Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 61 Entries. Friday, May 13 View Page Haven't grown any pumpkins since 08, going to give it another shot this year. Took a couple years off, and last year just grew some habanaros and some naga jolokias for the first time for something different. Both done really well considering what I had read about jolokias being quite difficult to grow. They were slow in the early growth stages and very fusy on water and nutrients, but I just listened to what the plant told me it wanted and they done fine, lol. Grew them in a portable 9x9 greenhouse, as Manitoba isn't even close to a good place to grow these hot peppers outside. Got a few hundred peppers off 6 jolokia and 2 habanero plants. Growing them again this year, have 7 jolokias and 1 habanero growing right now.   Friday, May 13 View Page Will be growing 2 pumpkin plants as well. On April 29, started 2 856 Hoffmans-10, a 498 Vanhook-08, a 1016 Christoperson-07, a 812 Hoffman-10, and 3 of my own 480s from 08. Had way better germination than I had expected, everything germed except one of my 480s, which I started for backups anyways. The 812 was also started as a backup. My plan is to plant the 2 856s together and the 498 and 1016 together and cull the weakest of the 2. We have such a short season and I don't use a greenhouse so the first ones to start laying down a main vine will be the ones to keep. If the 498 and 1016 are even I think I'm going with the 1016.   Friday, May 13 View Page One of the first jolokias to ripen last year.   Friday, May 13 View Page An early picking last fall. Never did takes pics of the big haul at the end. As you can see, a cayenne as well, had 2 of them growing to. Had the peppers growing well into October till it got really cold. Oh ya, those Jolokias are insane for heat, as expected being the worlds hottest pepper, lol. No doubt they were likely not nearly as hot as if grown in a more ideal climate, but still more than hot enough for me.   Friday, May 13 View Page The patch was finally dry enough to work last sunday, added some leaves and grass clippings. Had manure added last year too, and it rested all season with no pumpkins. Will be adding some more ammendments around the plants when they go it, hopefully monday. Been so cold lately I've decided to keep them in the pots a little longer, and let the soil warm up. Might be slightly root bound by then, but I'll deal with it, from past experience I think they'd be way more delayed if they were out there right now in the cold. Right now I put them outside everyday in a small coldframe and bring them in at night. I should really invest in some heating cables, but maybe next year.   Wednesday, May 18 View Page Monday evening worked in more ammendments, bone and blood meal, gypsum, hollands spring wake up and pumpkin power, and 3 lbs of Biogrow Endo Plus. Put all 4 plants in early yesterday morning, and watered in with fish and seaweed. Temps are finally looking great here this week, highs into the low 20 degree range, lows at night in the 6-12 degree range.   Wednesday, May 18 View Page The roots also got a good drench of aqua-sol plus before I removed them from their pots.   Wednesday, May 18 View Page The hot pepper plants which were started back at the end of January-beginning Feb, are finally in their greenhouse home. Started them earlier than I did last year, as I found they were slower to grow than I had expected. The slow growth was likely partially attributed to the CFL I used to grow them. Last year I didn't want to have them under the CFL for long so I started them sometime in March, however I found it actually works good on these plants as they stay real stocky, and don't get leggy at all like most plants would. Growth is likely slower because of the CFL, but thats not necessarily a bad thing when growing them inside, makes them easy to deal with. Because of this I started them alot earlier this time and they've done great the past few months.   Wednesday, May 18 View Page My only habanero. The white spots on the leaves are some half strength Sevin, had problems last year in the early stages with some sort of insect eating the leaves, just a precautionary measure right now.   Wednesday, May 18 View Page One of the ghost chilis - Jolokias   Wednesday, May 18 View Page Pepper House   Wednesday, May 18 View Page 2 856 Hoffmans - 1180.5 Pukos x 1544.5 Revier   Wednesday, May 18 View Page 498 Vanhook 08 on the left, 1016 Christoperson 07 on the right. 498 - 1385 Jutras x 1450 Wallace. 1016 - 1407 Hemphill x 1010 Christoperson (1446 Eaton Self)   Wednesday, May 18 View Page Typo earlier and in an upcoming pic post, missed the h a couple times for some reason - Christopherson   Tuesday, May 31 View Page Plants have been surviving the past week and a half, thats about it, temps in the 5-12 degree C range with a couple nights very near freezing, raining, little sun. Weather is supposed to break tomorrow, sunny and a high of 17, rain again thursday, then nice for the weekend and early next week..............we'll see about that. Was hoping for an unseasonably warm spring but its not looking good, starting to look like 08 when I last grew pumpkins.   