Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 126 Entries. Monday, April 3 View Page Season started today for me.Finished two plantholes today. Each hole was enriched by 5 wheelbarrows of very well rotten(2year old)cowmanure,a few bags of pottingsoil,woodashes and composted maple-leaves. The fence is for keeping out uninvited guests.   Monday, April 3 View Page I drilled a 3ft.deep hole at the bottom of each planting hole,and filled it with sand for a good drainage.   Thursday, April 20 View Page Started two seeds today.Plan to plant them in patch 1 april 30 or may 1. 1233.5Reiss05 and 1327.5Dueck05. Two others will follow in 10 days.Plan to plant them in patch 2 on may 10. Probably 1151Bobier05 and 1058.8Papez. I also started 4 backup seeds today.(650verstappen03)   Friday, April 28 View Page 1233.5Reiss and 1327dueck are up.Took them 7 days.Guess i didn't soak them long enough.Brought a 1058.8Papez and 891Northrup to Luc Bex to put in germination box.Also started the1151Bobier and some backup plants(650Verstappen) on Tuesday.I will not plant outside before next wednesday due to the cold weather right now.I will decide than about my definite lineup.   Wednesday, May 3 View Page My cousin came to prepare the piece patch for my fieldpumpkins.More than 500 plants will go in the ground the next days.   Wednesday, May 3 View Page Here i am, ready to plant the 1327.5dueck.It sprouted 5 days ago.   Wednesday, May 3 View Page As you can see, in 5 days roots are everywhere around in the container.   Wednesday, May 3 View Page Ok... went in very smoothly, not any damage at all. The other plan you see in the same planting hole is the backup plant 650verstappen. The 1233.5reiss went into the ground too, same procedure, also along with a backup. Patch 1 is ready now with the 1327.5dueck and 1233.5reiss. 1058.8papez and 891northrup or 1151bobier will go in patch 2 in 5 or 6 days. Began to install second greenhouse today.   Wednesday, May 3 View Page Last season i had some trouble on very hot days in my greenhouse.That's why i installed a misting system today. Tested,works fine.   Monday, May 8 View Page 891northrup and 1058.8papez sprouted.   Thursday, May 11 View Page 1327.5dueck,14days old. Backup plant is a 650verstappen.   Thursday, May 11 View Page 1233.5Reiss, 14 days old. Backup plants here are a 650Verstappen,and some direct-seeded 917Ghaye plants.   Thursday, May 11 View Page The little one is the 1058.8Papez. Sprouted may 8,transplanted today. Backup plant is 650Verstappen.   Thursday, May 11 View Page 891Daigle,Sprouted may 8, transplanted today. Backup(the bigger one)is a 802Ghaye. We had 8 warm days and nights in a row now.(22-24°C).   Saturday, May 13 View Page 250 fieldpumpkins planted today.120 Jaunes de Paris , 130 Rouge vif d'étampes. Ideal circonstances this year, high temps,and 11 Liters of rain in the night.   Monday, May 15 View Page Another 100 fieldpumpkins planted. Jack'o lanterns and Connecticut field pumpkins. Also planted some squashes and some AG's for commecial purposes.(1151bobier,802ghaye,1070razo and a 891northrup.) Gonna use these for genetic purposes as well.   Wednesday, May 17 View Page 891northrup, 9 days old.   Wednesday, May 17 View Page 1058.8papez,9days old.Looking very healthy.   Wednesday, May 17 View Page 1233.5reiss,20days old.   Wednesday, May 17 View Page 1327dueck,20 days old.   Tuesday, May 23 View Page 1327.5dueck 26 dys old.   Tuesday, May 23 View Page Leaf of the 1233.5Reiss.   Wednesday, May 24 View Page Put some remay over the plants,it's gonna be a rather cold night. Added 13-40-13 solution to the 4 plants. Also foliar fed with seaweed. Very wet and windy for more than 7 days now allready.   Thursday, June 1 View Page 1327.5Dueck on day 35. 13-40-13 solution. Coldest first of june ever in Belgium.We didn't even reached 10°C.(50°F)   Thursday, June 1 View Page This is my 1233.5Reiss in the front,and the backup plant.The main vine is a little bit flattened at a certain point,i think due to some pressure.   Thursday, June 1 View Page Detail   Thursday, June 1 View Page Another view.   Monday, June 5 View Page 1327dueck.   Monday, June 5 View Page 1327dueck. First female flower bud.   