Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 153 Entries. Wednesday, January 2 View Page We hung two fans up in the main pumpkin house which is a new addition for this season. The reasons are to help with the transpiration of the leaves and to help replace the CO2 that the plants will be sucking out of the air. It’s amazing what a difference it made to the air flow, this fan pushed air down 30M in seconds. This is Stuart getting some smoke going, well he was nick named Smokie in Vegas.   Wednesday, January 2 View Page 25M away from the fan off   Wednesday, January 2 View Page 25M away with fan on   Saturday, January 19 View Page One of the two patches that was not used last year had quite a pan so we moved all the soil (by hand) and piled in 4 or 5 cubic metres of peat before tilling nice and deep. It was a lot of work but you know what they say, ”The harder you try the luckier you get” We also had a little snow   Tuesday, February 26 View Page We had a great time on Lake Mead drinking, eating, fishing and looking for Jacks phone. Here is the Love float.   Tuesday, February 26 View Page Wiz, Jack and I went to look for Jacks phone and this photo was in a canyon with nice flat water believe me the open lake was very different. I did my best to keep them dry but eventually the inevitable happen and I submarined the boat, we were soaked and my god was it cold.   Tuesday, February 26 View Page We eventually got home after many days of searching and boy we were happy to be back. Jacks phone mysteriously appeared behind a seat and the boat we nick named the “Minnow” got back in one piece.   Tuesday, February 26 View Page Eddy started a new Atkins diet.   Tuesday, February 26 View Page It took a little while to work out how to catch the fish in the lake but Wiz caught his first carp which was great. Here are a couple of stripers I caught.   Thursday, February 28 View Page Stuart caught the biggest carp on the trip   Sunday, March 10 View Page Back in the patch I sent a simple NPK sample and found that the potassium that we have been trying to get down had more than doubled. The reason: - the horse manure we used this year came from the bottom of a very high pile and a load of potassium had washed down to the bottom. The lesson: - send a sample of the compost to the lab, I do and should know better. Anyway, we always flush through our soil with plain water before the season to get rid of any unwanted salts so this year are going to flush them through for a little longer and see what the results are. If you are growing inside please remember washing through your soil is a very important part of your growing procedure. We get none of the rain and snow doing it naturally for us.   Sunday, March 10 View Page Here’s this year’s line up. We will put our 1160 (1634 X 1381) seed in as backups.   Sunday, March 10 View Page Steve, Stuart and myself doing our favorite thing at lake Mead.   Friday, March 15 View Page Yep I’ve been fishing again and although not big for pike this is a nice fish for the lake   Friday, March 15 View Page And a different fish showing the shad lure I was using,   Wednesday, March 27 View Page Our compost tea is bubbling away and we will be putting one on every week of the growing season   Monday, April 1 View Page At last we have sowed this year’s seeds. I soaked them in a little seaweed for a couple of hours with some kitchen roll on top to stop them floating and then put them in the grow room at about 85C.   Wednesday, April 3 View Page Fortunately for me I set the temp for 85F and not 85C and today we got some of our amendments on. This Humic left me looking like a chimney sweep after I put it on.   Wednesday, April 3 View Page I then spent the whole afternoon wrestling with the rotavator.   Thursday, April 4 View Page It took all day but we now have three hoop houses finished and sowed Rye grass all around the outside.It would have been nice to get the grass in earlier but that's just the way things turned out.   Thursday, April 11 View Page Most of our seedlings are ready to plant tomorrow but two of the freaks didn’t make it. The seed coats are like bullets and I don’t think I sanded enough round the edge of the seeds. We put one more in last Monday along with a 2009 and they are both up.   Friday, April 12 View Page Stuart planted all the plants in their hoop houses today. This is the 1725 with one of ours behind.   Saturday, April 13 View Page The first Rye grass that we sowed is doing well.   Sunday, April 21 View Page We are putting RTI Mykos and Azos   Sunday, April 21 View Page Bug control under cover is a real dream and we have a stack of good guys to hunt the bad ones.   