Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 268 Entries. Thursday, January 1 View Page Happy New Year, having trubs with computer, hope this works. One of my seeds for the Jan-May SW season attempt   Thursday, January 1 View Page Another of my seeds for the Jan-May SW season attempt. We are growing in low tunnels for first month. Our new AZ club will have a weighoff May 31. Too hot to set fruit during the normal growing season.   Thursday, January 1 View Page Third of my seeds for the Jan-May SW season attempt. Two plants, trying a Howard Dill contender and a big contender.   Thursday, January 1 View Page test   Thursday, January 1 View Page AZGPG Inaugural Season Jan 01-May31. Kin Cave number 1.   Thursday, January 1 View Page Kin Cave #2   Thursday, January 1 View Page We have no electricity at the community garden. I built 4x4 boxes from 1 1/2 foam, and will cover on cold nights inside the tunnels. January we get some nights around 30f, highs 65 +   Thursday, January 1 View Page Boxes are 4x4x2. Foil facing inside. I can burn one of these religious dollar store candles all night with out venting for 10-15f. After experimenting I am able to burn 2 of these candles inside with a 1/4 inch hole in the lid and an additional 1/4 inch hole in the opposite wall for a 20F + rise in temp. Low tech success. We will light these on cold nights, and remove boxes/vent tunnels during the day. This garden is 8 miles away, so this will be tedious every night/day.   Thursday, January 1 View Page Kin Cave 2 in young mustard   Thursday, January 1 View Page Correction to picture postings above....heres another seed germed 12/20   Thursday, January 1 View Page Photo correction to above.....heres another seed germed.....cots came up split and laying on the ground....pushing up a small first true leaf...the pathetic start to a good plant? Or fire up another.....this one took a long time to germ and a long time to push soil.....   Thursday, January 1 View Page Germ chamber I'm using.....sprouting/starting DeanAZ's seeds also.....   Thursday, January 1 View Page The start of competitive AZGPG growing in Arizona....starting for DeanAZ: 1447 Sherwood, 1513 Sherwood, 1666 Holland, Me (Davidphx) : 923 Gerhardt (super weak), 993.2 Vincent-McGill, 1622 Young, and a "Eric Shaw" (2032 x 2009) from Don Langevin....   Thursday, January 1 View Page 2032x2009 cross, a little long-in-tooth in 1 gallon....may give it a go anyway vs 1622   Thursday, January 1 View Page correction to above, 993 Vincent-McGill seedling is really weak, not 923 Gerhardt. (Wish this had self edit function)   Friday, January 2 View Page 61 high, 43 low predicted for Sunday, that is when DeanAZ and I will plant...frost last couple nights, so delayed Jan01 start. Placed the foam mausoleums on mounded planting areas today and shoveled soil around bases to seal. Put clear plastic covers on for next two days to jack up soil   Friday, January 2 View Page ....temp. Tunnels are not airtight, we are using them to boost/prolong daytime temp, and protect from wind. Doors at both ends to vent. Foam boxes and candles to maintain night temps over the next few weeks.   Friday, January 2 View Page Is that the Gerhardt or the Vincent-McGill seedling? lol   Sunday, January 4 View Page Outside Tunnel 1, about 65f and sunny. 12 years ago I shoveled snow in January, now I shovel mulch......   Sunday, January 4 View Page Planting the Orange, 923 Gerhardt left, weak 993 Vincent-McGill right. Started these Dec 20. 993 looked very week above ground, but surprising normal roots below ground. We'll see what a week in great tunnel conditions does. Back up of both started few days ago. Soil temp 68f six inches down.   Sunday, January 4 View Page Tunnel #2. Left 968 (est) Shaw, 3 week old plant. Right, 1622 Young. (The Shaw is a 2032x2009 cross)   Sunday, January 4 View Page Tunnel one in night time mode, with cover off. Candle is for praying to the God of orange pumpkins, and to keep the temp in the box 20f higher than outside temp.   Tuesday, January 13 View Page Tunnel One as of this morning, 993 Vincent McGill left, 923 Gerhardt Right   Tuesday, January 13 View Page Close up of 993 Vincent Mcgill.....came up with split cots, laying on the ground. Looks alot better a week later, had good roots, the seedling above ground looked crappy at planting.   Tuesday, January 13 View Page 921 Gerhardt close up. (fed plants Sat with diluted jacks 20-20-20)   Tuesday, January 13 View Page Tunnel 2. 968 Shaw left (2032x2009) two week older plant. 1622 Young right.   Tuesday, January 13 View Page 968 Shaw close up   Tuesday, January 13 View Page 1622 Young close up   Tuesday, January 13 View Page DeanAZ's backups didn't sprout....I pulled them from the bag and they still felt firm. Peeled them, looked fine, put them back in chamber peeled.   