Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 155 Entries. Thursday, March 20 View Page Getting ready for the 08 gardening season. Thursday, March 20 View Page Wrong pic on that last entry, that was a pic of some of my peppers I picked last year. Here's a pic of my biggest last year (104), hopefully I can atleast tripe this that size this year! Thursday, March 27 View Page We had a break from the rain for almost a week which allowed the ground to dry up enough to put a rough till on the patch yesterday. Thursday, March 27 View Page The last pic was of one side of my patch, this pic is of the new side of my patch I decided to add this your to accommodate a couple more plants. Hopefully my dog pulls a couple grubs out of the ground. Thursday, March 27 View Page Another shot of the new side of the patch with my dog grub hunting. Thursday, March 27 View Page Close up of the hunter in action. Friday, March 28 View Page You know pumpkin theft is running rampid nowadays, so i decided to bring in some overnight security to protect my future prizewinning pumpkins. Monday, March 31 View Page Well it was dry for the past couple days so i was able to get out and complete the rough tilling today on the new patch area and the veg. garden. this is a view looking from the veg. garden to the new patch area. Monday, March 31 View Page This pic is a view looking from the back of the new patch area . my old patch area is to the left of this shown in previous pics. Monday, March 31 View Page This will be the new site for my veg. garden, my old site is to the left still surround by animal/wind break. I should be getting about a 1/2-1 ton of composted manure within the next week or two to put down in the patch. The whole are is tilled at maximum depth of my borrowed tiller which is about 10 inches. Monday, April 14 View Page Well I was able to get a lot of work done this past weekend. I dug out 4 pits about 4ft in diameter and 18 inches deep. I added my amendments to the whole patch but put a little extra in the pits. I put about 200 lbs of composted cow manure, a bunch of peat, some super bloom, and dirt in the holes. I mounded two of the 4 holes just to see if i noticed any early season benefits to mounding. I also applied Scott's grubx to the enite patch. And completed a final till of the patch. Monday, April 14 View Page You can see the future location of my four pumpkin plants (I have not determined which seeds I am going to use yet) The first two spots I mounded about 6 to 8 inches up the two spots in the back of this pic are at grade. I also covered each area with perforated black plastic to heat the planing are a up. Monday, April 14 View Page Close up of my primary planting area. Monday, April 14 View Page Here are some of my pepper seedlings from about 5 days ago. So far I have: (dozen) Sweet longs, (dozen)Sweet bells, (2 dozen) Cali. Wonder, up. I have 18 Hots which just germinated i placed in the pots today. I also i have Cubanelles & Cascabelles Germinating right now. I also have pickles up and sweet baby water melons. Monday, April 14 View Page I plan on starting my giant watermelons this coming weekend (Thanks a lot V.J. for the seeds!!) I will prob. wait about a week and a half to start the AG's. Saturday, April 19 View Page Pepper land, These are my pepper plants. They grew quite a bit since my last post. Saturday, April 19 View Page Watermelon day. Today I started the germination process for my giant watermelon plants. (Once again thanks a lot for the seeds!)I filed the 146 & 157 seeds, I did not file the 115 seeds. I want to see if i notice a difference in germination times. The seeds were soaked for 4hrs in a 80/20 mix of water/peroxide then placed in a moist paper towel, then put in a small sealed container in between my cable box and VCR which is 85 degrees. i plan on using the same germination method for my pumpkin seeds. Saturday, April 19 View Page This is a pic of the pots I plan on putting my germinated seeds into. They are about 1 gallon pots (actually 50 cent clearance easter baskets)I cut the pots in half and tape them back together for easy removal of the plants when i transplant them into the patch. I find that it is way easier to remove the plant and much safer for the root system. I will put my primary plants in the 1 gallon pots. (watermelon and Pumpkin). Thursday, April 24 View Page well, here are the Melons. They took about 48 hrs. to germinate, after germination I transferred them into the pots shown. They have been in pots for 5 days now. All of them are moving along, although the 157's have some curled leaves on them, might be because I pulled the seed casing off... Friday, April 25 View Page Closer look at the 146, This one is definitely the beauty contest winner out of the bunch, where do i pin the ribbon? (5 days old) Friday, April 25 View Page Pepper land, They look a little leggy to me, other then that they are moving along nicely. I have been trying to get them out during the day to thicken them up a little. I might have to dose them up with a thickening agent. Friday, April 25 View Page Well finally here it is... The first and second string, the pumpkins of tomorrow,The garden elephant. One of these seeds will produce a fifty pound pumpkin. I can't wait!! I have 4 primary spots: 3 of the spots are dedicated to the 1016 Daletas, 1062.5 Stelts, & 588 young. The other 4 I will call on the fly. Friday, April 25 View Page I think my dog might be Amish... I would like to thank all of the growers that sent me seeds!!! Friday, April 25 View Page Started the germination process on the AG's today. I filed them a little, soaked them in a peroxide/water mix for about 3 hours at room temp. Then they were placed in a damp paper towel which was then placed in a small Tupperware container, then placed on top of my cable box which heats the container upto about 81 - 86 degrees. Sunday, April 27 View Page So far 6 of 7 seeds germinated, The 5 seeds in this pic germinated in about 40hrs. Also the 1016 Daletas just germinated, which would put it at about 48hrs. I am just waiting on the 588 young. This seed has a really thick shell so i might be waiting a while. All germinated seeds were placed in 1 gal. pots with Miracle grow moisture control potting mix at room temp. Side note: It was about 80 the past two days here so my germination chamber temps were higher then what I was shooting for they ranged from 81-93. 