Sunday, April 28 View Page The pumpkin plants look fine at the moment and I just thought I would show the difference of CO2 levels with just grass in a closed glass house and minimum vented one.   Sunday, April 28 View Page And this is the level with just a little vent on. You may think this is no big deal but this is with just grass, when the plants really start growing the level will drop even more. The level of C02 is absolutely critical so do some internet reading and you will be very shocked at what you find. If you’re growing in a poly tunnel you tend to have an even bigger problem as they can be very air tight. I would suggest that if you grow inside you get a meter like this one so at the very least you know what is going on in your environment.   Sunday, April 28 View Page Were very busy at work at the moment but I did get some great carp fishing in the other day. I stalked this near 22lb fish from the little gap in the trees behind me in the photo. It’s a good size fish for this particular lake and in lovely condition.   Monday, April 29 View Page All the pumpkins are doing just fine except that the 1596 might be going to ribbon vine on us. This is the 1730 with a 1730 as back up.   Tuesday, April 30 View Page We have a nice lawn developing now which needs cutting every couple of days because we are throwing the clippings out to get rid of a little more of the unwanted potassium. The soil must be in good shape for the grass to grow as well as it is and although throwing away the clippings will get rid of some nitrogen we are not too worried as we can replace it at any time. We will be sending a leaf sample made up of our back up plants in the Twin Span glasshouse along with a soil sample next week. It does feel rather strange that we will start pollinating in only five weeks time.   Friday, May 3 View Page We took off all the hoop houses today and pulled our back up plants. I’ll put up some photos of the plants that we are going with this weekend.   Saturday, May 4 View Page A little boring but here’s the rundown of final plants in this year’s patch. This is the 2009 which replaced one of the 1789's   Saturday, May 4 View Page The 1730   Saturday, May 4 View Page The 1789 in the main house   Saturday, May 4 View Page The 1495 which is a little slow but looks like it will be fine   Saturday, May 4 View Page Our very own 1160 which replaced the 1596 but very happy to have our own in the patch and we realy like the cross.   Saturday, May 4 View Page The 1725   Saturday, May 4 View Page And last but not least the other 1789 which was started one week later.   Monday, May 6 View Page Hey Wizzy, you can’t say I haven’t worn this T to death but there was no need for some bugger to nick some of the bottom to oil up the BBQ   Monday, May 6 View Page We put in a few sacrificial plants in this year to try out some sprays and I highly recommend it. Stuart gave one plant a 10oz/gall Epsom salt spray last week in the middle of a very hot day to see if it did any damage. The plant was fine and although we would not go with that strength it’s a good education.   Wednesday, May 8 View Page The roots of our plants were heading towards the Rye grass so Stuart tilled it in today and we will start to get the irrigation system in. We’ve also been getting some buckets of ice ready for pollinating in 3 to 4 weeks time.   Thursday, May 9 View Page Stuart get all the irrigation down today   Saturday, May 11 View Page We got our soil sample back and the potassium has dropped by about 150ppm which is excellent news. While Stuart was watering on a little Magnesium sulphate and Boron he got some wet gear on and checked all the nozzles on the watering system. All the patches got their weekly Compost tea, Seaweed and nematode after and he was sure to wash any salts of the leaves at the same time. The plants look very well at the moment and probably the best they have ever looked for this time of year. This is the 2009   Saturday, May 11 View Page Just check out the stem   Thursday, May 30 View Page I’ve had a couple of week’s holiday which is great because I have Stuart to keep the patch in good shape. One of the great things about doing a diary with photos every year is you get to compare where you are with this year’s crop. This year looking at the photos, despite sowing one week earlier I would say that the plants are now one week behind which is down to the temp and poor weather. We lowered the venting temp to 16F 62C from last year’s 18F 66C which was to try and get a more compact