Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 106 Entries. Thursday, January 1 View Page Hello 2009! I'm really looking forward to my rookie year growing AGs. I think I've got a pretty good idea what I need to do after reading 'How To Grow World Class Giant Pumpkins I & II' and spending countless hours reading and researching here on BP. The only thing holding me back now is the $$$. I want to thank everyone that sent me seeds these past few months. I wouldn't be able to grow the big one if it weren't for your generosity. Oh, and if I never responded to let you know if the seeds arrived safely or not I apologize. Every seed that was sent to me arrived safely. :) Friday, January 16 View Page -17 degrees Fahrenheit (not including wind) shortly after midnight this morning according to this thermometer in my back yard. I honestly can't remember the last time it got this cold around here. Friday, January 16 View Page Forgot to add...I could've gotten ice from my freezer and put it on the thermometer and it would've warmed it up! lol Wednesday, January 28 View Page Got 11.25 inches of snow on the ground as of this morning, not counting the crap load of ice we also got. Most snow since December 2004 when we got 14 inches and that was the most I had seen my whole life up to that point (14 then). I love the snow! Wednesday, January 28 View Page correction to that last post, just checked again and it was actually 11.75, there was a space in front of the ruler. grill's sportin a conehead here, lol. Wednesday, January 28 View Page now i could've sworn those darn blueberry bushes were taller... Wednesday, January 28 View Page ok now i wish spring would hurry up and get here. fresh ripe blueberry from last july. that was the best one i ever ate! Wednesday, January 28 View Page this tomato was a real freak. reached 1 lb 10oz without me doing jack squat to get it there. it could've been way bigger if i'd known what i was doing, and i regret not saving any seed from it. Grown on a Burpee Mortgage Lifter, which, according to burpee is capable of reaching 4+ lbs. Wednesday, January 28 View Page this pic really emphasizes its freakishness. no, thats not rot or anything caused by bugs, but superficial scaring between the lobes. the look on some of my relatives faces when they saw it was priceless. :) it was a yummy tomato i might add.. Monday, February 9 View Page started some ailsae onion seed today. hopefully not too late to get something decent. Wednesday, February 18 View Page Came home today and found that three of the onion seeds had sprouted! :D Seeds were started in a potting soil containing mycorrhizae and humic acid, and have been kept basically at room temperature. Wednesday, February 18 View Page This past Christmas a relative of mine gave me a Chia herb growing kit, which I started the day after the onions. The little dirt sponges they put in there to be put in the pots left quite a bit of space between it the and the walls of the pot and the top. So I took it upon myself to fill in the gaps with the potting soil mentioned in the previous post, and so far so good. The only one I'm waiting on to sprout now is the parsley, the others came up after only a few days. Pictured from front to back is parsley, basil, dill and cilantro. Saturday, March 7 View Page Well, after about a month since I sowed the ailsae onion seeds only four of the original twelve sprouted and I think the rest aren’t going to :( I think the fact that I used potting soil instead of seed starting mix had something to do with it, and there was a few days where I might have kept them too moist. Four beats none though! On a happier note, I went out to the garden today and found that the garlic I planted last Halloween had begun to sprout. Its been pretty warm the past couple of days. Friday, March 13 View Page Earlier this month I bought a heat mat so I could finally do some practice germinations with giant pumpkin seeds. I went by Jordan Rivington’s step-by-step explanation of the paper towel method. I used a couple of seeds from 2002. Here’s the timeline: 3/3 10:30 PM - Seeds sanded till I could start to see a dark line along the edges, then soaked in a hydrogen peroxide solution for 8.5 hours - till I woke next morning. 3/4 7:00 AM - Seeds placed in a folded paper towel dampened with the peroxide solution, paper towel then put into sandwich bag, which was then placed on a ceramic plate sitting on two magazines with the heat mat at the bottom, all inside a pre-heated 18 gallon tupperware container. While I’m not sure of its accuracy, a thermometer I used placed the temperature where the seeds were at a perfect 87-90 degrees. 3/5 8:45 PM - 37.75 hours after seeds were placed in paper towel, the tip of one seed began to crack a little. 3/6 7:00 AM - 48 hours afterward, both seeds had germinated. The seed that first cracked was then sowed on one of its side edges in a pre-warmed seed starting mix, with the top edge a half inch below the soil surface. 3/8 12:00 Noon - Seed begins to emerge from soil. 3/10 – Cots were a little deformed, but Ok. 3/13 – First true leaf emerges Saturday, March 14 View Page I started some seeds of the cabbage family today. They include broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, collards, and brussels sprouts. Lettuce and spinach also started. Wednesday, March 18 View Page Today I started all of my tomato and pepper plants. Tomato varieties I’m planting are: 1 - Aunt Ruby’s German Green 1 - Better Boy 2 - Brandywine 2 - Mortgage Lifter 1 - Roma 1 - Rutgers 1 - Supersweet 100 cherry 1 - Zapotec pleated I decided I’m going to grow my cherry tomato in a container away from the garden this year because in 2007, when I grew the supersweet 100, I found that at times some tomatoes (there were TONS of them) would ripen long before they could get picked and would fall to the ground unnoticed, and as a result, several times throughout 2008 I would go to do some weeding and find a couple baby tomato plants