Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 12 Entries. Thursday, July 2 View Page This is my first year growing pumpkins. its a little late to be starting a diary, but better late than never. im growing two pumpkins plants this year from seeds that i got from a retail store, so who knows what they'll yield. pictured here is my best looking plant. since the seed was from a retail store, im just calling it plant 1, because im unaware of its parentage. obviously, my other plant is plant 2. the main vine on my plant 1 is currently at 19' with two pollinated flowers; one at 12', and one at 14'. Thursday, July 2 View Page two pollinated flowers on my plant 1. the first female that appeared on plant 1 i went ahead and pollinated and let grow a little too long. the pumpkin had a circumference of 14 inches before i cut it off, because it was only at 9'. the two pollinated pumpkins that are on now would be bigger, except the first pumpkin that i cut off probably stole some nutrients from the others since it was closer to the base. Monday, July 6 View Page the best fruit on my plant 1. its about 11' out. just got nearly 2" of rain after a short dry spell, now full blast sunshine so hopefully i'll see some major growth in the next few days. Thursday, July 9 View Page the pumpkin on plant 1 isn't growing as fast as i'd like to see it growing. then again, we havent had very many sunny days this week, mostly light rain and overcast skies. the season's still young though. Thursday, July 9 View Page the pumpkin on plant 2 has, ironically, passed up the pumpkin on plant 1. im intrigued by this as plant 2 has slender vines, smaller leaves and less overall bulk plantwise then plant 1. Thursday, July 9 View Page i constructed a shade structure for my pumpkin on plant 2 today. the leaves just aren't large enough to block the sun from reaching the pumpkin. i used an old gridle used for cooking over a campfire. i screwed each of its legs down to their own 6x6 chunk to give it height and a strong support to anchor it down. i tied a feed sack over the top of the gridle to block the sun. the structure seems to work, blocking the sun and allowing air to flow to the pumpkin. Thursday, July 9 View Page another view of the sunblock structure. Thursday, August 6 View Page zucchini plant was suddenly wilting. others were fine. i suspected SVB so i uprooted the plant and burned it. as it was burning, i saw a SVB larvae wiggling out of the stem. he got toasted. the last thing i need is a vine borer in my pumpkins Friday, August 7 View Page front view of my largest p-kin. styrofoam is to keep vine from rubbing on the p-kin flesh Monday, August 10 View Page largest pumpkin. 5gal bucket for size comparison Monday, August 10 View Page side shot. bucket in front Tuesday, August 25 View Page WOW!!! thats a HOTT compost pile!!!