Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 102 Entries. Saturday, March 21 View Page Not much going on here yet.....got the chamber in the basement going with some seed testing going on. Built these today.... Monday, April 6 View Page Tilled the 1000 sq. ft. patch on sunday for the first time. plan on doing a couple more tilling in the next couple weeks. Never did get a soil test done but still plan on getting a couple more loads of horse poop and maybe a load of compost. I will have a pile made for just burrying vines in the corner of the patch. time is getting short and still so much work do be done. Saturday, April 18 View Page Added 25 pounds of Humic Acid to entire patch today (Thanks Andy) and added a couple bales of peat moss to the shallow pits, which will be underneath the hoop houses. 2 hours of tilling later, not looking too bad. Plan on burrying the soil heating cables 6" deep next weekend and putting the hoops out for a good 10 days before transplanting. Will start my chosen seeds next weekend also in the basement. Saturday, April 25 View Page well the goal today was to get the soil heating cables, soaker hoses and hoops in. but due to windy weather, i only got to bury the cables and lay the first set of soaker hoses down. it was too windy to put the hoops up. i need to find some 2' long stakes for anchoring the hoops? any ideas? Sunday, April 26 View Page Alittle wet in the patch this morning, but able to get the hoops installed. Modified them alittle by taking off the bottom rectangle and pounding rebar 18" into ground and sliding uprights over them. Placed wood on the sides to help hold down the plastic sheething to the ground. hope they survive a good month here. Will file seeds tonight and soak for an hour and start in pots in basement. Sunday, April 26 View Page 9 chosen seeds and 3 seeds from my 357 open pollinated pumpkin from last year soaked for 1 hour and in pots. trying to keep the chamber at about 80-85 degrees. i am not good at germinating seeds :( hope they come up... Let the season begin!!!!! Thursday, April 30 View Page 1085 Bowles and 695 Young are poking out of the dirt. Both went over 20% heavy. Others are following behind. Friday, May 1 View Page looks like 11 out of my 12 seeds germinated!!!!! some faster then other, 6 of them are totally out of dirt and 5 more shell is almost out. the 6 are under the lights now, plan on getting 4 of the 11 into the hoops middle of next week and transplanting the others to bigger pots. 1085 Bowles, 964 Daletas, 695 Young, and 1144 Horton growing the best so far. Sunday, May 3 View Page Got 10 plants growing now. Each hoop will hold 2 plants until I decide end of May which plant to keep in each. Tuesday, May 5 View Page Well my season has officially started today. Transplanted 4 plants into the hoops. (2) in each house for now and will cull the weaker in 2-3 weeks. Let the season begin.... Saturday, May 9 View Page Plants took good in the hoops the first 2 days with noticable growth. The last 2 days have been a different story, and today noticed a small pea size yellow spot on 2 of the plants. I have heating cables burried so i know my soil is warm enough. not sure what else would cause this, any ideas? Sunday, May 10 View Page Frost Advisory tonight....plants will be covered with buckets in sealed hoops tonight for some extra protection. Thursday, May 14 View Page Hoops closed all day today due to some very wet, windy weather. Tomorrow looks like sunny and 70. All 4 plants still alive. Been in patch 9 days now and all are growing their 3rd leaves now. I think the cold nights are holding back some growth, even with heating cables and sealed hoops at night, they still get down to like low 50's at night. Sunday, May 17 View Page Hoop House #1 - 12 days after putting plants in. 695 Young on bottom and backup 1144 Horton up top. Both growing the same, will be a tough choice come culling time in 2 weeks. Sunday, May 17 View Page Hoop House #2 - 1085 Bowles on bottom and backup 964 Daletas on top. The daletas is slightly ahead but I am hoping the 1085 catches up in the next 2 weeks. Wednesday, May 20 View Page Sunny with highs in the mid 70's - 80 today and tomorrow but 15-20 mph winds so i can't leave the ends of the hoops completely down. The west side of hoop is half way down and the east side is fully down. Winds should calm down on Friday. Sunday, May 24 View Page South Hoop - 695 Young lower and 1144 horton upper