amongst them. :) I also started some artichoke and spanish onion seeds (this time with seed starting mix). I don’t know if its too late or not to sow onion seed, but the seed pack said nows the time for my area so we’ll see. I won’t be too bummed if it doesn’t work out, as I’m not giving them a whole lot of my garden space anyways. As for the artichokes, I’ve never grown them before, and I still have some research to do. Friday, March 20 View Page As of today, 90-95% of the garlic I planted last fall has come up. Something to smile about on this first day of Spring, however cold it might've been. Wednesday, April 1 View Page The tomatoes and peppers are up and doing fine. They all began to sprout five days after sowing; the artichoke only four. Wednesday, April 1 View Page Just as a sort of side experiment I saved some seeds from the kennebec potatoes I grew last year. I didn't really know if the seeds were viable when I collected them and I saved too few to waste any on practice germinations. But they all sprouted, as you can see. Thursday, April 2 View Page Ever since spring began a couple of weeks ago, a mole has been tearing up my garden. Last year I had a slight infestation of Japanese Beetles and as I've been digging my garden this past winter I have come across quite a few of their grubs that I beleive the mole has been feeding on. I layed down some milky spore to control those grubs for the long run and a caster oil mole repellent for the short term. But as it turned out, while the repellent did seem effective against the mole, it only seemed to work when it would get watered in by a rain, but when the soil dryed in between rains the mole would just get right back to tearing things up. So yesterday when the mole found and tore up the dirt around my blueberry bushes I decided enough was enough and I went to Lowes and bought a mole trap. I set it up as soon as I got home and this morning before I left for school I went out and checked on it and it had been tripped. That made my day. For the past two weeks I've been watching helplessly as this mole just ravaged my garden and seeing that thing tripped so quickly was a sweet feeling. Continued --> Thursday, April 2 View Page I flattened the active tunnel on both sides of the trap, and you can kinda see where the mole raised it back up to the right of it. Notice how it ends right at the trap. LOL! Sure enough when I dug out the trap there was the mole, dead as a door knob with a hole in its neck were the traps spike had impaled it. Luckily this all happened pre-season. Had that mole waited and showed up in say, July or August, my season would have been screwed. I just hope no more show up any time soon and that if they do I can get them quickly with the trap, or some poison worms if necessary. Monday, April 6 View Page Today is my nineteenth birthday. Over the weekend my dad got me a 4' flourescent shop light fixture with grow lights for my seedlings, which was a great and much needed gift. Ever since I started my seedlings I've just been scratchin' by using several smaller fixtures the best I could until I could get a shop light. Once I got that light set up, I went and transplanted all of my tomato and pepper seedlings into 5 and 3 inch pots respectively, which should accommodate their growth until its time for them to go into the garden. I'll post a picture later. Tuesday, April 7 View Page the set up Friday, April 10 View Page Started first group of giant watermelon seeds today, the 150, 154, and 160 Holloway. Saturday, April 11 View Page I was finally able to get a couple yards of compost today. This pile here was made from manure and straw. I’m not sure what kind of manure though, most likely horse. Another pile, which had already been spread when I took this photo, was made from leaves and grass clippings. I also spread 30 lbs of 4-12-0 bone meal along with 2 lbs 10-0-0 blood meal over 700+ square feet. A basic soil test said my potassium was ok so I didn’t mess with it. Wednesday, April 15 View Page For the past few days, a good portion of my tomato seedlings have begun to look sick, and after posting about it in the tomato forum I believe I’ve found the problem. When I went to transplant the seedlings into the peat pots, all I used to fill them with was straight seed starting mix, except for three of them (of 10). When I went to put them in the pots, I had some rich, organic potting mix left over from when I sowed those giant onions. I gave those left overs to three of my tomato seedlings, and now those three are the only ones that remain healthy. That makes sense now that I think about it. Ever since I started gardening a couple years ago I always would start my my seeds in a potting mix, and once they germinated they always grew really well. This was the first time I used seed starter mix like I did, and last. Next year I will start them in seed starting mix, and when I go to put them in pots I’ll use a potting mix, and I’ll also cover the top surface with the seed starter mix (sterile) to keep down the fungus that often tries to grow on the potting mix. Thursday, April 16 View Page I started a second round of giant watermelon seeds today, more of the 150, 154, 160 Holloways. Last time my heat mat was in use and couldn’t be used for the watermelons. Needless to say I’ve yet to see a germination from them. But this time around the mat is available and I’m using the paper towel method on them, minus the filing and pre-soaking. Friday, April 17 View Page That little heat mat sure does the trick! At 87 degrees, the 150 Holloway germinated only 23 hours after putting it in the germination chamber. Saturday, April 18 View Page Checked the watermelons at the 35 hour mark and found the other two, the 154 and 160, had germinated. Their roots were a little more developed when I found them as compared to when I found the 150, so I’m guessing they germinated somewhere around the 30 hour mark or sooner. Also, the 154 from the first group finally showed up this morning after 7 1/2 days (first six days spent at room temp before going into germination chamber). What a difference that chamber makes! Monday, April 27 View Page This past Friday I decided to do one last practice germination using the paper towel method, and man was I disappointed. 