Tuesday, June 6 View Page 20-20-20 solution. Discovered a section of the 1233.5 that went double. Removed it,rest of the plant looking normal. Second female flower bud on 1327.5 .   Friday, June 9 View Page 1327.5Dueck. Very warm and sunny for the last 6 days, and next week predictions talk about 30°C next week.   Friday, June 9 View Page 1233.5Reiss   Wednesday, June 14 View Page 891northrup   Wednesday, June 14 View Page 1058papez   Wednesday, June 14 View Page 1233reiss   Wednesday, June 14 View Page 1327dueck. Did some pruning,weeding and vine-burying. I removed some burned leaves. Heathwave is over now.   Wednesday, June 14 View Page Sprayed Confidor(greenflies) and 'fructol' (foliar feed).   Thursday, June 15 View Page My watering tank. 1000 liters of water ,1kg of 20-20-20.   Thursday, June 15 View Page Watering system. After 4 days with more than 30°C,today we reached only 17°C Some flowers open allready, but to early to pollinate anything yet.   Saturday, June 17 View Page 2 female flowers at about 4 meters(13-14ft)out on 1327.5dueck. Selfed them cause there are now male flowers yet on my other plants. Didn't ziplock them so pollination = Open. Probably i will not grow them anyway,but i pollinated them 'just in case'. I'm glad to see that all female flowers and fem.flowerbuds on this plants are very longstemmed.   Saturday, June 17 View Page Female flower about to open on the 1233reiss. I will not pollinate it cause ir's only 3meters(10ft.) out. Some male flowers on the 1233 about to open too. I will start controlled pollinations on the 1327 and 1233 in about 5 days from now.   Monday, June 19 View Page 1327dueck Plants are reacting on 20-20-20 gift last thursday,and the current high temps day and night with an explosion of growth.For the dueck and reiss plant i'm gonna switch to 13-40-13 for good fruit setting.   Monday, June 19 View Page 1058papez(front) and 891northrup. Those two were planted 10 days later than 1233 and 1327. Gonna give them another 20-20-20 shot tomorrow. Yesterday evening we had a severe thunderstorm with lots of rain and wind, and i was to late to close this greenhouse.Plants have a little bit of wind damnage, but not to bad after all.   Wednesday, June 21 View Page Female of the 1327dueck and male of 1233reiss ziplocked. Pollinated fem. at 16 ft. out today and will pollinate one at 17 ft. out tomorrow.Big chance one of these to will be the keeper as the next female is only at 20 ft. out.   Thursday, June 22 View Page 2 male flowers of the 1233reiss, ziplocked yesterday evening,open today.   Thursday, June 22 View Page Female flower on the 1327dueck.Covered yesterday, open today.   Thursday, June 22 View Page Pollinated the 1233dueck with two male flowers of the 1233reiss.Covered it again when the job was done. 100% controlled cross.   Friday, June 23 View Page 20-20-20 drench for the 1058papez and 891northrup.(picture) 13-40-13 drench for the 1233reiss and 1327dueck.   Sunday, June 25 View Page Pollinated this female on the 1233reiss this morning. Male pollinator was 1327dueck.   Sunday, June 25 View Page Fruits on the main vine of the 1327dueck.   Tuesday, June 27 View Page Look at the size of this male flower from the 1233Reiss.   Tuesday, June 27 View Page Today i placed some weedcontrol fabric under the main vine and the baby pumpkins.I do this because it creates an area where the plant can not throw anchor roots.When the pumpkin starts growing bigger and lifting the plant a little bit,i don't have to cut loose anchor roots all the time.Second advantage is that it keeps the rodent from digging up into the fruit.   Tuesday, June 27 View Page Same procedure for the Reiss plant.   Tuesday, June 27 View Page Fruits on the 1327Dueck. With peaces of foam i'm allready trying gently to correct the angle of the fruit to the vine.   Tuesday, June 27 View Page Fruits on the 1233Reiss. Long stems,and an almost perfect angle to the vine allready.   Saturday, July 1 View Page 1327northrup : day 10   Saturday, July 1 View Page 1233reiss : day 6   Saturday, July 1 View Page 891northrup. Promissing female will open tomorrow. All plants are suffering a bit from the current heath wave.   