Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 75 Entries. Friday, April 22 View Page 923 gerhardt 921.5 rosa 1059 vincent-mcgill These are the seeds I started,These will produce very orange pumpkins.This will be my first year growing atlantic giants........let the games begin.   Monday, April 25 View Page I also started a 852 myers last saturday.the hoop house is up, and set to plant in about ten days.1059 923 852 all germed,still waiting on the 921 rosa.more rain and snow on the way......when will it stop!   Friday, April 29 View Page Sadly,the 921 rosa did not germ.also the 923 gerhardt club rooted and stoped growing.but the 1059 and the 852 are doing good.so i planted another 923 gerhardt and a 993 vincent-mcgill.   Saturday, April 30 View Page Here is the hoop house i made a couple weeks ago.Its five by twelve feet.   Saturday, April 30 View Page The 1059 is on the left,the 852 on the right.The cots on the 852 are a little narly,but should be fine.The first true leaves are coming up on both of them.   Sunday, May 1 View Page The 993 vincent-mcgill is pushing dirt.Thats only three days.It must want to catch up with the 1059 and 852.   Sunday, May 1 View Page 923 gerhardt is pushing dirt!Im glad i had a spare.   Friday, May 6 View Page All plants are doing well,and set to put in the ground sunday or monday.temps in the lower 40's at night in the forcast.   Tuesday, May 10 View Page Put the 1059 and 993 vincent-mcgill out in the patch last night.   Sunday, May 15 View Page 993 vincent-mcgill,in the ground for six days   Sunday, May 15 View Page 1059 vincent-mcgill,in the ground for six days.its about five days older than the 993.the 923 gerhardt is in the pot,the leaves develop and get dark green then they stop growing.if anyone knows what that might be,shoot me an email.   Sunday, May 15 View Page here is my hoop house.and the corgi pup to the right.   Sunday, May 22 View Page 1059 in the ground for 13 days.   Sunday, May 22 View Page 993 in the ground for 13 days.   Sunday, May 22 View Page I put my pollinator plant in the ground today.the 923 gerhardt.looks like this plant will pull thru.the leaves are starting to develop.   Sunday, May 22 View Page 852 myers,I will plant this at my father in laws soon.   Wednesday, May 25 View Page there forcasting 26 degrees tonight.but it will stay about 60 in the hoop house with two heat lamps and blankets covering the hoop.   Saturday, May 28 View Page I forgot to say what my goal is this year.well my goal is to grow a blaze orange 500 pound pumpkin, for my first year growing.   Sunday, May 29 View Page 993 vincent-mcgill in the ground for 20 days.right after this pic i cut off the kickstand leaf so the vine could lay down.   Sunday, May 29 View Page 1059 vincent-mcgill at 20 days in the ground.very thick vine on this one.both will be down and running in a couple days.decent weather here with lots of sun,but still a little cool with day time temps in the high 60's.   Sunday, June 5 View Page what a difference a week makes!993 is sitting at three and a half feet,on the 27th day outside.temps are now in the 70's.the vine has a kink a couple feet out,but should be fine.i also took the hoop house off the 993 today.   Sunday, June 5 View Page 1059 on the 27th day outside.sitting at three and a half feet,this is a great plant,huge main vine!i moved the hoop over just the 1059 for a few more days till i get a fence up.ive been drenching with fish and seaweed twice a week.   Monday, June 13 View Page the 1059 on day 34 in the ground.grew from three and a half feet,to now seven feet.weather has been chilly,but this week is looking up.   Monday, June 13 View Page 993 didnt do a whole lot of growing.it was out in the cold all week.day 34 in the ground,it is sitting at almost five feet.   Monday, June 13 View Page 923 gerhardt is taking off and will like the warmer weather this week.   Friday, June 17 View Page first female on the 993 about six feet out.im taking the hoop house off the 1059 on friday,as its out grown it.still in the lower fiftys at night.   Monday, June 20 View Page the 1059,41 days in the ground.it is now at ten feet,with no female flowers that i have seen yet.   Monday, June 20 View Page 993 at day 41 in the ground.sitting at about seven feet,with one female at six feet.   