Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 112 Entries. Monday, January 14 View Page Last year was my first year of growing pumpkins and overall it was a success. My goal for the year was a 600 punder. I crossed the 1382 Bryson with the 1432 Northrup and ended up with a 594.5. There were a lot of lessons learned and I hope have a big personal best in 2013! Here is my pumpkin, and my lovely assistant, at the 2012 Vermont Giant Pumpkin Growers weigh off. Tuesday, January 15 View Page This year I will execute on a few big lessons learned and hopefully the results will show. First and foremost, patch size. Last year I grew two plants in a 350 square foot patch. The 594.5 (1382 Bryson x 1432 Northrup) only had about 180 square feet. This year I am expanding the patch to 600 square feet with only one plant. Second, disease and pest preventative maintenance. Last year I was in reaction mode all year. My plants had Powdery Mildew by the last week of July. Growth was after July was nearly to a halt. Somehow my 594.5 put on weight a couple pounds at a time through September with no plant to support it. This year I will need to get some preventative maintenance tips from my fellow VGPGA growers! Tuesday, January 15 View Page I will also have a second patch growing a back-up plant that I am interested in using as a male pollinator. Seeds I will be attempting to grow this year: 1872 Wallace and the 1756 Lancaster. I'm hoping the large shell of the 1872 crossed with the 17% heavy of the Lancaster results in a nice seed. Is it spring yet??? Thursday, January 17 View Page Here is a cross section of the 594.5 Towne 2012 (1382 Bryson x 1432 Northrup). Uniform wall thickness, 4% heavy to the new charts. Thursday, January 17 View Page Pretty good seed count from the 594.5, 701 seeds total! Wednesday, February 13 View Page I decided to run a practice germination using some of last year's seed. I have changed a number of things since germinating last year, and I'm sure there are more then a few small details that will be ironed out by going through a practice run. Hopefully this helps minimize risk when I plant my better seeds come April. Similar to last year, I'm removing the shell, placing the seed in a paper towel soaked with soluble kelp solution, and keeping it on a heat mat for 24 hours. Wednesday, February 13 View Page After removing from the moist paper towel, I planted the seeds into two containers. This year I am going to use 22 quart (5.5 gallon) clear PC food bins. I have modified the bins by cutting off the bottom, flipping upside down so that the lid is now a removable bottom, and slitting a cut all the way up the side to allow for easy removal in the patch. I'll also be able to use them year after year. I'm hoping these new containers, and this test run, will allow me to understand how long I can grow indoors before the roots start to contact the container edges. Both containers contain Pro-Mix BX. The container on the right also contains a few extra goodies mixed in. I planted the weaker looking seed in the container on the right in an attempt to see if the extras will help accelerate root development. Wednesday, February 13 View Page After 36 hours in the soil, the first seed is sprouting through the soil. 12 hours later the second seed came through. Wednesday, February 13 View Page About 4 days after planting both are growing quickly and look healthy. The cot leaves in the left plant, w/o the extra ingredients, are still a bit ahead of the right plant, however they are very wavy and curled versus the right plant whos cot leaves are quite flat w/o curling. I'm not sure this has anything to do with the differences in planting medium, but an observation. Also, I got the cot leaves a bit wet when misting water with a spray bottle. I am now using a fan to help move the air a bit. Thursday, February 14 View Page Well, 5 days after planting, the roots of both plants have already reached the outside edges of the 22 quart containers they are planted in. It amazes me how quickly the root systems are growing. I've often heard that you don't want to keep these potted indoors more then a week or so, now I see why. I can only imagine how restricted the roots would be after 7 days of growing in smaller pots. I wonder if that would have any impact on growth momentum of a plant once its in the patch? Perhaps having a micro climate germ chamber right in the patch is the way to go? Thursday, February 14 View Page Here is the other plant, already showing roots. Within 3.5 days of breaking through the soil the roots are already touching the outside surface of a 22 quart container that has a diameter of 12-14". I find that amazing... Friday, February 15 View Page Day 6 since planting, first true leaf on both plants are starting to grow. The size of the cots on these are much larger then I remember from it's parents last year. The 1382 Bryson had smaller cot leaves then the 1432 Northrup, and that held true with the plants, where the 1432's leaves were much