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Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 161 Entries.
Sunday, January 3 View Page
I weeded out a couple of the smaller plants today, most are about the same size and the roots look great. - currently unable to upload photos.
 
Sunday, January 3 View Page
Onion roots...
 
Sunday, January 10 View Page
The onions are looking not bad at the moment and I hope to get them planted out next Friday
 
Sunday, January 10 View Page
I’ve been working on the new improved onion pad. It had to be made a little bigger to take the bigger pots this year (130L) and the cooler unit had to be changed as it was shorting out every time it went to defrost last year. I’m also making sure I seal the unit a little better to keep the CO2 inside at a higher level. I’ve know idea how I’m going to pick my final 15 plants out of this lot, they all look the same. This has been a brilliant winter hobby but I guess Sarah may not have the same opinion lol
 
Friday, January 15 View Page
I can’t tell you how many hours I’ve spent to get to this stage, but today I planted my final fifteen plants. My wife wants to put me in a home and the kids think I’m mad, but for me, I’m loving it. Here are some tip top roots.
 
Friday, January 15 View Page
Not a great photo of the plants but in natural day light they look fine
 
Friday, January 15 View Page
I might just of OD’d on the lighting but I will try to keep the temp to about 15C or 60F and now I have double sealed the room I think I can keep to 1000plus CO2
 
Saturday, January 23 View Page
The onions are looking very good in the new grow room. I’m running it at about 16C night and day min but the lights and the CO2 burner push the temp up to about 19C some days. I would like to have more CO2,but during the day it runs about 800ppm all the time which is plenty. I would expect the unit with plants and no extra CO2 to be about 250 to 300ppm.
 
Saturday, February 6 View Page
The onions are doing well and now, the roots are settling down I’m beginning to see some real quality growth. In the last couple of weeks I have been giving them a very light feed of ammonium nitrate which was the only element they were a little short of when I planted them out. I will be sending a soil sample out in the middle of Feb. to see how the balance is and if I do that every month, should be able to keep it right for the whole year.
 
Saturday, February 6 View Page
And one more photo
 
Friday, February 19 View Page
I’ve been setting my supplementary lights to come on at sunrise and go of at sunset and last Tuesday they got to10hours of light. Some of the other growers have been giving up to 11hours a day for some time now but I’m happy tracking they day length for this year.
 
Saturday, February 27 View Page
Well roll on the spring. Light levels have been really bad this year and if it wasn’t for the supplementary lights, my onion crop would be in real trouble right now. However I have little to complain about as the light levels have been even worse up north.
 
Saturday, February 27 View Page
One decent week of sunny weather and these little darlings will be off like rockets.
 
Wednesday, March 3 View Page
Outside looking in
 
Saturday, March 20 View Page
I’ve been away on holiday for a couple of weeks and the onions have grown really well while Stuart has been looking after them.
 
Saturday, March 20 View Page
This one is 8 inches cir
 
Monday, March 29 View Page
Here’s this years line up which will be sown on the 7th April and our 1457 will be the back up for all of them.
 
Thursday, April 1 View Page
Ok the next 15 entry’s are of onions and measurements a little boring for some, but a good guild for me next year. Pot 1 7.5” Dia 9”Ht
 
