Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 51 Entries. Wednesday, January 4 View Page storm is over and have removed the wind break cover. second pumpkin at 14 ft is now fertilized.   Wednesday, January 4 View Page i have reset the tire wall further out, buried a lot of the vine and built a cover over the stump. once i buried the vines i have had to put weedmat over the soil and cobble stones to stop the chickens digging in the fresh soil. i put a cover over the stump to keep it dry and cool, when i drove the stakes in, the soil was soft as for 3ft, so there should be huge root mass down there. this vine is alot smaller than other years, but has larger leaves and stronger stump for age. and the secondaries are growing out about 3 ft a week at this stage. i spent 4 hours working on the plant and yet in the photos it looks like nothing much was done. also did a foliar seaweed watering over the whole area.   Wednesday, January 4 View Page here's a close up of the stump. it is under a roof and is encased in chicken mesh... to stop the chickens etc. the main vine is heading off in the direction of the arrow. the second vine has the split. will keep an eye on it to make sure it doesnt get worse... but with the roof over should be ok. in real life it all looks ok, in the photos it looks like a big mess.   Sunday, January 15 View Page 11 days later and the vine has really grown. we have had 2 more storm fronts come over and a few of the big leaves are damaged, but the rest of the vine is very healthy .... all a nice deep green. this coming week i will have to do some major trimming of the vine and mow the lawns. the ride on has been out of action for 4 weeks but is now fixed. time to build a roof over the pumpkin   Sunday, January 15 View Page here his is...... a few days old and looking good. the first kin aborted at 10 ft ... am happy with that. this one is 14 ft out and seems to have taken. i have another at 17ft if this one aborts. so far so good, just need a clean up around the vine.   Tuesday, January 24 View Page good news and bad news, i lost all the pumpkins on the main vine and had terminated the main at 30ft. and..... worse still i plucked all the little pumpkin sprouts over the entire vine because i thought i had a growing pumpkin. so a week or so later i have a huge healthy vine and a new bunch of little yellow tennis balls :) so it looks like i'll be growing into late april / may to get something decent. so am really way behind other folks, but have a very healthy and vigorous vine with no disease. albeit... lots of damaged leaves from the storms. have taken paps advice and exposed all the main vine to the sun. this over the last week has shown results, the main looks very good. have also removed the flower from the baby kins a couple of days after fertilization. at this point all the new kins have taken and i wont touch them until they are football size..... then cull off. "disclosure"..... last week i was a key turn away on my just fixed ride on mower from mowing the vine into the ground........ i was that "down" about loosing all the kins on the main. anyway... since then the vine is proving its self strong and willing, and im still looking after it every day the best i can. i have also started to increase the P and K to help the little yellow tennis balls! all is not over, and still have a shot at a 1000lber with this strong plant.... even though very late.   Tuesday, January 24 View Page here's a close up of the stump and main, its the biggest and strongest i have grown yet. its looks a lot sturdier in real life ....... i just hope that it stay strong over the next 3 months. i measured out 45 meters circumference around the vine today, and its expansion seems to be slowing ...... hopefully because its trying to grow pumpkins.   Wednesday, February 1 View Page a few days after my last post i started to see something funny on the main stem close to the stump. this is the section i noticed   Wednesday, February 1 View Page so i started to prod and poke and started to get very concerned. so i got a clean knife and cut off the secondary vine and started to trim back to the troubled area bit by bit. i have to say...... the more i cut the more i worried. and while i was at it, i cut away all the leaves and straggly vine bits away from around the stump area to allow light and breeze to get to the vine. i also uncovered the buried vine nodes and saw some very heavy root structures.... which is great.   