Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 88 Entries. Sunday, March 23 View Page I reckon ive got somehtin Ian and Stuart want back! tee hee hee :)   Sunday, March 23 View Page i have decided that im going to go with four pumpkin plants again this year and have a year off marrows, so that means i will have three plants in here again   Sunday, March 23 View Page and the fourth will be growing in here.   Sunday, March 23 View Page here is my line up for this year, planning on starting these around the 10th april. Hoping to grow the 1222, 1734, 1744, and either the 1381 or the 1387 but not going to commit myself to those. Have to be strong plants. Good Luck to everyone in 2014!!!   Monday, April 7 View Page started seeds today   Saturday, April 19 View Page Well not quite the start i was hoping for, my best plant at the moment. Very happy with this one.   Saturday, April 19 View Page I have a second plant that im also happy with but the others look a little iffy. Dont know why but i have started another dozen seeds in a different type of compost so ill have options. Still plenty of time so not sure what i will be going with yet.   Saturday, April 19 View Page the second true leaf doesnt seem to be developing as well as i would like. Still, early days.   Sunday, April 27 View Page Things are looking okay here, heres my best plant, very strong growth to this one. This is a 1278.6 Cutrupi (1789x1495) and i started this one on the 7th of april.   Sunday, April 27 View Page Next up i have a 1317 Clements (1495x2009) another nice cross! Started this one on the 13th of April   Sunday, April 27 View Page These two are growing 4ft apart back to back.   Sunday, April 27 View Page for my third plant its looking like it will be the 1222 Wursching (1391x1495) which was started on the 7th of april although its back up looks very nice. Im still undecided to what the forth plant will be.   Saturday, May 3 View Page the 1278, still growing well. All my plants are looking a little yellowish but they do every year, not seen the sun much here this past week.   Saturday, May 3 View Page heres the 1222. this plant is picking up well now it didnt get off to a good start as the seed leaves were all twisted up when it germinated, to start with i thought 'i cant grow that' but now im very happy, well so far.   Saturday, May 3 View Page 1317 is coming along nicely too.   Sunday, May 4 View Page my fourth plant is going to be a 1526 Menting (1770x1623) and was started on the 16th of april.   Sunday, May 11 View Page 1278 is looking real nice   Sunday, May 11 View Page and so is the 1222, i think this is going to be a nice easy plant to grow like the 1391 plant i grew last year.   Saturday, May 17 View Page 1278   Saturday, May 17 View Page 1222   Saturday, May 17 View Page 1317 is a little behind as it was planted later. I think im going to have fun trying to keep this ones head down!   Saturday, May 17 View Page 1526 is also behind but this plant looks fantastic. Although my line up this year is not what i intended to grow i am very happy with my plants and its just happened that three of my line up have come from my EGVGA seed package so just a quick thank you to all the people that donated their seeds and to the people that took the time to put the seed packages all together.   Saturday, May 17 View Page ive also got some proper shading sorted out for this year.   Saturday, May 24 View Page 1278 looking nice   Saturday, May 24 View Page 1222 is coming along ok   Saturday, May 24 View Page 1317, well the head is down...   Saturday, May 24 View Page but i put a nice split in the vine, its not in to the vine cavity and its dry so i think it will be okay.   Saturday, May 24 View Page and finally the 1526.   Thursday, June 5 View Page 1278x1222 @ 13 feet, five lobes pollenated with a single male from the 1222 main. near perfect flower, perfect place on the vine now ive just got to hope it takes!!   Sunday, June 8 View Page 1222 X 1278 5 lobes @ 13 ft. nice   Sunday, June 8 View Page heres the fantastic 1278, this plant has been fantastic right from the start.   Sunday, June 8 View Page i just hope the pumpkin will be as good as the plant. Heres the pumpkin at day three. To early to tell if its set yet but its increased in size considerably.   