6 of 7, if I get 7 of 7 this will be a first Perfecto germ. I might go buy some lotto tickets if this happens. Sunday, May 4 View Page Here is a pic of the 08 team late friday afternoon. First day out side for these plants, it was really warm out. My other two plants still show no signs of dirt movement so they didn't make the pic. After germination i placed them in pots at room temp, it took about 5 days for them to show. Sunday, May 4 View Page 774 basset about 36 hrs later. This plant was in the ground for about five days after germ. I left all plants at room temp. with no overhead light, I just let nature do the work. After five days this plant just exploded out of the ground. At 36 hrs up the cots are mongo! We'll see if it can kkep this pace up. Sunday, May 4 View Page Two starters down for the count. Well some bad news, the 588 young has yet to germ, and the 1016 deletas is not makeing much progress, when it was up a little and shedding it's seed coat i noticed the center of the cot looked yellowish and dead. This plant is at a stand still right now, I doubt it will make it. Sunday, May 4 View Page Well here are the troopers that are getting ready to march into battle with the Cucs, squashers, & SVBs, I'm sure it is just a matter of time till we lose another. So far looking pretty good This pic was taken sun. morning The plants are moving along nicely. From top left: 778 liggitt, 1009 young, 1062 stealts, 1016 daletas(wounded), 410 hemp, 774 bassett. Sunday, May 4 View Page I plan on starting about 3 backup plants within the next day or two just in case I lose any plants during the transplant period. My primary's plats are growing quicker then expected, I wanted to wait until around the 11th of may to put in the ground, but i don't think the 1 gal pot will hold em if they keep growing at this rate. Sunday, May 4 View Page Watermelons are moving along slowly but surly, This pic shows them about a day ago, All of them shown now have there first true leaf opening. they had there fist big slumber party outside with no cover the other night(low 59) and did well. It was only 39 last night so i brought them in. Also The long gourds are taking forever to germ. I have 2 97 duffys that are just breaking dirt, I started a few others that show no sign of life yet (about a week), they are still in the germ chamber. The 588 young pumpkin seed I am about to retire, it is at day 10 or 11 in the germ. chamber with a bit of fungi on it. So 6 of 7 this year on the pumpkin germ. rate,I'll take it. I started about 8 craven sunflowers yesterday and 7 of them already germinated, that was quick. Thursday, May 8 View Page The pumpkin plants are moving along nicely so far, The daletas (lower right) is still on the injured list but might snap out it. I plan on putting them in the ground soon, I looked at the 10 day forecast and we have a little cold spell coming early next week I will prob. plant them as soon as the cold spell ends. I have yet to start backups, I will start those within the next couple days. Thursday, May 8 View Page Craven sunflowers are up, These should be fun to grow. 100% germination on these within 24hrs. Thursday, May 8 View Page Watermelons are moving along at a steady rate. Left is the 146's & right Are the 157's. The peat pot on top is a 97 duffy LG, there is also another that is in the very upper right of the pic. I did not have much luck with germinating the Long gourds. I started 7 and only had the 2 97 Duffy's germinate, I started 3 110 stars today, we'll see if I have any luck with em... Thursday, May 8 View Page All plants are moving along nicely , I plan on doing all of my planting when the cold spell passes next week. Wednesday, May 14 View Page Planted my starters today, 1062 stelts, 1009 young, 774 bassett, & 778 liggett. I still have the 410 hampp & 1016 delatas on standby. The 410 hampp was growing pretty slowly, and the 1016 delatas has not recovered from the cots being stuck together. all of my starters that were planted today look really good. It was really windy today so hopefully the young plants can handle it. I setup some wind breaks to help. The 10 day forecast shows rain every single day excaept for one, hopefully my plants don't drown. No pics, No camera due to rain. Wednesday, May 14 View Page Planted the the veggies yesterday. dozen sweet bells, dozen sweet longs, 10 cali wonder, 8 gypsys, 4 zucunni, 4 cucumber, @ 2 strawberry plants. I still plan on planting some cubanelle & Hot peppers. Friday, May 16 View Page Well heres the patch layout. I set up some wind breaks on the top two plants, they are further up the hill and are getting hit by some pretty decent winds. Cool and rainy is the forecast for the next week. Friday, May 16 View Page 1009 young, 5-15 Friday, May 16 View Page 1062 Stelts, 5-15 Friday, May 16 View Page 778 liggett, 5-15 Friday, May 16 View Page 774 bassett, 5-15. So far plants are looking good. I imagine