Monday, June 20 View Page female on the 993   Monday, June 20 View Page 923 gerhardt ramping up   Saturday, June 25 View Page the weather here has been way to cold.it has been in the 50's for highs and 40's at night.it warmed up today and it looks like it might stick around.   Sunday, June 26 View Page 923 gerhardt at about six feet....this is my pollinator plant.   Sunday, June 26 View Page the 993 at around 9 feet.im letting this one grow onto the grass.   Sunday, June 26 View Page 1059 female 12 feet out on the vine tip.   Sunday, June 26 View Page here is my stump cover   Saturday, July 2 View Page today at 6:30 a.m i pollinated my 993. it was a 4 lobe a little deformed with the one and only male i had open,on the 923 gerhardt.   Monday, July 4 View Page at 6:30 a.m this morning i pollinated the 993 vm with 1 923 gerhardt male.also pollinated the 1059 vm with six of its own male flowers.993 female was deformed again,and worse than the last one and had some seeds in it.the 1059 had a nice 5 lobe.happy 4th of july!   Tuesday, July 5 View Page pollinated a 5 lobe on the 923 gerhardt main with two of its males.and 3 on the side vines on the 1059 just incase.and one on the side vine on the 993.   Friday, July 8 View Page pollinated one on the 1059 this morning,a nice 5 lobe about 14 feet out.i used six 1059 males.   Sunday, July 10 View Page pollinated a five lober on the 993 with 4 1059 males at the end of my dead headed main.   Thursday, July 21 View Page all is well and pumpkins are growing good.i will have pics on day 20 starting with the 993 in 2 days.these are all very small plants so i know im not going to see the gains that others are getting,but im happy so far.   Saturday, July 23 View Page 993 vincent-mcgill crossed with the 923 gerhardt.july 22 is day 20 sitting at 52"cc and misshaped.oh well,as long as its growing im happy.its starting to show orange color.   Tuesday, July 26 View Page 923 gerhardt leaves are turning brown.thought it was a potassium deficiency and added some 0-0-50 as a foliar spray two days ago and it seemed like it made it worse.the other plants in the patch seem fine.any help would be appreciated.   Thursday, July 28 View Page the 1059 selfed side vine pumpkin on day 23 is 69cc,around 115 lbs.this plant is only 200 sq feet,and im growing two pumpkins on this plant.the other one is about 14 feet out on a dead headed main vine,and sitting at about 60 lbs on day 20.the nights have been to cold to see bigger gains,down into the low to mid 50s.but the 1059 side vine put on the biggest gain yet of 15 lbs last night.i also unbarred all my vines a couple weeks ago and glad i did cause there was a couple spots on the main i had to address and put sulfer powder and fans.but all is going well being my first year.   Thursday, July 28 View Page let there be light!another nice view of the 1059 side vine pumpkin.   Thursday, July 28 View Page here is my 993.anyone ever grown one of this shape?and what ever became of it.   Thursday, August 4 View Page the 1059 side vine at day thirty is sitting at around 200 lbs.the one on the main is over 100 lbs now.very nice looking pumpkins that are starting to show orange.   Monday, August 15 View Page the 1059 side vine at day 41 is at around 300 lbs.the 1059 main vine on day 38 is at 175lbs.not bad considering the plant is only about 175 sq feet with two pumpkins on it.my pollinator plant,the 923 gerhardt is only 50 sq feet and the pumpkin on day 41 is about 155 lbs.the 993 plant is maybe 100 sq feet and the pumpkin on day 44 is about 255 lbs.i know thats alot for the space but im learning alot more than if i only had one plant as they are all different.all in all im happy so far and hope to hit my 500 lb goal.i would love to win the howard dill award this year also.thats another one of my goals.   Sunday, August 21 View Page the 1059 side vine   Sunday, August 21 View Page the 1059 side vine got a small bes a couple days ago.bummer,i put a sulfer paste and then put silicone over it.we will see what happens.   Sunday, August 21 View Page another pic of the 1059 vincent-mcgill   Friday, August 26 View Page ive been slowly cutting the 1059 vincent-mcgill by self side vine pumpkin off the plant due to the bes.im taking it out of the patch this weekend.to bad cause it is a very nice looking pumpkin.the pumpkin on the main will now have to play catch up.   