Sunday, May 24 View Page North Hoop - 1085 Bowles lower and 964 Daletas upper Sunday, May 24 View Page Weekly Overhead Picture Monday, May 25 View Page Looks like Powderly Mildew entered the season VERY VERY early this season so i sprayed a light dose of fungiside this evening along with a light spray dose of Sevin and fish and seaweed drench to plants. Hopefully, I wont burn these plants, i sprayed when the sun was near the horizon....will find out soon if i did good or bad. I hope i can contain what i think is P.M. Tuesday, May 26 View Page oh no, looks like i made a big mistake. Thursday, May 28 View Page Maybe I got lucky, but the mains are starting to grow on the plants. the 964 main vine is growing 90 degrees from where the first true leaf is. I don't see any double vines yet. Will be tough deciding which plants to cull middle next week. Saturday, May 30 View Page All 4 plants vining now, at roughly 1' long. South Hoop - 1144 horton plant growing well and vine going in good direction. 695 Young - main vine reachign for sky but should fall in good direction, this hoop culling will be the hardest choice. North Hoop - 964 Daletas plant main vine growing 90 degrees from opposite first true leaf and looks like a kinked hose where it starts to bend. 1085 plant growing about 45 degrees off the direction i was planning but should be easy to train around. As of today, i would chose the 1085 bowles over the 964 daletas......the other hoop, who knows yet. Vines should be on the ground in the next 3-4 days i hope and hoops maybe removed next weekend. Culling will happen once vines hit ground. Sunday, May 31 View Page Well decided to do my culling today. It was hard abut had to be done. South Hoop - I culled the 1144 Horton plant and kept the 695 Young plant for growing. North Hoop - I culled the 964 Daletas plant and kept the 1085 Bowles plant for growing. Some of the keeping was due to both of these fruits going 24 and 29% heavy, but there were other reasons also, like the angle and the kinked vine on the daletas plant, and better looking leaves on the 695 young. Rotated hoops today also to give the main some extra length room under the hoop until they are removed in the next week or 2. the bowles main should be on the ground in the next few days and the young plant in maybe another week. Sunday, May 31 View Page South hoop, home to the 695 Young Sunday, May 31 View Page North hoop, home to the 1085 Bowles Sunday, May 31 View Page Weekly Overhead Picture. Friday, June 5 View Page Touchdown on both plants, mains about 2.5 feet long now and starting to run. Im slowly training them to turn and go down the middle of the patch. Mains should outgrow the hoops in the next 2-3 days and maybe another week for the secondarys to outgrow the sides of the hoops. Got a pile of compost in corner of patch i am using to bury vines as they grow. Been a dry spring.....we need some good rain!! Sunday, June 7 View Page 695 Young - About a 3 foot vine, I'm trying to train it to go down the center of the patch. Small holes in a couple leaves, not sure how they got there but oh well. Sunday, June 7 View Page 1085 Bowles - about a 3 foot vine also. Also trying to train this the same way. Again, tiny holes in a couple leaves, but nothing to worry about i am sure. OUCH - Snapped the first secondary off the west side while trying to bamboo stick it, but oh well, i have been told some people prune off the first 2ndary vine, so i will trian the next one back which is about 1' up the main. Sunday, June 7 View Page Weekly Overhead Picture - Put up some more wind fence today. Also took plastic off hoops, but kept the frames up for Emergency only. Tonight calls for low 50's but I am so busy during the week, I thought I would remove it now. Upcoming nights look mid to upper 50's, and maybe some 60 degree nights. I still have heating cables running, not sure if they are of any use with plastic off hoops, but can't hurt, right? Tuesday, June 9 View Page Good thing I left the Frames up - I have a habit of checking the weather often and i work 2nd shift so i am normally awake til about 3-4 am. Well at 130am, i check www.weather.com and the National Weather Service has issued severe rain and thunderstorms producing small hail so what do i do? I run outside, grab the plastic out of the garage and cover the frames with some plastic. Drenched with pouring rain, I cover them (not very good) but try my best to prevent any unnecessary damage. Anyone