they will be moving pretty slowly this coming week due to the cold rainy weather. I was too lazy to pull the weeds in the pumpkin patch so I tilled it today, I plan on planting the pumpkins this coming weekend, along with the the LG's, and the remaining vegetables. Monday, May 19 View Page Lots of rain, wind, & Cold weather. We have had wind gusts over 40mph, a couple inches of rain & lucky to break out of the 50's i think it was 62 today. Weather overall has been S@%*#Y. I have double wind breaks setup on my plants, I have one wind break that surrounds the whole patch then a smaller wind break to go around each plant, they have been getting pounded and surprisingly holding up. NOTE: The lows have been getting down to the low 40's at night. No issues seen yet, Except the plants not growing... Sunday, June 1 View Page Well, it's been a while since my last post, Finally out of the cold weather. It has been really warm here the past few days (in the 80s) Still seem to be getting hit by alot of wind though, but the plants are starting to move. The plants were at a stand still for about two weeks with the cool days and cold nights, this past week they have loved the hight temps. This is the 1009 young, which is vining, The winds have been pretty strong so hopefully i can get these plants down in a reasonable period of time. I fertilized all plants yesterday for the first time with some bloom buster. So far no I have not seen any signs of insects on my plants. Sunday, June 1 View Page 1062 Stealts, this plant is vining and pushing out on monster canopy leaf. Doing very well, considering the bad weather we were hit with. The 1062 and 1009 are the two best looking plants as of now. Sunday, June 1 View Page 774 bassett, this plant is vining and doing well. Sunday, June 1 View Page 778 liggitt is the runt of the bunch, but looks healthy, it might just grow a monster. Sunday, June 1 View Page These are my backups, I will prob. try to squeeze one in somewhere, and if nobody needs them just plant them in the woods and let them grow wild. Sunday, June 1 View Page I never grew grapes before, but I stumbled upon some one year old grape vine plants at lowes and decided to take a try. I planted these two plants in early april and they were nothing but a few wooden sticks, they are very aggressive growers. (the breed of grape is MARS) Sunday, June 1 View Page From front to back in rows. Strawberries (already had about 7 ripen they are good) - Sweet 100 cherry tomatoes - celebrity tomatoes - pickles - zucchini Sunday, June 1 View Page All Peppers Monday, June 2 View Page Applied Bayer T&S 1.47% today to my pumpkin plants, The mix was 5ml per 1.5 gallons of water. Each plant received the 1.5 gallon mix. Planted watermelons & Craven sunflowers today. watermelons are moving along very slowly. Sun flowers are about 10in right now and seem to be getting into growing gear. Pumpkins: No vines are on the ground yet, the 1009 young is close should be there within the next few days. Correction on a few posts back the current pick is of my backup pumpkin plants. Monday, June 2 View Page De-weeded the entire patch today, What fun! Trying to catch this monster rabbit i see all the time in my yard, also trying to catch a family of ground hogs which i also see all the time. Sunday, June 8 View Page last wen & Thursday we had storm after storm run through, all plants fared well, all toegther dropped about 2 inches of rain. After the storms the HOT HOT weather came low to mid 90's since friday. surprisingly all 4 AG's are loving the heat. Note: leaves are not even wilting under direct sunlight. Sunday, June 8 View Page 1009 young looking the best so far, this plant is down and running strong, it is growing about 6in a day. I had one issue with the main vine about a foot out when the main was coming down it kinked a little bit, I supported the kink with a backfill of dirt, cliped the secondary that was next to it and cliped the leaf which was right were the kink is. Next pick will show the small kink. Sunday, June 8 View Page Small kink on main just to the left of the bamboo stick. I also removed the big leaf just to the right of the kink. The kink was minimal and no splitting occurred. (Note: I removed the leafs by the kink to keep that area of the main as stable as possible.) Plant is growing strongly. Sunday, June 8 View Page 1062 stealts. Note: the 1009 Young's main is at 4ft today. This pic is the 1062 stealts I have some issues with this guy. The main did not want to lay down from the start I lft it for acouple days and came back to find the main had lowered and kinked the main causing a small vertical split which does not look like it goes all the way through but the main is kinked pretty good, I tried to straighten it out as good as i could and supported. The main is still reach for the sky, we'll see what happens with this one. It's about 3ft out right now. Sunday, June 8 View Page 774 Bassett, the leaves are much smaller then the 1009 & 1062 but the main is on the ground and running at about 3ft. Healthy. no issues. Sunday, June 8 View Page 157 james looking good. the water melons are finally starting to grow. I have in the ground 2 157 2 146 & 1 115 james. They are all about the same size. On a side note: I found my first cucumber beetle on Friday, is was a stripped cuc. on a leaf that was blown off a tree that was sitting on the leaf of the 1062 stealts. I removed him, this was the only cuc i seen, i looked all around the plants and did not find anymore. The plants were treat with Bayer T&S 1.47 last week and i put a circle of garlic powder around them on fri, have not seen one since friday. Monday, June 9 View