Thursday, June 2 View Page What a day yesterday, the sun was finally shinning, hit about 18C. I think I became allergic to it though its been so long, almost went into convulsions...........good news though back to cloud, wind, cold and rainy today, LOL. Actually got a sunburn yesterday doing some prefishing for a walleye tournament this weekend, the lightning, wind, and heavy rain/hail got us off the lake early today. At this rate it will be August before I'm pollinating. Next year definitely heating cables and some hoophouses about 8x10 in size.   Monday, July 4 View Page Quick update, have one female at 7ft on the 856 to open within a few days, and one at around 9ft likely about 10 days away at the earliest, have a few others on side vines about 10 days away also. Went with the 498 Van Hook as it was slightly ahead of the 1016 and I like the cross, have one at about 6ft and a couple on sides - a week at the earliest, main in the 7-8ft range. Weather has been decent finally.   Monday, July 11 View Page A couple pollinations within the past few days on the 856 Hoffman, remeasured the vines too - pollination at 8ft with 498 V July 6th the earliest I've ever had a pollination, also pollinated one on a side vine July 10th with 498 but left open and it had afew seeds in blossom. One at 10.5-11 ft to open most likely tomorrow but could be wednesday, should know by this evening, I really hope this one sets. Have about 10 other small ones on the 856 on sides to open in the next 5-10 days, at least there will be lots of chances to get one set on this plant shortly.   Monday, July 11 View Page It will be tomorrow morning for the 856.   Thursday, July 14 View Page July 12th - Selfed 856 at 10.5', Today 14th - Selfed 2 856s on east (left) side vines, bringing the total pollinations on the 856 to 5. 2-3 on the 498 to open in about 2 days, two on sides and one on the main at about 11-12 ft, the first one on the 498 shriveled up and died before reaching pollination point but it was only at about 6 ft out. Peppers are doing great, have one jolokia pepper set and growing that the wind or insects pollinated on one of the early flowers. In about a weeks time they'll be in full out flower mode with about 100 or more flowers opening up. Will do some hand pollinating then as last year I found a lot of flowers produce little if any pollen, but you do find a very odd one with lots and you have to make good use of it.   Friday, July 15 View Page Had 3 more on the 856 on side vines today I just left open as I was at work and at least one of the other 5 should be good I hope, 2 or 3 more on it to open tomorrow which I will do the same with, its sure putting out the females at least. Finally the female on 498 main to pollinate with the 856 tomorrow, will be at work early tomorrow again so will have someone else pollinate, pulled all the males on the 498 which would open tomorrow just to make sure it gets pollinated with the 856 only.   Friday, July 22 View Page Plants were doing great, then we had extreme heat which I've never had to worry to much about, gave them lots of water but still lost a few young leaves, good thing is never fried the vine tips so new growth can continue. The heat was minor though compared to the wicked winds which came after for 2 days straight. The plants were holding up surprisingly well I thought, only had one rolled side vine on the 498 and a few broken leaves on both plants, that is till yesterday afternoon sometime. Broke both mains, 856 at about 4' past the pumpkin and about 1' past the fruit on the 498, they weren't total breaks so I buried the 856 and left the 498 for now but will likely end up cutting it. Might terminate the main on the 856 shortly to and let a couple of the secondarys just after the fruit continue growth. What really ticks me off is its my fault I didn't move my stake farther out on the 856 main when I checked it in the morning, I saw the potential problem but just left it as I was rushing to get some vines buried then do some other stuff, and I also figured if it hadn't broke already it'll likely be fine - wrong! lesson learned. Besides that the pumpkins themselves are doing pretty good so far, day 10 for my hopefully keeper on the 856, in the 20" range, will measure later, and post some stats on all pumpkins on both plants   Friday, July 22 View Page Only put the tape to one on the 856 at 10.5' out, day 10 23" C. Have one on 2nd side vine pollinated on the 10th only about 4' from stump in the 28-30" range. The one at 8' pollinated on the 6th is small for its age but still growing, looks only slightly bigger than the one farther out and its 6 days older. I have a few other small ones about 5-6 days old growing on it too, cut 3 or 4 off as well yesterday, had about 10 total pollinated and growing but its time to slowly start thinning them out. One on the 498 at 11' only 6 days old is starting slow but still growing, has a nice long stem as oppossed to the short stems on the 856. Have a couple on sides on the 498 around 5-6 days old as well.   Saturday, July 23 View Page From 35 Celcius a couple days ago to 10 today, personally I prefer 10 but something in between would be nice for the pumpkins. Temperature swings like that can't be good for young fruit growth.   Monday, August 1 View Page 856 Day 20 - 131" Ott, Last few days been taking just circumference and its gained, 6 lbs, 8 lbs, now 11 lbs. Had a few colder nights around the 10 day mark which slowed it for a bit, picking up speed now.   