Thursday, April 1 View Page
Pot 2 8.25"Dia 7" Ht
 
Thursday, April 1 View Page
Pot3 8.5" Dia 8" Ht
 
Thursday, April 1 View Page
Pot 4 9.25" Dia 8" Ht
 
Thursday, April 1 View Page
Pot 5 9.25" Dia 8.5" Ht
 
Thursday, April 1 View Page
Pot 6 7.5" Dia 7" Ht
 
Thursday, April 1 View Page
Pot 7 8.25" Dia 7.5" Ht
 
Thursday, April 1 View Page
Pot 8 9"Dia 8.5" Ht
 
Thursday, April 1 View Page
Pot 9 9.5" Dia 7" Ht
 
Thursday, April 1 View Page
Pot 10 9.75" Dia 7.5" Ht
 
Thursday, April 1 View Page
Pot 11 10.25" Dia 8.25"Ht
 
Thursday, April 1 View Page
Pot 12 9" Dia 7.75" Ht
 
Thursday, April 1 View Page
Pot 13 8.25" Dia 7.25" Ht
 
Thursday, April 1 View Page
Pot14 7.5" Dia 9" Ht
 
Thursday, April 1 View Page
Pot 15 8.5" Dia 7.5" Ht
 
Friday, April 2 View Page
About 10 days ago I noticed a couple of the biggest plants twisting so I have spoken to both Keith and Peter. They both say the same thing, that being it is a result of very strong growth. Peter has suggested that I should try dropping the leaves down to open up the collar or neck to help the new leaves thro. So first thing this morning I took the top support ring off and I hope that will solve the problem. At the moment I just don’t have the experience of growing onions so thank you Keith and Peter for your help.
 
Friday, April 2 View Page
Ahhhhhhhh, comfort zone coming up. We sow the pumpkins next week and we have a load more small improvements put in place.
 
Wednesday, April 7 View Page
We at last there in and rather than show you a photo of pots of compost , here’s a photo of Milie my first ever real Koi carp.
 
Thursday, April 15 View Page
I’ve been working on some extra cooling. I want to suck cool air from a well to help keep the temps down.
 
Thursday, April 15 View Page
And another photo
 
Thursday, April 15 View Page
The onions are growing ok.
 
Saturday, April 17 View Page
All the seeds that are going to germinate have done and to our annoyance the only two seeds that didn’t were the 1207 and 1288. So sorry about that to Don and Ron and I hope the diary keeps you entertained anyway.
 
Sunday, April 25 View Page
The onions are looking fine the ones in the photo are about 15"to 16" cir.
 
Monday, April 26 View Page
We got all the plants in today
 
Monday, April 26 View Page
We put planks all around the edge of patch which has helped get the soil a little more level and should help our watering.
 
Saturday, May 1 View Page
Check out these little darlings. One month on and they look very good and I guess I will have a good idea of their real potential in about 9 weeks time.
 
Saturday, May 1 View Page
Pot 1 13.75 Dia 11.75 Ht
 
Saturday, May 1 View Page
Pot 2 15.75 Dia 10 Ht
 
Saturday, May 1 View Page
Pot 3 15.5 Dia 12 Ht
 
Saturday, May 1 View Page
Pot 4 18.25" Dia 12" Ht
 
Saturday, May 1 View Page
Pot 5 17" Dia 12.5" Ht
 
Saturday, May 1 View Page
Pot 6 13.75" Dia 10"Ht
 
Saturday, May 1 View Page
Pot 7 14.75" Dia 10" ht
 
Saturday, May 1 View Page
Pot 8 16" Dia 11" Ht
 
Saturday, May 1 View Page
Pot 9 15" Dia 10.5" Ht
 
Saturday, May 1 View Page
Pot 10 17.5" Dia 11" Ht
 
Saturday, May 1 View Page
Pot 11 18.5" Dia 12" Ht
 
Saturday, May 1 View Page
Pot 12 17" Dia 11.25" Ht
 
Saturday, May 1 View Page
Pot 13 15.5" Dia 11.5" Ht
 
Saturday, May 1 View Page
Pot 14 13.5" Dia 12.5" Ht
 
Saturday, May 1 View Page
Pot 15 15.5” Dia 10” Ht So that’s the lot and here’s my prediction of what the growth will be like for the rest of the season. 1st May to 15th May :- the same steady growth 16th May to 15th June :- they will grow like hell 16th June :- 1st July :- start to slow Rest of the season, growing slowly and ripening.
 
Saturday, May 8 View Page
The back up plants are all out and all the main plants look great. It’s a good job they are in small hoop houses with heaters running at night as the temps have been down to 4C. They onions look fine, but the difference in shapes and size is unreal. The smallest is 14.75” Dia and 14” tall and the biggest is 20.5” Dia and 14” tall Here’s a photo to a very happy looking 1180
 
Tuesday, May 11 View Page
I’m not 100% sure but I think I have a couple of iffy bulbs. Even though I have spot on alternate leaves off real quality, they are losing their shape and that can’t be good. I guess it’s about time Mother Nature threw a problem at me as it has been a little to easy of late. Here‘s a problem bulb
 