Page The tomatoes are exploding out of the ground i cannot beleive how quick they are growing. Also, the zucchini and cucumbers are growing very quickly. peppers are moving along at a moderate rate. Thursday, June 12 View Page Applied Ortho Max this evening, It's active ingredient is bifin. (I will prob apply every 10-14 days depending on weather insect attacks.) NOTE: I applied Bayer T&S 1.47 on June 2end. (I will prob. apply every 4 weeks or so depending in SVBs.) I found another Striped cuc on the 1062 stealts, he was sitting on the main. Inspected all other plants, did not find anymore. Tuesday, June 17 View Page 1009 young making it's way. Since last post have had no issues this plant is growing nicely. The main is at about 9 ft or so, it has some very nice looking and fast growing secondarys. In the background by the wind break are some craven sunflowers which are growing well. ------------(FERTILIZED TODAY)---------- Tuesday, June 17 View Page 1062 Stealts, This plant does not want to stay on the ground, the main vine wants to stay up every secondary it grows goes straight up. There is a new vertical split at the stump, it is not deep, does not appear to be a big deal about 2 inches long. everything this plant grows is Either thick or big, the vines are really thick, the leaves are really big. Tuesday, June 17 View Page 774 Bassett, This plant is moving along well, very easy to manage, although it is a little longer then the stealts everything is half the size. Tuesday, June 17 View Page 778 Liggitt, This plant has givien me some issues, in the process of turning it around right now. Tuesday, June 17 View Page Pumpkin Patch overview Tuesday, June 17 View Page Tomatoes, cucumbers, Zucuinni, These plants are really moving. Tuesday, June 17 View Page Peppers are picking up the pace now. Tuesday, June 17 View Page 157 James melons, Not to sure what to expect, they are still alive. Tuesday, June 17 View Page LG's Really need to go in the ground, Problem: I am still building the trellis for them. Sunday, June 22 View Page Applied Bayer T&S 1.47 Imploiad. Total applied 4.5 ounces per plant. Applied mainly at the stump area and along the taps on the main. Sprayed bifen this evening, it's been raining since, i will prob have to reapply. Found a main vine split on the 1009 young pretty close to the stump where the first secondary comes off. The split is vertical and about 1.5 inches long but split open about an 1/8 of and inch. Found this on Friday (20)removed all dirt from area cleaned area really well, cleaned with rubbing alcohol, applied fungicide, I have been trying to keep it as dry as possible. It looks like the split is starting to heal. The 1009 is moving along nicely, it is at about 11.5 to 12 right now. I have a female on at about 10 and 1 that will fall at about 11.5 ft. I will pollinate both. The secondaries are growing very quickly. The 1062 and 774 have a couple leaves that dont look so hot the 774 is worse with a few leaves with dead edges. Not to sure what this is, I will starting applying fungicide at the end of this week. They are both at about 10ft right now. Wednesday, June 25 View Page 1009 Young, This plant is doing very well. The split by the stump is healing slowly but surly. This plant is at about 13.5 ft right now, I have a female on at about 10 ft and on at a little over 12ft. The rear secondarys are growing very quickly i am running out of room for the 1st two sets. -------APPLIED FUNGICIDE TODAY-------- Applied to all plants (Daconil 1 tablespoons per gallon mix.) Wednesday, June 25 View Page 1009 young split on main by stump. It is healing I hit it with a little fungicide today. Wednesday, June 25 View Page 1009 female at a little over 12 ft, The stick on the other side of the plant is 12.5 ft. Wednesday, June 25 View Page Patch shot. The 1062 stelts had some powdry mildew (I think that is the name of it.) There was 5 leaves i clipped off that had some on the leaves and along the edge, I cliped them and hit it with the fungicide. The leaves are humungo on this plant, all the vines are really thick, They have a few vertical splits but heal really qucikly. Plant growing well. 778 laggit is starting to pick things up. NOTE: The females on this plant are greenish with a lighter stripe through them, the color looks nothing like a standard ag female. Wednesday, June 25 View Page 3 days away from the patch and i found this, The dew setting in strong ( I'm pretty sure it is the dew) I removed all affected leaves, about 10 total. I hit this plant really hard with the fungicide, I will have to start my spray program earlier next year. Daconil. I think i will pick up a sysmatic fungicide also and start using that too. I will start spraying every week. Thursday, June 26 View Page LG's Finally in the dirt. This past weekend I was able to construct by trellis for the LG's and get them in the dirt. I went green with the trellis, all of the wood except for 6 2x3's was either left over from other projects or recycled. I just put these in the ground on Sunday and they seem to be taken a liken to there new home. they are both 97 duffys. I am not sure what it was but i had no luck germinating the LG seeds. I had about 6 other LG seeds fail to germ. Thursday, June 26 View Page Peppers loving the heat! I have a few babies on right now, I have been pinching buds going for root/plant growth. Thursday, June 26 View Page Backups Gone Wild... Ya think I can set one out at 4ft in a 1 gallon pot. I need to fertilize this thing, I have done nothing to this thing but put a chair under it so the main wouldn't snap. Friday, June 27 View Page -------Applied Ortho Max last night (Bifen).