Tuesday, January 13 View Page Here is the temp history over the last month. You can see prior to Jan 4 planting date the nite temps were chilly, after planting we have had smooth sailing so far....even a day at 81f!   Tuesday, January 13 View Page Note to self...968 Shaw seed sprouted 12/16 others sprouted 12/24.   Thursday, January 15 View Page I Don't think I want to know, is this the dreaded ribbon vine on my best plant for orange, 923 Gerhardt? I cant believe it........any option other than yank it and be 3 weeks behind?   Sunday, January 18 View Page Tunnel 2, 1622 Young today, 68f and sunny, 81f in the tunnels. I did my Sunday fertilizer drench....10x10x10   Sunday, January 18 View Page Tunnel 2 968 Shaw   Sunday, January 18 View Page 993 Vincent McGill. Looks a lot better, growing out of it's rough start   Sunday, January 18 View Page Other Plant in Tunnel 1, 923 Gerhardt. This is the plant with the flat vine. I'll post some closeups. The consensus from you guys is I need to let it ride, we'll see what happens.   Sunday, January 18 View Page Here is closeup one of Gerhardt Flat vine   Sunday, January 18 View Page Closeup 2   Sunday, January 18 View Page Closeup 3 flat vine   Sunday, January 18 View Page Closeup 4 flat vine   Sunday, January 18 View Page "Hey Tunnel 1, settle down in there!"   Sunday, January 18 View Page (Sorry about the sideways pictures....this diary is becoming a mess...)   Sunday, January 18 View Page Ok, I stand corrected, this is a double vine, not a flat vine......so I wait for it to separate, and cut one off?   Wednesday, January 21 View Page Fish, Seaweed, Humic, compost tea drench today....Last two leaves are a nice size, fertilizer starting to kick in. Problem is two plants per mound are outgrowing 4x4 foam boxes we use at night......someone gets the condo, other guy gets the frost cloth tent.....just cant bring myself to pull 2nd place out of both mounds yet. My double vine Gerhardt, if I keep it, should be called the "Hotwheel" it is rising up and looks like it is trying to complete a loop, like the loop-de-loop hotwheel track. Monday it is supposed to be 81f! We should be 65-70f....plants look like they are about to vine.......I may have to choose between a 2032x2009 cross or a 1622 Young in tunnel two.....1622 is a week younger, but it has caught up, making the decision harder......   Sunday, January 25 View Page Decision made reluctantly on Saturday. Tunnel two keeper is 1622 Young. Here it is in all its glory...nice sized 5th and 6th leaf. 10-10-10 drench and bifenthrin/calcium spray on both plants before putting them to bed.   Sunday, January 25 View Page Here is the 1622 Young growing tip. These plants were put into the ground on Jan 04   Sunday, January 25 View Page Here is the winner in Tunnel 1, 923 Gerhardt....my Planet Orange producer....I had to hide the Vincent/McGill in the compost pile so I wouldn't feel so bad. This is the plant with the double vine....per everyone's suggestion....I am letting this grow, hopefully it fixes itself by letting it grow about 3ft, or if it splits, terminating one of the splits....   Sunday, January 25 View Page Here is a side shot of the 923 double vine end....grown about 6 inches and still a fused double.   Sunday, January 25 View Page 923 end of vine, about 18" from stump   Sunday, January 25 View Page Note, also first drench of Merit, 3ft around plants today....It may get to 80F tomorrow!....Opening doors at both ends of the 13x15 tunnels wide open tomorrow morning.   Sunday, January 25 View Page Also Note: The double vine was starting to shoot straight up last week. I realized one of the first leaves was acting like a kickstand, so I removed it and trained the vine gently back to the ground this week....made the idea of keeping it more realistic.   Wednesday, January 28 View Page Here's the 1622 Young as of Wed 1/28....finally layed itself down and looks like a Diamondback rattlesnake, working its way through the desert. Nice leaves.   Wednesday, January 28 View Page Here's the 923 Gerhardt in an overview.   Wednesday, January 28 View Page 923 double tip....come on baby, separate.....anyone cut part of a fused double vine with success?   Wednesday, January 28 View Page Is this from too much water? Soil temp is about 68f,, nite air temps 60f, in the box, day temps 75-85f+ Only on one leaf. I think I overdid it with the watering last years attempt, and this showed up. I am hand watering every third day 3 gallons per plant, supplemental watering on the edge of the mounds as needed. New leaves seem unaffected.   