Wednesday, May 19 View Page
Growing onions is getting more intriguing by the day, for instance Scotland got a 50 min longer day than my part of the country today. It may not sound a lot but it is over a month and that is just one thing I need to address next year. It’s not going to be easy to get the world record but that will just make it more worth while if it comes. This onion is 21”Cir and 15” Ht
 
Tuesday, May 25 View Page
All the pumpkins are doing just fine with little to report about them. The real action should start in the next 3 to 4 weeks. Here is the 1161
 
Wednesday, May 26 View Page
I just thought it would be interesting to show how Stuart and I work out our feeding for the pumpkins and onions. If we grow for instance Poinsettias for Christmas, we have three different feeds, early, mid and late. Because we have grown them for years we know exactly what they need at all stages. The pumpkins and onions are a little different because we don’t have enough data so we send a soil sample off regularly to see what is going on in the soil. So here is a good example of an onions sample You can see that the Potassium and Nitrogen are a little low which also reflects in a low EC
 
Wednesday, May 26 View Page
Over the last couple of weeks I have been gently feeding with just Nitrogen, Potassium and a little Magnesium. If you look at the new soil sample taken 19 days later I now have a nice balance of feed and you can see the EC has gone up a little. Now this is the thing: - Looking at the plants I genuinely had no idea that the plants were short of any feed, but because I sent a soil sample off I got that all important information back.
 
Wednesday, May 26 View Page
And here's a nice photo of part of my garden today
 
Saturday, May 29 View Page
For the last couple of weeks I have felt that something was not quite right with the onions but couldn’t put my finger on the problem. Last night I worked it out and after a few choice words and kicking myself this is what I found. The big support ring on the outside of the pot has been too high which has pushed the leaves up and restricted the new leaves which you can clearly see in the photo. One oinon that was smaller than the rest a few weeks ago has not been affected as it had a tall neck, this onion has grown an extra 1.5” in cir compared to the others. I have let the supports down and I hope they will start to grow again. On reflection I’ve only been growing onions for two years and its better I learn this lesson earlier rather than later.
 
Tuesday, June 1 View Page
Here we go with all 15 onions yet again! The pumpkins are doing just fine and when the action starts in a couple of weeks time my diary will be back to normal Pot 1 19.75 cir 17.5 ht
 
Tuesday, June 1 View Page
Pot 2 24"cir 15.5"ht
 
Tuesday, June 1 View Page
Pot 3 23"cir 17.5"ht
 
Tuesday, June 1 View Page
Pot 4 24"cir 17.5"ht
 
Tuesday, June 1 View Page
Pot 5 22.5" cir 19" ht
 
Tuesday, June 1 View Page
Pot 6 20"cir 15.5"ht
 
Tuesday, June 1 View Page
Pot 7 21.75"cir 16"ht
 
Tuesday, June 1 View Page
Pot 8 23"cir 16.5ht
 
Tuesday, June 1 View Page
Pot 8 23"cir 16.5ht
 
Tuesday, June 1 View Page
Pot 9 21.5"cir 16" ht
 
Tuesday, June 1 View Page
Pot 10 23.5"cir 18"ht
 
Tuesday, June 1 View Page
Pot 11 25"cir 18"ht
 
Tuesday, June 1 View Page
Pot 12 23.5" cir 17"ht
 
Tuesday, June 1 View Page
Pot 13 23"cir 17"ht
 
Tuesday, June 1 View Page
Pot 14 19.25" cir 19.5" ht
 
Tuesday, June 1 View Page
Pot 15 22.25"cir 16.25"ht
 
Tuesday, June 1 View Page
And even on a wet day the garden can still lift your spirits
 
Thursday, June 3 View Page
Well this is a little harsh I think, eight months of hard work on the onions can now only go down to experience. I noticed what looks like a penicillin type mould on a couple of onions and then found out that it was on most of the onions and has turned into a rot. So for all the fans for keeping the air moving and the once a week spraying for botrytis it is back to the drawing board for me as I expect the few onions I have saved for now will go the same way.
 
Thursday, June 3 View Page
This is what I found under the first skin and most of the onions were over 9lbs
 
Thursday, June 3 View Page
Inside they were perfect
 
Friday, June 4 View Page
I must be doing something right as all the onion pots I tipped out had beautiful white roots like this one and the soil was the perfect texture. I have some investigating to do on the problem but I’m looking forward to sowing the onions again already.
 