---------- Thursday, July 17 View Page It's been a while since my last post, Have been really busy these past few weeks. Applied Ortho max (Bifin) on the 16th Wen. Thursday, July 17 View Page I applied Bifen on the 5th of july, I also applied Spectracide systmatic fungicide on the 4th of july. Apllied Bifen 16 of july. Thursday, July 17 View Page View of the patch as of July 15th. Everything is moving along nicly. I have pumpkins set on the all 4 plants. I will give further updates withing the next few days. Sunday, July 20 View Page Worked in the patch for the better part of the day yesterday, I was able to get a lot of long awaited work completed. Did some punning of overgrown secs & Terts. Completed putting shade up over my 2 best primary pumpkins. Put down some durable weed block with a nice layer of sand underneath the pumpkins. Fertilized 18,18,21 water soluble. (Note these are the first ferts since i stopped at the beginning of pollination time. Applied 4.5 ounces of 1.47% implorid Bayer T&S. (Note I applied this a little early, my last application was 4 weeks ago. I found a tone of SVB eggs on my zucunni plants, So i deceided to hit it early. I will also being applying the ORtho (bifen) on the 7 day mark now just to be safe.) Sunday, July 20 View Page 1009 young Fruit, This plant has done really well so far. This is my keeper it is about 15ft out on the main. I had some severe wind damage to the main right after this fruit and had to terminate the main. This fruit is positioned pretty close to the trunk of the 1062 which might cause issues down the road. Also as you can see it has a wheel shape to it which could also cause issue down the road with applying to much pressure on the main. I adjusted as good as i could it was leaning in on the main prior to adjusment. Pollination july 4th. 10 day N/A 14day: CC:45 15day: CC:50 16day (today) CC:55 , 42,40 = 137ott or 64.3 lbs. Sunday, July 20 View Page 778 liggit Fruit, I just want to make a note: IT has been about 90 for the past 5 days or so in the high 80s past two weeks, have not seen any rain in 12 days. 1 inch for the month of july. Here is the patch dog hard at work, These are my twins on the 778 I plan on keeping the one twds. the front which is on the main, the other is on the sec. pollination July 3rd: 10day: N/A 15th: CC:48 16th CC:52 17th day: CC:56 , 40, 39 = 135ott I plan on culling the backup fruit sometime this week. Sunday, July 20 View Page Sunflowers: The one closest is about 12 ft or so, much bigger then the rest. 1062 stelts: Had some pretty big issues with this plant, the main split about 4 inches vert. I have a pumkin set at about 12 on the main which had a small split where it connected to the main, it was secreting goo and a little brownish, removed all tissue in the area and cleaned with alcohol hit with fungicide dried then coated with silicone. well see what happens, i have a backup on a side vine. The main fruit is still growning nicly. 774 Bassett, I have one set at about 14 still small well see what happens, I had a nice growning fruit at about 10 with a really bad posistion i had to cull. Sunday, July 20 View Page Peppers, These things look great, they are really full and bushy. A ton of peppers are on and growing rapidly. I ate one last night. Sunday, July 20 View Page LG's: Looking really nice so far although they are havin issues with this heat, by mid day all leafs are saggin pretty bad, once i hit them with the hose they perk back up pretty quick. I am not getting very many females on the mains, i am getting tons on the sides, I have once set right now on the side vine right off the main. Monday, July 21 View Page We'll Finally did it, The twin on the 778 liggit are no longer. I went out this evening to make a half cut through the stem, and i made it a little to deep and cut it all the way through. Then to top things off we got dumped on with rain about 15 min later. Hopefully the remaining fruit on the main does not get to big of a dose of energy and split on me. Time will tell. Final stats on the 778 secondary fruit CC:57 39,40 =136ott or 63.1 pounds. Just for thrills I brought it in the house and weighed it, the weight was 64lbs. it's amazing how accurate those measurements can be. Monday, July 21 View Page 1009 young fruit, CC: 60 48,44 =152ott or 85lbs. Wowsers! I am really happy with the growth overnite, thats 20.7 pound in 24hrs. Note i have a small split on the main close to the stem which is in the healing process. It is dry and starting to scab. When noticed (SAT)I cleaned with alcohol and hit with fungicide then dried. Also This there is a downward grade just past this fruit, i will have to bring in some more sand to backfill this. 778 Liggit MAIN Fruit, CC: 60 42,40 =142ott or 70.6 pounds thats almost a 9 pound gain in 24hr, I am happy with that. I am interested to see what kind of gains i will see with this fruit since it's twin has been removed. Big storm blew through last night and knocked the plants around pretty good, but they all looked good today, except for one sunflower which is leaning over on the 1062 leaves. Wednesday, July 23 View Page ========FUNGICIDE====== applied Spectracide systmatic fungicide last night (july 22). ========Pesticide======== Applied Ortho tonight (Bifin). Note: I have increased sprays from every 10 days to every 7 days due to the havoc the svb's are reaping on my zucunnies. Sunday, July 27 View Page ==========Fertilized========= (Saturday) View of the patch. The sunflowers are moving along nicely, the one all the way to the left if measuring over 12ft right now. 1062 Fruit: This fruit is still growing steadily, I still have not taped it, but it is prob. about 90lbs. The the stem out grew the silcon i had put around the damaged stem there are some pretty good splits in the stem but it looks to be healing for now so will see what happens. 