Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 37 Entries. Thursday, January 16 View Page Seeds for 2014: 1874.5 Mathison 2013, 1791 Holland 2013, 1734.5 Steil 2013. If I squeeze them, I can get all 3 plants into my garden space.   Thursday, January 16 View Page Thanks to the Make a Wish Auction, St. Croix Grower's Association, and Holland Land O' Giants for the seeds!   Thursday, January 16 View Page That should read Holland's Land O' Giants.   Thursday, January 16 View Page Excited about the 1874.5 Mathison 2013, as it is the reverse cross from the world record pumpkin, essentially the same genetics.   Tuesday, January 21 View Page Thanks to PGPGA for a seed as well!   Sunday, March 16 View Page I took a soil sample today. The dirt was quite frozen. I could barely get a shovel down to 6 inches. The sample was sent yesterday to Western Laboratories in Idaho. Hopefully I will have the report later this week. I can't wait! The first part of the growing season is about to start.   Tuesday, March 18 View Page I just got off the phone with Western Laboratories. I had requested the wrong type of soil sample. They have a test specifically for giant pumpkin growing, test #75. They also have an extensive monitoring program for the whole season which includes soil samples, nematode sampling, tissue testing, and a pumpkin core sample for after the weigh-off. They give a discount for doing the whole program, and allow you to pay installments. I signed up for the program. Western Laboratories also has giant pumpkin resources on their website. The soil samples have a 24 hour turn-around time. I should get results in the next 2 days or so.   Saturday, March 22 View Page I will not always be able to add everything to my grower diary that I am doing with the pumpkins. For everything related to giant pumpkins, check out my blog at thebigpumpkin.blogspot.com.   Saturday, March 22 View Page The new pumpkin patch site. I have added a fair amount of amendments, and will be tilling it in the near future. It was part of the yard until now.   Saturday, March 22 View Page I got my soil report back last week. Looks like I have some work to do. Texture: Loam pH 6.2 pH SMP buffer 6.5 Soluble Salts 0.16 (normal) Lime 0.0 (good) % OM 3.9 (medium) Nitrate 7 PPM (low) Ammonium 3 PPM Phosphorus 8 PPM (very low) Potassium 133 PPM (low) Sulfur 8 PPM (very low) Calcium 1490 PPM (low) Magnesium 118 PPM (low) Sodium 29 PPM (ok) Zinc 4.5 PPM (high) Copper 1.7 PPM (adequate) Manganese 13 PPM (adequate) Iron 43 PPM (adequate) Boron 0.2 PPM (very low) Western Labs recommended adding the following: Nitrogen: 3.5 pounds per 1000 sq. ft. Phosphorus 3.5 pound per 1000 sq. ft. Potassium 7.3 pounds per 1000 sq. ft. Sulfur 1.2 pounds per 1000 sq. ft. Magnesium 0.7 pounds per 1000 sq. ft. Zinc 2 oz per 1000 sq. ft. Copper 0.1 oz per 1000 sq. ft. Boron 0.7 oz per 1000 sq. ft.   Saturday, March 22 View Page These are my planned amendments for my pumpkin patch, at least to start with. Kelp Meal 20 lb per 1000 sq. ft. Mykos 5 lb per 1000 sq. ft. Humega 1/2 gallon per 1000 sq. ft. Humic Acid 5 lb per 1000 sq. ft. Zeolite 42 lb per 1000 sq. ft. (I only had 50 lbs, so this is the application rate it worked out to) Dolomite lime 25 lb per 1000 sq. ft. Gypsum 5 lb per 1000 sq. ft. Zinc 1 oz per 1000 sq. ft, to be repeated later in the season Copper 0.1 oz per 1000 sq. ft. (not sure how I will apply such a small amount, other than mixing it with a higher amount of another amendment) Borax 1/2 cup per 1000 sq. ft. 11-52-0 6.73 lb per 1000 sq. ft. (see my blog [thebigpumpkin.blogspot] for how to calculate amounts of fertilizer based on a soil report) 21-0-0-24 14.4 lb per 1000 sq. ft. KMag 6.4 lb per 1000 sq. ft. 0-0-50 11.8 lb per 1000 sq. ft. Earthworms: at least 2000 in my 1200 sq. ft. patch   Saturday, March 22 View Page That should read: thebigpumpkin.blogspot.com   Saturday, March 22 View Page Yesterday, I got started on the amendments. I added humic acid, dolomite lime, mykos, kelp meal, and zeolite. I added about 80 pounds of alfalfa hay (not much for 1200 sq. ft.). I added gypsum and borax today. I am planning on having my 30 ft by 40 ft. patch tilled in the near future, and then will plant winter rye as a cover crop.   Saturday, March 22 View Page So my seed finalists are as follows: 1734.5 Steil, 1791 Holland, 1874.5 Mathison, and 1843.5 Geddes (2012). I also won a seed from the Marshmallow (Matt Debacco's current winter project) in the 2014 UMGPG seed auction. But, I am not sure it will arrive in time for the current growing season, as one of his recent posts mentions collecting seeds sometime in April. I only have space for 2 plants, unfortunately. While picking the 1734.5 Steil and 1874.5 Mathison would give me lots of 2009 Wallace and 1725 Harp genetic material (not a bad choice :), I am also wondering about crossing the 1874.5 Mathison with the 1843.5 Geddes to get different genetic material involved. The 1791 Holland was a beautiful pumpkin from the pictures I have seen, and is part 2009 Wallace as well. So hard to choose. If I get a Marshmallow seed, I will probably plant that.   