Sunday, June 8 View Page im taking great care to train the vines away from the fruit this year!   Sunday, June 8 View Page not a great photo of the 1222 but pollenation is in progress... i hope!   Sunday, June 8 View Page another 1222 photo   Sunday, June 8 View Page 1317 is a little behind but i have a female flower which is just visible in the head.   Sunday, June 8 View Page 1526 is also a ways behind with no females visible. I have pinched one out which was about 8 ft out. Actually quite happy to be in a position where i have too later plants, My 1520 was not set till the 22nd last year so not in any rush here.   Saturday, June 21 View Page Ive been a little busy here lately but heres how were goin, 1278 plant.   Saturday, June 21 View Page I took out the main vine tip last night, the patch is about 28 feet long but taking in to account the s bend id say the main is around 30 feet long   Saturday, June 21 View Page heres my keeper on the 1278 at day 16, no other pumpkins left on the main so were all in on this one!   Saturday, June 21 View Page another photo.   Saturday, June 21 View Page heres the 1222, she's grown in to a fine looking plant.   Saturday, June 21 View Page and the 1222 pumpkin at day 13. no other pumpkins are pollenated on this vine either although i do have a little more run on the main if anything happens. im happy to take a gamble and have been pinching all other flowers out. want my pumpkins growing unchallenged right from day one.   Saturday, June 21 View Page 1317 was pollenated on the 18th of june so were at day 3 today. The flower was a perfect 4 lober and was crossed with the 1278 and id say its sitting at about 13 feet out.   Saturday, June 21 View Page and the 1378 plant, take in to account that this one is back to back with the 1278 so thats not just one plant!   Saturday, June 21 View Page in case anyone was wondering that split on the 1317 main dried up ok   Saturday, June 21 View Page 1526 plant looking great also   Saturday, June 21 View Page i pollenated this flower on the 20th with 1222 pollen which was 24 hours ago so day one as far as im concerned. This flower had 4 lobes and is about 15 feet out. Was slightly deformed, i cut out a deformation that was growing out from the side of the flower which had a few seeds on it, it was not attatched to the lobes so im hoping ill be okay with this as the next flower looks like it will be 20 feet out.   Saturday, June 21 View Page in the past i used to tie the flower closed with string, that was okay but the flowers used to sweat and make the lobes go all slimey which is not nature. Now im removing the female petals before i pollenate, this gives me better access to get the pollen on to the bottom of the lobes too and i think this sheet with soil all the way round will keep the bees out providing they dont bring a shovel! Ive also got a fan and bottles of ice under there to try and help keep the flower cool and a parasol over the top of the lot for a shade. Thanks to Ian and Stu for sharing the white sheet, ice idea in their diary last year. It works well when its hot.   Thursday, June 26 View Page 1278 day 21. Day 20 - total inches 137 est 64.3 lbs.   Saturday, June 28 View Page the 1222 tapes a total of 141 inches for an estimate of 69.3 lbs on day 20.   Tuesday, July 1 View Page 1278 plant.   Tuesday, July 1 View Page 1278 pumpkin at day 26.   Tuesday, July 1 View Page 1222 plant   Tuesday, July 1 View Page 1222 pumpkin at day 23, looks remarkably similar in shape and colour to the pumpkin i grew last year   Tuesday, July 1 View Page 1317 plant   Tuesday, July 1 View Page 1317 pumpkin at day 13   Tuesday, July 1 View Page 1526 plant   Tuesday, July 1 View Page 1526 pumpkin at day 11. So far so good. :)   Saturday, July 5 View Page 1278 day 30. total inches 237 est 289 lbs.   Tuesday, July 8 View Page 1278 day 33 is 258 inches ott est 369 lbs   Tuesday, July 8 View Page the 1222 on day 30 tapes 239 inches ott for an est of 296 lbs   Tuesday, July 8 View Page the 1317 tapes a total of 143 inches for an estimate of 72 lbs at day 20   Tuesday, July 8 View Page and last but not least the 1526 tapes a total of 136 inches for an estimated weight of 63.1 lbs, All in all im pretty happy so far.   Tuesday, July 8 View Page and i forgot to say the 1526 is at day 18.   