774 Fruit: I have not taped this fruit also, this plant is a pretty small plant, the fruit is growing steadily, i estimate the weight at about 50lbs. Sunday, July 27 View Page 1009 Fruit: This fruit is moving along nicely, I am very pleased with the growth of this fruit. There is a small split on the vine at the base of the stem which could cause some issues down the road, the split is dry and scaring over. This fruit was on a downward slope, this past week and today I have been backfilling the area behind the fruit in order to level off the ground and keep the fruit stable. Day 20 7/24 CC:73 ,56,52 = OTT 181 or 136lbs Day 23 7/27 CC:83 ,63,57 = OTT 203 or 187lbs. 7 day average growth rate is 17.5lbs a day. Sunday, July 27 View Page 1009 Fruit: This picture shows the stem where you can see the split at the stem/vine junction. It is healing fine so hopefully it stays that way. Sunday, July 27 View Page 778 Fruit: This fruit is growing well. I am still having issues with the right side of the vine the pumpkin is growing into. I have been moving it about 1/2 inch a day, I will prob. be battling this for a while, considering the amound i can move the fruit a day the the fruit just grows right back into the vine. 24 day 7/27 CC:80 ,56,53 OTT 189 or 153lbs 7 day average growth 12.9lbs a day. Sunday, July 27 View Page LG's: This pic shows the 3 gourds i have set, the longest one is over 4ft as of today. Man, these things grow quickly! NOTE: I have yet to see a female directly on the main vine, All 3 grouds are set on side vines right off the main. Sunday, July 27 View Page TEST Sunday, August 3 View Page 1009 Fruit: 30 day mark today: CC: 102, 76,69 OTT= 247 or 325 pounds. 10 day growth has averaged 18.9 pounds a day. This fruit has been moving along nicely. I had a back up on the first sec which I removed today (1/3 cut for 3 days. So maybe this will give me some more daily growth, if not I happy with it's steady pace. Crack on stem is stem/vine junction is dry and looks really good. I am noticing some fine surface cracks on the stem. =============PESTICIDE APPLIED ON WEN.=================== Sunday, August 3 View Page 778 Fruit: 31 day mark, CC: 96, 67 62 =225 OTT or 249 pounds. 10 day average 13.8 pounds a day. I had some Serious stem stress issues with this guy, I was not able to make it up to the patch for about 3 days, when i checked on it the shoulders of the pumpkin had grown into the vine quite a bit, it was too much to move the pumpkin and risk poping the pumpkin off, so i cut that end of the vine off (Luckly it was the vine tip end and not the stump end causing the pressure). I assume this pressure caused cracks several small cracks at the base of the stem where it meets up with the pumpkin. Picture in next post. 3 day average daily growth since the vine tip side was removed 12.7 lbs a day. Sunday, August 3 View Page PIC of the 778 stem cracks. the small surface cracks are all the way around the stem base where it meets up with the pumpkin. To the left of the stem/pumpkin base you can see a discolored area with two droplets. This is my area of concern, the droplets are gooey. I cleaned it with alcohol and applied fungicide to it. Sunday, August 3 View Page LG's are looking good, I have the 3 to the right set on the 97 duffy seed. The longest is at about 86 inches, as you can see I dug a hole for it so hopefully it fills that hole up! There are 3 small ones to the left on a different plant (97 duffy) I might cull them down too the quickest grower and see what happens. Sunday, August 3 View Page Sweet long peppers, I am really happy with my pepper plants this year, I have to be getting at least 3x yield over last year. I pinched the flower buds off early on this year so that might of helped me out with root development early on. Sunday, August 3 View Page Some fresh produce from the garden I picked this weekend. Tuesday, August 5 View Page ======Fungicide========= Monday Noticed some powdery mildew yesterday, I applied daconil fungicide yesterday evening. (Note: I will be applying daconil on a weekly basis from here out.) =========Fertilized ============== Today Wednesday, August 13 View Page =========Pesticide============ Sprayed pesticide on Monday evening =========Fungicide============= Sprayed fungicide on Tuesday evening Wednesday, August 13 View Page Front of the patch, This pic is showing the 778 liggit fruit up front and the 1009 young fruit in the back. They are getting nice and orange. I have some powdery mildew on some scattered leaves which is being treated with daconil on a weekly basis, luckly it doesn't seem to be spreading at this point but i am sure it will once we get the humidity back. Wednesday, August 13 View Page 1009 fruit: DAY 40 Numbers CC: 117, 86, 78 OTT=281 or 472lbs The growth on this fruit has slowed way down, ten day average is 14.7 lbs a day. This slow growth might be a good thing though, I am getting a lot of small splits by the base of the stem pumpkin junction (I have been keeping dry and hitting with a fungicide every few days)If i was growing double what i am growing they would prob be big splits... So when the warm nights come back we'll see if the growth picks back up, as for now looking good. Just a few days away from the 1/4 ton mark! Wednesday, August 13 View Page NOTE: 1009 fruit is on day 40 today! Not sure is i pu that in the last entry. 