Saturday, June 12 View Page
We started pollinating a couple of days ago on our biggest plant and the rest will follow over the next few weeks. This 1180 is in the warmest patch and about a week in front of the others.
 
Saturday, June 12 View Page
This is the 1385
 
Saturday, June 12 View Page
Our 1161
 
Saturday, June 12 View Page
The other 1180
 
Saturday, June 12 View Page
Our 1457
 
Saturday, June 12 View Page
And last up our other 1457
 
Sunday, June 20 View Page
We took down one of the chimneys at the nursery this week so I took the chance the to get some great photos.
 
Sunday, June 20 View Page
Not for the faint hearted
 
Friday, July 2 View Page
We had a very sad day yesterday as our dad died. As it was him that taught us how to grow plants when we were kids I felt it was appropriate to mention him in my diary. This new pink and white lily we have bred just flowered in time for him to see. He was really excited about our first new variety and also so proud of our achievements as growers. I hope this lily will go to the Chelsea flower show next year.
 
Monday, July 12 View Page
At last you get to see how our pumpkins are getting along. All the plants look terrific which is mainly down to sending of a soil sample every 3 or 4 weeks and topping up the nutrients that are a little low. It normally means adding nitrogen but also a little potassium and in one patch the magnesium was a little down. Were about one week behind last year on pollination in general but that should not be a problem. First up is a 1180 which is a massive 24ft out and on day 26 tapes 216lbs. We didn’t set out to set this pumpkin this far out it was just the way it happened.
 
Monday, July 12 View Page
Next up is the 1385 which on day 25 tapes 202lbs This a lovely balanced pumpkin
 
Monday, July 12 View Page
This is our 1161 which is not the greatest looking of pumpkins to say the least but we will persevere with her. On day 27 she tapes 177lbs.
 
Monday, July 12 View Page
Then we have our other 1180 on day 22 tapes 116lbs and looks great.
 
Monday, July 12 View Page
Our first 1457 on day 28 tapes 187lbs and like the last 1180 looks great.
 
Monday, July 12 View Page
And I’m afraid to say our other 1457 looks like the runt of this years patch but the plant is great and we will do our best with her. On day 27 tapes 124lbs.
 
Monday, July 12 View Page
This is the best of my last few onions and at just over 27inch cir I’m not to unhappy. I have a lot of investigating to do on day length and times which will probably end up bed time reading this winter.
 
Monday, July 19 View Page
One week on and I think we are doing ok in the patch, we did however lose the small 1457 but that was not unexpected. Our first 1180 on day 33 tapes 428lbs up 212lbs for the week which is about our best ever gain for a week
 
Monday, July 19 View Page
I think the 1385 is still the best shape and on day 32 tapes 381lbs up 179lbs for the week
 
Monday, July 19 View Page
We will always be struggling with our 1161 to keep her intact as the front is very thin but with careful watering who knows. On day 34 she tapes 259lbs up 82lbs for the week.
 
Monday, July 19 View Page
I really like the look of our other 1180, it’s a great shape and beginning to grow very fast. On day 29 tapes 265lbs and up 149 for the week.
 
Monday, July 19 View Page
Last up is our 1457 and on day 35 tapes 361lbs up 174lbs for the week.
 
Monday, July 26 View Page
Well Stuart and I have had a good week in the patch, infact growth wise we have beaten our own record for one week and two weeks on two different pumpkins. But I feel I need to offer a few words of encouragement to some other growers out there. Pleases,pleases, please, try to work out your own bench marks and use local growers to back them up. We are all growing in different conditions e.g. It takes about 120 days for Stuart and I to get a pumpkin to max out and even then they will still be growing about 10lbs a week. The amazing world record was grown in just 97days but their conditions are different from ours. It is really not important how fast a pumpkin gets to full size as long as they do get to there max. Anyway that’s my rant done for today and first up is our 1180, on day 40 she tapped 647lbs up 219lbs for the week. She has quite a lot of netting on the front and we will have to watch that she doesn’t fall back on the stem but 431lbs in 14 days is great for us.
 
Monday, July 26 View Page
Our 1385 also had a good week and on day 39 tapped 583lbs up 202lbs this week.
 