larger, and was a really nice looking plant. The cots on these may be bigger then the 1432. Saturday, February 23 View Page Attended my first Vermont Giant Pumpkin Growers meeting today and had a great time. Very informative and met some great people. I also got the Rookie of the Year awared, what an honor! Thursday, March 7 View Page Just like Christmas! Change of lineup, looks like I'll be growing the 1770 Lieber this year! Now, what to cross it with? For now, planning the 1662 Stelts (heavy orange with heavy orange offspring). Friday, April 5 View Page After a long winter of planning and anticipation, the patch work has finally begun! I will be expanding from approx 350 square feet last year, up to around 750 square feet. As part of the expansion, I also want to improve my sub soil. I have pretty heavy soil, and it doesn't help that just 9" down it's compacted and filled with gravel. So, I'm going to take the top surface off by hand, till in some peat, compost, vermiculite, and gypsum, then cover with my topsoil and finish the top layer with some of the same. I'm hoping the resulting soil will allow for optimum root growth. Friday, April 5 View Page Meanwhile inside, I let my last seed germination test continue to grow just for the fun of it. Here is a picture of one of my 594 seeds at close to 4 weeks old. I've never seen a double vine before, but I anticipate that's what I'm seeing here. Friday, May 3 View Page Well over the past month I haven't had the chance to update my diary, must be because I've been spending all my time in the patch, not a bad thing! I'll start four seeds this year, the 1770 Lieber I have high hopes for, the 1684 Delaney I'm hoping to have as my polinator at a minimum, the 1756 Lancaster can't argue with heavy 1789 genetics, and the 1872 Wallace. I'll plant the two most promising plants, with my first choice getting around 600 square feet of patch, and a pollinator that gets around 150 square feet. Time will tell! Friday, May 3 View Page A big focus for me this year will be expanding the patch from ~350 square feet to around 750 square feet. I had a soil test done for the first time, and Tom at Extreme gave me some pointers, thanks for your recommendations Tom. Also, I'll be placing quite a bit of peat moss, perlite, and vermiculite to try and lighten up my heavy soil. Compaction was an issue last year. Here I have peat moss, vermiculite, perlite, blood meal, potassium sulfate, Spring Wakeup, Mykos, Rootshield Plus, powdered gypsum, kelp meal, and humic acid. Friday, May 3 View Page Oh yeah, cant forget my new compost hauler. Squatting pretty good here. Hauled around 5 yards of compost. My one regret is I didn't send in a sample prior to putting it in the patch, I hope that doesn't come back to haunt me. Friday, May 3 View Page And here is my lovely assistent taking some time to get her hands dirty. I spent a total of 16 hours in the patch over two days last weekend. Big thanks to Emily for her help. Friday, May 3 View Page Here is Emily doing some plumbing, getting the irrigation system ready. We modeled it after Thad Starr's design on his website. Thanks for posting the informaton Thad, it's a big help for newbies like myself. Friday, May 3 View Page I spent a lot of time in the patch over the past couple of weeks. Here is the result. I have a great cold frame, 8 feet x 10 feet, again modeled after Thad Starr's design, an irrigation system complete with two 55 gallon barrels and irrigation pump. I'll use one of the two barrels to mix nutrients. Overall, when looking back one year ago I can't help but think how far along I've come. Hopefully that results in big improvements. If so, credit goes out to all those in the BP community, posting all of your information has been a big help. Friday, May 3 View Page First night of getting the irrigation going. The Winter Rye cover crop has really come up over the past 24 hours, I'm psyched about that. I plan on taking the seedlings out to the cold frame this weekend. Soil temp is running at 75F through the night. Sunday, May 5 View Page Seeds were started April 22nd. On May 5th I planted the 1684 Delaney as my plant to take the majority of my patch. It's roots were the most aggressive of the four and it's foliage was just a touch ahead of the others. Here I have removed the plant from the 22 quart planter and have soaked the root ball with BioMaxx, added a touch of rootshield plus, and Azos. Also mixed the soil around the plant with MicroTech CT and BioNutrients. Sunday, May 5 View Page 1684 Delaney on day of planting in the patch, May 5th. Sunday, May 5 View Page 1770 Lieber on the day of planting in the patch, May 5th. I'm hopeful this will be my pollinator for the 1684 Delaney if all works out. Heavy orange x heavy orange hopefully will equal heavy orange. Tuesday, May 7 View Page 1684 Delaney 14 days after planting. Both plants have slowed a bit since planting outside, to be expected I guess. Next year I will take more time to harden off. Today I ran a drench through my irrigation