0 for 3 as apposed to the 2 for 2 I had in March. There are three reasons I can think of as to why they failed. One being that when I first put them in the germination chamber, the weather out side was in the 80’s and all the windows in the house were open, and so that warm outside air caused the inside of the chamber to swelter to 100. To cool it down I simply opened the lid, which did the trick, but then my mom decided it was too hot outside and she turned the AC on. I forgot to close the lid on the chamber and so it cooled down to about 72F. So I figure the big temperature swings played a role. Second, just like dpsnoopy did in this thread, http://www.bigpumpkins.com/msgboard/ViewThread.asp?b=3&p=297775 in this second practice germination I too used a different (and of course cheaper) brand of paper towel. And three, well a different seed stock might have played a role too. Since I’m not sure what did it, when I start my competition plants tomorrow, I will file lightly, soak, and sow directly into pre-heated and moistened seed starting mix, because to me simpler = better. Thank GOD I did that practice germination. I’m glad whatever the problem was it was caught in practice rather than the real deal! Tuesday, April 28 View Page Tonight I started the 1250 Kline 2006 and 1004 Mohr 2008 (My two competition plants) along with the 742 Vincent-McGill 2007 and 689 Breznick 2002 (Backup plants) by lightly filing and started soaking at 9:30 P.M. in a solution with a 1:9 ratio of 3% hydrogen peroxide and water. Wednesday, April 29 View Page Seeds are sown in a soil less seed starting mix at 6:30 A.M. in a germination chamber with temperatures between 85-90 degrees Fahrenheit. (9 hours soaking) Friday, May 1 View Page At 9:30 P.M. (72 hours), after seeing a wee hint of disturbance in the soil of the pot containing the 1250 Kline, I took a popsicle stick and gently scraped away the surface soil to try and see if it was germinating, and sure enough, it was cracking open and germinating! I covered it back up and then proceeded to check on the others and found the 689 Breznick was also germinating. A meat thermometer placed the temperature of the soil around the seeds at exactly 87 degrees Fahrenheit. Hmmm…..the 1250 and the 689 were both tan colored seeds, while the 1004 and the 742 were both white seeds. That begs the question, do tan seeds germinate faster? It would seem that that would be the only reason for them being the first to germinate, seeing as they were also the two oldest of the four seeds, and the general consensus would claim older seeds take longer to germinate than younger, fresher seeds. I don’t know, maybe it doesn’t mean anything, just something to ponder. Saturday, May 2 View Page The 1250 Kline and 689 Breznick broke surface this morning and at around 10:30 P.M. were transplanted into 1 gallon plastic pots with the seedlings about 2-3 inches under grow lights. Sunday, May 3 View Page At about 7:30 P.M. (118 hours), I gently scraped away the soil surface of the pots containing the 1004 Mohr and 742 Vincent-McGill to check for signs of germination, and their appears to be a slight crack forming at the tip of the 1004. Crossing my fingers! Monday, May 4 View Page As of 7 P.M., the 1004 Mohr is breaking surface. I peaked under soil again to check on the 742 and its tip is cracked and beginning to germinate. Its about time! They had me worried there for a little bit. Tuesday, May 5 View Page The 1250 and 689 enjoyed Cinco de Mayo outside under a makeshift shade structure from 11 A.M. to 8 P.M. Conditions outside were 75°F with partly cloudy skies, and a nice gentle breeze all day. Those plants in the bottom right corner are suckers that my raspberry plant was sending up. Sometimes if you gently pull the suckers out of the ground with some roots still attached you can repot them and have new raspberry plants, though they don’t always survive the shock. At 11:30 P.M., another 1004 Mohr, and an 1147 Shenoah 2008 are filed and soaked in five or so ounces of a 1:9 hydrogen peroxide solution with a ½ teaspoon of seaweed (I didn’t have any the first time). Tuesday, May 5 View Page 1250 Kline. I hope the pumpkin looks as good as the seedling. Tuesday, May 5 View Page 689 Breznick Wednesday, May 6 View Page At 7 A.M., 1004 and 1147 are sown into seed starting mix and placed into a germination chamber with temperatures between 85-90°F. The first 1004 is transplanted into a one gallon plastic pot. It had a little trouble getting out of its seed coat but it eventually slipped off. That’s why its cots are still snug together. The 742 has yet to break the surface 7 days after being sown. When I first took the 742 in hand it looked and felt like it might be hollow towards the tip, but as previously mentioned I did see a root coming out of it so it isn’t an immature seed, possibly just underdeveloped. Some have said that underdeveloped seeds typically show low vigor when germinating and that they make up for it later. I hope that’s the case. Back to Front: 1250, 689, 1004 Wednesday, May 6 View Page lol. I was just looking through some other people's diaries and it seems I'm not the only Brian growing a 1250 Kline. Friday, May 8 View Page Ok, maybe I am. Friday, May 8 View Page 1147 Shenoha is first noticed breaking through soil surface at 8:30 P.M. Sunday, May 10 View Page The 1250 Kline and 689 Breznick are transplanted into the garden. I really want to grow the 1250, but if something happens to it, I’ll either let the 689 grow, or dig it out and grow the 1004 Mohr with the 1147 Shenoha as a backup. Wednesday, May 13 View Page 1004 Mohr, 1147 Shenoha, 742 Vincent-McGill. The 1147 reminds me of how I would expect a 5 