Perham 08(I'm really excited about this seed.), 1164 Finders 09, 1022 Pingrey 09, and 958 Jongeneel 09. The seeds in the right row will be going in the watermelon patch. They are 194 Holloway 09, 191 Holloway 09, and 150 Bhaskaran 09. Sunday, December 13 View Page Forgot about 1 seed I want to add to the lineup 1039 Atkinson 09 it is the 1350 Starr 07 x 1483 Werner 08. More than likely one of the other seeds wont germinate and I'll put this one in its spot, but either way I'll find a place for it. Tuesday, December 15 View Page Filed the edges of the seeds today and started the ones that will go in the new patch. The 958 Jongeneel seeds felt alot lighter than the rest so I started another 1094 Horton as a backup. Tuesday, December 15 View Page Just put the 5 seeds in the fishtank on a heat mat and covered it with plastic. Should heat up to around 77' Hopefully I they will be up soon and be able to get them in the ground in a week. This is my earliest start ever, but is needed to beat the heat. Wednesday, December 23 View Page Four of the 5 plants are now in the ground the 1467, 1022, 958, and 1094. The 1164 has yet to sprout but I still have a little hope for it. The last few days have been cold and cloudy, and the next few days are supposed to be even colder with highs in the upper 50's lows in the upper 20's out at the new patch. I didnt want to put the plants out in such cold weather, but they were starting to get leggy and root bound in the pot. I built an 8x8 by 3 foot tall box, that has plastic on the sides and remay on the roof, in the middle there is a 150 watt bulb on a dusk to dawn timer for warmth. Hopefully it will keep the temps up enough. Didnt have the camera with me today but will get pics on christmas day. Thursday, December 24 View Page Made a few last minute changes to the lineup that will be going into the ground at the old patch. It will now be 1355 Bhaskaran, 763 Young, 1039 Atkinson, 817.9 Schieder, with the 1237 Horton as a backup. Will be starting the seeds on Christmas Sunday, December 27 View Page Heres a shot of the little greenhouse I built. 2 mil plastic sides and a remay roof. Sunday, December 27 View Page Another shot Sunday, December 27 View Page I put a 150 watt light inside on a dusk to dawn timer. Coldest weather in about 2 years. Yesterday high of 54 low of 29. The temp inside the hut was high of 78 low of 39. So it is at least keeping temps above freezing. I Planted the 4 plants in a square about 5 feet apart. you can see the 958 and 1094 in the picture. Thursday, December 31 View Page Ended up having knee surgury two days ago from a basketball injury so I havent been to the new patch at all, probably wont go until next week. I got out of bed today and got the old patch pumpkins seeds planted in pots in the fishtank. They are 1355, 817, 1039 and 763. Also started two 194 Hollaway's and two 150 Bhaskaran's for the watermelon patch.