Monday, July 26 View Page
Now, and don’t ask me why , but the 1161 had a cracking week and our best ever gain of 238lbs in one week. To be fair she is one of the easier pumpkins to measure if you know what I mean and after day 41 tapes 497lbs
 
Monday, July 26 View Page
Our other 1180 on day 36 taped 434 up 169lbs this week
 
Monday, July 26 View Page
And our 1457 which looks remarkably like the last 1180 on day 42 was 523lbs up 162lbs this week
 
Wednesday, July 28 View Page
I pulled up one of my onions that had a little rot just to see how things were going. This rot thing will be something I will have to look into next year and I will have to have a different spray program. This year they got Rovral every 4 weeks and Serenade in between and I feel it is the Serenade that has not done the business. Anyway I was absolutely made up to find that this 25.75 inch bulb was just over 11lbs. I have another bulb that was just over 28 inches and although I had to remove some outer leaves it would hopefully be around 13lbs which would smash my PB.
 
Tuesday, August 3 View Page
I got home too late to put on the results of the Paton patch for last week so here they are as of yesterday. 1 1180 on day 47 847lbs up 200lbs this week and 621lbs in the last 21days. 2 1385 on day 46 743lbs up 160lbs this week 3 1161 on day 48 666lbs up 169lbs this week 4 1180 on day 43 623lbs up 189lbs this week 5 1457 on day 49 723lbs up 200lbs this week And here is the biggest 1180 which has netting over the front but soft as a babies bum over the rest. It was falling back on the stem so we have put some polystyrene under neath to hold it up .
 
Monday, August 9 View Page
Stuart and I have had another pretty good week in the patch apart from this 1180 which has had ridicules week. It is not the easiest of pumpkins to measure but after tapping it a dozen or more times we still found it had grown 248lbs this week which is a grand total of 1095lbs. She has averaged 31lbs a day for the last 28 days and her main stump tapes over 15inches.
 
Monday, August 9 View Page
Next up is the 1385 and on day 53 tapes 847lbs up 104lbs this week.
 
Monday, August 9 View Page
Our 1161 had a good week up another 160lbs to end the week tapping 826lbs. She has a very thin flower end but as long as we have no problems I can see her tapping 1300lbs the same as last years. Fingers crossed.
 
Monday, August 9 View Page
The other 1180 is a little behind but getting there. On day 50 she is 749lbs up 126lbs this week
 
Monday, August 9 View Page
Last up is our 1457 which on day 56 is 847lbs up 123lbs this week.
 
Tuesday, August 10 View Page
Meet my new PB which was exactly 12lbs.
 
Monday, August 16 View Page
Stuart and I have had another great week in the patch Our first 1180 on day 61 tapes 1288lbs up 193lbs for the week and it looks like this pumpkin could be colossal. The 1385 on day 60 tapes 930lbs up 83lbs this week On day 62 our 1161 tapes 923lbs up 97lbs this week Our other 1180 on day 57 tapes 862lbs up 113lbs this week And our own 1457 on day 63 tapes 954lbs up a satisfying 107lbs Here is the biggest 1180
 
Tuesday, August 24 View Page
Stuart and I have had another excellent week in the patch with the 1180 skipping the 1300lb land mark to end the week at 1418lbs up 130lbs on day 68
 
Tuesday, August 24 View Page
The 1385 had it’s best week for a while and became a 1000 pounder. On day 67 she taped 1069lbs up 139lbs for the week. We will probably take this one to the giant veg show at Shepton Mallet.
 
Tuesday, August 24 View Page
The 1161 also became a member of the 1000lb club up 137lbs this week and on day 69 is 1060lbs
 
Tuesday, August 24 View Page
The other 1180 on day 64 is 978lbs up 116lbs this week
 
Tuesday, August 24 View Page
And our 1457 also joined the 1000lb club and had a cracking week to end up on day 70 at 1130lbs up 176lbs for the week. I forgot to say that the smallest 1180 will probably go to the giant veg show as well.
 