Wednesday, February 1 View Page so here is a close up of the damage. i took this photo after i cut away the rot, but before 1 hour of surgery..... that photo will come next week. at this point i started to cut away carefully the rot, and i sprayed fungicide into the hole... it turns out the inside of the vine is like bamboo .... hollow and the rot was going both ways! left and right. luckily this node is downhill from the left and right, so what i sprayed in flowed out. then i sprayed pesticide in left and right.... and.... horror!... lots and lots....like millions of tiny white wormy things came flowing out, and then Beatles and then earwigs.... it was a hotel of pests. so i kept on spraying and putting tubes in to flush out the bugs. since then.... i have kept an eye on things and the hole is starting to callous over and heal. so far things are improving ..... for how long i have no idea, but will post a photo of the healing vine in a few days to compare the before and after. ps. several weeks ago i tapped that section of vine with my boot and noticed a tiny split.... like 5mm. i thought the vine will heal over...... that was the entry point this this problem.   Wednesday, February 1 View Page in the meantime, i have 3 very nice football size pumpkins on the vine. only one on a secondary off the main, and the other two on the main secondaries off the stump. if i have to, i will cut the main off and protect the stump (if the rot continues) to feed the main secondaries..... which is almost 1/2 the vine in foliage. but even though things are bad, the surgery so far seems to work. from now on i will expose the stump and main to sunlight and protect them more than anything else. my pumpkins have a white sheet over them..... no more houses!(thanks pap for the info on your tips and tricks posts) sunlight is natures fungicide. this is another huge learning curve for me this year. first was slow and steady..... second is proactive with cracks and splits and fungicides/pesticides. 3rd... if in doubt explore and dont rely on "she'll be right" i used to worry about the leaves and the pumpkin. now its stump 1st, main second, leaves 3rd.... then.... enjoy looking after the pumpkin. hopefully i have a positive next week   Friday, February 3 View Page well.... not a good week, the stump has started to foam. have spent several hours reading up on it and found this thread... http://www.bigpumpkins.com/msgboard/ViewThread.asp?b=3&p=374172 very informative. so at this point am spraying fungicide and bug spray. since i cut off one of my main secondaries to solve the rot problem, i ended up with a foamer..... also culled of about 20 little pumpkins.... maybe cutting too much material at one go is a serious issue. so now im going into experiment mode to try different things and learn what happens and what is going to happen. oh..... by the way the pumpkins are growing really well...... might even get a really big one... still have huge root structure from the main vine nodes, and the vine is huge. my attention is now on the stump and how all this rot and foaming works. im no expert but will share my experiences with photos for the folks watching. maybe someone might learn something.   Tuesday, February 7 View Page several days on here is a photo of the big hole in the main vine. i covered the wounds with a product called "seal and heal" it is used to protect branch removal on large trees. so far it has worked. and the vine is still growing bigger. this product is like a silicon glue but for plants. since putting this on and spraying into the hole every few days, there are no more bugs and even though the picture doesnt look promising, it actually looks pretty good in real life..... how long that lasts time will tell. there is however fresh growth on the inside which the picture just couldnt pick up.   Tuesday, February 7 View Page this picture is a top view of the foaming stump, the red area shows a problem that i didnt pick up till just a few days ago. while i was spraying the stump with copper i notices that it pooled in this area and then vanished....... obviously a hole going into the stump.... an entry for bad stuff.... probably the cause of the foaming stump. so i sealed it and any other potential entry point with seal and heal.   Tuesday, February 7 View Page now for the sad picture. the foaming stump. and another big problem a dripping stump.   Tuesday, February 7 View Page i have stopped cleaning away the foam as i think it is part of the healing process... guessing here, but i still spray for fungus and bugs, and so far seems to be working. one thing i cant do is put a fan on it as its too far away from a power source. the most interesting thing is the constant dripping from the vine.... the red arrow. it drips every 15 seconds, so my guess it is busted "plumbing" in the stump. i have looked all over this website and seen nothing about dripping vines. what i have realised is the stump is still able to transfer nutrients from one part of the vine to the other as my biggest pumpkin is growing on a section of vine that is feed only by the stump....... a small side vine out the back that has no root system. the bad part is... if the stump fails so will the pumpkin. my main pumpkin is getting feed by the main vine root system, so if the stump fails it can still grow with 2/3s of the vine. so im guessing that the dripping is coming from the fluids from the main vine system and pushed through the damaged stump to the side pumpkin. saying all that, and the problems i have had so far, the 2 pumpkins i have left on the vine now are growing faster than any other pumpkin i have ever grown.... which i find really interesting.... looking forward to day 30.   