Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 14 Entries. Tuesday, October 14 View Page I've been out of the hobby for the past two years now, but I plan on giving it a go next season. My goal for next year will be 1000 pounds. My current personal best is 704 pounds. I think that 1000 pounds is a reasonable goal given I managed my to grow my personal best on about 250 sq feet in less than ideal soil and very little fertilizer. I'll start with a soil test (I've never had my soil tested) and work from there.   Wednesday, December 10 View Page Well I guess I'll give an update on my progress. I've yet to get a soil test. I plan on taking care of it before the end of the month. I'll be getting soil tested in two different locations:the area I've grown giant pumpkins in the past and one of the new areas. I'll just have to extrapolate on the other areas due to lack of funds. On a positive note I bought 2 150ft by 6ft rolls of chicken wire for fencing. I'll have to add at least 2 more feet of wire on top to (hopefully) keep the deer out. Deer are a huge problem in my location. I also added leaves to some of next year's patch sites.   Wednesday, December 10 View Page This is where I grew giant pumpkins in 2011 and 2012. It is about 575 sq feet if I remember correctly. Both years I squeezed in 4 plants (one having barely any room and the largest about 270 ft). I will only grow one plant in this location next year. I will try to give each plant I grow at least 400 sq feet. I know this is still small to most other growers but is a notable improvement on my part. As you might see in the picture there are three small citrus trees in the area. I planted these out March of this year when I had no plans of growing giant pumpkins in 2015. This will make plant positioning all the more difficult. One of the plants is marginally hardy for my area, the other should be hardy enough, and the last is definitely hardy enough. However all plants are not in the best of health so who knows. There was some manure added this fall and some leaves about a month ago.   Wednesday, December 10 View Page I participated in the seed exchange this year. I contributed in my packs tall corn seeds (the plants that grew these I grew from seeds I got from Pumpkinman Dan on this site), cape gooseberry (Physalis peruviana), blue tepary bean (I would have given more if I had more seeds), and my 704 Shea(853 Globus X self). Sometime later this month I'll try to post some photos of the 704 and give my pitch on why its worth growing. I don't expect anyone to grow it but who knows. I will be growing at least one 704 next year.   Wednesday, December 10 View Page This has been my main garden the past few years. The soil is pretty tired here and I think lack of sun may play a role in the lack of vigor. Salts building up in the soil are also a concern. The area is about 400 sq feet. I think I'll grow a giant squash in this plant. I'll relocate the main garden to a different area if I do that.   Thursday, December 11 View Page One of the new patch sites. The area covered with leaves is probably about 500 sq ft but I could potentially expand this area to 2000+ sq feet. The soil here is probably the worst of the areas I'll be growing but there are very few large open space available.There is also a noticeable slope in the upper part of this area.   Thursday, December 11 View Page The other new patch site. Once fenced in this area will be around 1600 sq feet. About 1000sq ft is lightly covered in leaves at the moment. I think the soil here is fairly good (for my location) compared to the previous site. This spot already has a fence on side and a chicken coop on the other so I won't have to use as much fencing. I'm posting these entries primarily for me to look back upon as I regret not taking adequate note of my previous seasons.   Thursday, December 11 View Page I forgot the picture.   Thursday, December 11 View Page Many growers focus large amounts of time and money on finding the best genetics. I personally think genetics plays a minor role in the end result and a fruit's final weight has mostly to do with how the plant was treated. However I think there might be something special about the 1725 Harp. Germination permitting, the 1630.5 Globus will be given what I believe one of my best plant locations next year.   Thursday, December 11 View Page You can rest assured that I did not spend $30 on the 1503 Neptune. I got the 1503 Neptune, 1466 Neptune, and the 912 Hunt (reverse of the 901; I failed to germinate this likely due to grower error) for $20 in 2010. Actually my bid was $10 and I paid another $10 for something to do with my payment method. The 1556.5 Werner is my favorite pumpkin of all time. There are very few pumpkin that look it. For some reason I find it's pancake shape interesting. I will be growing the 1503 Neptune next year and hope my pumpkin will look something like the 1556.5 Werner. Aside from seeds from my own pumpkins and some 853 Globus seeds I still have left over, these past two pictures show the totality of my giant pumpkin seed "collection." I don't believe in seed hoarding as I feel it is a disservice to the grower and eventually results in the death of the embryo. I personally regret I have had some of these seeds for 4 years now. I will try to make sure that the seeds in these past two photos will either be grown by myself or given away to other growers next year. Chances are the best giant pumpkin seed out there will never be grow because a)it's the grower's own seed, b)not "proven", or c)both a and b.   Thursday, December 18 View Page Added eight wheelbarrow loads of partially decomposed wood ashes and about three trashcanfuls of leaves today.   Friday, December 19 View Page This is the 704 Shea 2012(853 Globus x self) which I included in the seed exchange. The 853 Globus is listed on the aggc website. the bad: Large dill ring and several worrisome dips. These were probably a result of genetics and/or growing conditions. There were also a number of empty seeds. This is what I am more concerned about because this could be fertility problems. My 540 Shea 2011(which also was an 853 Globus x self and was in the same patch location)also had a similar problem. I have grown neither the 540 Shea or 704 Shea yet. I did grow a plant from my 179 Shea est. (876 Lombardi x 853 Globus (produced my 540)) and the pumpkin had plenty of seeds without a bunch of empty ones. The pumpkin greatly resembled my 540. A third 853 Globus I grew did not have this problem. However it could also have been a result of an incomplete pollination. I probably used only a few flowers and some of them may have been refrigerated.   Friday, December 19 View Page 704 in front. The good: This is my personal best and it was only my third year growing giant pumpkins. The plant received essentially no fertilizer. Having no experience fertilizing plants I didn't want to risk making a costly mistake. I used a small amount of fish fertilizer as well as a small amount of mycorrhizal fungi. I doubt either of these made a significant difference in fruit weight. Patch preparation consisted of adding burro manure and leaves. Neither were added in large quantities. Topsoil is only a few inches deep in some spots and then its clay. The pumpkin was pollinated on July 16 and picked in early October. It was still growing when it was picked and probably could have put on another 50 pounds. The plant was around 270 sq feet. I did not expect to break my previous personal best of 540 pounds in 2012 and somehow I managed to grow a 704 pound in bad soil,basically no fertilizer,small plant,high temperatures, and set late. I'd like to believe this is superior genetics and not just like. The 704 Shea will see a spot in my 2015 garden. The current plan is for 3 of my 7 plants to be the 704 but obviously plans can change. I will be growing at least one though. Feel free to email me if you have any questions. I don't expect anyone besides me to grow this but if anyone does I'll be thrilled.   Friday, December 19 View Page Stem side view.