year old to draw a flying bird, lol. Wednesday, May 13 View Page And from this angle it looks like a butterfly. :) Sunday, May 17 View Page It looks like I may have managed to under water the pumpkins, as their first true leaves started sagging today when I took their nighttime cold frame off. First thing I did was water them thinking that’s all they needed. Next I put the blue lounge chair over them so the sun wouldn’t put to much stress on them. Still they wouldn’t perk back up. After a few hours I checked to see if an insect could have done something to them. Nothing. The second true leaves on them look ok thankfully. The first true leaf on the 689 looks like it might recover partially, half dead, half alive. The one on the 1250 looks like its done, but again second leaf is ok. So it looks like I’ve been set back a bit but I don’t have to settle for a back up yet (knock on wood). I spent a few hours this evening covering all plants to protect them from a potential frost. Weather Channel’s predicted low, 36°F, though it always ends up a tad lower, which in the mid to lower 30’s a few degrees can make the difference between plant life and death. Monday, May 18 View Page The temperature got all the way down to 34°F this morning. I was right! A tad lower. Very close to freezing, a new record low for this date actually. I tell you what though, the only reason it didn’t hit freezing was because of a gentle breeze we had all night. When the air is still, sporadic cold pockets of air can form on the ground as all the warmer air rises into the atmosphere, resulting in some areas experiencing frost while others nearby don’t. But when there is a constant breeze like there was last night, that cold air is constantly mixed with the warmer air, preventing those cold pockets from forming. Wednesday, May 20 View Page Transplanted a Prizewinner Hybrid today. Friday, May 22 View Page The 1250 and the 689 are both doing fine now. I came to the conclusion that the reason for their first true leaves wilting was caused by some insecticidal soap I had sprayed them with just prior to the onset of their wilting, that on top of a lack of water. NEVER SPRAY A DEHYDRATED PLANT! The first true leaves are no longer wilting since I started watering them more, though they now have a permanent torched appearance around their edges. Their second true leaves are coming along just fine, as are their thirds. The past four days have been very warm and sunny, hitting in the 80’s everyday since Tuesday. It’s also been very dry, too. Not a single drop of rain has fallen since last Saturday morning, 6 ½ days ago. Likewise, this warm dry, breezy weather has the dirt baking to a crisp in exposed areas. Saturday, May 23 View Page This 'Showbiz' rose bush I planted a few weeks ago bloomed for the first time today. Very pretty. :) Saturday, May 23 View Page My favorite time of year is right around the corner! Blueberry pickin' season! Blueberries are my favorite food. There aren't enough blueberries in the world to satisfy my hunger for them! This bush is an early bearing variety called 'Patriot'. Monday, May 25 View Page Culled the 689 Breznick tonight. Though it might’ve been doing a little better than the 1250 Kline, I culled it because the 1250 has a history of producing nice orange pumpkins while the 689’s history was unknown. Plus the 1250 was doing just fine and I didn’t want it competing for nutrients with the 689 anymore. Sunday, May 31 View Page The 1250 Kline is starting to vine, finally, after spending some time ‘reaching for the sky.’ I went ahead and culled the 1250’s first true leaf since it seemed it wasn’t going to do it much good anymore. Monday, June 1 View Page Mixed some leftover compost, some composted manure, a little osmocote, and a little blood & bone meal into a patch of dirt that last year had been occupied by a square of cinder blocks in which some bush beans and acorn squash were grown. I then proceeded to plant a Bonanza Patio Peach Tree in the northwest corner, along with the 1147 Shenoha in the southeast corner to be grown as a genetics plant, watering both with a really light dose of a water soluble 4-12-4 solution. I kind of regret not planting the 1147 as my main plant because it has shown a hell of a lot of vigor compared to the rest, and even though it was started a whole week after the 1250 Kline, it still has surpassed it in growth. But, seeing as I only had one 1250 while I had five 1147s to start with, I had to go with the 1250, because I’m a fool for orange. lol Saturday, June 6 View Page Did a drench and foliar spray of Alaska Fish (5-1-1) and seaweed with a little molasses today. The 1250 Kline and 1147 Shenoha are really starting to run, with the 1250 currently measuring at just over 2 feet long and the 1147 at just over 2 ½ feet long. It just goes to show that some seed stocks are more vigorous than others, with the 1147 having been started a whole week after the 1250 and still surpassing it in length. I’m not all that surprised though, the 1147 is a 1041 Mckie x self. Monday, June 8 View Page While weeding the neighbor’s garden today, I spotted the first cucumber beetle of the season, a red spotted one. Tuesday, June 9 View Page In the process of laying down about a week ago, one of the 1250's leaves ended up directly under the vine as I positioned the vine to go the direction I wanted, and as I tried to position the leaf better, it kinked. In the photo, the little red C like line is where the base of the leaf stalk is. Wednesday, June 10 View Page I think I’m going to have to lay off the nitrogen for a while on some plants. My Zapotec and Celebrity tomatoes are beginning to look a little blue, a sure sign of excess N. Also, the vine tips on the 1250 and the 1147 have really been reaching for the sky as the vine runs, which I recently learned was also a sign of excess N. You want to be careful to avoid excess nitrogen, because to much of it can cause fruit to abort, thus making it difficult for