Friday, March 28 View Page More amendments were added today: 1.2 oz zinc sulfate 0.12 oz of copper (so small an amount it won't end up being spread evenly, and likely won't matter) 8.1 pounds of 11-52-0 5.8 pounds of 21-0-0-24 7.7 pounds of KMag 14.2 pounds of 0-0-50   Friday, March 28 View Page I tested my garden water supply today: pH 6.5 Hardness: moderate Chlorine: very low Iron: very low Copper: none Nitrites: none Nitrates: none   Friday, March 28 View Page I am planning on using a drip irrigation system in my pumpkin patch. I calculated my water flow rate from my outdoor spigot. It came out to 10 gallons per minute, or 600 gallons per hour.   Wednesday, April 9 View Page In preparation for starting the pumpkin seeds tomorrow, I soaked them for an hour in a 50/50 mix of Humega and Maxicrop Liquid Seaweed. I then put each seed into a plastic baggie inside a paper towel, and soaked the paper towel in the Humega / Seaweed mix. The baggies were placed on a heating mat to spend the next 12 hours there. I will be starting 4 seeds now, and 1 more once I get it. 1874.5 Mathison 2013 1843.5 Geddes 2012 1791 Holland 2013 1734.5 Steil 2013 Marshmallow 2014 (coming soon)   Wednesday, April 9 View Page Each seed will be going into a 6 inch terra cotta pot, each of which holds about 1.5 quarts of potting mix. Lots of growers start with peat pots, but I had good luck using a terra cotta pot last year. I like it because it holds the heat in. To get the planting mix ready, I took about 6 quarts of ProMix potting mix and added the following: 1/3 cup of BioEndogrow Mycorrhizal Fungus 1/3 cup of Azos 1/3 cup of Humega 1/3 cup of Maxicrop Liquid Seaweed 1/2 tsp of Rootshield Plus Wettable Powder 1/2 tsp of Actinovate Water, enough to make the mixture damp and stick together I mixed it all together by hand. I had some of the Humega/Seaweed mixture from the seed soaking left over, so I added it to the planting mix after it was placed in the pots. The pots will be left on the heating mats overnight to warm up. I will plant the seeds in the morning after they spend the night in their baggies with Humega and Liquid Seaweed.   Thursday, April 10 View Page Seeds planted this morning!   Saturday, April 12 View Page I finished putting in the soil heating cables today. I also was able to finish putting up the hoophouses.   Saturday, April 12 View Page My seeds have started putting out roots (yes, I checked; I wanted to make sure they were starting). None have popped above the top of the soil yet, though.   Wednesday, April 16 View Page 1734.5 Steil on Day 6.   Wednesday, April 16 View Page 1843.5 Geddes 2012 on Day 6   Wednesday, April 23 View Page 1791 Holland at Day 13   Wednesday, April 23 View Page 1843.5 Geddes 2012 at Day 13   Wednesday, April 23 View Page 1734.5 Steil at Day 13   Friday, April 25 View Page My oldest daughter helped me install a misting irrigation system using drip tubing. We used DripIrrigation.com. They were very helpful.   Friday, April 25 View Page 1734.5 Steil was planted today.   Friday, April 25 View Page 1843.5 Geddes 2012 went into the ground today.   Tuesday, April 29 View Page My Marshmallow seed has germinated! The cotyledon leaves were above the soil this morning.   Sunday, May 18 View Page I had to replace the 1734.5 Steil with the 1791 Holland awhile back, as the 1734.5 just was not growing well. This is a picture of the 1791 Holland as of today. The 1791 has some white areas on a few leaves - I suspect it may have been sun scald, as I did not do a good job of hardening the plant off. The newer leaves are fine so far.   Sunday, May 18 View Page 1843.5 Geddes 2012   Sunday, May 18 View Page Yesterday, I applied the first doses of Mildew Cure, Biomin Calcium, and Bio-Repel (garlic oil insect repellant). The whole garage smelled like garlic for awhile. The plants also got doses of Liquid Seaweed and Humega. We had 2.75 inches of rain earlier this week. Fortunately, both plants survived and are doing quite well. The pumpkin patch did not flood, which was a relief. The greenhouses were taken down and put away about 2 weeks ago. Tonight is supposed to get down to 38 deg F, which is the coldest it has been for awhile. After tonight, it will be warmer on future nights.   Tuesday, July 8 View Page Overview of my patch. I ended up leaving the winter rye cover crop in place to keep the weeds down. So far, it has worked quite nicely. I had to replace the 1734.5 Steil with the 1791 Holland plant, as it was not growing well.   Tuesday, July 8 View Page This is a picture of my pumpkin on the 1843.5 Geddes 2012 plant. It was selfed. The picture is from 10 dap when it was 28 in. in circumference, with an OTT of 67 in. Today, 12 dap, it was 36 in. in circumference with an OTT of 88 in. The pumpkin is 12 ft. out on the main vine. I was able to put a 90 deg. bend in the vine, so it is nicely away from the pumpkin.   Tuesday, July 8 View Page This is a picture of my pumpkin on the 1791 Holland plant, 16.5 feet out on the main vine. The picture was 2 days ago, 8 dap, and it had a circumference of 20 inches. It was pollinated using male flowers from the 1843.5 Geddes 2012 plant. Today, the pumpkin is 10 dap, with a circumference of 28 inches, and an OTT of 69 inches.