Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 12 Entries. Wednesday, October 29 View Page Well, everybody else is wrapping up for the year and I'm just getting started. Growing giant pumpkins in Arizona is a challenge. Our state record was set in 2007 by Ben Bushier at 469 lbs. On January 1 we will go to ground and start Operation 501. There are three of us going to start pumpkins in our gardens. Used a broad fork to open up the ground and have started to add amendments. (Yep, we sent soil samples to Western Labs and are working off their recommendations). Looking forward to the experience and hopefully, since you all won't be starting until we're almost done - maybe you'll be willing to help with some advice.   Wednesday, October 29 View Page This is Ben's pumpkin from June 2007. Not quite as big as Meier's or Hawkley's, but 469 pounds is the best Arizona has done -- so far.   Wednesday, October 29 View Page I'm sure this is right. Duncan' Donuts coffee, a pumpkin donut, soil reports, a box of pumpkin seeds, and a bed full of peat moss. Sodium is high, so we're leaching the soil. OM is low, so we've added straw and peat moss. Added some iron, added sulfer. Ph is 7.5. We've got a bit of work to do before January.... but I'm going to finish my coffee and donut first.   Sunday, November 2 View Page Growing giant pumpkins is a whole lot easier if someone knows what they're doing. There aren't but a few souls trying giant pumpkins in Arizona. Fortunately, my wife likes to plan trips and that has given me the chance the visit Gary Grande (The Wiz) in Colorado; and yesterday I got to meet Don Young in Iowa. Both men have been awesome toward me and have offered a number of tips that will help me when we plant in January. I am thankful to both men for their time and advice. I am so much closer to being successful because of their dedication to helping other growers.   Friday, November 14 View Page Shoot! I didn't mean for the picture of Don's pumpkin to be upside down. I'm not sure how that happened. Sorry, Don. I can turn my iPad around and see it, but that doesn't work with a desktop.   Tuesday, December 2 View Page Scott Culp (Scot-AZ) visited the Scottsdale Community Garden today and visited with Dave Smith (Davidphx) and me. We spent a couple of hours talking about pumpkins and admiring David's new greenhouse structure. We're building the plastic covered houses to help keep our pumpkins warm in January and February. Using the clear 6 mil plastic we can already see we're picking up an additional 5 degrees. We're planning smaller boxes inside the greenhouse for early on. We'll be heating with either candles, or camp heaters (depending on who you talk to). Can't wait. We're planning to transplant into the ground January 1.   Wednesday, December 24 View Page Well, it's showtime. It may be Christmas Eve, but it is start time for Arizona Giant Pumpkins. The plan is to plant pumpkins on January 1, which is 150 days before the Memorial Day Weigh-Off. Phoenix starts to have 10 hour days on January 5. I'm not worried about daylight ... I don't know about cold. The last frost day is about February 28; but that makes our season too short. We'll have to stagger starts during January in hopes of discovering what works best. I will start 6 pumpkins - in three plots -- and keep the best pumpkin from each plot. I plan to start with two plots on January 1. We'll start two 1,666 Holland 13; and one 1447 Sherwood 14, and one 1513 Sherwood 14. After the first of the year, I plan to start two 1104 Young 14 seeds that Don Young gave to me when I was in Iowa (Thanks, Don). David Smith (Davidphx) is going to start the seeds at his house because he has the grow light and a room in his house. I didn't get that part set up this year. We'll make sure to do so next year.   Friday, December 26 View Page The 1,666 Holland 14-1 broke through the soil today. Great start. Seems it wants to force me to finish up the greenhouse and hotbox so it has a home.   Saturday, December 27 View Page Starting in January is a new experience for all of us. We're used to running with great spring weather - followed by the disappointment of 100 degree temperatures wrecking our pumpkins by the end of May. Since we were starting in mid-March we were left with a very short season. I know Phoenix temperatures were warm last year. (We only had 10 nights where the temperature was lower than 45 degrees). I also know the record lows are in the teens and low 20's, but those temps happened 50 plus years ago when Phoenix was smaller and we had more agriculture. I'm betting on the warmer nights.   Monday, December 29 View Page One of the challenges we face is the constant wind from the SW or SE. We will get some gusts from the NE in January, but the big winds come from the south. In the past I have used painters plastic and build a five foot tall fence around the pumpkin. It worked pretty well, but it needed constant maintenance. The binder clips kept popping off the posts and the plastic blew free -- sometimes right into the plant. This year I am building two greenhouse structures. Both will be made from PVC pipe and 6 mil greenhouse plastic. The ends will be wood studs. The houses are 7 feet tall at center. The "Guest House" is 24 feet long.   Tuesday, December 30 View Page The "Big House" is 48 feet long (7 feet tall at center). It covers two of the growing plots and will house two pumpkins throughout the season. I won't do this again. The length made it tough to put up the plastic -- and make it hold. I finished the structure today and it held for awhile. While driving home I got a call from another gardener who "didn't want to upset me", but the plastic had popped free and the was lying on the ground. All that work -- and I get to do it again tomorrow. Next year I will limit the structures to 25 feet. They're easier to build, and seem to fight the wind better. PLUS, I won't be tramping about the growing area all the time. I can learn to walk outside.   Wednesday, December 31 View Page The hotboxes are our version of cold frames. We thought about the structures we have seen other gardeners use, but determined that the styrofoam insulation box (with cover) would help us keep the plant warm at night. The box is light enough that we can remove it in the morning and let the sun beat through the greenhouse plastic to warm up the plant and soil even more. We don't have electricity at the garden, therefore, we have bought a bunch of religious candles to burn inside the boxes at night. Depending on what the overnight low, we can use either one or two candles. It seems to increase the temperatures about 10 degrees for each candle. The 2-inch insulation has about a R-7 factor.