who does this at 130am must be crazy.....guess i am!!! Thursday, June 11 View Page Well vines are growing but plants don't look as healthy as last year. Lots of colored spots on leaves, hope to spray Sevin and some Fungicide this weekend. Friday, June 12 View Page Foliar fed with some Neptunes Seaweed tonight, and also with some Ortho Disease Control. Layed down more soakers today and backed up the temp. wind protection fence. Pictures coming Sunday Sunday, June 14 View Page 695 Young Plant - Main out about 6' now. Sunday, June 14 View Page 1085 Bowles - Main out about 5-6 feet now. This was my biggest plant a couple weeks ago but the 695 is now the leader. Sunday, June 14 View Page Weekly Overhead Picture. Monday, June 15 View Page Found first pea size female out at about 6 feet today on the 1085 bowles and first male flower opened at stump area. Obviously will snip off the female in a day or 2. Saturday, June 20 View Page Lots of rain this past week including all day today. Tomorrow should be somewhat sunny and then the next few days should be nice and maybe some 80 degree days. Mains on both plants about 10' long now....my goal is 15' mains by July 1st, so i have another 10 days til reach that. 695 plant growing much faster and is much fuller then the 1085 is. First few east side secondarys of each plant may reach the grass by next weekend, so those will get terminated, but since i culled both plants on the west of the hoops, the west side vines will be able to grow much longer then the east siders. Right now, the plants look like distorted xmas trees as i train the mains to go down the middle of patch. Hope to spray with some Sevin and Fungicide tomorrow after all this rain. Sunday, June 21 View Page Pretty nice day today, took pictures but plants in pictures look much healthier then they do in person. Will spray Sevin and some Fungicide tonight. Here we go: Sunday, June 21 View Page 695 young Sunday, June 21 View Page 1085 bowles Sunday, June 21 View Page Overhead: Wednesday, June 24 View Page Mains out about 12' feet now, and sunny and 80's the last couple days. I have noticed some leaf wilting on the last 2-3 of the mains and a couple 2ndary vines and some serious leaf burn. I guess the hot weather is too warm for these tender leaves. I can mist til early afternoon....how about shading, what is a good choice for shading the new growth on the main? Thursday, June 25 View Page Well thanks to everyone who responded to my "leaf Burn" post. After getting home from work wednesday night, i went to check at some of the leaves and they are definately fried/burned. I may leave them for now, but put plastic chairs over the tips of the mains for slight shade protection. In the next week or two, I may cut the leaves off and hope the area fills in somehow. Look like starting Next week, temps will be back down into the mid/upper 70's. I could be wrong here, but I would rather have lower temps and suffer alittle on growth then to have high temps and burning issues. John told me his 695 seed has a past history of not being grown in sunny environments...... The 1085 isnt sufferening as much.... Thursday, June 25 View Page All vines pruned, trained and buried this afternoon. Strong storms suppose to be entering the area tonight and hail possible. 695 plant has more leaf burning then i thought, main tip shaded. 1085 plant main tip shaded also.....not as much burn. Friday, June 26 View Page Yup, bad storm this afternoon, get home thursday night at midnight and go out to check on plants. Many vines unburried and bent over......will try to reposition them tomorrow morning and rebury Could have been much worse..... Friday, June 26 View Page Tried to adjust the vines and bury the vines. leaves standing back up.....i am guessing we got some hail here yesterday also, because i noticed many many small holes in many leaves. Saturday, June 27 View Page 695 Young...less sun, but my biggest plant...hmmm? Saturday, June 27 View Page 1085 bowles....more sun but smaller plant...hmmm? Saturday, June 27 View Page Weekly overhead.... Sunday, June 28 View Page Looks like 1 female on each plant will be ready for pollinating Tuesday morning. Both about 11' out on mains.......only problem is I am low on male flowers ready to open, will be searching for them before work tomorrow afternoon and will pick them when i get home Monday night at midnight. Tuesday, June 30 View Page Today was pollination day. 3 Pollinations this