system that contained kelp, fish, azos, and soluble maxx. It worked out great, but once the tank was empty I realized I didn't disolve a lot of the soluble kelp and fish. So I added more water and mixed again. Now my pump isn't pushing through with quite as much power, hoping I didn't gum it up. Lesson learned. On the bright side, my yard smells like I have lakefront property with that seaweed and fish. Tuesday, May 7 View Page 1770 Lieber 14 days after planting. Sunday, May 12 View Page It's been one week since transplanting the 1684 and 1770 into the cold frame. After the first few days progress was slow, but the past four have really been great. Both plants have received a couple of drenches and growth has quickly accelerated. I am concerned about the 1684 Delaney however. I've noticed the stem is really thickening, too much maybe. I'm concerned it could be the start of a double vine, but don't have enough experience to say one way or the other. Luckily I have back up plants going just in case, but I don't want to wait too long to find out it's a double vine waiting to happen. Any growers know if this pic looks like the tell tale sign of a double vine starting, or is it me just being paranoid? Sunday, May 12 View Page This is the 1684 7 days after transplant. I've been able to keep the soil from dipping too far below 70F at night by using a space heater and closing up the cold frame before the sun goes too far down in the evening. I'm concerned about the coming cold snap where they are predicting low 30's. I don't have soil cables this year, as last year I put a shovel through one in the fall when removing the pumpkin from the patch. Those sure would be nice right about now. Sunday, May 12 View Page Here is the 1770 Lieber. A bit behind the 1684, but still looking nice. The leaves have turned a bit lighter green, I think it has to do with the recent cooler weather. Tuesday, May 14 View Page This is the 1684 Delaney main vine, its the diameter of a quarter, pretty beefy compared to what I remember from last year. No twin leaves or tendrils on the tip so it looks like the double has decided to straighten itself out. Thanks for the feedback Mike, looks like you were right! Drenched the entire patch today with soluble kelp, soluble fish, Biogrow Soluble Maxx, and Azos. The cover crop has exploded over the past 24 hours with a full day of sun. I've also found out why the pump wasn't pushing the irrigation system with as much pressure as expected, I only had one tank feeding the pump, which was not quite enough throughput. Opening both barrels, one with nutrients, and one with straight water, results in great sprinkler coverage. Chalk that up to experience. Fungicides and insecticides are on there way. This year I need to be sure my plants stay healthy as long as possible. That in itself should really help push the pounds beyond last year. Sunday, May 19 View Page 1684 Delaney, 2 weeks after transplant and 27 days after planting from seed. Comparing to last year, the plant is about one week ahead in size. I translpanted a bit sooner this year, which I think helped, along with my feeding schedule. This week I drenched the entire patch in soluble kelp, Biogrow Soluble Maxx, and Azos on Monday, gave a systemic fungicide drench/spray on Wednesday, drenched the patch with soluble kelp, MicroTech CT, and Xtreme Tea on Friday. I think I need to hold back the water a bit, leaves were looking really heavy even when dry, more so then I'd like. Sunday, May 19 View Page Here is the 1770 Lieber 27 days after planting from seed. This plant is very nice, but still a bit behind the Delaney. Both plants are starting to run. The main vine on both are quite thick, so neither have actually touched the ground yet, but with some warmer weather coming this week, I expect these plants to make a ton of progress over the next week. Both were treated with Sevin insecticide on Saturday. Sunday, May 19 View Page Here is a view of the patch. Cover crop innoculated with Mykos is growing well and seems to be keeping other weeds at bay. I'll give it a couple more weeks to grow, then I'm going to put the weed wacker to it, rake it all out, and till up the innoculated roots. Hopefully that gives the myco' a good head start. Tuesday, May 21 View Page May 21st marks 4 weeks since planting both the 1684 Delany and 1770 Lieber. 