plant. On top of that we put a min vent of 9% during day light hours in our quest to keep the CO2 up to background levels. This was always going to be a trial and error thing which is why we got the CO2 meter. Strangely enough ever since we mowed in the rye grass we’ve found that we have more CO2 when the vents are shut tight. We’re guessing that because the rye grass and manure are rotting down they are actually giving us the extra CO2. So happy days our “Blue print” for the future has just got better. Were now back to venting at 66F and the min vent is gone but that will be back if the CO2 drops. First up is an amazingly solid 2009   Thursday, May 30 View Page The 1730 is also a very strong plant.   Thursday, May 30 View Page As is the 1789   Thursday, May 30 View Page The 1495 although it looks fine in the photo is a little skinny and very like last years plant.   Thursday, May 30 View Page Our own 1160 looks very nice   Thursday, May 30 View Page The 1634 is also a good looking plant,   Thursday, May 30 View Page The 1725 is now our biggest plant which is down to being in warmer conditions and as the photo I took had to many of those MB things here's a photo of my garden.   Thursday, May 30 View Page And last but not least the other 1789.   Monday, June 10 View Page We were hoping to get the pollinations all done by the 16th but it looks like we will be a little late but the plants look fine. This is the 1634   Monday, June 10 View Page And the 2009   Thursday, June 13 View Page We started pollinating a couple of days ago and here is our new OTT method.   Wednesday, June 19 View Page After a couple of aborted pollinations we are now doing about one a day and the plants have grown well since the photo I put up nine days ago ,so fingers crossed. All the plants have terrific root systems and I’m sure we will be in for a lot of fun in the next few weeks especially as the soil and leaf results that we send of every two weeks are on the whole on the money.   Saturday, June 22 View Page We increased our Epsom Salt sprays to two a week as we could see the magnesium draining out of the leaves about every four days and it has made a big difference.   Saturday, June 22 View Page The leaf samples look great   Saturday, June 22 View Page We are just waiting for the Ka Boooom !!!!!!!!!!!! thing to happen. This is the 1789 in the High Light.   Monday, June 24 View Page “We have ignition Houston” Finally pollinations are working. This is the 1634 plant   Thursday, June 27 View Page Here are a few shots of the plants from above. The 2009   Thursday, June 27 View Page The 1634   Thursday, June 27 View Page And our very own 1180   Thursday, June 27 View Page 1160 x 1634. We have all sorts of crosses in the patch at the moment but won't know for a week or so what we are going with.   Sunday, June 30 View Page I had a day fishing last week and the best fish of the day was this stunning 20lb common   Sunday, June 30 View Page Its leaf and soil sample day tomorrow and I thought I would post this photo of a 2009 X 1789. For me, although it is early days, is a fantastic shape and both the mother and farther plants are superb. We also have the reverse cross but this is the best shape.   Monday, July 1 View Page All the plants are still looking fine but the 1495 is a skinny plant. That said Stuart thinks it has the best roots and the pumpkin were going with looks very nice. The plant right at the front is the 1634 and our 1160 behind is at this moment in time the best plant in the patch.   Monday, July 1 View Page This is the pumpkin we are going with on the 1634 which was pollinated with the 1730 and 13ft out. I think it's about 12 days old and were very happy with the shape. Not a great photo   Monday, July 1 View Page This is a 1725 X 1634 14 days old and 16.5ft out. Love the shape of this one.   Tuesday, July 2 View Page Although the skinniest plant in our patch ever since Stuart increased the amount of Epsom salts the plant has improved no end. We have now started to use the tendrils as a guide for Magnesium as they show the deficiency up first. (They are modified leaves) Green is good yellow is not. The roots on this plant are very good.   Tuesday, July 2 View Page This is the 1495 X 1789   Tuesday, July 2 View Page The rear of the 1789 in the Twin span   Tuesday, July 2 View Page And the rear of the best plant in the patch the 1160   Tuesday, July 2 View Page I put the bottle of Red spider mite control on a long pole to make sure that we get good even coverage. The predators are also mites and with their small legs ,to walk across a leaf is probably a year’s journey.   