morning: 695x1085 (main vine) 1085x1085 (main vine) 1085x1085 (side vine)...just for the heck of it.....for now. I will pollinate multiple side fruits and cull in the next 3 weeks. Friday, July 3 View Page did my weekly seaweed folar feed spray tonight along with a sevin/fungicide spray also. after many days of rain, and a good week coming up here, i thought it was time to do a sevin spraying. pollinated fruit are growing slow, but it is only day 3. Saturday, July 4 View Page Weekly Overhead Shot: First fruit on each plant about 11' out on day 4 today, not sure if they took but they are growing slowly by the day. Measuring about 7.5" around their widest part on day 4 today.....do you think they took? Each plant should have another to pollinate about 15' down the main in the next 2-3 days. Main vines are at about 17' long now and I am starting to turn them so i can get another 5-7' of them. Some side vines have been terminated due to edge of patch, far side vines may reach edge in another week or 2. Some vines have terminated themselves, so i just snip and bury those ones also. Windy day today, gonna take the last inner wind protection barrier down in a day or 2. Sunday, July 5 View Page Both plant will open a female about 15' out on main monday morning. First fruits at about 11' out are not growing real well, only maybe tennis ball size on day 5.....(i hate this hand pollination thing). My 695 plant will not produce any male flowers, once they get matured, they die. I found the first one tonight and was gonna use it tomorrow morning, but opened up the petals and it was dead inside. Looks like I will only self the 1085 this year, she is throwing out males like crazy. Did I mention I am not good at this hand pollinating thing and don't care for it also.....I am ready to let the bees do the work...... Monday, July 6 View Page Pollinated each plant today, about 15' out on mains. I used a tiny artists brush this time and it seemed better. I used 4 males per female. Plenty of pollen on those females.....All I can do is hope!!!!! Friday, July 10 View Page Well today is Day 10 for the first 11' Main fruit on each plant. Not as big as I was hoping, but I think they are starting to swell up now. Meanwhile, the 2nd fruit on each main about 15' out are on day 4 today and are 1/2" bigger then the first were on their Day 4. Wont cull any for another week or two. Got 1 more opening on each plant on the mains about 19-20' out and should open in another day or 2, but I am thinking they are too late and will decide between the 2 pollinated on each main now and the open pollinations on the sides. Mains out over 20' now, turning them to try to get 30' if i can and the most growth after the fruit. Many side vines on the 1085 are self terminating while the 695 vines are thick and growing quick. Saturday, July 11 View Page Windy day today, each plant has a 11' out 11 day old fruit and 15' out 5 day old fruit. The ones at 15' are slightly above the measurements at day 5 then the 11' ones were and have better angls so i may chose the ones at 15' out. Gonna pollinate one 19' on main on the 695 tomorrow, and a 19' one on the 1085 maybe monday. Still got plenty of patch to grow on, but plan on terminating all vines at day 25-30 of my chosen fruit, whichever fruit it will be. Saturday, July 11 View Page As you can see, the 1085 on the right is growing slow and has plenty of room left to grow. the 695 on left is filling in its area well. Saturday, July 11 View Page 695 Young Saturday, July 11 View Page 1085 Bowles Saturday, July 11 View Page Strong storms coming soon, could get ugly very quick Sunday, July 12 View Page cross pollinated a nice 5 lober on the 695 today about 19' out. Monday, July 13 View Page I got caught up on other things last night, and didnt make it up this morning....so i missed the female opening at about 19' out on the 1085, she is now an open pollination. Culling season should be in a few days. The 11' fruits on day 13 are about basketball size, and the 15' fruits on day 7 are almost softball size. The 15' on the 695 is behind what the 11' was on day 7, but the 15' on the 1085 is slightly ahead of her older sister on day 7. The angle of the 15' on the 1085 looks pretty good, but the 15' on the 695 hasnt layed down and doesnt look like as good of an angle as i was hoping. This has got to be the hardest part of the season, 15' may be a better location then 11' but I may have the keep the 11' fruit on