Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 44 Entries. Tuesday, April 1 View Page Well, here is the saga of the hydroponic pumpkin. A lil background on myself, Im 21 studying mechanical engineering and have been gardening for a number of years. Never really grew any pumpkins but started researching giant pumpkin growing after i saw my grandfather growing them in Illinois. I would always visit for the summer and help carry 5 gallon buckets of water out to the patch each day. So this year I decided to grow a pumpkin... and grow it hydroponically. I didnt want to be just grow one the way they have been but grow one in a new medium ready for years of experimentation and expansion. Only having grown tomatoes hydroponically several years ago (rather poorly too) this was quite a project. SO! enough talking, ill start posting.   Saturday, April 12 View Page I purchased four seeds (two 1058 Wuersching' 12) (two 1024 A. Berard) and began prepping the seeds with a little sanding around the edges.   Sunday, April 13 View Page I planted all four seeds on April 13th in grodan blocks with black covers to keep them from drying out too much. They sit in a window unit greenhouse I invented the other year and grow under filtered sunlight on a heating pad.   Thursday, April 17 View Page The first seed sprouted on the 17th (1024 Berard) which turned out to be the seed to be. The others ended up in an odd spot in the yard since i only had room and resources to grow one plant.   Sunday, April 20 View Page Important move to a container to keep the roots suspended. I think this was an important change compared to traditional planting because the taproot was not disturbed at all and led to a healthy extensive root system.   Thursday, May 1 View Page This is a teaser till I can get on and show my full diary on the hydroponic pumpkin I am growing. For the skeptics out there, here she is and she is real. This is also my first year growing pumpkins.   Thursday, May 1 View Page here is a root picture as well to get things started. Originally was aeroponic but changed to deep water after some issues   Thursday, May 1 View Page A picture showing the full system with the pumpkin plant in it. when i get home i will be able to post some pictures from my phone of the current size... close to 550 pounds!   Sunday, May 4 View Page Here is the fast growing plant still in the suspension container. I try to poor the nutrient solution over the top at least twice a day to keep the whole block wet. slowly increasing nutrient strength.   Tuesday, May 6 View Page Today I placed the plant in its final container for the next few months. This bin is purchased at lowes and I outfitted it with a hinge to access the inside of the container as well as a few holes for water and air hoses and a bottom drain.   Tuesday, May 6 View Page Here is the whole system. Long overview here... the grow container is about 20 gallons and holds 10 sprayers which act as the aeroponic nutrient delivery. There are also a number of drippers that sit around the stump to keep as much water moving over the root system. There are also two air lines that go into the basin, one that goes to an air stone and one that just pumps air into the container for good root zone circulation. The drain keeps the water in the bottom of the container to about 2 inches deep so that there is some water for the roots in case the pump shuts off but most of the root system hangs in the air. The water pump is powered by a 12v transformer and provides 40 psi at .5 gal per minute. The air pump is a 70 lpm pump ( a little overkill). The bottom basin holds the nutrient solution, about 30 gallons, and is pumped up into the container which drains back in by gravity. There is also a air stone in the nutrient basin which provides more oxygen to the water. The top reservoir holds freshwater that is used to top off the nutrient reservoir by a float valve.   Thursday, May 15 View Page Here is a look into the grow bin showing the roots and the sprayers. the sprayers are set to mist so they are very soft on the delicate roots as to not damage them. Also, later I prunned the first roots that reached the corners of the box to help promote secondary root growth for a bushier root system rather than length. Look how white they are!   Saturday, May 24 View Page Here is a look at the plant as i start to train it downwards towards the ground. Looks good!   Friday, May 30 View Page Today I added three 5gal buckets under the main vine to act as secondary root systems since the plant will not have any ground roots. They are a deep water type system fed by a submersible pump in the nutrient basin. This system later proves to be temperamental and only the bucket furthest from the stump sets down roots... worth a shot though.   Saturday, May 31 View Page Here's a look into the root system. Still looking great! excellent growth. Starting to get a little full and i have to keep the roots from growing down the drain.   Saturday, June 7 View Page Ive had two male flowers open and today my first pumpkin flowered which i attempted to polinate but i got up late and i think i missed the polination window but we shall see. Ive got the plant finally down to the ground after much stressing over training it so far downwards. A few days ago i had to shim the vine where it cracked from not being properly supported... pumpkin surgery! Stressful. I thought i was done for but the main vine is still growing great! Ive also begun supporting the secondary vines as they reach out... lots of upkeep. Next time ive got a better plan for this whole "plant support" thing.   Wednesday, June 18 View Page Here is the fourth pumpkin Ive had down the main vine. Its somewhere around 17 feet down the main vine and looks a little longer shape than the others. The three earlier pumpkins all didn't seem to pollinate correctly and all fell off so I'm hoping this one will take... turns out he will! (by the way, if you haven't noticed, i am writing this late in the season. Didn't start this online diary until mid august)   Friday, June 20 View Page Pollination Day!!!! hopefully I got it right this time! Four pistol pieces in the flower and i pollinated using six male flowers from the same plant. Didn't have any from the other pumpkin plants i planted.   