Sunday, February 1 View Page Sunday mid day application of 15-5-15 with calcium, borrowed from DeanAZ.....hope he doesn't want it back ;) I bought a 55 gallon plastic barrel and cut the top off.....filled it last week and added a small bag of compost and some humic acid. This will be the water I use for drenching/fertilizing. No more naked water. I'll try and get a picture tomorrow, trying to do it every 7 days. 1622 Young is about to outgrow the newly expanded 8x8 foam box. The double vine Gerhardt is still double vined....but think of all the juice that 'kin will get with that big ol' vine! (trying to be positive) We are coming out of a mid 60's Superbowl week, 75f today maybe 80f by Thursday! Low 50's/high 40's at night. Still "cover and candling" using 8x8 foam "Arizona Mausoleums"   Wednesday, February 4 View Page 77f today....gonna be a warmup.....had doors on both ends wide open and it was still 85f and a bit of flagging. Unclipped along the end frames and opened the sides more, 77f in there after a quick leaf spray.....   Wednesday, February 4 View Page 1622 Young.....ya, i spent good money changing the box from 4x4 to 8x8, and two weeks later she hits the end of the box!....As DeanAZ and I said to each other "a good problem to have". Probably last night for the 1622 in the box....warm all week....just trying to get my moneys worth out of the bigger box.   Wednesday, February 4 View Page 1622 Young tip, probably touch the wall by morning. Then the AZ Mausoleum gets taken off.   Wednesday, February 4 View Page 923 Gerhardt double vine top view...a little slower growth....must be all the "orange juice" coursing though its double veins.....   Wednesday, February 4 View Page Wait, that 923 has a weirder looking tip than it usually has.....   Wednesday, February 4 View Page Hmmmm....still double there.....that is a manly vine.....   Wednesday, February 4 View Page "HOUSTON, WE HAVE SEPARATION!" Brilliant, just like all you mentors out there said "give it a shot of nitrogen and water, let it run for a couple feet, and it should eventually separate". Took a look at it this afternoon, and low and behold, I have two tips where a fused double used to be......gonna let it run for a day or two and cut one. Thanks everyone....textbook resolution.....   Thursday, February 5 View Page "HOUSTON WE HAVE A PROBLEM".....um....one of the two split tips is still acting like a double vine...other is acting like a secondary....I watered the heck out of it this afternoon. It is 80F here today!....strange, but good for pumpkins.... Had to pull the end off of the 1622 Young box....grew about 5" last night.....will drape the open end with frost cloth...it was 46f last night, 60f in the box....   Friday, February 6 View Page Happy Friday, here is the 1622 yesterday morning, laughing at my foam box extension. I pulled off the end and covered the tip/open end with frost cloth. 47 in greenhouse last night, 60 in box   Friday, February 6 View Page Ok, deep breath....here is the 923 doublevine tip as of this morning....looks like part on right is still double, part on left is single vine....but it looks like a growing tip to me, not a new secondary....   Friday, February 6 View Page Here is another view...   Saturday, February 7 View Page Here's today's pict of the double tip and the newly formed single tip   Tuesday, February 10 View Page Today, the 1622. I removed the 8x8 foam boxes today. I had some burn on a few leaves I think this stemmed from sun reflecting off foil surface of foam board nearby. We are low 80's this week, low 50s at night....we usually have a couple of cold nights still in Feb....but it has been an early spring so far for us....Sorry to all on the east coast....I remember having to throw snow "up" when the snowbanks got high when I lived in Minneapolis...   Tuesday, February 10 View Page 1622 front. Foam box removed from tunnel. Retilled, added some kelp meal, watered it in. Plant is marching towards the door, wanting to make tunnel the next obsolete structure to be removed. (Tunnel is 13w x 15l) Companion plant is 2032x2009 backup, prob use as pollinator.   Tuesday, February 10 View Page 923 Gerhardt front view, box removed, re-tilled   Tuesday, February 10 View Page Back of 923 Gerh. Smaller plant   Tuesday, February 10 View Page So, here's the 923 end. I haven't gotten the nerve yet to cut the double vine tip, and hope the single tip takes over.....double is about 5 inches longer than single tip....I assume the double is getting priority? Are ya tired of me flogging this subject to death?   Tuesday, February 10 View Page Note to self. I did not fertilize this week. Leaves were looking pretty dark green, I was afraid I was overfertilizing, and did not want to be entering week 6 with too much nitrogen in the soil. I watered the heck out of 923 with no ferts this week to try and correct the vine. I did a foliar last night with seaweed/Bifen/Daconil/sticker, on both plants, leaves look good. Two young leaves on 1622 sunburned before foil panels were removed. I may give a light fish/calcium foliar on Friday.   