the 695 depending on how the 15' lays down. 3 fruit growing on each main now, and no 2ndary fruit so far. Wednesday, July 15 View Page This will probably be my keeper ont he 695 plant. She is about 12' down the main. Day 15 today, she meausured 32.5 cc. Her 9 day old younger sister at 15' is growing on the vine, so culling season may be as soon as tomorrow. Wednesday, July 15 View Page Here is the 11' fruit on the 1085 plant. She is 31cc today on day 15 but may see the knife soon. Her younger sister at 15' on the main is growing much faster on her day 9. Thursday, July 16 View Page Sad day in the patch today. I decided which fruit to keep and which to cull. Snipped half way through stem today and will snip the whole stem off tomorrow. Saturday, July 18 View Page Weekly Overhead: Vines starting to slow down due to set fruit. Noticing more dead leaves around the stump areas everyday now, and found my first cuc. beetle at the 20' main vine mark on the 695 today. Will spray tomorrow evening. Again, my chosen fruit are 12' out on the 695 plant and 15' out on the 1085 plant. I honestly dont see these plants staying together for another 2 months.....but I can always hope. Been slacking on the weeds and vines the last few days....other things to take care of in life. Anchor roots snips under vines about 3' on each side of stems with foam board under vines. Still windy everyday and cool nights dont help at all. Thursday, July 23 View Page Soo much rain here the last couple days and more on the way. The patch is soo wet right now with some flooding going on. Not anything i can do about it except wait. the 2 fruit are still growing daily, even with all this rain and cloudy weather. Friday, July 24 View Page Aittle sun out now but more rain on the way today and over the weekend as well. Weeds have gone from very little last week to a forest now.....i dont have the patience to weed so they are what they are. Vines need burying and pruning and just not enough time to do it all. Both fruit are growing, even though i am not completely happy with the vine/stem angles on both fruit. the 24 day old 695 fruit hit 100 pounds today and the 18 day old 1085 fruit hit 50 pounds today. Sunday, July 26 View Page 30 mph wind gusts today flipped over numerous vines.....geez the white sheets with shade shelters over them wont even stay over the fruit. I am done reanchoring these vines, it is what it is.... fruit growing 12-15 pounds per day now (terrible stem/vine angles). Being very careful each day. I am ready for october.......ummm maybe summer will be here then......good luck all. Saturday, August 1 View Page Weekly Overhead: Weeds taking over patch......lazy part of me. All vines before fruit on the 695 are terminated and burried. Vines after fruit still left growing for now. Most vines on 1085 have self terminated...some still growing slowly. Mains are left growing and about 25-30 ft now. Sunday, August 2 View Page Getting nervous about stem stress on both fruit....her shoulders are very very close to the main vine on day 33 today.....i have some styrofoam in between the shoulders and the vines,, but they are so close to touching.....pumpkins too big to do anything else now. Friday, August 7 View Page terminated all the vines after the fruit on the 695 plant this morning. The 1085 is not looking real good, many leaves turning yellow and dieing, fruit is down to about 9 lbs growth per day now. 695 - Estimated 350 lbs today. 1085 - Estimated 218 lbs today I hope i can still hit 500 lbs, but growth seems to be slowing and plants starting to die off.... Saturday, August 8 View Page Well like i said, the 1085 plant has numerous yellow leaves, so i was out back cutting them off today when i looked at one of the stalks and saw a SVB slug in it. That explains the leaves being yellow i guess. There may be more. Here is a pic of the 1085 fruit, really slowing down now due to SVB infested plant. Estimate about 242 pounds today: Saturday, August 8 View Page 695 Young fruit - Day 39 today, est. about 368 pounds. Saturday, August 8 View Page another Sunday, August 9 View Page More Strong Storms this afternoon: Should be another exciting day :) Sunday, August 9 View Page After our afternoon downpour and thunderstorm today, the sun has come out and some nice warm temps currently. As I mentioned, i removed a few 2ndary vines on the right side plant yesterday and today. The fruit is stil growing, and that is all that matters. More