Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 50 Entries. Friday, March 7 View Page And so it has begun… With the help of you very nice pumpkin growers I have decided that I can grow a damn giant pumpkin despite the challenges I face; IE, 110+ heat, late start, soil that could be better and a grower that has only a fraction of a clue =). But hey, we all gotta start somewhere, right? I went down to the local plant nursery and procured about 30 bags of soil, some compost, 2 bags of manure, and vermiculite, some fish stock fertilizer and some fruit trees that were on sale for 15 bucks, Sweet! In later posts you will see the area which my 2 plants will inhabit, but for a visual my yard has a raised rear level with rock landscaping, I am going to turn a little 1/3 into my growing area… This weekend I am going to clear the rock away (my back hurts already), add all the new clean dirt, then till the whole mess up with a borrowed roto-tiller borrowed from my soon to be wife’s grandparents. Once that is done I will send my dirt off to get a soil sample so I can see what I must add to get the PH right. And so it begins! The odds are against me, but with hard work, determination, luck, help from you all, more luck, and a shade cloth (and even more luck) I think I can get myself at least 5.5lb pumpkin! =) Saturday, March 8 View Page Well, today was a good and bad day… I got the rock cleared away from my growing site, took out all of the old irrigation and began to till at about 8:00 PM, yea the neighbors really love me! =D MUCH to my dismay after about a half hour of tilling the cutters stopped moving! NOOOOOOOOO, being as this is a borrowed unit from the soon to be in-laws the last thing I wanted was to break something that is not mine! I check the oil and that seems to be good, so my best guess is that the tranny let go. Crud… So, tomorrow I will be calling around to equipment rental places trying to find a tiller to rent for a few hours… ugh… The area is looking really good though. With luck I can get myself a tiller and get all the soil mixed up. Sunday, March 9 View Page Well today was a very productive day… We tilled in about 20 bags worth of top soil, old manure, compost, ash, smelly fish stuff and a dash a miracle grow because a miracle is what I need. Haha… Last night our borrowed tiller took a dive on us so we had to go to plan B which was a trip down to the ol’ tool rental center for a tiller; this ended up to be a very good thing because the tiller we had was way to small for the area that we were covering, even though it is not THAT much. All and all I would say that it was $50 bucks well spent. Overall I am not too happy with how my soil is looking… Then again I am not totally sure how it should look like, but I envision a bare black patch of earth meant for growing things, mine is more of a dark brown… I am guessing I will have to fix this by adding in more ‘good’ soil, and compost. Take a look at the picture and tell me what yea think… For now I am at a stand still I suppose, I should wait before I get my soil tested, but I have a gut feeling that it is not up to par now, bit how out of par I have no clue… Damn, I hate being a nOOb with no other local growers… I will continue to do what I can and search for help! I am now looking for some seeds that I have been told will do better in the Vegas heat… A 1450 Wallace, Holland 500-or 1014,Mitchell 861, or Fredriks 754. If you have any of these seeds of advice then please shoot me an E-mail… [email protected] Monday, March 10 View Page Started to set up the sprinkler/dripper system today, I am using 0-30 GPM drippers and plant ol’ tube… It is easy to set up and best of all its cheap! Pic of that tomorrow… Here is a funny shot of the soon to be wife after opening the fish fertilizer. Good lord that shat reeks! Monday, March 10 View Page Here is the tiller that we rented from the home depot… This thing worked much better than the one we broke. It was like trying to hold and control a pissed off bobcat in your hands! Sheesh!!! It got the job done and best of all we have tracked down another family member who has a 500lb self propelled tiller which we can use after we get our soil tested! Sweet! Hope we don’t break it :-\ Tuesday, March 11 View Page Today I finished installing the watering system; we planted some corn, lettuce, an artichoke, garlic and a few other things just to see if we can grow something in the new patch. I have already laid down the law with the little woman about what the big open area in the middle is for… not a strawberry patch… Pfsh… Girls… ;-) Tuesday, March 11 View Page I have been asked a few times how I got into growing things and why a giant pumpkin. My other plant hobby is growing bonsai trees. I have working with them for about 15 years since I was 8-ish. I enjoy watching them grow, however I am at times rather impatient. So I am going from one end of the scope to the other. Growing small trees that take many years to reach maturity where the goal is to keep them small; to the mad dash of growing a pumpkin as big as possible! Fun, yes? This is my oldest tree that I have had from the start, a Fukien Tee tree that is 23 years old! Wednesday, March 12 View Page Huston, we have lift off! I started a dozen or so store bought seeds just to test out if I could get one out of the shell or not. I woke up today to find it along with some of my giant sunflowers peaking out of the soil! Very cool! Maybe more later today??? Thursday, March 13 View Page HaHa, as per a request here is one of the chameleon species that I breed. I was asking in the chat room the other day if cricket, roach and silk work poo would make good fertilizer and why I had them. I have them because my business is breeding several