Tuesday, February 10 View Page Ok, Double vine tip being pinched back tomorrow, hope this will give the single vine, that branched off last week, some "go juice" Thank you to everyone giving me feedback on this over the past few weeks....Frank, Joe, Cecil, Logan, Chris, Bart, Scott, and Jim! I hope we are keeping you guys from getting cabin fever, kind of like virtual gardening, with out any weed pulling!   Tuesday, February 10 View Page This is a picture of the 1453 Toftness, that was grown off the 1622 Young seed that I am growing in tunnel 2. It is a great plant, I'm at about 8ft, and 5 secondaries are firing off the sides like cannons on a pirate ship....LOL   Tuesday, February 10 View Page This is the 921.5 Gerhardt, and the 921.5 Rosa grown off the 923 Gerhardt seed. The 923 seed is what I have growing in tunnel 1....Jim, I may have to borrow the Phoenix Sun's catchphrase "Planet Orange" for this thing....   Tuesday, February 10 View Page Crap, forgot Mr. Engel....thanks to you "Linus Van Pelt" also, and anyone else I've overlooked. If I can keep adding names I forgot, I can compete with Bubba Presley and Wixom-Grower for posts!.....but my secondary's are starting to grow...I think my time messing around on the computer is about to be replaced with weeding, vine burying, spraying, drinking...   Wednesday, February 11 View Page Here is the double tip, about 6 inches past where a single branched off....2/11 Thursday morning   Wednesday, February 11 View Page Here is the double tip, with all growing buds and secondary buds pinched off to stop growth....left leaf and potential flower buds...assuming the growth will be directed to single tip   Thursday, February 12 View Page I'll jump on the bandwagon...best I can do.....This pict is from at least two years ago....My three plots are in green, DeanAZ's in blue....This was a spring when we weren't growing pumpkins....funny both our cars are there, I'm laying out frost cloth on the road, Dean must be installing his shade cloth, or planting peppers... We are really jealous of all the garden photos of patches next to your house...maybe if I fill in my pool with compost.....hmmmmm   Saturday, February 14 View Page Here is the junction where the single vine tip split off from the double vine tip, which continued as a double   Saturday, February 14 View Page Here is the new tip. Picture 2/11, same day as double pinched off. As of this morning, this new tip is starting to assume growth. Plant only has one main secondary about 12" long...but others are budding along vine. Buried secondaries of the 1622 in other tunnel...had three on one side and 2 on other.....added mycorrhiza and covered junctions with a mix of screened compost, and potting mix. I learned from last year that you need to be careful not to bury the leaf junctions until the flower/secondary bud is up.....and if just beginning, add soil around junction, leaving buds uncovered, or you could stop them from forming....I don't see this mention much to newbies....   Wednesday, February 18 View Page Temp this afternoon in tunnel 1 about 4pm. Upper number is sensor temp at plant level, in full shade. Lower number is main display temp...its sitting on a cross member in the sun....so it reads high.   Wednesday, February 18 View Page 1622 Young at the stump....see the little side root? This plant is really healthy and pumping out secondaries....some at 4 feet already.   Wednesday, February 18 View Page 1622 from back.....running outta tunnel...   Wednesday, February 18 View Page Tunnel 2, 1622 tip....um....notice the end of the tunnel in picture?.....in a couple days I'm gonna have to cut the door threshold out. I built a 6x6 shade cloth box with an open end to set against the door to allow the tip to continue to march towards the compost pile.....hope a female shows soon....at 6 1/2 weeks from planting in tunnel Jan 04.   Wednesday, February 18 View Page Note: Added .5 oz Remay between conduit framework and film to add a bit of light shade....only on SW half of tunnel for late afternoon.....had a couple of crispy parts of leaves last week...this and have started laying a piece of .5 oz Remay on the growing tip.....both tunnels are now under 30% shadecloth over both plots.....can't believe I'm doing this in Feb....its been a warm beginning of spring, couple days in mid 80's.   Wednesday, February 18 View Page Tunnel 1, 923 Gerhardt from the back. Dense leaves because of the double vine/double leaves(double the spraying, double the fun)   Wednesday, February 18 View Page 923 Gerhardt middle....only has one secondary that is about 1ft long....other secondaries starting.....may have been delayed because of the double vine.   