778 Fruit: Day 41 CC:106, 74, 69 OTT=249 or 333lbs Ten day average on this fruit is pretty low it starting to slow down a lot 8.4lbs a day. It has slowed these past 3 days to about 6lbs a day. There is alot of cracks along the stem/pumpkin junction 3 are ozzing juice a couple of them that were ozzzing before have dried up. I have been keeping dry and applying fungicide every few days. Wednesday, August 13 View Page LG's are moving along. The one all they way to the right is my prime one, it measured about 94 yesterday, it appears to be finishing up, it is growing maybee about a 1/2 a day. Thursday, August 14 View Page Full patch shot. The sunflowers are all getting pretty big heads on them now and saggin way over, except for the monster SF all the way to the left of this pic it is about 14-15ft tall and just now starting to get head. First year growing sunflowers and pretty fun watching these things grow. Thursday, August 14 View Page Finally cought the all so allusive under the deck groundhog. This will be hog #3 for the summer and 1 possum. I am glad this guy finally went in the trap I really didn't want to shoot him. I relocated him to a nice patch of woods far away! Thursday, August 14 View Page =========FERTILIZED========= Tuesday, August 19 View Page =========Applied Fungicide=========== Sunday, August 24 View Page 1009 Fruit: Day 50: CC 126, 91, 85 OTT= 302 or 583lbs. 10 day average from day 40 to 50 was 11.1lbs a day. I would like to have seen a little higher numbers, But I am still very happy with this growth rate. Stem area has some small cracks around the stem/pumpkin junction they are dry and don't look to be a problem at this time. Have been applying daconil fungicide to the stem area about every 4 days or so. Sunday, August 24 View Page 1009 fruit: rear view of the 1009, as you can see the rear end is really dry and rough, this has just really came along in the past week or so. This area is covered by a white sheet. Sunday, August 24 View Page 778 Fruit: The fruit has been growing at a pretty slow pace it was at about 360 a week ago, so my guess is about 400 right now. I will prob measure it this week when i get the time. Very nice color on this one. Stem area is cracked up pretty goo but it is all dry. Sunday, August 24 View Page Top end of the patch view, Things are getting orange around here. also having fun battling the powdery mildew, this stuff is spreading. also having some leafs turn yellow and die off on the 1009 plant, not to sure what it is. Sunday, August 24 View Page as you can see in this pic the center area of leaves are turning yellow then dieing off. Sunday, August 24 View Page Attack of the gourds, The gourds are taking over my trellis. one of my gourd plants has quite a few leaves dieing off but the gourds seem to still be growing pretty good. Sunday, August 24 View Page This is the only primary gourd that I have growing, it is at about 95.5 to 96 inches right now and i think is done growing. it is off the 97 duffy seed. As you can see to the right of this pic the leafs that are dieing off. Friday, August 29 View Page Rain, Rain, Rain.... Has rained for 2 days now, this could be a bad thing. ------------Applied FUNGICIDE------------------- Monday, September 8 View Page 1009 young fruit: 133, 95, 89 = 317 OTT or 672lbs. The Fruit has been moving along slowly but surly, Averaged about 4.7 lbs a day since my last posting of numbers. Disease is starting to win the battle over at my patch and i am losing leaves on a daily basis, at the rate i am losing leaves the plant has about 7 - 10 days left, although all vines and stump area looks very healthy. I am very happy with the size of this fruit, I think it should go pretty heavy because i have it sunk in to a pretty good bed of sand which hopefully will add some OTT to it at harvest measurements. Monday, September 8 View Page 778 liggitt Fruit: Still no measurements on this one, it is still growing very slowly. This is a very good looking fruit, it is prob sitting around 400 - 450. Monday, September 8 View Page patch shot: Too many weeds, to little leaves..... Monday, September 8 View Page Red pepper wonderland, Glad I am not paying for these, you see the pepper prices in the stores this year.... LG's are pretty much done growing, I plan on harvesting my keeper this week. Thursday, September 11 View Page Breakfast Buffet over at my patch Thursday morning. What I assume to be a groundhog came in and chewed the 1009 young fruit up a little. There is about 7 spots maybe 1 square inch by about 1/2 deep each around the pumpkin. I cleaned with alcohol and applied daconil to it, I went out and got some captan to put on it. I caught 4 groundhogs and one possum this year, this is the first sign i have seen all year of groundhogs going into the patch. I baited the trap and set it up next to the 1009 young fruit. Rain, rain, and more rain 3 days straight now, perfect weather healing up pumpkin wounds. I found a pretty good size soft spot on the 778 fruit stem, i hit it with the captan. I will post pics soon Monday, September 15 View Page 1009 young fruit: 135, 96, 91 OTT 322 or 703lbs The 1009 is still moving along slowly. 