Tuesday, July 4 View Page 13-13-35   Wednesday, July 5 View Page 1233reiss day 10.Circ.:15" Sprayed chelated calcium,fructol,bayfidan and confidor today.   Thursday, July 6 View Page 1327dueck fruit . 15 days old.OTT: 122". Est.weight:47lbs   Friday, July 7 View Page Did some weeding,pruning and burried some vines. Tomorrow i have to cull one of the two Reiss fruits.First one is 12 days old and 104"ott.Second one 11 days old and 92.5"ott.New measurements tomorrow must help to make the decision.Fruit shape, stem and angel to the vine are much the same.Dueck fruit(picture)is doing well.   Saturday, July 8 View Page Culled one of the two 1233 fruits.Hard choice!   Saturday, July 8 View Page Dueck and Reiss plant have each one fruit going now.Day 17 and day 13.   Saturday, July 8 View Page Last weeds were pulled today and compost spread between the vines.13-13-35 solution. A female will open tomorrow on MV of 1058papez at about 20ft out.   Monday, July 10 View Page 1233Reiss day 15. OTT:136" Estimated weight: 63lbs(28,5kg)   Tuesday, July 11 View Page 1327Dueck Day 20 : OTT 182" Est.Weight : 138lbs(62kg)   Saturday, July 15 View Page 1233Reiss,day 20 : circ:79.5" ott:187.5" Estimated weight: 150lbs (68kg).   Sunday, July 16 View Page 1327Dueck on day 20. Ott:224,5" Circ: 97,5" Est.weight : 247lbs (112kg).   Sunday, July 16 View Page Correction on previous entry : 1327dueck is on day 25,not 20   Wednesday, July 19 View Page The 'Rolls Royce' among the backpack sprayers. Sprayed foliar feed, chelated calcium and a fungicide. Also did a 13-13-35 drench.   Thursday, July 20 View Page Day 25 for 1233Reiss. OTT : 226" Est.Wgt: 252lbs 114kg   Friday, July 21 View Page 1327Dueck day 30. Circ :104,5" Ott: 254" Est.wgt.: 353lbs 160kg.   Tuesday, July 25 View Page 1233Reiss day 30 OTT : 256" Est.wgt. : 361lbs , 163kg.   Wednesday, July 26 View Page 1327Dueck day 35 Ott 278" Est.wgt.: 458lbs. (207kg). My good friend and fellow pumpkingrower Luc Bex visited my patch yesterday and posed with the 1327. Temps up to 34°C today !   Sunday, July 30 View Page 1233Reiss on day 35. Ott: 277,5 Est.weight : 455lbs ( 207kg )   Monday, July 31 View Page Day 40 for 1327Dueck. Ott:295" Est.Wgt.: 544 lbs (247kg)   Friday, August 4 View Page 1058Papez , day 29 averaged 18.4lbs (8,35kg) during the last 5 days.   Friday, August 4 View Page 891Northrup day 28. OTT: 231,". Est.wgt.: 270lbs (122,5kg). Averaged 16 lbs (7kg) during the last 5 days. The 1058 fruit from previous entry is at 236" ott. est.286lbs (130kg).   Friday, August 4 View Page 1233Reiss day 40. OTT:294" Est.wgt.: 539lbs.(245kg) Averaged 16lbs (7kg) last 5 days.   Friday, August 4 View Page 1327Dueck day 44. 305" est.: 600lbs (272kg).   Friday, August 4 View Page 1327 and 1233 fruits in the patch.   Tuesday, August 8 View Page 1233Reiss fruit 606lbs est. on day 45. Ott: 306". Plant is still in a very good condition. On sunday i discovered some downey mildew on 1058papez plant. Today found a week brown spot on the stump of 1327 plant. Sprayed a fungicide yesterday evening.   Thursday, August 10 View Page 1327.5Dueck day 50. OTT: 315" Est.Wgt.: 659lbs (299kg). Cold this weeks 12°C nights, 18°C days.   Sunday, August 20 View Page Day 60 for 1327Dueck.Ott: 335,5" est.793lbs. But the end is near. Where the dill's ring crosses the deep rib,there's a split into the cavity.I discovered it today after a seven day vacation.   Sunday, August 20 View Page Here's the picture of the 1327   Sunday, August 20 View Page Here's a closeup of the split. I filled it up with expansion foam.   Sunday, August 20 View Page A blossom end split for the 1233Reiss. OTT : 329.5" Est. 753lbs(342kg). Filled it up, but expect this one will rot very soon. Too bad, cause i never had a plant looking this strong and green with a pumpkin at this stage.   Sunday, August 20 View Page The split in the 1233reiss.   Thursday, August 24 View Page A last view of the 1327dueck and the 1233reiss side by side in the patch.   Thursday, August 24 View Page The 1233reiss on the lifting tarp.Plant was still very strong and green, a pity i had to harvest it, but the blossom end was getting very week now,and i wanted to weigh it in one piece.   