Monday, July 14 View Page 1278 day 39. 298 inches ott est 560 lbs.   Tuesday, July 15 View Page Had problems uploading photos yesterday so heres my photos and measurements as of yesterday. on day 39 the 1278 taped 298 inches so 560 lbs est   Tuesday, July 15 View Page the 1222 started getting netting big time at about day 30 and has slowed down considerably but on day 36 it taped 273 inches so 434 lbs   Tuesday, July 15 View Page the 1317 taped 211 inches so 208 lbs on day 26   Tuesday, July 15 View Page but its this years baby of the patch thats making the best gains, on day 24 the 1526 taped 212 inches so 211 lbs and gaining just over 30 a day.   Friday, July 18 View Page 1317 tapes 247 inches so 325 lbs on day 30, a pb day 30 for me although the 1526 is set to smash that taping 255 inches or 357 lbs at day 28. nice.   Sunday, July 20 View Page 1526 taped 270 inches ott on day 30 so est 421 lbs, small compared to some of the other day 30's ive seen on here but its 121 lbs up on last years pumpkin at day 30 :)   Monday, July 21 View Page starting with the disappointing news first, on day 43 the 1222 taped 288 inches so 507 lbs. Im thinking something terminal has gone wrong with this one, still looks sound but maybe somethings gone wrong underneath.   Monday, July 21 View Page the 1278 is still the big dog of the patch and tapes 333 inches ott so 777 lbs on day 46 and is starting to look a little lumpy bumpy, showing first signs of netting too   Monday, July 21 View Page the 1317 tapes 265 inches so 398 lbs on day 33. not the fastest grower but i think this ones my personal favorite at the moment   Monday, July 21 View Page and finally the 1526 tapes 278 inches so 458 lbs on day 31. A gain of 247 lbs in the last week which is certainally the best ive had however i suspect the flower end is thin as it had seeds in the flower so hoping it holds.   Monday, July 28 View Page Well ive had trouble uploading pictures again but here goes. the 1222 aborted. the 1317 taped 293 inches so 533 lbs on day 40, up 135 lbs which is a little disappointing. the 1278 taped 357 inches so 954 lbs on day 53 so up 177 lbs. and the 1526 taped 327 inches so 736 lbs and up a nice 278 lbs this week. pictures to follow soon!   Thursday, July 31 View Page 1526 plant and pumpkin looking real nice, think the 1317 might be aborting though. 1526 est 826 lbs on day 40. Not bad :)   Thursday, July 31 View Page 1526 pumpkin, doing about 40 a day. pictures from monday   Saturday, August 2 View Page Im down to two pumpkins now, heres the 1278 at day 58. it tapes 370 inches so est 1060 lbs   Saturday, August 2 View Page 1278 stem side   Sunday, August 3 View Page Well its happened, weight gains dropped the last couple of days on the 1526 and i found this BES on the underside of the flower. It taped 358 inches on day 44 so 962 lbs est on the old charts ive been using or 1010 lbs on the 2013 charts. Its a little disappointing as this one could have been huge. Win some lose some.   Sunday, August 3 View Page and a picture   Sunday, August 3 View Page picture   Monday, August 18 View Page Yesterday i removed the seeds from the 1526, it had kept on growing without any watering for two weeks with a BES and on day 58 its final measurements were ss 120 ee 105 circ 178 total 403 ott so its now the 1367 est Baggs 14 It was disappointing to lose this one although very pleasing to have had one doing so well   Monday, August 18 View Page My last remaining pumpkin taped 389 inches so 1230 lbs a couple of days ago, not going to be a personal best for me this year although its going to be a nice pumpkin and i just hope i can keep it sound untill the weigh off.   Monday, October 13 View Page my last remaining pumpkin made it to the scales and gave me a 1582 pb which was a nice surprise. It only taped 408 ott so I didn't think for a minute that it would give me a new pb. Thanks to Stefano Cutrupi and the EGVGA for being able to grow this seed!!   Monday, October 13 View Page Ian and Stuart reclaimed their UK record in style with this 1884 lb monster beating the uk record I set about 5 minutes before by 302 lbs!!! Congratulations guys, you really deserved this one. and thanks to everyone involved for another great weigh off, we'll see you all again next year.