Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 44 Entries. Thursday, January 22 View Page Big thanks to everyone who sent me seeds in the last few months! I am really looking forward to getting these seeds in the ground. A special thanks to Thad Starr, John Van Hook, Bill Rodonis, James Robinette, Janni Hoellein, Phil Hunt, Eddy Zaychowski, Bruce Hooker, Glenn Andrews, Ed Giarrusso, Ed Pappas and all of the great people with the RMGVG. Many of you suprised me with seeds that I was not expecting. Pumpkin growers are the best! Thursday, January 29 View Page Also, a big thanks to Will Wright and John Doucet. Will gave me about 25 gallons of earthworm castings along with a pound or two of red wigglers. These casting should help grow a big one. Nothing better than castings for pumpkins. And thanks to John for the seeds. Some great crosses in those seeds! Monday, March 23 View Page It's like Sophia's choice this time of year. So many seeds and generous growers and so little space to grow on. I only have 2 1/2 spaces to grow plants (the 1/2 space will be a pollinator). The decision process is made more difficult when you get surprised by great seeds late in the game (thanks Thad!). Pictured below are the seeds that have made the final cut. 1556 Rodonis (1450 Wallace x 1231 Pukos), 1450 Wallace (1068 Wallace x Sibb), 1350 Starr (985 Werner x 227 Leland) and 1363 Werner (985 Werner x 1450 Wallace). Monday, March 23 View Page Opps. That should be 1566 Rodonis in the previous post. Thursday, April 9 View Page High sodium levels in the patch introduced through some bad compost have forced me to flush the patch. The patch is almost dry now and it looks like it has worked. The final soil test will hopefully say the same. Sunday, April 12 View Page The soil flush worked. Sodium levels are back into the normal range. Still not really happy with some of my numbers so I still have some work to do before I till the soil and put up the hoop houses. Friday, April 24 View Page Finally got my patch prep complete. Did two soil flushes to get the sodium and potassium levels down and it seems to have worked well. Last soil test showed sodium back into the normal range. Hope to have plants in the ground in the next two weeks. Sunday, April 26 View Page Let the games begin! Wednesday, May 6 View Page I transplanted into the hoop houses on Monday. Looks like we will have nice weather all week to get them started. Thursday, May 21 View Page This is the 1566 Rodonis. Doing the best of my plants so far but a bit behind where I would like it to be. Thursday, May 21 View Page 1350 Starr. Hardly grew last week and finally started taking off last Sunday. Thursday, May 21 View Page 793 Van Hook. My kids are growing this one. I enjoy watching them watch it grew. It is especially fun once the pumpkin starts growing. I think it will do very well for them. Thursday, May 21 View Page 1154 Doucet. This one was planted in the last group of seeds but growing fairly nicely. Tuesday, May 26 View Page Big growth the last two days. At 6:00 on Sunday evening when I was closing up the hoop houses the backup plant was and inch from the 1350 Starr. At 10:00 Monday morning when I opened up the hoop houses the two plants leaves were overlapping. Should start to get fun over the next week! Friday, June 5 View Page The 1350 is getting it's grow on now. Silly thing went the wrong way though so I've been slowly bending the vine around so it points west. Friday, June 5 View Page The 1566 is just a thick plant in terms of foliage, leaves and new vine growth. The mass of the plant is just impressive. The main isn't running as fast as the 1350 right now but you just get the sense that this one has a power plant behind it. Lots of new flower buds on it as well which I've heard is a trait of the 1566. Monday, June 15 View Page The 1566 is busting out of the hoop house on all sides now but I don't want to remove it until we get done with all of this bad weather. Two big hail storms in the last two days and more rain in the forecast this afternoon. 80s in the forecast for the rest of the week so I hope to remove the houses and start growing some salad again. Wednesday, June 17 View Page 1566 Plant is looking happy. A real thick plant with lots of foliage and I like that. Wish the main was out farther (about 7.5' right now) but we are on target for a 12' pollination. Compared to last year we are looking really good: http://denverpumpkins.com/2009/06/tale-of-two-pumpkin-plants.html Wednesday, June 17 View Page The 1350 looks a little lost right now but with a little TLC it is getting back on track. Sunday, June 21 View Page 1566 continues to grow at a good steady pace. Love the look of this plant. Warm weather in the forecast for this week so hopefully we can start seeing growth in the 1 foot per day range. Sunday, June 21 View Page This picture is taken behind the 1350 plant and to the left. You can see the main on the left hand side of the picture about in the middle and it is growing to the left. I've got the vines laid out now so that in a week it will start having a more regular pattern. Sunday, July 5 View Page We have pollinations at around 10'-11' on both plants now. Should have pollinations at 