Sunday, August 28 View Page here is my 993 vincent-mcgill,still holding together after my concern of her shape.   Sunday, August 28 View Page my patch   Sunday, August 28 View Page another view   Sunday, August 28 View Page last night out in the patch for the 1059   Tuesday, September 6 View Page Here is the 315 MacCoy estimated damaged 1059 Vincent-McGill x Self sitting perfectly on its blossom end. Seeds will be available in about a month if anyone is interested.   Tuesday, September 6 View Page Another pic of the 315 MacCoy estimated damaged 1059 Vincent-McGill x Self.   Wednesday, September 7 View Page Here's a better picture of the 1059. Got about 350 seeds out of it tonight.   Friday, September 9 View Page it has not rained here for weeks.really not much at all this whole summer,so lots of hose watering going on.looking forward to the delano mn weigh off on the 24th of this month.   Saturday, September 10 View Page first pic of the 1059 v-m on the main vine.its turning reddish orange in color.   Saturday, September 10 View Page anyone know what this growth is on one of my pumpkins.its been like that from the start,but it seems fine.   Saturday, September 10 View Page roof top view of the patch.i got a new ladder and i had to try it out...lol.993 under the tarp and the 1059 and 923 in the back.   Sunday, September 11 View Page I made the front page of my local news paper.it was pretty cool to do an article on big pumpkins.i have a feeling i wont be the only one growing them here next year.   Friday, September 16 View Page last two nights it got down in the mid to lower 20's.the leaves froze but the vines and pumpkins are fine.might have to get a few tips from the alaska boys on building a greenhouse.one week till delano.   Saturday, September 17 View Page 923 gerhardt on a 50 sq ft plant   Saturday, September 17 View Page the patch after two nights in a row in the low 20's.i had it covered with plastic but it was just to cold for to long.and just for my records the first frost here was sept 5.   Monday, September 26 View Page i went to the apple jack orchord delano weigh off this past weekend with the 993 and 1059.what a great time,with a huge turnout of a few thousand people.i meet alot of mn growers and even kevin marsh made the trip up from sd.bill foss put me to work right away and i helped tape most of the pumpkins.pics of my kins to follow.   Monday, September 26 View Page 290 maccoy 2011 1059 vincent-mcgill x self.my wifes second cousin jack sitting on the 290 maccoy.it went a little heavy and was a serious howard dill contender,but fell short of it.   Monday, September 26 View Page 350 maccoy 2011 993 vincent-mcgill x 923 gerhardt on the left.it also went a little heavy.   Saturday, October 1 View Page well the season is offcially done.what a great time i had growing these things,i learned alot this year and will take that knowledge into next year.these are my pumpkins that made it to the end.from left to right, 290 maccoy 1059 vincent-mcgill x self 15 percent over chart 220 maccoy est 923 gerhardt x self 350 maccoy 993 vincent-mcgill x 923 gerhardt 6 percent over   Saturday, October 1 View Page i showed my pumpkins at a kids pumpkin contest today.the kids loved it.we did a guess the weight of the pumpkin contest and one guessed 3,000 lbs,lol a new world record!i also handed out giant pumpkin seeds.great day   Monday, October 10 View Page here are some other pumpkins my wife and i grew.we grew about 15 of the perfect little round ones,and those are called we-be-littles.they grow on more of a bush type of plant.the bigger one weighed 25 lbs and it grew out of the compost pile onto grass with about 20 leaves on the plant.   Saturday, October 15 View Page I got about 300 seeds out of the 350 maccoy 993 vincent-mcgill x 923 gerhardt.this seed will make for some nice orange pumpkins.to my knowledge nobody has ever made this cross.   Saturday, October 15 View Page my first giant jack o'lantern.always a fun an exciting time cutting into these things.i used a battery powered sawzall to carve it.i also found out these things freeze easy.it got down to about 32 degrees last nite,then warmed up into the 40's.as i cut it open in the afternoon there was ice crystals inside.they really are like giant coolers.