reptiles and selling them on my web site and at shows. This here is a male Veild Chameleon… Thursday, March 13 View Page While getting a few house plants today at Lowes I noticed that they had a misting system on sale! I have decided that I will use one this year to keep my plant cool, create a bit of humidity, and to keep the soil a lil damp. Not a bad deal for $25 I will be able to zip tie it along the top of shade cloth and run it along the main vine to keep everything happy… I’ll hook it up to a hose and set it up on a timer and let er run. Thursday, March 13 View Page The sprout that came up yesterday is now open with another little nub sticking out the center. I also have several other seeds beginning to pop up. Again, these are my test plants which I am using to hone my seeding care. I may keep one, but the rest are going to be given to unsuspecting bystanders =) Thursday, March 13 View Page I also have several giant sunflowers that are starting to come up as well! Darci is looking forward to growing these! Friday, March 14 View Page Sheesh, these things grow like crazy! The ones that were up yesterday are now double the size of the ones that came up today! My jimmy rigged light that I tossed up on my way to work fell at some point during the day so they all turned a bit trying to follow the light. Phototropism is something that I use in my bonsai, its fun to see it take effect in a day, not year. With the new set up they will be nice and straight tomorrow. I take them out when I get home for a few hours of natural sun. It has been my experience in all living things that *real* sun is highly beneficial in almost any aspect any artificial light pails in comparison to the sun. It also gives me a chance to give them a really good water, today I added a little atlas fish fertilizer to the water. Friday, March 14 View Page Here is what I will use to grow them while I am at work and not able to put them outside, I have 3 different types of lights, each emits a different wavelength of light; I use them to grow terrarium plants, usually one at a time so hopefully 3 at once will help my test giants grow! The rack is nothing more than extra screen chameleon cages that are not in use at the moment. I started to make a nice bench to do the job with the lights on chain, but them stopped myself because such work is not necessary I think. I keep the pumpkins under the main light, the sunflowers are looking nice too! Saturday, March 15 View Page Lots more growth today, I am amazed how fast these sprouts are coming up and expanding! I noticed that the roots were starting to peak out the bottom of a few of the peat post so I have decided that ill keep one, plant it and see what happens with it until I get my good seed. The others will be given away this weekend. The sunflowers will be going into the ground soon too. Saturday, March 15 View Page So now that I have one in the soil I have need of a hot hut to keep it and the dirt warm during the night and windy days… I don’t have any scrap wood or clear plastic so I used one of my extra tubs. Looks good to me! Farming city style… =) Also, here are a few links to some other cool pictures that I took which I don’t wish to add two more postings for. The start of my first *real pumpkin leaf. http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j147/wazio/DSC02912.jpg And the one that I will keep till my good one gets going (the same as above). http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j147/wazio/DSC02915.jpg Sunday, April 6 View Page Whew! Its been way too long since my last update! I have been busy with my wedding planning which is now just 1 more week away! Yikes!!! Anyway, thank you soooo much to you guys who send me some seeds! Never thought I would have a hard time picking which to plant… Anyway, my test plant is still alive and growing, not growing too fast, but still growing. I have not been providing any sort of cold protection at night, so I think that is what is causing the decline in growth. Once the real plant is up and running I will again begin to cover it with some sort of hot hut. Here is a picture… Sunday, April 6 View Page Also while roaming around wal-mart the other day I noticed that they had the exact timers that I wanted!!! Not only did they have them, but they were less than any other new one that I have been able to find new or used on the internet… The large one has timed on and off with a mist function which it what will be used for. The other will be the regular ol ground watering which will feed it as well as the other garden plants. Hooray for wal-mart even though its all China made items. :-\ Sunday, April 6 View Page Also, I friend gave me some Jack be little seeds which I plan on trying to grow. The current plan is to plant them into 15gal pots and train them onto a trellis. The pumpkins are supost to be really small so I am sure ill be able to cradle them with a net or something to keep them from falling off. I have 8 seeds germinating right now; at last check 3 had a root starting to stick out. Ill post pics of them when I have something worth posting. Monday, April 28 View Page Gotta make up for some lost time here… Posting away!!! Here I am starting some veggies that are used to feed all of our reptiles, this dragon wanted to lend a hand… Monday, April 28 View Page Darci supervising us... Monday, April 28 View Page A shot of the growing area... Test plant is in the middle. Monday, April 28 View Page Here is a seed that Darci dropped one day while planting some plants, looks like it landed next to the tomato plant… I was rather surprised to find that once we got back from the honeymoon. Too bad I had to yank it... just no room :( Monday, April 28 View Page Ok, so here is my test plant… It