rain due tonight and tomorrow and tuesday..... Weekly Overhead shot... Monday, August 10 View Page Yup, rain rain and more rain last night/this morning. Bad winds last night also, took down some wind fence and bent some leaves on 1 side of patch. Surprisingly, I got good growth on the 695 fruit.....tonight should be a pretty warm night, but then back down to lower 60's. My new goal = Something to get to the weighoff. Friday, August 14 View Page After last Sundays Storm, growth has continued to happen. Should be a hot weekend here, and the next week looks like warm nights which should make it an interesting week. I should hit my Before the season "Goal" by Monday the 17th, but more weigh won't hurt :) First sign of PM happening, gonna spray Sevin and Fungicide Friday evening. I hope the 695 can continue to grow for a few more weeks, while the 1085 plant continues to loses leaves and die thanks to the SVB and grows ever so slightly. Saturday, August 22 View Page 695 fruit - Day 54 Saturday, August 22 View Page 695 - blossom end - sorry, day 53. Saturday, August 22 View Page side view Saturday, August 22 View Page 1085 fruit Sunday, August 30 View Page Well she is slowing down....estimating about **4 pounds as of sunday the 30th. Beautiful Orange color. Plants looking worse and worse each day.....5 more weeks for her to stay together Saturday, September 5 View Page Picture of my wheel as of saturday the 5th....small for you guys but over my goal and about double weight of last year.....i couldnt ask for much more. 4 weeks to go!!!!!!!! Saturday, September 12 View Page Went shopping at Lowes today for (3) 16 ft 4x4's and accessories. Besides that, nothing new. Saturday, September 12 View Page oh yeah, no rain in almost 3 weeks here, and none in forecast for next week also.....gotta be a record dryest september ever. Saturday, September 19 View Page Back by Popular Demand = Overhead Picture!!! Not much left back there.....Smaller fruit going to Clarence, Larger going to Pumpkinville. Wednesday, September 23 View Page Well noticed some Burrow holes under my 695 over the last few days so bought some d-con pellets and have a couple traps with peanut butter out there around her. I am guessing mice. I couldn't find moth balls so we will see how these work. Thursday, September 24 View Page Bought some moth balls tonight, got home and looked down in some of the burrow holes and saw a tail and some fur....dropped some balls down the hole, and 1/2 hour later, the balls were not in the holes anymore. If i had a way to get this thing into my garage, i would cut it off early.....but instead....I'm riding the season out....THIS IS WAR!!!!!!! Friday, October 2 View Page Hoisting the 1085 up this evening. Plant never really took off from the beginning, big dissapointment. Got hit by SVB early august, and being the inexperienced grower I am, I wasn't ready for them. only taping 365 pounds....may be my PB on Saturday...............until Sunday Friday, October 2 View Page plants removed. nothing left except weeds and 1/2+ ton of fruit. Saturday, October 3 View Page Here is the 1085 Bowles.....OTT was 365# and she went 18.5% heavy. She now has a new name.....432 Robinson 08. My new PB for 1 day. Sunday, October 4 View Page Rough ride this morning to Pumpkinville. The bottom of the 695 was not flat and was rolling around and tipping the whole hour ride. Had to stop a few times to adjust the straps. Could not have asked for anything better, both fruit went over the chart. New PB today,the 695 young taped 804 lbs. and went 10% heavy at 882 lbs. An added bonus with the Howard Dill Award!!!!!!!!!! Tuesday, October 13 View Page Decided to email the City Newspaper (Tonawanda News) last Friday and see if i could get a picture of me and my pumpkin published.I guess they called Pumpkinville for some info and stats. Got a call Monday and they are sending out a photographer on Tuesday afternoon and want to do a little story about her. That made my day :) Tuesday, October 13 View Page Priceless!!!!! http://www.tonawanda-news.com/local/local_story_286230742.html Sunday, November 1 View Page Was a Happy Halloween on my street, as always Kids and Adults loved my display. Sunday, November 1 View Page Another: Sunday, November 1 View Page I recieved numerous emails over this past growing season from growers who commented on my overhead pictures. I am ending 2009 with this "Final" Overhead Pictures. My fruit will now R.I.P Bring on 2010