Wednesday, July 3 View Page We got some 5mm sheets of plywood covered with a very thin correx to go under the pumpkins this year. I drilled them with a load holes and also gave them a good run off so water will drain.   Wednesday, July 3 View Page We have some nice covers that will keep the sheets off the pumpkin untill they get to 500lbs or so.   Thursday, July 4 View Page As the plants are about to slow down in leaf growth we are cutting back out Epsom salt sprays to just one a week. They now have 5oz Epsom salts, 1floz Maxicrop and half a floz invigorater per five gall once a week.   Thursday, July 4 View Page Now that is one sweet looking 1725   Monday, July 8 View Page Here are some mug shots of this years pumpkins. We won't be taping them untill next Monday. First the 2009. This was perfect and in the last couple of days started to develope a mind of it's own.   Monday, July 8 View Page The 1730 looks fine   Monday, July 8 View Page The first 1789 is a little deformed but should be ok   Monday, July 8 View Page We like the look of the 1495   Monday, July 8 View Page Our 1160 should be fine but will probably grow over the flower end   Monday, July 8 View Page The 1634 is great   Monday, July 8 View Page The 1725 is perfect   Monday, July 8 View Page And ditto that for the other 1789   Monday, July 8 View Page We spent a total of 12 hours in the patch today and on an easy day it's 4 hours no wonder Sarah thinks I'm mad. This is a shot with the covers over the young leaves.   Tuesday, July 9 View Page It’s a bit OTT but I got a nice run off using a spirit level.   Tuesday, July 9 View Page Job done and it makes a great looking 1789 even better.   Tuesday, July 9 View Page It's a wacking great plant   Tuesday, July 9 View Page Healthy too   Monday, July 15 View Page Here are the first measurements from the Pinetops patch. We have pulled the 1789 and 2009 in the Twin span as they were very deformed. The 1730 on day 25 is 159lbs   Monday, July 15 View Page Just a photo of the 1495.   Monday, July 15 View Page The 1160 on day 27 is 201lbs   Monday, July 15 View Page The 1634 on day 26 is a little slower at 142lbs   Monday, July 15 View Page The 1725 on day 28 is 236lbs   Monday, July 15 View Page And finaly the 1789 on day 22 is 119lbs. Were not too alarmed that the growth rates don't set the world on fire at this point as our night temps are a cool 13C to 15C (56F to 60F)   Saturday, July 20 View Page I had a word with JD in Alaska about his night temps and on the back of that Stuart felt that we should be at the very least heating the actual pumpkins at night. So about five days ago we started to heat the pumpkin tents to 22C (74F) and we have been rewarded with some great growth. That coupled with the fact that the weather has been superb and our soil and leaf samples are somewhere near the money, Stuart decided to tape two pumpkins. Both were putting on 40lbs a day for the last four days which is by far the best we have ever seen in our patches ever. This is our 1160 which actually put on 164lbs in the last four days.   Saturday, July 20 View Page The plant is in great shape with just a few leaves down the middle showing ageing. We both think that the pumpkin to watch will be the 1789 in the High light. This plant is now actually being heated as it is in the same area as the Christmas poinsettias which are heated to 22C (74F) at night. This is the 1160 plant in great shape   Monday, July 22 View Page Stuart some how made a mistake during the week and the weigh gains are 30lb not 40lb a day but on the whole we are happy with the way things are going.Here are this weeks weights. On Day 33 the 1634 is 347lbs up 205lbs this week   Monday, July 22 View Page Our 1160 on day 34 is 381lbs up 180lbs this week   Monday, July 22 View Page The 1730 on day 32 is 356lbs up 197lbs for the week.   Monday, July 22 View Page The 1495 on day 28 is 223lbs   Monday, July 22 View Page The 1725 on day 35 is 442lbs up 208lbs this week   Monday, July 22 View Page And on day 29 the 1789 is 308lbs up 189lbs for the week.   Saturday, July 27 View Page We lost the 1060 to a blossom end split yesterday but don’t have any answers of why? It was nothing to do with under watering and the root system was great when Stuart pulled the plant this morning. It’s a good job we love growing these beasts because the amount of work we do each week is ridiculous and you always have expect it to go pear shaped at any time. Here is a photo of my back gate showing a couple of stunning pots of clematis.   