fruit to set on tomatoes and pumpkins alike. We had just gotten an inch and a half of rain before the photo was taken. Monday, June 15 View Page First male flowers opened on the 1250 Kline this morning. Thursday, June 18 View Page WELL…..A pest I have been anticipating finally showed its ugly face today. THE SQUASH VINE BORER. ARG! I was mounding the last bit of dirt around some late to sprout potatoes when what I at first thought was a wasp flew past me. Well, something about the way it flew past me got my attention. When I turned around to look at the nearest pumpkin plant, sure enough, a vine borer moth was buzzing around it. It appeared to be a loner because I didn’t see anymore, though I know there had to have been. I took a glass jar I had nearby and followed the moth around for a little bit trying to catch it. After about fifteen or twenty minutes I caught it and sat the jar on some black plastic I had laid out to keep the weeds down. It got to be about 85°F and was sunny all afternoon so the black plastic was really hot, probably like 150°, that along with the jar being like a little greenhouse. That SVB fried! lol. It was a female moth too, I know because it managed to lay an egg a split second before I caught it. Tuesday, June 23 View Page Crap. Last night I sprayed everything with a Rotenone-Pyrethrins mix, the cucurbits and potatoes getting twice the dose as everything else. This afternoon I noticed the Pumpkins, Butternut squash and Cucumber are showing some slight signs of leaf burn, whitish splotches scattered here and there on the leaf surfaces. Interestingly the Watermelon and Potatoes were unscathed. I don’t know if the dose was too much or if the leaves didn’t dry enough before the sun came up on what was to be a sunny, 89°F day, or both. The splotches weren’t there when I checked on the plants around 1 A.M., over five hours after being sprayed; then again I don’t think they were entirely dry then. Tuesday, June 30 View Page The main vine of the 1250 Kline started splitting crosswise today at about 14 or so feet. It happened right after a female blossom, which is kind of lucky since it could’ve been right before. After posting about it I’ve decide to terminate the main and take the secondary at the same leaf junction as the blossom and train it to be a new main vine. I’d keep this blossom as the keeper but the plant just isn’t big enough yet, so unless I can’t get anything else to set, this one will just be a practice. If anything terminating the main vine might encourage the side vines to grow a little faster. This all could have been avoided however. The vine ends had been doing a lot of ‘bonering up’ right before the main split, and I got lazy and went a day or two without repositioning the bamboo stakes and paid the consequences. Friday, July 3 View Page I terminated the main vine at 14 feet on the 1250 today right after the female blossom. The vine had not only snapped halfway through, but also kinked in my attempt to get it back under control without making the split worse. A 12.5% Clorothalonil fungicide was applied to the wound and a fan put on it to help it dry. Rather than simply toss the culled part of the vine into the trash or compost pile, because it had roots starting to form I buried part of the vine and its roots into some fairly rich soil were a long time compost pile use to sit in a shady area and watered in some bone meal. Saturday, July 4 View Page I pollinated the first female blossom on the 1250 Kline this morning a quarter after seven. It was a nice egg shaped 4 lober about 14 feet out on the vine and was pollinated using one male flower off of the 1147 Shenoha, the ONLY flower to open on my A.G. pumpkins actually. It’s funny though, for the past several days each day I would pick multiple open flowers off of the 1250 and yet the day I might have needed them the most is the day I have none from that plant. And there is usually only one flower every other day on the 1147, so I got really lucky. Cross is: 1250 Kline 2006 X 1147 Shenoha 2008 I was kind of hoping to make this cross anyway. The 1250 has zero 935 Lloyd, 845 or 723 Bobier, 898 Knauss, 1068 Wallace or any other common ancestors as many of today’s big seeds (with the exception of the 801 Stelts and 846 Calai), and has still managed to throw a few big pumpkins, while the 1147 has some of the best of those seeds in its backround. It also went 15.4% heavy and was quite a solid pumpkin as compared to the 1250 which I believe went 13% light and has had a history of being at a greater than normal risk of splitting. So while the 1147 does nothing for the 1250’s great color, I’m hoping it will straighten out some of the kinks in its genetics and (in my wildest dreams) produce a little hybrid vigor as a result of their unrelativeness. And I don’t know for certain, but I think I read somewhere that the mother is more responsible for its offspring’s color than the father, so hopefully it’s offspring will still have a nice orange tinge to it. Tuesday, July 14 View Page I pollinated another female on the 1250 Kline this morning at about 9:30. It was egg shaped like the first one only this one is a five lober, about 19 feet from the stump. The cross is the same as the first one. Day 10 measurements for 7/4 fruit, CC: 11.5”, SS: 8.25”, EE: 9” , OTT: 28.75” In the hours following pollination, the secondary turned main freakin split crosswise again! This time I saw the risk ahead of time and gave it some support on the way down from bonering up, but it still split. It took an unbelievably small amount of weight to snap such a thick vine I’m amazed. I didn’t measure it, but the snap couldn’t have been any more than a foot from the growing tip. Thursday, July 16 View Page Now I know why the 7/4 fruit’s day 10 measurements were poor. In the two days since I measured it, it hasn’t grown any and is now showing pale white splotches around the blossom end. Its aborting. :( Friday, July 17 View Page I pollinated two females