Friday, August 5 View Page Day 20 498 VH - 50" C, 125" Ott, around 50#, this one has been very very slow till just the past couple days, starting to pick up the pace compared to what it was doing. There was a point around the 10 day mark where I thought it may have aborted as it stayed the same size for 2 or 3 days, it may have been the heat we were having around that time, not sure. Crossed with 856. Cut my last backup fruit off it about 2 days ago so that may have helped some. 856, avg. 14 lbs a day for past 4, day 25 tomorrow. Should post some pics soon. Made my last cut on the back up side vine fruit - it was 22 days old around 80#s, now down to one fruit on each plant, its all or nothing now. Peppers are doing good, but I've neglected them somewhat by not hand pollinating, been too busy in my spare time the the AGs, but there is some growing thanks to the insects and wind.   Saturday, August 6 View Page Day 25 for the 856 Hoffman - 175.5" OTT   Thursday, August 11 View Page Day 30 856 H - 212" ott 17 lbs/day average for past 5. Day 26 498 VH - 178.5" ott 13.5 lbs/day for past 6.   Thursday, August 11 View Page Also started covering pumpkins with blankets a few days ago to help with the cooler nights lately.   Saturday, August 13 View Page Finally some rain the past few days to, very happy to see as I was getting tired of hauling water. Just enough I haven't had to water for 2 days, and got to fill up some rain barrels again, will be good for at least 4 maybe 5 more days. Yesterday evening though a thunderstorm with heavy hail passed thru, the patch was lucky however to be on the very south edge of it and only got pea sized for 10 minutes, most of the bigger leaves have minor damage, one or two holes each.   Monday, August 15 View Page Day 30 498 VH - 219" ott, bigger than the 856 was on day 30.   Wednesday, August 24 View Page Finally some pics. Heres the 498 VH, nice looking, and its caught up to the 856, its been doing 25-30 a day for the past week and a half.   Wednesday, August 24 View Page 498 plant   Wednesday, August 24 View Page 856 - In the 400 range, no big gains with this one just steady 15-17 a day for the past few weeks.   Wednesday, August 24 View Page 856 - Pumpkin growing back on stem a bit. I should of had the vine raised more than I did in the begining, however the stem is short and it had a half moon type hook into the vine which I worked on getting positioned over the course of a couple weeks, I'm actually pretty happy with what I was able to do without breaking anything, I was worried for awhile. I also wanted this one as its one of the earliest pollinations I've had, another one on the main wouldn't have been till at least the 21st of July.   Wednesday, August 24 View Page Stem end on 856. Side note - plants are doing pretty good despite what they've been through this summer, high winds, hail, and extreme heat for 2-3 weeks which is rare for here, next year I'm going to be set up for misting just in case it happens again. Cold rainy spring but turned into a nice above average summer starting around the begining of July, and its still really nice, hopefully it stays decent till at least mid september. Nights are cool now and I've been covering them up for the past 2-3 weeks already, but at least the daytime temps are warming them up good.   Tuesday, August 30 View Page 498 Van Hook - Chugging along nicely in the warm weather we've been having, I hope it last for another couple weeks, surpassed my old PB in OTT inches 2 days ago, this morning at Day 45 it was 295" = 544 lbs. 856 Hoffman - Still growing but very slow, about 10 lbs a day now, I've only been taking circumference measurements of this one every few days just to check if its still growing, 123" a couple days ago, day 50 tomorrow.   Friday, September 2 View Page 498 VH - Day 48 309" ott.   Friday, September 2 View Page 498   Monday, September 12 View Page 498, in the low 800 range, still growing.   Monday, September 12 View Page I put that *#%^ on everything!   Monday, September 12 View Page I thought I had posted an ott of the 856 a couple days ago, looks like I forgot to, so anyways on the 8th at day 58 it was 295", I'll take a day 65 in a few days, its down to 5 lbs a day or less, but still solid, I thought it could have a hole in the bottom 2 or 3 weeks ago when it really slowed but its still really solid so I'll leave it on for awhile yet.   Wednesday, September 14 View Page Heavy frost last night and forcasted for tonite too. First frost of the season, it often starts in August. I didn't expect it to be as bad as it was with a low of only -1 to -2 forcasted. I covered up the 498 with tarps and blankets, but still I've got about 95% loss, the problem wasn't really the temps but how long it lasted, it was below zero by around 1-2 am and lasted till around 7. I've had my plants make it threw colder temps but for shorter time periods latter in the morning. I really wasn't expecting this much loss and the bad part is the 498 was still gaining good, now it'll be just maintaining for the next couple weeks, oh well, this was actually a last minute decision to grow this year as another practice season for next year when I plan on taking it more serious.   Thursday, September 15 View Page Got looking closer at the plants today and actually only have 75-80 % loss on the 498 right now, so there will still be some photosynthesis at least, the 856 is basically done as I didn't cover it, and it was pretty much done growing anyways. There is still a couple young green shoots on it, might pick and weight it soon, and even it is bigger than my biggest in 08, so overall a good season with both better than my past PB. I've got one section of the crown covered up with poly to heat up the root zone of the 498, working on heating up some water right now to give a warm but mild fish and seaweed drench.   