Monday, July 29 View Page Despite losing one pumpkin we had a fairly good week in the patch. The 1634 is a great shape and colour and on day 40 was 553lbs up 206lbs for the week.   Monday, July 29 View Page The 1730 on day 39 is 559lbs up 203lbs for the week   Monday, July 29 View Page The frames we made for the pumpkin covers have been great and I would defiantly recommend them to anyone else. I will however have to make some bigger ones this week. Here is the 1495 on day 35 at 381lbs up 162lbs for the week.   Monday, July 29 View Page On day 42 the 1725 was 668lbs up 226lbs for the week and looks remarkably like the 2009.   Monday, July 29 View Page Even looking at the side it is like a small 2009   Monday, July 29 View Page Were also beginning to think that the 1789 looks like the Dome and on day 35 is 514lbs up 206lbs for the week.   Monday, July 29 View Page Were starting to put fans on the stumps which look more like tree trunks.   Thursday, August 1 View Page The pumpkins have out grown the first cover so I'm making up some bigger ones. The work is never ending.   Saturday, August 3 View Page One cover sort of done but the pumpkin has grown since I worked out what size I was going to make it so I will be doing a "Cut and Shut" in the next few weeks.   Saturday, August 3 View Page Stuart hung the small heater in the top of the hut and that works great.   Monday, August 5 View Page This week has been just about alright in the Paton patch. When we went to tape the 1634 we found two very small holes that don’t go any deeper than quarter of an inch but I have a feeling it may be terminal. This is a shame because it is a great looking pumpkin and doing very well weight wise.   Monday, August 5 View Page For us this is just down to luck and if we could see inside I’m sure we would see a dill ring forming. Anyway on day 47 it was 760lbs up 207lbs on a cold week.   Monday, August 5 View Page The 1730 is a superb looking pumpkin and on day 46 taped 740lbs up 181lbs for the week. This one could be a very big beast.   Monday, August 5 View Page Our 1495 is plodding away and on day 42 is 553lbs up 172lbs for the week.   Monday, August 5 View Page The 1725 on day 49 is 859lbs up 191lbs for the week. She is not that easy to tape but with no netting could clearly be a huge pumpkin.   Monday, August 5 View Page The 1789 on day 42 is 720lbs up 216lbs for the week. The heating is helping keep the weights up and could also be a very big pumpkin.   Sunday, August 11 View Page I had a week sailing at Cowes regatta but we managed to break the boat when we were doing very well in the 80 plus fleet. At least we got to watch the finish from the shore.   Sunday, August 11 View Page We faired a little better in the last race of the week despite 3 boats getting clear away when this ship rocked up we came fifth by just 2 seconds. We also managed to split the 1730 and although not terminal at the moment I guess it will be. It will defiantly be down to a lack of water even though we water every day. We do find that the plants prefer less water but when the pumpkin is growing fast you just have put more on. It’s a real fine line but 1725 still looks outstanding.   Monday, August 12 View Page I’m not sure what to think of the patch this week as it’s been a bit up and down. You can really see the difference between a plant that is heated at night to one that is not. Anyway first up is the 1634 which on day 54 is 910lbs up 150lbs this week. The two small holes are no bigger which is a plus.   Monday, August 12 View Page The 1489 on day 49 is 668lbs up 115lbs for the week   Monday, August 12 View Page The 1725 is acting a little strange at the moment and on day 56 was 1033lbs up 174lbs this week. I say strange because despite it being a little cooler this week Stuart and I both thought it would put on around 200lbs this week. There is no netting at all on the pumpkin in fact it is incredibly soft and anyone looking at it would say that it has a truck load of potential   Monday, August 12 View Page The 1789 had a good week probably down to the heating at night and on day 49 was 933lbs up 213lbs this week. She has a little netting but like the 1725 has plenty of potential.   Friday, August 16 View Page We weren’t sure if perhaps we have lost some roots on the patch so Stuart took a very small handful of soil out of the 1725 patch and washed it thru a sieve. He found these very nice fibrous white roots but we have given the soil a root shield drench. It’s a real fine line between over and under watering and thankfully we don’t have the rain to contend with.   