Wednesday, August 25 View Page
We found a very small hole in the wall of the 1161 today which was a great shame but not unexpected. The good thing is that it was nothing to do with our growing it was just a very thin wall. Any way we now have a 1096 Paton DMG which is a great start for the year. I thought I would just put a photo of our biggest 1180 to highlight our slight worry which is possibly very thin walls round a dill ring but that said it will be great fun watching her in the next 7 weeks.
 
Monday, August 30 View Page
Despite losing the 1161 Stuart and I had another good week in the patch. The 1180 on day 76 taped 1503lbs up 85lbs for the week. The 1385 on day 74 taped 1130lbs up 61lbs this week. The other 1180 on day 71 hit the 1000lbs and taped 1052lbs up 74lbs for the week. And our 1457 on day 77 was 1184lbs up 54lbs this week. We had the press round this week which is good for advertising our show but we were not impressed that they said we were confident in beating the world record. Sure if the 1180 holds together it will be an impressive pumpkin but it’s not really our style to say things like that so please take it with a pinch of salt. Anyway, like always will continue, good or bad right up to the weigh off so that everyone following can enjoy the ride. This is the onion I’m going to take to the show at the end of this week with the 1385 pumpkin.
 
Tuesday, August 31 View Page
We cut the 1385 off today, its rock solid and tapes over 1130lbs. We had to cut it off a day early as it’s the only way we can get it ready for the Shepton mallet show, so we left long vines and they are in buckets of water. To be honest we think it’s a bit of a shame to cut a pumpkin off before it’s gets to its full potential but we do have a good reason to do so. The show is putting up a load of dosh if the winner beats the show record and if we can win it the money will go to our first GPC Niagara convention trip, which hopefully means we get to meet Joe in person to apologise for cutting it early. Stuart and I would expect any pumpkins left on the vine to put on about 150lbs to 200lbs in the last six weeks so that will give people an indication of how big it would have got.
 
Monday, September 6 View Page
We took the 1385 to the Shepton mallet show on the weekend and first I have to say a huge well done to Peter Glazebrook as he broke the world record for a potato at 8.28lbs and also got the UK marrow record. The next well done has to go to Frank and Mark Baggs who rocked up with a stunning looking 1212lbs orange pumpkin to get first place and it couldn’t have gone to a nicer family. We were very pleased to get second with 1118lbs and I beat my PB with an official 12.5lbs onion and got second place. Here is a great photo of Mark and his son
 
Monday, September 6 View Page
It’s still good news in the patch and although all the weight gains are slowing down we could end up with two pumpkins taping our best ever. The 1180 on day 83 taped 1556lbs up 53lbs this week The next 1180 on day 78 taped 1112lbs up 60lbs this week And our 1457 on day 84 taped 1240lbs up 56lbs this week We have 33days until they go to the weigh off and here is a photo of our 1118lb Paton
 
Monday, September 13 View Page
All three of our remaining pumpkins are still slowly packing on the pounds and although they are around 90 days old they will probably need all of the 26 days left to “max out”. On day 90 the 1180 taped 1588lbs up 32lbs for the week.
 
Monday, September 13 View Page
The other 1180 on day 88 taped 1157lbs up 45lbs this week
 
Monday, September 13 View Page
And our 1457 on day 91 taped 1269lbs up 29lbs for the week. I’m away with work in France next week so it will be two weeks before the next diary entry.
 
Monday, September 27 View Page
Our remaining three pumpkins are all doing well. The biggest 1180 on day 104 tapes 1642 lbs up 54lbs in the last 2 weeks
 
Monday, September 27 View Page
Right after a couple of hours trying to put a diary entry on my computer (and others) I find out I took the photos with a bit to high resolution, what a Donkey. So rather than hunt around in the dark to get a new set of photos just look at the last ones and take it from me that although bigger they look the same. So our smaller 1180 on day 102 tapes 1212lbs up 55lbs in the last two weeks And the 1457 on day 105 tapes 1347 up 78lbs in the last two weeks.
 
Monday, October 4 View Page
Well just five days to go before the weigh off and we are just getting the last few pounds out of our pumpkins. On day 111 the big 1180 taped 430inches or 1652lbs up just 10lbs this week On day 109 the other 1180 tapes 1240lbs up 28lbs this week And on day 112 our 1457 taped 402inches or 1357lbs up 10lbs this week Were getting more consistent, with 11pumpkins over 1000lbs out of 12plants in the last two years and it’s good to share the highs and lows in the diary. Here’s Stuart trying to work out how to lift the 1180
 
Friday, October 8 View Page
It's a good job we started loading up the pumpkins today because it took three of us over five hours to lift and load just two pumpkins.
 