Saturday, September 17 View Page Measured 498 today 63 DAP, wasn't expecting much since last measured with the cold and frost this past week, but was pleasantly surprised - 157"C, 97"EE, 89"SS = 343", 847 lbs. est. Note to self and John Van Hook - Must grow another 498 in 2012, LOL. Supposed to warm up for this next week so it would be nice to see even 5 lbs a day for these next few days.   Saturday, September 17 View Page Oops, switch the EE and SS around.   Monday, September 26 View Page Pic of main vine break from July 21st winds, taken a couple days ago, 1 ft after the pumpkin on 498, at the time it happened I was undecided what to do, ended up just leaving it as it was very warm and dry at the time, during a stretch with 3 or 4 weeks of little or no rain, didn`t apply anything, had great growth after the break, kept main vine growing on this plant right till the frost killed the tip, all secondaries were terminated.   Monday, September 26 View Page Lifting device I made up, tire is only a spacer, all pumpkin weight will be on shackle. 2 more 6ft straps to go on.   Monday, September 26 View Page I think it will work good.   Monday, September 26 View Page I`ve had likely 2 dozen people come look at my pumpkins this past week. Everyone has had the same comment ``Wow, those are the biggest pumpkins I`ve ever seen``. Might have a couple other growers here next season, maybe, I`ve given seeds and plants to others around here before and so far only 1 guy has gotten anything. This season a guy at work grew one of my 480s 08, and has one over 200lbs on an August pollination. For his first year trying them, its pretty darn good. He was going to grow generic AG seeds this year to try for his first time, till we ended up in a gardening conversation at work, hes now got a good start and is already planning for next year. If he grows again I think he will at least double or triple his PB.   Friday, September 30 View Page First time doing this, went flawless, my lifting rig worked great.   Friday, September 30 View Page Will be a long day tomorrow, hope to leave by 4 am, should be in Roland around 8-9 am.   Friday, September 30 View Page Nice good sized and healthy stem area, it hurt a little bit to cut it off the vine, it was still growing.   Friday, September 30 View Page The 498 looked solid to me underneath, slightly concave, 351" on the pallet, I just hope it makes the long trip safely tomorrow.   Monday, October 3 View Page My pumpkin made the trip to Roland safely. It had the smoothest skin by far of all the ones there, and was one of the nicer looking ones, got a lot of comments about that. Personally I don't care what it looks like, its all what the scale reads thats important to me.   Monday, October 3 View Page 853 Myslichuk, a bit light, but I'm happy with it, smashed my old PB of 480, never thought I'd have anything over 800 this year, actually only a couple months ago I thought that would be my goal for next year, I've now got a new goal, lol.   Monday, October 3 View Page When I first saw Henry Banman pull in with this one on his trailer I immediately thought....New MB Record.   Monday, October 3 View Page Estimating in the 1260 ish range (I forget exactly), went heavy, and absolutely smashed the old record of 1134.5, congrats Henry. It was awesome to see history in the making. I had a good feeling long before going down to Roland that with our really nice summer and fall weather this season, there was a good chance the record would get beat this year, but I as well as others likely weren't expecting it to get beat by that much.   Monday, October 3 View Page The top 3 this year, mine in the back left came in 3rd, 2nd largest this year in MB to hit the scale as 2nd place went to North Dakota. A few bigger ones went down this season here, which would have likely been bigger than at least 2 and 3rd places. I was not expecting to place this high before going to Roland, was kind of thinking maybe at best top 10 based on the past few years. I would have likely not even made the trip had it not been for our nice fall weather, I gained about 300 lbs in September.   Tuesday, October 4 View Page Unoffically weighed the 856 Hoffman which has sat for about a month without growing. I figured it would likely weigh heavy to chart based how solid it felt, it hurts your hand to smack it, unlike the 853 which feels and sounds light which it ended up being - 6%. Estimated at 544 lbs, weighed around 700 on a truck scale. Was tough to get an exact weight as the wind was making the scale fluctuate up and down up to 40 lbs at times, still way heavy and its close enough for me. Might be a good cross with the 498 except I'm worried whatever made it stall out early could be a genetic flaw which showed up, as the plant seemed healthy and the pumpkin is solid, no holes or cracks anywhere underneath. I plan on having some locals test out the seeds from the 853 next season to get an idea.   Thursday, November 10 View Page Well the patch has been covered in snow for about a week now, lakes are freezing up, hopefully I'll be ice fishing within the next few days, my main winter hobby, I like it as much as growing big pumpkins, which is a good thing as it makes the winter go by quick till its pumpkin season again.