this morning at about eight o’ clock on the 1250, both on side vines. They were both selfed because there were no flowers available from the 1147. The one on the side vine closest to the stump was a five lober, while the one on the side vine furthest out was a four lober. *Special Weather Statement* Issued by the National Weather Service Indianapolis, IN 3:02 pm EDT, Fri., Jul. 17, 2009 ... UNSEASONABLY COOL WEATHER HEADED FOR CENTRAL INDIANA THIS WEEKEND... A STRONG LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM IN COMBINATION WITH HIGH PRESSURE ACROSS THE NORTHERN PLAINS STATES WILL PUSH VERY COOL AIR ACROSS CENTRAL INDIANA ON SATURDAY. PLENTY OF CLOUD COVER IS ALSO EXPECTED WHICH WILL HELP TO PREVENT TEMPERATURES FROM RISING. HIGH TEMPERATURES ON SATURDAY ACROSS CENTRAL INDIANA ARE EXPECTED TO BE IN THE UPPER 60S TO AROUND 70... OVER 15 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. THE COOL AIR AND CLOUDS WILL MOVE OFF TO THE EAST ON SUNDAY AND HIGH TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO RECOVER TO LOWER AND MIDDLE 70S. THE NORMAL HIGH TEMPERATURE AT INDIANAPOLIS ON JULY 18 IS 86 DEGREES. THE RECORD FOR COLDEST HIGH TEMPERATURE AT INDIANAPOLIS ON JULY 18 IS 75... SET BACK IN 1883 AND 1871. Saturday, July 18 View Page I pollinated a five lobed female blossom on the Prizewinner Hybrid with the 1250 Kline this morning at about 8:15. That 138 year old record for the coldest high temperature was smashed today with a high of 66°F and zero sun. It feels like there should be a weigh off soon. lol Sunday, July 19 View Page The 1147 had its first female pollinated this morning by the 1250 Kline, sort of. Since I was going to be away camping the morning it was to open, I cut off and destroyed all ‘about to open’ flowers on the Prizewinner and 1147, then rounded up some flowers from the 1250 and put them in a small jug with some water in it and stuck it right next to the female blossom that was about to open on the 1147 and let the bees do the pollinating. I can only hope that there are no other Cucurbita Maxima’s in the vicinity, otherwise there would be a risk of the genetics being contaminated by some unknown variety. Monday, July 20 View Page I pollinated another 5 lobe female blossom this morning on the 1250 on the same side vine as the last 5 lober, this time with the 1147 Shenoha. Tuesday, July 21 View Page I pollinated another 5 lober on the 1250 this morning, this one on the fourth to last side vine, pollinated with itself. Friday, July 24 View Page I pollinated another 5 lober at the end of the last side vine of the 1250 this morning at about 10 AM with itself. There was one flower on the 1147 I could have pollinated it with, but stupid me forgot to even check that plant yesterday and so it went to the bees. Day 10 measurements for the 7/14 pollination: CC - 20.75”, SS - 15”, EE - 15” , OTT - 50.75” After the nearly four inches of rain we received on the 22nd, the stem on the 7/14 fruit has been bursting with splits, two touching the pumpkin a little and a small split almost touched it. Its really been a struggle trying to keep them from getting worse. I basically filled the splits with an undiluted, straight from the bottle clorothalonil fungicide, and then proceeded to paint the entire stem with the stuff to hopefully discourage any new splits from forming. Whether or not I will be able to keep this fruit going I don’t know. I’ve pollinated five other females in the past week, so we will see how they do. Wednesday, August 5 View Page The sole fruit on the 1147 started showing white splotches on its blossom end a couple of days ago, a sure sign it’s aborting. :( Ever since the nearly four inches of rain we got on 7/22, the 7/14 pollination on the 1250 has had problems with its stem splitting a lot. A few of those splits eventually extended into the fruit causing those areas to rot, and despite keeping a fan on it 24/7 to try to keep it dry, scraping out the rotten muck and regularly applying a chlorothalonil fungicide straight from the bottle (last two days sulphur dust), moisture coming from within the fruit itself kept moistening the wound and allowed the wound to just keep rotting and rotting no matter what I was doing. Eventually it seemed the plant was sensing what was going on and decided to abort it (white splotches on blossom end), so I cut it off. It was 22 days old and weighed 29.5 pounds (wtf?). And to add a little more insult to the matter, the remaining 7/17 pollination I had been planning on growing as an ‘Oh Shit’ pumpkin aborted at pretty much the same time (other 7/17 pollination aborted a few days before). I didn’t weigh it but I’d say it was in the 5-10 pound range. So now I’m down to only two of an original six pollinations, excluding an open pollination today. One of them was pollinated by the 1147 on 7/20, this one is showing a very distinct deformity in one of its lobes, like it just didn’t ‘take’ properly, and so is not growing nearly as fast as the other lobes on the same fruit. The other fruit was self pollinated on 7/21 and so far looks normal and is growing at about the same rate as the other one. Friday, August 7 View Page Day 20 Measurements for the 7/18 pollination on the Prizewinner Hybrid: CC: 54.75” , SS: 37” , EE: 39” , OTT: 130.75” , Estimated weight: 57 lbs. Pretty damn good for day 20 considering last years Prizewinners never made it past an ott of 123. Sunday, August 9 View Page Day 20 measurements for the 7/20 pollination on the 1250 Kline: CC: 50” , SS: 34.5” , EE: 33.5” , OTT: 118” , Estimated weight: 43.7 lbs. The blossom end on this fruit is going to get buried. The fruit rolled onto its deformed lobe a week or so ago so now the fruit is in a permanent tilt in the direction of its blossom end, which will eventually disappear as the fruit gets bigger. So if the blossom end were to split, I wouldn’t know it until I smelled it due to it rotting as a result of the split. Monday, August 10 View Page Day 20 measurements for