Monday, June 23 View Page Here is a look at the roots again. Still looking healthy! as you can see though, i have raised the level of water in the box to allow more space for the roots to grow. Also, my pump seems to have lost its pressure and moves the same volume of water but at low psi so i basically changed the sprayers into dripers and made the whole system deep water culture. Not as good for the roots but necessary since I've had some trouble with the electric going out and starving the plant of water. If i loose power, at least the roots will have about 15 gallons to pull from.   Monday, June 23 View Page Day 3!   Wednesday, June 25 View Page Here is a view of the whole plant and you can see a little glimpse of the baby pumpkin under one of the leaves. So happy that this one pollinated and is growing! I've been placing sand around the whole plant to deter slugs from nibbling on anything.   Thursday, June 26 View Page Day 6! 16"cc   Saturday, June 28 View Page Day 8! 23.5cc 57.5 OTT 6 pounds   Sunday, June 29 View Page Day9! 28cc 68 OTT 10 pounds   Monday, June 30 View Page Day 10! 32.5cc 78 OTT 15 pounds   Tuesday, July 1 View Page Day 11! 37.75cc 88.25 OTT 21 pounds   Wednesday, July 2 View Page Day 12! 44cc 102.5 OTT 31 pounds   Thursday, July 3 View Page Day 13! 49cc 113 OTT 39 pounds This day I had to leave for a wedding in Illinois so I left the plant and hydro system in the care of a friend of mine who did an excellent job at keeping her alive! One thing i was worried about though was that when I left, it rained and tripped the circuit so the system went without water for 24 hours. This i think set back the plant because on that hot day, the plant desperately tried to set down secondary roots and ended up pulling some water from the two pumpkins i had on the vine. ( had a second backup) Luckily, only the backup pumpkin seemed to take a hit and the main pumpkin was fine. I do think that this slowed down the overall growth because where i was putting on 5 and 6 inches in circumference a day and rising, I never got back to that.   Tuesday, July 8 View Page Got back from wedding/vacation! Pumpkin looks great! Day 18 70cc 161 OTT 99 pounds!!!   Tuesday, July 8 View Page Here is what the plant looks like now. Large, green, and healthy! Id like to also remind you all that there are no roots in the soil. The barrier and lack of rain from the greenhouse roofing keeps the vines from setting down roots. Ive also trimmed the secondary vines and trying to keep up with tertiary vines... lots of them. Plant coverage space is 16x25ft   Thursday, July 10 View Page Day 20! 79cc 179.5 OTT 133 Pounds   Thursday, July 10 View Page Here is a picture of what the stem looks like. Not very long but very sturdy and no signs of stress.   Thursday, July 10 View Page Here is another view of the roots. Ive raised the water level a little more and added another air stone to keep the roots as healthy as possible. I definitely underestimated the amount of room needed and are hoping they don't overcrowd and stunt the growth.   Monday, July 14 View Page Day 24 94cc 213 OTT 214 Pounds   Thursday, July 17 View Page Day 27 102cc 229 OTT 262 Pounds   Tuesday, July 22 View Page Day 32 112cc 253 OTT 349 Pounds!!! Plant still looking healthy and pumpkin is growing quite well! I have been combating some spider mites and they seem to be getting the best of me but their not too much of a problem yet.   Sunday, July 27 View Page Day 37 120cc 273 OTT 434 Pounds   Saturday, August 2 View Page Day 43 127cc 286.5 OTT 500 Pounds This is a huge mark for me and am extremely happy to have made it this far. No disease or animal issues and just still combating spider mites... darn little buggers.   Saturday, August 9 View Page Day 50 133.5cc 297 OTT 555 Pounds Still growing but has slowed down quite a bit. The plant is starting to get old due to the stressed root system and spider mite damage. Still about 75% healthy plant so I'm hoping I can keep it that way till contest time. Any spider mite advice would be appreciated as well as ways to keep the plant healthy for another month :)   Tuesday, August 12 View Page Ive been getting some questions on various things so here they are! In regards to my Nutrients, I use the Dutch Master Gold line. When the plant started to put out the first little pumpkins I switched from the grow formula to the bloom formula. Through the whole season Ive been adding their root zone and silica additives. Also, the plant covers slightly less than a 24x16 ft area or about 350 sq-ft. Today measures in at 569 pounds.   Tuesday, August 12 View Page Alright, I think Ive stumbled across something important in the pumpkin world. Doing this hydroponically has allowed me to watch exactly how much water the plant uses. On average were looking at about 20 gallons a day. On the hottest days here in the low 100's, the usage was around 30 gallons a day. Also, for the most part, I do not have any secondary roots. I have a crowded stump box and one secondary set at one node. I don't have a giant pumpkin but have been able to get to nearly 600 pounds so far with no extensive secondary root system and a small amount of roots. Kind of shows how much roots and water these plants actually need. Next year I have a plan to grow the perfect root system. Bigger and better.   Wednesday, October 29 View Page Hello! I want to put out a big thank you to everyone on the site and in the pumpkin community for their enthusiasm and help in my first year of pumpkin growing. I am happy to update that I did attend the Doylestown, PA weigh off and my pumpkin made it all the way in one piece. My official weigh in was 641 pounds and measuring 723 pounds. The bottom of the pumpkin was lifted up forming a space underneath which accounted for the missing weight. This weekend I will be removing the seeds as it has been on display at a local garden center for the past month. I just wanted to update that the hydroponic pumpkin officially made it to the end of the season and was a success! thank you all!   Wednesday, October 29 View Page A picture of the root box on the day I cut the pumpkin. browning from late season root decay onset by the flooded condition i had to put the roots into because of poor quality pump issues. The next picture shows the other root mass and between the two, were the only roots that the entire plant fed off of.   Wednesday, October 29 View Page here is the root bucket that was three feet out under the main vine.