1684 Delaney measures at 28" for main vine length and 4" around at the base. Plant still has not hit the ground but is slowly making its way toward the ground. Monday I drenced the plants with a mixture of Extreme Blend, Azos, Biogrow Soluble Maxx, and fish. Have observed small tears, approximately 1/8" in length on some leaves, they all are in the same direction, often with 2 or 3 very near one another running parallel. Not sure if this is the leaf tearing as the veins grow. Hopefully it isn't pest related. Thursday, May 23 View Page New sprayer! Between the micro irrigation for drenches and this SR 450 sprayer for foliar applications, I should be all set (assuming I use the right amount of the right things). Being my first year really using fertilizers, I'm sure there will be many oops and lessons learned. Thursday, May 23 View Page And for lessons learned, exibit A: The other day when I applied extreme blend, Azos, Biogrow Soluble Maxx, and fish I used it as a drench, but also sprayed the plant. About a half hour after I noticed some yellowing of the leaves. Then I realized I put more extreme on then I wanted for the given area that I was going to drench, by about 2x. I'm thinking thats the cause for the yellowing, and eventually the browning. The water sat on the edge of the leaves. I guess its like the saying, measure twice, cut once. Measure twice, spray once. I'm also having trouble getting the main vine to settle to the ground without kinking it. The plants were so stalky prior to running that they had a long way to go to get back down to the ground. I've resorted to building soil up under the main vine of the 1684 starting about 18" away from where it enters the ground. I'll just ease it down like a ramp from there I guess. Other then that, plants seem to be doing well. Roots are shooting out of the 1684 like crazy, really thick as well. Friday, May 31 View Page Finally some warm weather here in Vermont after last week/weekend being cold rainy and windy. One or two days we only had highs of 41 or so, needless to say the vine growth slowed right down despite keeping the heaters going in the cold frame. Once again, wishing I had those soil cables in. Seems we have turned the corner though, the plants are loving this heat and humidity, and the soil temp is back up between 70 and 75. Today the 1684 Delaney main vine grew almost 11 inches in 22 hours. The root system is really going crazy as well, with roots showing under all my walking boards and they have now reached the outside of the cold frame. Also, the main vine is about to outgrow the length of the cold frame, today its at around 7 feet. Time to cut down and till in the winter rye. Friday, May 31 View Page As I was pulling off the plastic from the cold frame, guess who came in to join the party, Mr Squash Bug! These things must smell these plants from a mile away, haven't seen a sign of one all year and as soon as the plant is uncovered, its like a magnet. Luckily I've sprayed with Merit in the past 24 hours, hopefully I'm covered. Speaking of pests and diseases, I continue to regret that overdose soil drench a week ago. I burned a couple of leaves, and had too much nitrogen in the drench as well. Result is some monster sized leaves that appeared pretty puffy to start out. I watered a bit more then normal to try and leach some N out of the soil and eventually the leaves started to look a bit better. Note to self, careful how much love you give when feeding. Better to go light then too heavy. Wednesday, June 5 View Page The first female is emerging out of the 1684's tip. It should be positioned at around 11 to 12 feet by the time it grows out. I already culled one female off a secondary, cross section showed it was a 5 lobe, so that's encouraging, hopefully its a sign of whats to come. Growth has slowed with recent cool weather, down to around 4 to 6 inches per day. Plant is looking good overall at around 10 ft in length. Leaves are in good shape except where I burn them a couple of weeks ago. Started burying vines with a mixture of Mykos, Soluble Seaweed, Soluble Humic, and Azos mixed, then watered in with Soluble Maxx. Forgot the rootshield plus, next time I bury I'll be sure to remember. Wednesday, June 5 View Page As I adjusted the 1684 main vine these tap roots came up, double tap, nice! Didn't realize that was a thing. I imagine thats a good thing. Tonight I soaked the plant with Infuse fungicide. Yesterday I started using Recover RX, TKO Phosphite, and over the weekend used some Cal Mag Max. Monday, June 10 View Page First female on the 1684 Delaney making progress. This plant has a lot of yellow in it. Hopefully that means orange?! Tuesday, June 18 View Page First pollination of the season, the 1684 Delaney x Self at just shy of 11 feet out on the main vine. I had two mediocre males to use, so I'm not real confident in how it will take. Otherwise, temperatures were right today, with the morning stying in the low 60's and afternoon highs around 70. Overall weather has seemed really cool and wet for June here in Vermont. This has slowed overall plant growth down, we need some low 80's! The main of the 1684 sits at around 14'+ with another female just coming out of the growing tip. Hopefully that is ready at around 16-17' in 10 days or so. I don't have much patience in waiting until early July for pollination, so the weather better start helping this plant a bit. The 1770 Lieber seems to have a disease, perhaps yellow vine. The plant is very yellow, very stiff vines, with very little vine length between nodes. Its all very compact. Male flowers are sterile with no stamen to speak of. Perhaps is excessive nitrogen, however the Delaney plant