Friday, February 17 View Page an update. the stump has stopped foaming and the vine has stopped "leaking". the stump has now divided its self into 2 stumps and is recovering nicely..... i can now see through the gap between the 2 stumps. they join at the head of the stump and all is well.... well its getting well. the center of the stump was totally blown out, and the root system below the stump had serious rot as well, i dug out alot of soil under the foaming area.... this had filled up with the juices from the vine.... in the last week there is alot of new root growth.... it looks like an albino hedgehog! the stump has basically doubled in size and the 2 pumpkins are really putting on the pounds. im guessing that this healing process has cost the plant alot of energy, as of today i have 2 pumpkins measuring a circ of about 67 inches each. but they are expanding fast now. a few more days till day 30. i have decided to take both pumpkins to the end on the one vine... mainly because ... even though the stump is regenerating, i am worried that the problems might come back. will be interesting to see what the total weight is of 2 pumpkins grown on the vine is. if everything continues to go as good as it is now, i should beat my personal best on 1 pumpkin and have a big total weight with both. this year has turned into a very educational experience. i will take photos of the stump and vine this weekend. i have not trimmed the vine at all... im letting it expand, and am cutting of about 10 females a day. am also cutting out alot of the old leaves in the center... this is letting in light and airflow. have also started to remove leaves in "congested" areas to allow more light and airflow...... this is helping to control PM as well. the vine is now 60 meters in circumference and expanding.   Saturday, February 18 View Page here is a photo of the separated stump, it doesnt look pretty, what with all the seal and heal splattered everywhere. this stuff has been good but as the stump is still expanding the sealer is splitting. there are still a few soft spots on the stump, but they are slowly healing. today i sprayed the plant with lime sulphur. the stump is under a large window and hasnt been watered for 2 weeks. this is really helping to dry it out. i do water with a watering can up to 2 feet from the stump. the bottle is way smaller than the stump .... must be the camera lens distortion.   Saturday, February 18 View Page here is a photo of the new roots growing. the camera just doesnt capture the massive new root growth   Saturday, February 18 View Page here is a side view showing the hole in the vine and another view of new roots growing on the other part of the stump. it aint pretty but it is still growing and healing.   Saturday, February 18 View Page here is an over view of the vine, i climbed up a ladder to take this pic.there are 2 red arrows, these are the 2 pumpkins. the top arrow is the kin that is feed only from the stump and is slightly bigger. the other kin has most of the vine to feed it if the stump does fail. the glass if over the stump and the hole in the vine and is nice and dry. the gap in the middle is where the main vine runs and i have removed all the leaves there to keep the sun on the main..... i have no shortage of foliage. spent 1 and 1/2 hours today spraying the vine, there is PM starting to show, we also had several days of rain and thunder. tomorrow i will spread another kilo of fert. i and using tomato fert 4-5-8, sulfur, calcium, mag at this stage, as well as foliar. and will start to slowly boost the K soon.   Monday, February 20 View Page day 30 finally made it to day 30..... what a mission! those reading my diary will know that this armature.... me... is probably the worst enemy to the vine he is trying to grow. but im learning. so i have 2 kins on the vine... the 1 on a secondary being feed by the stump only is now 75in circ. and is growing very well to the point of seeing the change every day. the second 1 is a bit slower but is the 1 im putting my time into as it has the best chance of going to 90days + it is 71 inches circ. what i have noticed is ..... in the last week / 2 weeks, the kins started round then expanded more, then grew a big chin out the front. at that point i started to think that they were expanding too fast and the weakest point started to balloon.... giving the funny shape. so i backed off giving fert, and let it slow down and fill out a more even shape. in the last 2 days, the shape is getting more uniform.... filling out, so the circ measurements are less than i hoped for, but the volume of a more rounded expansion is making me happy. we