looks ok, but wait till the next shot… Monday, April 28 View Page Ok, you can see the main vine starting to form in the center, however there are leaves and flowers starting to grow in areas that I am guessing are side vines¡K The leaves and such are growing, just not the vine itself¡K Also, a few of the leaves have a bit of a parachute look to them where the edge is tight and will not let the leaf fully open¡K Normal? I also have my first female flower and tendril starting! ƒº Overall I am happy with this little plant, I did not give it the best care but it has grow little by little¡K I¡¦ll use what I have learned from it on my good plants. If you have any idea why it looks the way it dose please mail me¡K Monday, April 28 View Page This is the seed that I have decided to grow. It is from duster (forum name) I don’t have the seed name near me at this very second, ill post it later… But it is looking good, I believe that this is about 10 days old-ish… Monday, April 28 View Page And here I am watering everything after planting the new plant… Monday, April 28 View Page Last one… I have been missing for a while because I got married, went on the honeymoon, moved the wife in, rearranged the house ECT… All this leaves little time for slacking on the computer… + I have been having issues with my mobile internet at work! =( Sheesh… I was reading somewhere about people talking about 3 leaf shoots out of the seed, I had a sun flower toss up one the other day too! Yea, they are a little long, I forgot to take them outside.. Whoops! Sunday, May 4 View Page Oh nooo Disaster! My 861 Fredricks primary plant got blown over today, broken stem and all, it is now nothing more than compost … I have started another 861… I have a 754 Fredricks growing now, but it is really small due to the seed case not letting the leaves unfurl; ill post a picture of that next. Sunday, May 4 View Page Here is the little 754, you can see the size… Like I said before its small because the case not coming off. I notice a little yellowing on the first true leaf, not too sure what that is about. Sunday, May 4 View Page Size comparison Sunday, May 4 View Page A few more strange things about the test plant that I have yet to yank… I just want to see how it will continue grow … The new leaves are having trouble growing/opening, I am beginning to think that it might be the heat (even though its only been in the 80’s), perhaps singing the ends and thus resulting the weird looks of them. Any thoughts? E-mail please. Sunday, May 4 View Page It should also be noted that it has not happened on the other plants that have grown to true leaf size… Just this one… Sunday, May 4 View Page Test plant as a whole Sunday, May 4 View Page annnnnnnnnnnd while im at it.... A picture of the vine. Sunday, May 4 View Page Also, we got a child... We named her pumpkin :) a 10 week old yorkie! Thursday, May 22 View Page Getting hot outside! I put up a shade cloth and my mist'n stuff... Thursday, May 22 View Page You can see all the new leaves have been burnt... That was before the cloth... Now with it on they are growing well again. Thursday, May 22 View Page A cool shot of all the leaves. Thursday, May 22 View Page A picture of the other Pumpkin and my beautiful wifey... The pumpkin is pushing 6lb the wife is... Well, lets just say she wont break any weight records. =) Sunday, June 22 View Page I have not forgotten about you guys! Just as busy as ever though… The plant is doing ok in the heat… I have a mister going on it going off throughout the day to keep it cool and moist. I have set a few pumpkins but culled all off but for the one that was growing the fastest. It is about 10 days old and the size of a soccer ball… Though other vines are doing better this pumpkin was going the best by far so I think I am going to stick with it. With the weather that we have here in Vegas I think I might try for a second pumpkin plant after this one is done, then just improve the soil during the winter… I have starting thinking about things that I want to add, I need a soil test done again then add as needed. Overall my first pumpkin growing venture is going well, I am happy enough to do it again so that’s a good thing! I already broke my goal of simply getting a pumpkin to grow so im jazzed! I would upload some pictures but I am at work right now… ill try to get some up when I get home. ~Chad Sunday, June 22 View Page Here is the pumpkin… over the top says that it is about 5lb… Woo Hoo!!! This was taken on the 18th… Sunday, June 22 View Page And here is another pic so you can see the growth... This was taken on the 22nd, 4 days later. Monday, July 7 View Page still growing... Though the heat is starting to take a toll... Looks like it is starting to get a little orange. Monday, July 7 View Page I cover it during the day to keep the sun off of it... A few vines are still going strong... while others are starting to poop out... Any tips? I am going to try to set a pumpkin on another vine. Monday, July 7 View Page Time to dry the seeds... Anything special need to be done for the flowers? Friday, October 3 View Page Well, I did not die. Just busy with the business, work and getting used to the married life. Here are a few shots of the pumpkin. When it was all said and done I ended up with a 38lb pumpkin… Not 100lb like I wanted however I would say 38 is not too bad for a 1st time grow on a store bought seed started way to late in the oven of the desert! =) Friday, October 3 View Page The pumpkin and our dog... Pumpkin :) Friday, October 3 View Page Medicine ball or pumpkin??? Friday, October 3 View Page The great weigh in… Yea, ok… So its not an exact scale or anything, but it worked for now. Haha. I still dont know what the heck that white spot on the top was.