right next to it seems fine, although there is a lot of yellow in that plant as well. Fingers are crossed my plants don't go down!!! Tuesday, June 18 View Page Note for season and for all the growers in the northern New England area, when I was pollinating this morning I found my first cucumber beetle hiding underneath the stamen of a male flower, sneaky little bugger, but not sneaky enough! They are here! Tuesday, June 18 View Page The first pollination of the season was on a 6 lobe female. Usually I only see 4 and 5. I cross section every pumpkin I cull, even when they are pea size, and last year I only saw one 6 lobe. Not sure if the number of lobes has any influence on growth potential?? Probably hard to say either way. Thursday, June 20 View Page Its been two days since I polinated the 1684 and it doesn't appear to have taken, but I'll keep my fingers crossed. The next female is now out of the growing tip. Hard to say how long until pollination as our weather has been unpredictable with 7 day forecasts consistently looking nice but when the day/night comes, it's cool. Again, fingers crossed because the forecast is showing low 80's early next week :) Thursday, June 20 View Page Here is the plant at 8 weeks old. Overall it seems pretty healthy. Sending in a tissue sample tomorrow to try and get the full story and make adjustments as needed. Probably a good time given the pumpkin I will most likely go with is just developing. You can see I'm beginning to bend the end of the main vine to accomodate a sharp bend at the stem. I'll also be starting to shade the tip and new female starting tomorrow. I tilled in the remainder of the cover crop today. I'm glad the tiller is going away for a while, what a chore when the patch gets this big. Root growth seems to be aggressive. The other day I removed a walking board and underneath was a mess of roots. Also found myself removing a small rock from the dirt when burying vines. Taking it out of the soil sounded like velcro as there were roots surrounding and stuck to the rock. Hopefully the early season application of Mykos, along with the regular wartering of Biogrow Soluble Maxx is paying off. Monday, June 24 View Page We have had some really warm and humid weather over the past couple of days and that has really accelerated plant growth! After this afternoon's hard rain I removed this walking board, roots all over! Looks like the plant is alive and well underground, nice! Monday, June 24 View Page Second pollination on the 1684 Delaney x Self on 6-24, 4 lobe off a secondary near the stump. Since my first pollination didn't seem to take, I really just wanted to use this one for practice. The next pollination will be in the next few days on the main at around 18ft. This will be my top choice if it takes. Wednesday, June 26 View Page On 6/25 I pollinated my first pumpkin on the 1770 Lieber using the 1684 Delaney. A nice 5 lobe at around 10 ft out. My plan starting out this season was to use the 1770 as my pollinator for the 1684, so I only gave this plant 8'x15' (120 sqft) to grow, the area is mostly filled in and I don't have a of space left, so I'm hoping this one takes. BTW, the 1770 males are all sterile. If this one takes, it will be the pumpkin I take to the Champlain Valley Fair on August 24th, so I only have about 60 days. Grow! Wednesday, June 26 View Page 1770 Lieber x 1684 Delaney Day 0 on 6/25. High temps of the day was mid 80's, so I used ice packs and a small cardboard box to keep things cool. Hopefully it does the trick. Wednesday, June 26 View Page Note for diary, placed the SVB traps out on 6/23. I saw my first Squash Vine Borer dancing around the patch on 6/24, the first real heat we have had in June. By 6/26, I have 2 in the trap. Also killed my first squash bug on 6/26 that I've seen hanging out on a leaf. Now that we finally have a break in the rain I have sprayed the patch with Immunox and Sevin. The week prior I used Bayer Advance. Hopefully I can keep a healthy plant through August this year! Wednesday, June 26 View Page 1770 x 1684, 36 hours after pollination. Still shiney, fingers are crossed! Monday, July 1 View Page Here is a picture of the patch on July 1st. Overall, leaves are doing well minus anywhere I have spray damage. I have rooted it back to my micro irrigation. If the 55 gallon barrel isn't really well mixed I risk having undisolved fertilizer spraying onto the leaves. Oh well, lesson learned. The 1684 is around 24 feet on the main vine and I started terminating secondaries around June 26th. You can see in the bottom left a section that is dedicated to the 1770 Lieber. This has forced me to direct the 1684 secondaries around, but it's the only option I had to grow 2 plants and I figure this way I'll still have plenty of room for the 1684. Monday, July 1 View Page This is the 1684 Delaney x Self 4 DAP. Still looks shiney, but I won't be comfortable about if it took for a few more days. It was another 6 lobe, this time at 18 feet, similar to the first pollination that failed