have several days of rain forecast again, so im holding off adding the fert till the end of the week.... im hoping the kins will fill out into a round shape before i push the fert again. my reasoning is...... if you blow up a balloon too fast the weakest point lets go and expands faster. with a pumpkin the flower end and the vine end are thickest and the center is weakest and liable to expand faster...... giving the round shape and chin..... pure assumption here. next week i'll know if slowing the fert has helped even out the kin. then will increase fert again. have also today started to terminate a few secondaries and territories, and watch to see what happens. i still have over a month of really good growing season before the beginning of the weather tapering off. so should be good for something nice by late april.   Wednesday, February 22 View Page did another measure today as things are noticeably changing. the smaller is cc of 75inchs and an ott of 185 and the bigger one is cc 79 with ott of 196. that is 4inches in 2 days cc. and the pumpkins are starting to round off / fill out into a nice shape, which is more important today the wind is howling and we have another day or so before it settles. also spread a kilo of fert under the vine today as the rain will wash it in nicely. also sprayed the stump this morning again with sulfur... it is still changing shape.... i think it will totally separate into 2 stumps in a few days.... maybe? all very interesting.   Thursday, February 23 View Page its not like me to post so many times in such a short time, but im doing this for next years grow. today/lastnight we had a storm over us, lots of big wind and rain. have been worried about the vine and potential damage. so after work i had a good look and noticed that the pumpkins are visually bigger than yesterday. the smaller one put on 4 inches cc and the bigger one 5 inches. which is great news but is making me wonder. is it the reduced sunlight that is enhancing growth? we have extreme uv in NZ and i think that under full sun the growth is reduced. i put a kilo of mineral fert down yesterday but i dont think that it can work that fast. and i always water the vine, so its not the extra water from the rain that added 4in in one day. im guessing that warm wet overcast days is the reason. im thinking of making a 20% shade cover for next year. here is a photo of our weather system the red arrow is us.   Friday, February 24 View Page just a note, today was nice and sunny and only 2inches growth so we have cc of 81 and 86. 1/2 of yesterdays gain... but still growing nice.   Saturday, February 25 View Page thought i better put a pic up so there is reference for the day 30ish period. this is day 35, a bit overcast and windy and the growth picked up. today the bigger one is cc 89 inches and ott 213. the smaller one is slower.   Monday, February 27 View Page 2 days sunny and hot and only 2 inches a day. the smaller one has 85cc and is getting really wrinkly, i dont put much hope in this one to get overly big but is now officially a backup for seeds..... even though is has most of the vine. the bigger one is 64 65 93 ott 222. so 18 inches cc in 7 days is very good going... although a late start, so the stump is still transferring at a good rate. have noticed the side to side measure on this one is starting to move now and this is what i was hoping for... some serious (beginnings of) filling out. both kins are very healthy at this point, i did a full check today, just to make sure i havent missed anything. the stump is still changing..... it really amazes me! took a risk and watered right up to the new roots.... my thinking.... if there are new roots, they will need water. the soil around the stump was very dry on top, being under glass. this has really saved my season.... so far, as well as the liberal use of lime sulfur. more fert today... some foliar and a small handful of 0 0 50 spread around vine nodes to slowly start the k buildup, i dont want to wait for day 50 and start too hard, but am very mindful that im starting early with the k. im trying to make the transition to high k very smooth. have also been slowly but surely terminating the vine ends every second day. half the vine now has full size leaves at the vine ends. next update day 40. p.s. have noticed "down under" harvested his big fruit yesterday.... all i can say is "thumbs up" ;-)   Thursday, March 1 View Page day 40. measured today and we have 101 x 68 x 67 = 236inches there has been alot of growth in the last 10 days. got 26in cc. just hope to keep this rate up for awhile yet.   Thursday, March 1 View Page day 40 smaller one, it is 90 x 61 x 60 = 211ott. its still growing but is being left behind, and the wrinkles dont help. if the stump was ok i would of culled it.   