13' on both plants this week and then we are off to the races. Sunday, July 12 View Page I was out of town all day on Saturday and just got back today. I know there were heavy rains in town and found that all of the pumpkins have scrapes and dents in them. A neighbor told me she didn't think they got any hail so now I'm wondering if a bird is pecking the pumpkins. Either way it isn't good. Friday, July 17 View Page This is the pumpkin at 16' on the 1566 Rodonis. The last pumpkin aborted and I was hoping that this one would be my keeper. Bird got at it today however and pecked it pretty good. Let me know if you think I can grow this one. I'm guessing only time will tell. Friday, July 17 View Page This is the pumpkin at 11' on the 1350 Starr. It really started to grow nice two days ago. The pumpkin is 13 days old now. The positioning on the vine for this one isn't very good so if the pumpkin at about 14' grows well I will be taking this one off. Friday, July 17 View Page This is the one I'm hoping will be my keeper on the 1350 Starr. Pollinated 3 days ago at about 14-15'. A five lober with a nice long stem. Tuesday, July 21 View Page The season is done for me. The worst hail storm I've ever seen. Quarter sized hail and tornado like winds ended the season. I'll be back next year. Wednesday, July 22 View Page Some additional photos after the hail storm. This picture was taken about 14 hours after the storm and the hail was still lingering around on the ground. It had piled up about 2 inches deep but it only hailed about 3-4 minutes. This is what remains of the 1566 plant. Thursday, July 23 View Page Another shot of the 1350 plant. Thursday, July 23 View Page Close up of 1350 Starr pumpkin. To my amazement I measured it this morning and it is still growing. I had measured it about 2 hours before the storm hit and as of this morning it had grown 3 inches over about 36 hours. If it will keep growing I'll harvest it for seeds and grow it again next year. I like the 1350 Starr x 1566 Rodonis cross in it and if it has the heart to grow after this kind of pummeling then it has the heart to grow big next year. I've decided to name this pumpkin HailBoy. Monday, July 27 View Page This 1350 Starr plant certainly has some vigor to it. New leaves popping up all over the place. I wouldn't be suprised if in a month you wouldn't even know it was devestated by hail. HailBoy the pumpkin is still holding solid. Monday, July 27 View Page HailBoy is going to be a nice orange pumpkin (at least the non-scarred parts. The 1370 Rose side of its genetics seem to be popping through. Monday, July 27 View Page About one week before the storm. 1566 plant in the foreground and 1350 in the back... Monday, July 27 View Page About one week after the storm. I haven't touched anything around the 1566 plant. What you see is exactly what the storm did. Monday, July 27 View Page Oops. That previous pic was an interesting pic but this is the one I meant to post... Tuesday, July 28 View Page RIP HailBoy Born: July 4, 2009 Hailed: July 20, 2009 Died: July 28, 2009 It put up a good fight but in the end the damage was just to great for any pumpkin to survive. It manged to grow a little for three days after the storm but that was all of the strength it could muster. It is now the 35 est Johnson. Definetly not the 1,000+ pounder I was looking for and the sad thing is that it was growing very well the 3 days prior to the storm. It was 19 inches ahead of the pumpkin I had last year. It suprised me to find what looks like mature seeds in the pumpkin. In a couple of weeks I'm going to plant 5 of them to see if the seeds are viable. If they are viable and anyone would like some seeds just let me know. The cross is 1350 Starr x 1566 Rodonis. Without question this seed is a risky seed but knowing these two plants I'm planning on giving this seed dirt next year. I believe the two plants traits will compliment each other very well and you have some fantastic parents and grandparents on each side that have progeny over 1,400+ pounds. Tuesday, July 28 View Page HailBoy would have been a nice shade of orange. Looks like it had a lot of the 1370 Rose side. It started to show a hint of orange around day 10 and on day 16 when it got hit by the storm the orange really started to come out. Wednesday, September 2 View Page Nature gave me the opportunity to start my patch prep early this year... Wednesday, September 2 View Page The owner of CBS Trucking & Excavating whose land I grow on was kind enough to give me one of his employees and a backhoe to dig out all of the patch dirt 3 feet deep... Wednesday, September 2 View Page After removing the soil we put down a couple of inches of squeegee about two feet below the surface... Wednesday, September 2 View Page Then cover it all up with the origional soil from the patch minus a lot of big rocks.... Wednesday, September 2 View Page Finally smoothed it all over... Wednesday, September 2 View Page Put down some amendments and did a quick roto till of the entire patch. After tilling I planted some sudan grass and gave it a good watering. I am now 2 months ahead of everyone in Colorado. Watch out RMGVG in 2010! Wednesday, October 28 View Page Happy Halloween from Colorado!