at 10 feet. Monday, July 1 View Page This is the 1770 Lieber x 1684 Delaney at 6 DAP. I'm pretty confident this one took based on how shiney it remains and that each day I look at it the size is noticably different. Hopefully this one is bound for the fair. Sunday, July 7 View Page Here is the 1684 Delaney x Self at 10 DAP. It measures at 71" OTT. Looking in my notes from last year, my 594 was at 55" on day 10, so it seems I have a good start. The news isn't so good on the 1770 Lieber. Both pollinations aborted around day 7. I pollinated another this morning, but that is my last hope and its not optimal as I have run out of space in that section of the patch. Fingers are crossed that this one keeps. Wednesday, July 10 View Page 1684 Delaney x Self 13 DAP, OTT 109". Averaged 13.5" the past 2 days, and the daily is going up. Its early, but I hope this continues. I really need to make sure I can keep my plant healthy. Thanks for the recommendations John N! Wednesday, July 17 View Page 1684 Delaney at 20 DAP, OTT is 193.75" (82cc, 56.5ss, 55.25bs), est weight 170 pounds, 25 pounds today and slowly increasing by the day. This compares to estimated weight of 83 pounds on Day 20 for last years 594. Plant is looking pretty healthy, although some of my secondaries are stalling a bit. Hoping to get my leaf sample back from UMass soon, its been a couple of weeks. Monday, July 22 View Page 1684 Delaney x Self, 25 DAP. 236" OTT or est. 297 pounds. Averaging 25 pounds per day for 6 days now. It seems to have plateaued. I just buried the remaining vines which I'm hoping fuels the plant to push a bit more once the tap roots start to develop. I sure would like to get a few 30 pound days! It's starting to orange nicely, looking similar to its mother but seems a bit early, hopefully that doesn't mean its starting to ripen early. Last year my gains started to drop around day 20-25 range, I think due to PM. Major goal for this year is to keep my plant healthy later into the season. Squash bugs are out in numbers and laying eggs. I'm going to modify my insecticide sprays to try and take them out. I pulled the 1770 Lieber yesterday as males continued to be sterile and all females were aborting day 8 or earlier. Too bad. Almost all nodes had double or triple tap roots out the bottom, and single or double out the top. By the way, thanks for all the help lately Matt D, its very much appreciated. Saturday, July 27 View Page 1684 Delaney with patch dog Bentley inspecting my work. He looks a bit concerned after I told him the pumpkin weights about 7 times as much as he does. Day 30 numbers 115 cc, 75.25 s-s, 73.75 total 264" OTT, estimated 413 pounds. 7 day average just under 24 pounds per day. Terminated the main vine on 7/28. First signs of PM showing up on plant on 7/28 despite spraying a rotation of fungicides. Next year I'm going with drip irrigation in an attempt to keep the leaves a bit dryer. Thursday, August 8 View Page 1684 Delaney, Day 41, 310.25" OTT, est 669 pounds. No PM yet, but leaves toward the center of plant are starting to age. Much better off then last year. Gains slowed to 18 one day after mid 40 degree nights, but I'm back up to mid 20's now. Thursday, August 8 View Page 1684 Delaney, Day 41, 310.25" OTT, est 669 pounds. No PM yet, but leaves toward the center of plant are starting to age. Much better off then last year. Gains slowed to 18 one day after mid 40 degree nights, but I'm back up to mid 20's now. Thursday, August 8 View Page Patch view. Brown leaves at the stump were burned by a Foliar application very early in the season which has made them fall apart well ahead of the other aging leaves. I also have some new tertiary growth where the 1770 once was that I hope provides a little late season power. Thursday, August 8 View Page Patch view. Brown leaves at the stump were burned by a Foliar application very early in the season which has made them fall apart well ahead of the other aging leaves. I also have some new tertiary growth where the 1770 once was that I hope provides a little late season power. Thursday, August 8 View Page Patch view. Brown leaves at the stump were burned by a Foliar application very early in the season which has made them fall apart well ahead of the other aging leaves. I also have some new tertiary growth where the 1770 once was that I hope provides a little late season power. Thursday, August 8 View Page Test. Beta iOS. Thursday, August 8 View Page Patch view. Brown leaves at the stump were burned by a Foliar application very early in the season which has made them fall apart well ahead of the other aging leaves. I also have some new tertiary growth where the 1770 once was that I hope provides a little late season power. Thursday, August 8 View Page Picture test. Lovely Assistant enjoying the orange coming through. Thursday, August 8 View Page Picture test. Lovely Assistant enjoying the orange coming through. Thursday, August 8 View Page Patch view. Brown leaves at the stump were burned by a Foliar application very early