Thursday, March 1 View Page some pics of the stump. in this one the separation at the base is getting bigger but has healed. towards the top the stump is still changing and splitting up, there was alot of rot in there but is healing nice. the vines that join into the stump are all still connected, but it does look messy and there a holes that a stick can pass through. what is interesting when looking very closely "into the innards of the stump" you can see heavy corded like structures which im guessing is the core fluid transfer pipes. all nice and dry with the rotted parts falling off like dust.   Thursday, March 1 View Page a side view. the right hand side of the stump, u can see the splitting and separation still going on, im guessing that most of the cause now is the stump is still growing and stretching, and with the original damage done... the stump is doing its best to survive.   Thursday, March 1 View Page and a top view, this is through the glass. the arrow points to several holes that a stick can go through and touch the soil. the vine that goes into the hole is attached to the stump with several thick "cords" about thumb thickness. this vine feeds the bigger pumpkin... so the plumbing is still all attached and pumping up the pumpkin pretty good. this view shows why i am nervous about how long this pumpkin can grow for. but so far.... even though it is ugly, it is doing rather well. if i get to 90 days i would like to dissect the stump and check out the plumbing structure. i use lime sulfur and bug stuff "inside" the stump once a week. well thats it for day 40... 50 more days to go and the weather forecast is for a major storm tomorrow and saturday.   Friday, March 2 View Page and now we have to face this...... i put down 2 kilos of fert today, spread through the entire patch right to the edges. i made a mix of high strength n p k and calmag, lime, sulfur and various micro minerals .... mixed it all up in a bucket. it should be washed in quite nicely overnight. hope the vine survives. this is where the pine trees come in handy.   Sunday, March 4 View Page the bigger one is now 246 ott 107 cc packing on 20lbs a day at the moment, just have to keep this rate up for a while. got through the storm all ok.   Tuesday, March 6 View Page ott 253, weather has been fine so a little less growth per day but still 15 odd lbs pd. we have a few days of overcast and rain coming up, will see if growth increases.   Thursday, March 8 View Page small one at 226 ott and the bigger at 258 ott. still moving along at a reasonable pace.   Sunday, March 11 View Page day 50 post.. yesterday. the bigger one is now cc118 and ott 268. from day 40 to 50 we have a gain of 32inches ott and using the new chart a gain of 135lbs or 13.5lb per day from day 40 to 50. the chart says 435lbs. a side note... ABs pumpkin was 120cc on day 30.... amazing. but the growth rate is still good considering the troubles. the second pumpkin is still growing but is getting left behind.   Sunday, March 11 View Page an over view of the patch. the smaller pumpkin is in the foreground the bigger at the back. put down 2 kilos of powder fert today and 20liters concentrate of homemade foliar. had the water flowing for 5 hours through the whole patch to water in the nutrients. this seems alot of fert, but its day 50 and want to give it a kick. at worst... i will learn what too much fert is. at best i can hold or increase the weight gain. this is an experiment for me..... what can a patch take before its too much. will know in 5 days. gave the stump and all main vine nodes a dose of lime sulfur, have notices some small soft spots on some of the nodes. the stump is actually growing more vigorously now. a few weeks ago when i had the foaming stump problem and then the stump splitting... i was doing some reading and found a post on here which was "go on, wiggle your stump" and i did.... and it wiggled easily.... no doubt rotten roots. but now with the new growth the vine is locked into the ground securely.   Tuesday, March 13 View Page hasnt split yet with the dump of fert. ott today 272 and cc 120 ... ABs day 30 cc measure.... now to get his ott :-) checked the stump today, it is totally locked into the ground now .... just like a healthy one. am starting to water the roots around the stump more vigorously now.   Tuesday, March 13 View Page hasnt split yet with the dump of fert. ott today 272 and cc 120 ... ABs day 30 cc measure.... now to get his ott :-) checked the stump today, it is totally locked into the ground now .... just like a healthy one. am starting to water the roots around the stump more vigorously now.   Tuesday, March 13 View Page just been reading the NZ posts, and somewhere along the line i got it in my head that AB had 120cc on day 30. it seems that this pumpkin has surpassed that number... took almost twice the time. now it has 160ott to gain with 40 odd days..... thats 4 ott per day. its doing 2 at this point.... that is some massive growth from ABs pumpkin! and its still growing. with luck my pumpkin could achieve 1000lbs.... i'd be very happy with that. but will increase the fert rate as well now, im curious to see what too much fert is. 1000lbs or bust! a new experiment.. lol.   