3.9libs. a day for the past 8 days. The plant is pretty close to the end, There is prob. about 60 or 70 leaves left intact, the rest are dead or blown over from the wind yesterday (about 50mph gusts). The groundhog wounds don't seem to be getting worse, I have captain dusted over them. Monday, September 15 View Page Some of the groundhog wounds, there are a few wounds on the other side also. Monday, September 15 View Page 1009 fruit: This is a view from the stump to pumpkin, as you can see the plant is not doing so hot. but at this point I am not really worried about that, as long as the pumpkin holds together. Monday, September 15 View Page 778 liggitt fruit: 115, 82, 76 OTT 273 or 434lbs With all of the leaves dieing off i was able to get a different shot of the 778. This is a great looking pumpkin!! I have some captin on the stem, i have a soft spot on the stem. This thing has been growing nic and slow the entire time. I will have to measure the plant area to confirm my square footage on this plant, it's not very much, maybee 200sq ft. Monday, September 15 View Page Very back of the patch, Both of these beauties are on the 1062 stelts. They both are split really bad and are rotting. I really didn't have nearly enough room for this plant, after realizing that i did not really take care of it, if I would of had enough room for the plant and took care of it i am sure it would of grown a monster. lessons learned... Monday, September 15 View Page Front of the patch. Left 778, right 1009 Monday, September 15 View Page Casualty of the wind... Luckily I had harvested my LG i plan on taking to the weight earlier in the week. It measured 95 3/4inches. I was to lazy to go down and take pics of it in the garage. I'll post some eventually. Surprisingly the rest of the LG's made it (4 more) they had no support but the vine. amazing how strong those vines are. Monday, September 15 View Page peppers made it and are doing great! Monday, September 15 View Page Forgot to add: day 72 for the 1009 fruit, and day 73 for the 778 fruit. Friday, October 3 View Page Well I havn't updated in a while, been to busy setting everything up to get my pumpkin out of the patch last measurment on the 1009 is 136 97, 92, OTT 325 or 723. I took that measurement on 9/23, I forgot to measure today so i will have to measure it tomorrow at the weigh off, I am expecting a few more ott points since i had that thing buried pretty deep in sand. Here is me with T-REX..... In case you didn't notice I made my own straps, I had all the straps already so you can't beat free.... Friday, October 3 View Page Here's me Hoisting this monster out of it's 88 day slumber. I made my tripod this past weekend. Thanks a lot to Team-pumpkin.org for the detailed tripod info on there site!! What I did to confirm I would not have a leg kick out was dug about a 1ft to drop the two front legs into and the back leg I pounded in a steak behind it. I also wrapped a chain around the upper section to put inward tension on the legs. I have a full size dodge and had no issues getting under the pumpkin. I used 16ft 4x4s Friday, October 3 View Page It made it to the truck, I thought forsure something would go wrong with all thr riggin i had going with the straps, tripod, and getting it down from the mountain I grow on (about 1200ft elevation) Thats the 1009 fruit, ME, and my LG about 8ft (95 3/4) Friday, October 3 View Page Strapped up ready to roll up to Canfield!! Tuesday, October 7 View Page Made it to the canfield weigh-off this past Saturday. Here are some of the beasts lined up.. Tuesday, October 7 View Page Here are some of the not so beastly pumpkins lined up, the closet one is mine. Tuesday, October 7 View Page Here is my pumpkin again, what a great shape on this pumpkin! The final OTT was 326. Est. 729lbs. I am very happy with this pumpkin my goal this year was 300lbs, then after this beauty starting growing quick I switch my goal to 500lbs. Great shape, decent color, beat my goal, I can't ask for much more then that... Tuesday, October 7 View Page Here is me talking to Announcer (I believe Tim is the name) While my pumpkin is getting ready to go on the scale.... This was running through my head........ What could the weight? Will it go 25% heavy? Will it go lite? Will they drop it? Is the scale calibrated correctly? Ok maybee not that last one. Tuesday, October 7 View Page AND......... 703Lbs, It went a little lite but i am so happy it stayed in the 7s. Tuesday, October 7 View Page This pic is of Jim Ford and his pumpkin which went pretty heavy, If I remember correctly the OTT was 331 Est. 763lbs and Tipped the scales at 861, Now thats what I call going heavy. Great job Jim. Jim, Here is the Pic, If you want I can email it to you also, let me know. If you email me your address I'll get that bubbler out to you. Thanks a lot! Nice meeting you. Tuesday, October 7 View Page My long Gourd Came in 4th place at 95 1/2 inches. Sambo, Took first place at around 111 and I forgot who finshed 2end and 3rd. As a note: The bigpumpkins website is wrong when you go the the weighoff results area for the canfield weigh-off LG ranks. 1st place is correct, but the rest results are off, mine is missing and a couple more i beleive. Tuesday, October 7 View Page I would like to thanks John young out of VT for the seed! I would also like to thanks the BP website and message board responders for all of the GREAT info and quick responses!! Thursday, October 30 View Page Pumpkin carving contest..... The Flying Dachshund verses The Haunted House Thursday, October 30 View Page 703 Guns (1009 Young x 778 Liggit) Seeds removed and cleaned out. Thursday, October 30 View Page What a nice pumpkin, but wait!! Look closer... Is there somebody in the pumpkin peeking out of the Lid?? Thursday, October 30 View Page Very cold and gooey in the pumpkin, I can't believe i fit i fit inside that thing. Thursday, October 30 View Page The Oager all carved up. You can see my other pumpkin in the back of the truck just to the upper left. Thursday, October 30 View Page Night time shot of the oager Thursday, October 30 View Page Drying the seeds I picked the last of the tomatoes last weekend, I have a ton more on but the frost did them in these were covered by foliage. On the 19 cleared the patch, tilled, and planted winter rye.