in the season which has made them fall apart well ahead of the other aging leaves. I also have some new tertiary growth where the 1770 once was that I hope provides a little late season power. Thursday, August 8 View Page Picture test. Lovely Assistant enjoying the orange coming through. Thursday, August 8 View Page Patch view. Brown leaves at the stump were burned by a Foliar application very early in the season which has made them fall apart well ahead of the other aging leaves. I also have some new tertiary growth where the 1770 once was that I hope provides a little late season power. Thursday, August 8 View Page Picture test. Lovely Assistant enjoying the orange coming through. Thursday, August 8 View Page Patch view. Brown leaves at the stump were burned by a Foliar application very early in the season which has made them fall apart well ahead of the other aging leaves. I also have some new tertiary growth where the 1770 once was that I hope provides a little late season power. Thursday, August 8 View Page Picture test. Lovely Assistant enjoying the orange coming through. Thursday, August 8 View Page Patch view. Brown leaves at the stump were burned by a Foliar application very early in the season which has made them fall apart well ahead of the other aging leaves. I also have some new tertiary growth where the 1770 once was that I hope provides a little late season power. Thursday, August 8 View Page Patch view. Brown leaves at the stump were burned by a Foliar application very early in the season which has made them fall apart well ahead of the other aging leaves. I also have some new tertiary growth where the 1770 once was that I hope provides a little late season power. Monday, August 12 View Page Here is a view of the blossom, it is sinking in more every week and is now almost 6" deep and the pumpkin is starting to close in from the sides. Hopefully that means nice and thick. Monday, August 12 View Page 1684 Delaney, 46 DAP, 326.5" OTT, 777 estimated weight. Averaging around 20 pounds per day. Monday, August 12 View Page Side view of 1684. I thought a Dill ring was starting, but its not really sinking into a crease, more just the blossom end of the is bulging out. We will see how this progresses, hopefully it doesn't cause any trouble as the pumpkin starts to rib out. Monday, August 12 View Page Here is a view of the blossom, it is sinking in more every week and is now almost 6" deep and the pumpkin is starting to close in from the sides. Hopefully that means nice and thick. Monday, August 12 View Page Here is a view of the blossom, it is sinking in more every week and is now almost 6" deep and the pumpkin is starting to close in from the sides. Hopefully that means nice and thick. Monday, August 12 View Page 1684 Delaney, 46 DAP, 326.5" OTT, 777 estimated weight. Averaging around 20 pounds per day. Monday, August 12 View Page Side view of 1684. I thought a Dill ring was starting, but its not really sinking into a crease, more just the blossom end of the is bulging out. We will see how this progresses, hopefully it doesn't cause any trouble as the pumpkin starts to rib out. Monday, August 12 View Page 1684 Delaney, 46 DAP, 326.5" OTT, 777 estimated weight. Averaging around 20 pounds per day. Monday, August 12 View Page Side view of 1684. I thought a Dill ring was starting, but its not really sinking into a crease, more just the blossom end of the is bulging out. We will see how this progresses, hopefully it doesn't cause any trouble as the pumpkin starts to rib out. Monday, August 12 View Page 1684 Delaney, 46 DAP, 326.5" OTT, 777 estimated weight. Averaging around 20 pounds per day. Monday, August 12 View Page Side view of 1684. I thought a Dill ring was starting, but its not really sinking into a crease, more just the blossom end of the is bulging out. We will see how this progresses, hopefully it doesn't cause any trouble as the pumpkin starts to rib out. Saturday, August 17 View Page Day 51, 331" OTT, est weight 851 pounds. Gains have slowed considerably the past few days as temps have dropped. The forecast is looking great though, so hopefully gains improve or stay steady for a while. The plant is definitely showing its age, but new growth is popping up everywhere to the point where I'm having trouble keeping ahead if it. At this point in the season, I may just let it go and hope it provides some late season photosynthesis, it's just tough to watch as it climbs all over the old growth an makes a mess. Saturday, August 17 View Page Day 51, 331" OTT, est weight 851 pounds. Gains have slowed considerably the past few days as temps have dropped. The forecast is looking great though, so hopefully gains improve or stay steady for a while. The plant is definitely showing its age, but new growth is popping up everywhere to the point where I'm having trouble keeping ahead if it. At this point in the season, I may just let it go and hope it provides some late season photosynthesis, it's just tough to watch as it climbs all over the old