Thursday, March 15 View Page day 55. smaller one ott 244 cc 107 side 68 blos 69. larger one ott 276 cc 122 side 77 blos 77 lots of sunny weather and the dump of fert hasnt affected the pumpkins much.   Tuesday, March 20 View Page day 60   Tuesday, March 20 View Page day 60 ott is 285, cc 128, side 78, blos 79. a gain of 17inches ott from day 50. so the weight gain is slowing down. worked out 8.4lbs per day. but the last 10 days were extreme sun or extreme storm. put down 2 kgs of fert today and 30liters of foliar. hoping for an improvement over the next 10 days. the smaller one is ott 247. vine not in the best shape now after yesterdays massive storm. and another big storm tomorrow. it seems that my big dump of fert is not enough it kick it into action let alone warrant worrying about splitting. stump is still doing ok. roll on day 70.   Friday, March 30 View Page day 70. small kin is ott 260 and the larger one 301 ott. going by the new chart the 2 kins weigh just over 1000lbs, this is one milestone for me. one vine 1000lbs of pumpkins... too bad its not one pumpkin. from day 60 to day 70 there is a gain of 16 ott on the big one, or about 9lbs a day, so nice steady growth still. next target is 726lbs to beat my pb, then let it grow till it stops. 1000lbs is 358 ott... so could get to that if this pace continues. last year i had a pumpkin still growing in june... put down 3 kgs of fert today. the vine got hit by pm big time during the week.... had to go away for a few days. have sprayed the vine, and am letting it grow new leaves to counter the lost to pm. the vine is about 3000sq ft now, but the Central area has no leaves anymore. some of the old timers in the area have heard about what im upto and are coming over for a looksy, ..... and my seed bank is being depleted. lol... looking forward to seeing what these retired farmers can produce!   Tuesday, April 10 View Page day 80. small pumpkin is 263 ott and the larger one 305 ott. so a dramatic drop in growth. have checked the fruit and the vine and all seems reasonably ok. the only things i can put the dramatic drop to is the hot sunny days over the last 10 days.... or its just the end of the season. i still spray, feed and water the same as before. roll on day 90... we have some rain and cooler weather coming.   Saturday, April 21 View Page day 90. the bigger one is now 311ott and the smaller one 269ott. so this period they gained more weight than the last 10 day period. will let them do there thing now. no more fert or care to the vine.   Wednesday, October 24 View Page well, here we go again. since my last post.... i let the pumpkin do its thing till the vine gave out. i then encased the pumpkin in a very wet and weak concrete casing..... in the hope of making a solid concrete cast pumpkin. in these photos you can see the cast and it looks good so far. trouble is, it is very heavy and my f.e.l. cant shift it. so it is still sitting in my new pumpkin patch. the plan is now to roll it back, fill it with water and rot out the remainder of the skin. from what i have seen so far the casting is almost perfect. once cast i will chip of the concrete mold..... it is 9 to 1 mix and quite soft.   Wednesday, October 24 View Page in the above photo, you can see my new patch cover with the new plant in it. the rest of the patch is all nicely mowed grass. over the last 6 months, i have been adding 100's of kgs of fert, lime, cal mag, micro nutes and pitchforking. it doesnt look like a patch on the surface but a spade dig revels soft earth with an abundance of worms. as the vine grows, i will burn off the grass with a solar cooker. in front of the casting is a patch of goo which is the insides of the pumpkin and "wild" seedlings growing. i have transplanted one of these as my main plant. in the house i have 2 new seeds growing which were for this years grow... but found that the wild seed looks soo much stronger.... so have gone with this.... as this is a selfed seed from the pumpkin i know its genetics... and it is the most robust and strongest looking seedling i have ever seen.   Wednesday, October 24 View Page this photo is a close up of the insides of the pumpkin castings. the skin is slowly rotting off and you can see all the ribbing detail and "orange peel" detail of the pumpkin.   Wednesday, October 24 View Page i didnt get the pumpkin weighed, but the casting timber frame was 1.2m x 1.2m x 1m and the out most curves of the pumpkin came to within 15mm of the casting frame. this was an all day job to do this, i dont thing i'd want to cast a bigger one! at least i will have something to sit on the front lawn forever once its finished. last year was a good and bad season... the bad part i had a rotten stump...... the good part..... i learnt heaps. so.... roll this season. and good luck to fellow southern hemi growers.