the 7/21 pollination on the 1250 Kline: CC: 30.25” , SS: 24.5” , EE: 23” , OTT: 77.75” , Estimated weight: <20 lbs. This one is the runt of the two on the 1250, mostly due to the other one hogging nutrients. Tuesday, August 11 View Page Well, I guess its no surprise but my ‘Oh Shit’ pumpkin, the 7/21 fruit, decided to abort today (white splotches). I guess it couldn’t stand the competition from the 7/20 fruit. Friday, August 14 View Page The pumpkins are growin! Today’s measurements placed them both in the 90-100 lb. range. The 1250 is chuggin along at 10 lbs. a day, while the Prizewinner is doing about 6 lbs. a day. I know, not much. Next year I’m hoping with better soil and more experience I’ll be able to bump those numbers higher. Right now my goal is for the Prizewinner to make at least 200 lbs. by seasons end, and the 1250 to make at least 300 lbs. Essentially I want the 1250 to finish at least a hundred pounds heavier than the Prizewinner. Sunday, August 16 View Page Prizewinner Hybrid sideview Sunday, August 16 View Page 1250 Kline Monday, August 17 View Page This is why I wish I was able to get a fruit to grow on the main vine. Clearly thicker, measuring 7/8 of an inch thick, while the side vine where it met the main only measured ½ an inch. No telling how much weight that probably cost me. Monday, August 17 View Page This really had me worried a week ago. As the fruit got bigger so did the split. After losing a fruit to uncontrollable splitting a few weeks ago I was afraid the same would happen with this fruit, but luckily I was able to get this one under control by hitting it lightly with a bleach solution, letting it sit for a minute, then drying it out with a paper towel and lightly applying a chlorothalonil fungicide straight from the bottle and keeping a fan on it until it dried. The yellow stuff is sulphur paste applied to plug the hollow inside of the vine that had been exposed after I cut the vine past the fruit. The blue lines are where the vine walls used to be connected. Tuesday, August 18 View Page You know you’re a rookie when your plant looks like this. LOL Thursday, August 20 View Page I found an SVB egg on the leaf stalk of a leaf next to the 1250 pumpkin while I was measuring it today. What the heck! I thought it was too late in the season for them. I’m glad I sprayed the vines and leaf stalks on the 12th. Day 31 measurements for the 1250: CC: 85.25” , SS: 50.5” , EE: 50.25” , OTT: 186” , Estimated weight: 146 lbs. Thursday, August 20 View Page Ever since it was little it has had a deformity it one of its lobes. Of five lobes, one simply never grew. Because it was one of the lower lobes the pumpkin just rolled onto it and now its on the bottom out of sight, which is kind of good considering how ugly it would have made the fruit look if it were anywhere else, except now it has me worried that it could be a potential weak area where it could split. As you can tell from previous photos the nub has long since disappeared inside what I call “the cave”. Thursday, August 20 View Page Inside view of "the cave". Thursday, August 20 View Page Blossom end view of "the cave". Thursday, August 20 View Page What it might look like if it were sliced in half. Thursday, August 20 View Page Day 33 measurements for the Prizewinner: CC: 72” , SS: 50.5” , EE: 51.5” , OTT: 174” , Estimated weight: 122 lbs. Friday, August 21 View Page I was finally able to pollinate another female on the 1147 this morning after the first one aborted and the second one mysteriously broke off the day after pollinating. Cross is: 1147 Shenoha 08 X 1250 Kline 06 As you can tell I only grew this one as a genetics plant. It having been tossed in a corner of the yard and allowed to grow over lawn that would have otherwise remained empty. I'm hoping theres still enough time left in the season to get this one to 20-30 lbs with viable seeds if it takes. Theres at least one pumpkin I know of that weighed only 21 lbs (21 Beachy) and went on to produce an 892 pounder (892 Beachy). Friday, August 21 View Page A couple weeks ago it came to my attention that there is the beginning of a mice infestation in some bushes about 15-20 feet from the edge of my garden. I don’t usually get out into the garden until the afternoon and one day a couple of weeks ago when the pumpkins were smaller I went out there and found that the t-shirt I had been using to cover the Prizewinner was gone, leaving the pumpkin exposed to the sun for several hours, which ticked me off. I later found the shirt had been dragged into the bushes. It hasn’t happened again because the pumpkin is bigger now and the shirt no longer touches the ground where they can reach it. :) I later found two tunnels no wider than my index finger had been dug under both the Prizewinner and the 1250, which got me really worried because I’ve heard plenty of stories of mice burrowing under pumpkins and chewing into the fruit. I proceeded to destroy the entrances to these tunnels and after several days of inactivity I’ve concluded those tunnels were abandoned, fortunately. Not willing to risk having them try again I went out and bought some d-con mice killing bait packets to place around their nest in the bushes. I placed one inside a party peanuts container with three one inch wide holes around the side. The container still smelled strongly of peanuts which I had hoped would attract them, and it turns out it did because it was the first one of the two bait stations to be hit. While I have yet to see a single mouse with my own eyes, mice are the only creatures I can think of which could fit through the holes in that container, dig those kinds of tunnels, and drag a shirt across the yard. And they aren’t moles. I’ve had plenty of experience with moles to rule them out. Tuesday, September 1 View Page Day 43 measurements for the 1250: CC: 103.75" , SS: 61" , EE: 55" , OTT: 216.75" Estimated weight: 224 lbs. Its slowed down some since I last measured on Friday. Then it was doing 7.6 lbs a day but then the temps started dipping into the 40's at night then barely reaching 70 in the day some days, so since Friday it has only been doing 4.25 lbs a day. Its supposed to warm back up this week so hopefully the gains will pick up a little. I need another 76 lbs to make my goal of 300 and theres 32 days till the weigh-off, which means it would have to average at least 2.4 lbs a day till then. Or it could just go heavy. :) Wishfull thinking I know, unfortunately there is more to suggest it might go light than heavy so I'll just hope for the best but expect the worst. On the plus side its starting to get an orange tinge to it. With its great shape if it gets really orange like some other 1250 offspring I might have a shot at the Howard Dill Award. Makes me glad the lobe deformity ended up on the bottom out of site. 