Thursday, August 24 View Page Loaded.   Thursday, August 24 View Page The 1233reiss fruit is now the 738ghayeUOWDMG. 335kg   Thursday, August 24 View Page 1058papez 592,5lbs est. 269kg on day 49   Thursday, August 24 View Page 891northrup 600lbs est. 272kg on day 48   Saturday, September 2 View Page 891norhtrup.311" 635lbs.est. (288kg)   Saturday, September 2 View Page 1058papez. 318" 678lbs est. (308kg). The 1327Dueck and 1233Reiss go into the compost pile today. No seeds will be retrieved from those two,cause the 1327's split was caused by a dill's ring,and i don't want that in the genetics for future plants. Let's hope the two others will hold.   Friday, September 8 View Page 1058Papez. 327" 736lbs est.(334kg)   Friday, September 8 View Page 891Northrup. 319" 684lbs est. (310kg)   Friday, September 15 View Page 891northrup (700est.) and 1058papez(800est.). Especially the 1058 papez plant is looking bad. Burnt leaves, PM. However, 1058 still growing better than 891. Strange. Next year gonna alternate between two fungicides.   Tuesday, September 19 View Page Last pic of my 891norhrup fruit. Found a week spot on it today.Propably there was a split in one of those deep ribs. Est.wgt. was 700lbs. i'm down from 4 to 1 pumpkin now. Allready more than 1000kg(2200lbs) of AG on the compost pile.   Tuesday, September 19 View Page 1058papez fruit. 339" est 819lbs (372kg). Only one left,hope this one stays in one peace till oct.7.   Thursday, September 28 View Page Found some juice coming from under my 1058papez fruit.This was my last one... no weighoff for me this year...   Saturday, September 30 View Page lifted it to get a better look... No major damage at first sight.   Saturday, September 30 View Page Juice comes through this litle hole in the bottom.   Saturday, September 30 View Page Put it on a pallet. Greenhouse removed.   Saturday, September 30 View Page Weighed it... 1058papez is 837ghaye(uow.dam.) 380kg. Final result : Reiss 335kg Papez 380kg Dueck 360kg est. Northrup 325kg est. Total : 1400kg(3083lbs)on the compost pile. Wait till next year! ... lol.   Sunday, October 8 View Page Weighoff day!!! I lost all my big ones this season, so i picked up a fruit from a 'no care'plant out of the field to enter at least something. 203.5kg, 448lbs.   Sunday, October 8 View Page Iwan from leerdam, the netherlands,with a bunch of beautifull and BIG!!! pumpkins   Sunday, October 8 View Page Paul Boonen, opening the truck with the Kasterlee entries. Wow!   Sunday, October 8 View Page Luc Van Heuckelom,in front of Luc Berrens'pumpkin.   Sunday, October 8 View Page Niels Vandelook's (smashing pumpkin on BP.COM)fruit on the scales. Place 10 with 325kg 716lbs   Sunday, October 8 View Page Some of the kasterlee growers in front of their truck.   Sunday, October 8 View Page Weighoffs are THE place to meet fellow pumpkingrowers.I allready met her father and her husband before, but this was the first time i met Sophie herself.   Sunday, October 8 View Page BIGPUMPKINS.COM : Iwan,jos,sophie,theo and jan.   Sunday, October 8 View Page Paul boonen with his winning entry.1067lbs 484,5kg.Misses the site record his father set last year by 2lbs.This pumpkin went about 100lbs heavy.   Sunday, October 8 View Page Leo cuypers.third place with 404,5kg 891lbs.   Sunday, October 8 View Page 1040 and 1067lbs side by side.   Sunday, October 8 View Page Look at the size, especially the circ. of leo's pumpkin. This one went about 10%light.   Sunday, October 8 View Page How do you get a monster like this on the scales?   Sunday, October 8 View Page The new european squash record!!! jan vanrompaye with his 1040lbs 472kg green beauty.   Sunday, October 8 View Page Third title for Paul Boonen at duisburg. How does he do it? Big congrats!!!   Sunday, October 8 View Page Jan('jantje'),the european squash champ!   Sunday, October 8 View Page Another well known person on BP :Theo took second place with his 311kg 685lbs squash!   Tuesday, October 31 View Page Weighoff in Kasterlee.More than 20 pumpkins over 800lbs!   Tuesday, October 31 View Page Those weights are in kg.10th place is 885lbs, first place is 1040lbs. If you want to compete here you have to grow them big!!