Friday, October 8 View Page
Ted stu and I dug one big hole to get the truck in
 
Friday, October 8 View Page
That's one big pumpkin
 
Friday, October 8 View Page
And this is the best bit. Just check these roots out, absolutely spot on and just what we’ve been after for the last few years. All I can say is look out next year the pumpkins are only going to get bigger.
 
Friday, October 8 View Page
This my sister in law in great form with the big one, I couldn’t put the other photo on as it looked a bit to passionate lol
 
Sunday, October 10 View Page
First of all, a big thanks you to all the growers for bringing their pumpkins down to the show and all of the people helping out with the day. Stuart and I seamed to do more smiling for the cameras who keep asking for “just one more” than helping with the event. After reflecting on a little disappointment at the weigh off Stuart and I are still pleased to get into the 1500's and beat our UK record. There won't be many people around the world who can take three pumpkins to one show for a total weight of 4177lbs. This our great freind Den doing the harvesting
 
Friday, October 15 View Page
Well I’m off on my onion quest yet again and I have to say the time spent on growing onions kicks pumpkins in to a cocked hat. I fired up my onion pad which has more wires than space control and took me a whole day to recover in clear poly.
 
Friday, October 15 View Page
I’ve got the temps set to about 20C (80F) until I see some action at which time I’m going to turn the temp down to around 15C (60F). I’m after some really stocky plants this year and hopefully the extra lights I’ve put in will give me what I’m after. It’s going to be 10 months until I get the best of these little darlings on the scales and plenty of time to mess them up. Either way you will all get a little entertainment thro the winter months.
 
Sunday, October 17 View Page
My little girl Katie and the 1504
 
Sunday, October 17 View Page
And one more
 
Friday, October 29 View Page
I got all the onions potted up today and with the extra light they already looks stronger and healthier than last year.
 
Sunday, October 31 View Page
Now autumn has arrived the garden is looking really nice and a great sight to see in the morning with my coffee.
 
Sunday, October 31 View Page
It's great at night as well with a glass of mulled wine
 
Wednesday, November 3 View Page
At ground control the onion pad got a big change today. The 400w sodium light was making the unit to hot so I got some more cool lights from Keith Foster. The new ones are 1000w which means I have about 1400W of light bulbs and the light meter is saying I have 15000Lux at plant height.
 
Wednesday, November 3 View Page
The onion pad at night
 
Wednesday, November 3 View Page
And the last one
 
Tuesday, November 23 View Page
I just got back from my holiday and a soon as we got home I shot up to the nursery to see how the onions were growing. To be honest they look great, there are a few leaves that have tip scorch but I think that is because they are so close to the lights. They are a country mile in front of last year in quality.
 
Sunday, November 28 View Page
I potted up my best 25 onions today and have come to the conclusion that the leaf tips going yellow was down to a slight lack of feed. The potting compost this year is a John Inns No3 mix with a difference. The peat I’m using is a coarse top quality one and I’m not putting in any sand.
 
Saturday, December 4 View Page
I’ve put my onions onto eight hours of light a day today and I think when I get to the beginning of January I will start to increase the minuets of light they get every three days. I would like to increase the day length every day about four minuets but the time clock I have will only do twelve minuets so that will have to do until the natural days catch up and take over. Here’s a photo of the snow we had this week.
 
Friday, December 17 View Page
The onions are growing very well and after only 19 days since I last potted them up I have re-potted again. This time they are in 4L tall rose pots and at a guess I will have to put them in their final positions in about four weeks time. All the plants had brilliant roots and are absolutely weeks in front of last year even though they were sown on the same date.
 
Friday, December 17 View Page
It’s been easy to sort out the most vigorous plants this year because one of the seed strains has been clearly much better than the others.
 
Friday, December 31 View Page
The onions are looking superb especially compared to last year and looking at photos I would say they are at least two weeks earlier and a lot stronger.
 
Friday, December 31 View Page
This is one of the plants I selected to throw out.
 

 

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