'The cave' closed itself up a week ago so I can no longer see into the deformed area. Now I have to cross my fingers and hope nothing goes wrong as a result of the deformity. Tuesday, September 8 View Page Day 50 for the 1250: CC: 108.75" , SS: 62" , EE: 57.5" , OTT: 229.25" Estimated weight: 263 lbs. With warmer weather this past week the daily gains picked back up to 5.57 lbs. a day, and with more warm weather predicted for the coming week, I'm hoping that figure will sustain itself. If it does it means the 1250 could make 300 about this time next week. Looks like we're going to have an indian summer. Tuesday, September 15 View Page Day 57 measurements for the 1250: CC: 111.75" , SS: 63.25" , EE: 59.25" , OTT: 234.25" Estimated weight: 280 lbs, doing 2.43 lbs a day this past week. Tuesday, September 15 View Page I'm liking the shape on the 1250 Kline. The way it leans over its blossom end actually looks very similar to Biz's 266, just not as big and not quite as orange, lol. It makes sense though, seeing as they both have a very similar heritage. Tuesday, September 15 View Page A couple of these began showing up this past week around the stem. Had me scared at first, but a close look showed they were shallower than I had initially thought. I've been plugging them with sulphur paste and it seems to be helping. If a crack would keep growing some after applying the sulphur, it would show on the sulphur, at which point I would just push on the sulphur with my finger to reclose it, and keep doing that until the crack stops growing. Tuesday, September 15 View Page I have no idea what this is. It first showed up in late August as a tiny dot then grew to about the size of a dime. At first I thought it was rot but it was still hard as a rock so I left it alone and kept a close eye on it. It hasn't grown any for over a week, so hopefully it won't be a problem Tuesday, September 22 View Page Day 64 measurements for the 1250: CC: 113.75" , SS: 65" , EE: 60.5" , OTT: 239.25" Estimated weight: 297 lbs , again doing 2.43 lbs a day. Alright! Looks like 300 pounds is as good as mine. In my 9/1 post I said it would have to do at least 2.4 pounds a day till the weigh off on October 3 to make 300, since then it has averaged 3.48 lbs a day. When Mike N. reopened portions of the AGGC to non-members (Thanks Mike!), I got on there to look up some stats on the 1250 and it seems that just about all of its larger offspring have gone light while all of the smaller offspring [still bigger than mine :) ] have gone heavy. So I hope that says something about mine. Monday, September 28 View Page The sun really brings out its color. Friday, October 2 View Page I like this photo. Cool what a month and a half’s difference makes. Friday, October 2 View Page First time I’ve seen its front from this low of an angle, after pulling all the side vines in front of it so we would have a clear path to remove it for the weigh off. Saturday, October 3 View Page Here I am with the 1250 Kline at the scale. 352 lbs!!! About 25 lbs more than I thought it was going to be that morning. The measuring crew there estimated it at 331 lbs so it went over 6% heavy. Now known as the 352 Morrison 2009 (1250 Kline 06 x 1147 Shenoha 08). Speaking of the 1147, while I wasn’t able to get anything to grow on it (since it was intended to just be a pollinator plant), I did have two female flowers get to the size of large grapefruits before aborting. When they aborted I cut them in half from end to end to get an idea of what its wall thickness would’ve been and came to find its walls were noticeably thicker than some aborts off the 1250. So I hope it bred some density into the 1250. Monday, October 5 View Page My Burpee Prizewinner Hybrid did quite a bit better this year. 147 lbs. A full 101 lbs heavier than last years biggest at 46 lbs. Now known as the 147 Morrison 2009 (Prizewinner x 1250 Kline 06). Should make for some interesting offspring. Monday, October 5 View Page This past weekend, Tyson Naylor weighed an 1147 Shenoha offspring that taped at 703 lbs, but weighed 873 (24% heavy!). Having seen how thick the walls on my 1147’s aborts were, that doesn’t really surprise me. I’m seriously considering giving the 1147 a shot as my main plant next year, either that or my own 352 to see how it influenced the 1250. http://www.bigpumpkins.com/Diary/DiaryViewOne.asp?eid=121887 Here’s a cross section photo of the 1147 itself. Bomb proof. http://www.bigpumpkins.com/Diary/DiaryViewOne.asp?eid=98952 Thursday, October 8 View Page The pumpkins are now sitting in an empty spot in a small flower garden by the front porch. I’ve already had a few people slowing down as they drive by to look at them. One lady came to a stop while I was standing next to them to ask if they were real. I said yes. Then she asked if I knew how much the big one weighed. I said 352 lbs (jaw drops). Then she said she didn’t know pumpkins could get that big, at which point I told her it only placed 24th in a contest I took it to (jaw drops some more). Which arose the question of how much the winner weighed, I said 1,177 lbs. (jaw drops to the ground :) , I love this stupid hobby, lol.)