Monday, August 19 View Page Were getting there albeit a little slowly for our liking. On day 56 the 1495 was 794lbs up 126lbs for the week which was a little better than last week.   Monday, August 19 View Page The 1725 on day 63 is 1179lbs up 146lbs for the week.   Monday, August 19 View Page Ans the 1789 on day 56 is 1081lbs up 147 for the week   Monday, August 19 View Page It's that time of year again and the "Red weeds"are getting spaced.   Monday, August 26 View Page This week on day 63 the 1495 was 859lbs up 65 this week and I would think that it will go heavy all day long.   Monday, August 26 View Page On day 70 the 1725 is 1254lbs up 75lbs for the week. I do find it a little strange that a white pumpkin shows no netting as it slows down.   Monday, August 26 View Page The 1789 on day 63 is 1170lbs up 89lbs this week.   Monday, August 26 View Page I had a few hours fishing this afternoon and caught this new PB mirror carp at 24lbs   Monday, August 26 View Page And here's the photo   Monday, September 2 View Page Before we set the pumpkins we deliberately dried the plants out a little to promote good roots, however once the pumpkins were actively growing we have been watering pretty much every day for fear of blowing them. I’m sure in my mind that we have over watered them and lost some roots about six weeks ago and that’s the fine line we have growing these things between having a great year and having an average year. Anyway we’ve come a long way in the last couple of years so are fairly happy. On Day 70 the 1495 was 918lbs up 59lb, the 1725 on day 77 is 1304lbs up 50lbs and the 1789 was 1212lbs up 42lbs. This is the 1789   Tuesday, September 3 View Page It's going to be a good day today as Sarah and I have been married for 30 years.   Monday, September 9 View Page In the last week we’ve seen the roots coming back on the 1789 in particular but it will be too late for this year. It’s a good lesson learn even if it is a little frustrating and as we measure everything else that we put on we might as well measure the water as well. On day 77 the 1495 is 940lbs up 22lbs On day 84 the 1725 is 1338lbs up 34lbs And on day 77 the 1789 is 1287lbs up 77lbs for the week. We have 5 weeks left so you never know we might get near our 1504 pb This is the 1495   Saturday, September 14 View Page The first of the poinsettias are just beginning to colour up and we need to get them in the black band to be in specification for our customers.   Saturday, September 14 View Page The 1725 and the 1789 both have very few netting marks on them and they obviously loved the feed and soil they were in. They just couldn’t get enough feed and water with the lack of roots. I have a new email address which is i.paton@uwclub.net   Monday, September 23 View Page Our three remaining pumpkins are still growing, albeit slowly The 1495 is 986lbs and if I were a betting man I would say that it would go very heavy. The 1725 is 1398lbs up 34lbs this week. At a guess this one will be light And the 1789 is 1347lbs up 43lbs this week and thumps very heavy. I had the day fishing and spent most of it up a tree admiring some amazing carp swimming under my feet. It’s not a great photo but you might just be able to make out two 20lb plus fish. I spent over 2hours not even fishing just enjoying watching them feeding.   Saturday, September 28 View Page This was one of the shadows, a gorgeous 23lber   Wednesday, October 9 View Page Well after messing around for a day we got the two smallest pumpkins out and of they went to the RHS show in London (Not a GPC show but they are interested so fingers crossed) The 1495 is now the 1172lb Paton and were happy it did what we predicted and when about 17% heavy. The 1789 is now the 1364lb Paton and was just about 2%light.   Sunday, October 13 View Page We all had a fabulous day at the weigh off and our 1725 is now the 1345lb Paton.   Sunday, October 13 View Page It was the best show ever and well done to Mark Baggs with the New UK record 1520lbs.   Sunday, October 20 View Page Perfect   Wednesday, November 27 View Page I spent a few hours putting in glass at the top of our highest glass house. It's not for the faint hearted but you do get a good look at all 17000 of next weeks red weeds.   Wednesday, November 27 View Page That's a lot of red for one week   Wednesday, November 27 View Page I got my daughter Katie to model one of our big poinsettias   Tuesday, December 31 View Page With work and rubbish weather my fishing rods have been gathering dust but I finally got out a couple of days ago. I caught this 22lb common carp in just 18inches of water under a rhododendron bush. Happy New year to you all Ian