growth an makes a mess. Saturday, August 17 View Page Day 51, 331" OTT, est weight 851 pounds. Gains have slowed considerably the past few days as temps have dropped. The forecast is looking great though, so hopefully gains improve or stay steady for a while. The plant is definitely showing its age, but new growth is popping up everywhere to the point where I'm having trouble keeping ahead if it. At this point in the season, I may just let it go and hope it provides some late season photosynthesis, it's just tough to watch as it climbs all over the old growth an makes a mess. Saturday, August 17 View Page Day 51, 331" OTT, est weight 851 pounds. Gains have slowed considerably the past few days as temps have dropped. The forecast is looking great though, so hopefully gains improve or stay steady for a while. The plant is definitely showing its age, but new growth is popping up everywhere to the point where I'm having trouble keeping ahead if it. At this point in the season, I may just let it go and hope it provides some late season photosynthesis, it's just tough to watch as it climbs all over the old growth an makes a mess. Saturday, August 17 View Page Day 51, 331" OTT, est weight 851 pounds. Gains have slowed considerably the past few days as temps have dropped. The forecast is looking great though, so hopefully gains improve or stay steady for a while. The plant is definitely showing its age, but new growth is popping up everywhere to the point where I'm having trouble keeping ahead if it. At this point in the season, I may just let it go and hope it provides some late season photosynthesis, it's just tough to watch as it climbs all over the old growth an makes a mess. Saturday, August 17 View Page Day 51, 331" OTT, est weight 851 pounds. Gains have slowed considerably the past few days as temps have dropped. The forecast is looking great though, so hopefully gains improve or stay steady for a while. The plant is definitely showing its age, but new growth is popping up everywhere to the point where I'm having trouble keeping ahead if it. At this point in the season, I may just let it go and hope it provides some late season photosynthesis, it's just tough to watch as it climbs all over the old growth an makes a mess. Tuesday, August 20 View Page New milestone, day 54, 344.5" OTT for an estimated weight of 907 pounds. With warm weather in the forecast, hopefully my 2nd season goal off 1000 pounds is just around the corner! (Assuming it goes to chart or better) Tuesday, August 20 View Page New milestone, day 54, 344.5" OTT for an estimated weight of 907 pounds. With warm weather in the forecast, hopefully my 2nd season goal off 1000 pounds is just around the corner! (Assuming it goes to chart or better) Sunday, August 25 View Page Emily looking around for about 25 more pounds to reach that 1000 mark. May e she will find it Monday or Tuesday. Sunday, August 25 View Page Emily looking around for about 25 more pounds to reach that 1000 mark. May e she will find it Monday or Tuesday. Wednesday, September 4 View Page Day 69, 367" OTT, estimated weight 1081. Growth is really slowing down now and with cool weather in the forecast I'll really be creating along through September. 37 more growing days. I'm really hoping to be taping 1200+ by then. Wednesday, September 4 View Page How do I keep the gains up into September? Walls are looking thick based on the blossom. I'd like to measure 10 per day, but its slowing to the point where 5 a day is in the near future. Tuesday, September 24 View Page Here is a view I the 1684 plant. I've had a hard time keeping the plant from growing new vines. It pretty mush has a completely new leaf canopy as a result. Tuesday, September 24 View Page Here is a blossom end view of the 1684. Growth is very slow, but still putting on a few per day. Starting today I will start giving it sun during the day. Up until now the pumpkin has been covered day and night. This thing seems really solid and doesn't have a bit of hollow sound to it, hopefully the walls are nice and thick. Sunday, October 6 View Page Less then one week to go! Can't wait to see everyone at the Vermont Giant Pumpkin Growers weigh off! Friday, October 11 View Page Ready for tomorrow morning's lift! Friday, October 11 View Page Ready for tomorrow morning's lift! Monday, October 14 View Page What a great day at the VGPGA weigh off. Great weather, great company, and great results. I'm already psyched for next year!!! Monday, October 28 View Page Well, despite all of Emily's hard work to salvage seeds from the 1290 Towne, we were only able to find 65. After finding 700 in last years 594, the law of averages took affect. Monday, October 28 View Page The REAL benefit to having water tanks, irrigation pump, and a water heater!! (Besides the extra L B's) Monday, October 28 View Page One of my favorites, just before taking it to the scales. Nerves were running high! Monday, October 28 View Page One of my favorites, just before taking it to the scales. Nerves were running high!