Wednesday, February 18 View Page Here is the 923 "single" tip. This is about 12" long now from the separation...has passed the termed double vine tip by about 8". Both plants tips are only growing about 5" a day...thinking energy being shared by secondaries forming. I'm hesitant to add more nitrogen as the leaves are dark green, and I'm heading into female blossom window. (at week 6 1/2). I added a very small amount of Holland's bloom fert to water (1TBS to 2 1/2 gallon watering can, directions call for 1-3 TBS per gallon) and added 2 1/2 gallons to each plant. I then watered the heck out of both tunnels with hose and water breaker/nozzle. (I assume the 1622 Young will blast out the door in the next two days)   Wednesday, February 18 View Page Hey Bart, that doesn't look like the 1453 Toftness....but it's a nice orange color! lol Not to rub it in....but we Arizona-types don't have many coats....and seeing as our weighoff is May 30....when it will probably be 90-100f, this might have to go on a can cooler, or maybe a flip flop.   Wednesday, February 18 View Page Damn, forgot to add picture...   Thursday, February 19 View Page Smooth sailing ahead.....brought to you by the Arizona Board of Realtors......lol   Friday, February 20 View Page Well, here we go......its been 6 weeks and 5 days since planting, and look what we find this morning at 9am...the 1622 Young has a female bud making an appearance ....Wow Joel, I just put some super diluted Nutri-Aid Blossom Booster on both plants on Wednesday, and she shows up on Friday.....you guys have your "manure" together!   Friday, February 20 View Page 12 feet out.....and of course look where she is....right at the west door threshold! lol......she thinks she's so clever......I "sawzalled" the 2x4 threshold out of the way and loosened the soil in the area. If I need to, I can shift the tunnel end back to the prior pvc rib if I need kin growing room... The bud is currently 5 inches inside of the doorway....I assume it will travel 6-12 inches as the tip continues to grow out. I have a 6x6x2ft high pvc frame covered in shade cloth ready to protect the tip as it leaves the tunnel. I would assume within the month I will be rolling the northside of the tunnel film over to the south side...stopping at 5ft for a wind break, and adding a windbreak to the north side. Still debating whether I will remove the ribs...they are just slid over 24" rebar...might be better to get them out of the way to work.....maybe leave the ends...   Friday, February 20 View Page This evenings spray exercise was brought to you by the (local) makers of "Kilt Lifter Scottish Style Ale" and (non local) "Shock Top Belgian Wheat"...and the letter "S" for Seaweed.....the compost tea tends to be a bit "nutty"....so I would suggest one of our sponsors products for refreshment while working the sprayer.   Friday, February 20 View Page Well, what a nice day, Young 1622 female in the morning....low 70's and scattered clouds during the day, two beers and a spray at sunset, and low and behold...the "Orangeman", 923 Gerhardt gets in on the action at about 10 ft....cheers!   Friday, February 20 View Page (This clever post should have gone with this clever picture)...This evenings spray exercise was brought to you by the (local) makers of "Kilt Lifter Scottish Style Ale" and (non local) "Shock Top Belgian Wheat"...and the letter "S" for Seaweed.....the compost tea tends to be a bit "nutty"....so I would suggest one of our sponsors products for refreshment while working the sprayer.   Sunday, February 22 View Page Well, post 100, whadayaknow....remember how the 1622 Young taunts me every time I clear a boundary for it, and proceeds to the next one? It hit the door, with female bud at growing tip to boot, so here is the threshold of the west door on tunnel 2 cut away and cultivated.   Sunday, February 22 View Page Here she is reaching into the new "back office" of tunnel 2   Sunday, February 22 View Page The exterior of the "back office"....glad there aren't any HOA's here lol....pvc frame with prob 80 % shade cloth. In a week when leaves start to develop in "the office" I'll change out to 1/2 oz remay for light, in a few weeks, off with the film on the tunnel, and just 30% shade over plot with wind fences. The plot is 20x30, the tunnel was 13 x 15...so there is some room to grow once the tunnel has served it's early season purpose.   Sunday, February 22 View Page Yours Truly with the 1622....hoping to self it....great plant so far.   Sunday, February 22 View Page 1622 from the back...hey, its a Christmas tree...what a coincidence...   Sunday, February 22 View Page I didn't set the 1/4 drip lines in advance, so it would be easier to work the soil in the tunnel early in the season. I'm sliding old 1" poly line under the vine in front of the leaf node as a sleeve and pushing the drip line through it to the other side. I also didn't want the vine sitting on the drip line if there was an emitter hole right under the vine, so the sleeve keeps the vine away from the drip. (emitters are inside the 1/4" drip line every 9")....I also have a 1/4" drip line running parallel to the main vine, separated by about 1-2". I'm not using these yet, hand watering every 3 days.   Sunday, February 22 View Page Here's tunnel 1 today, 923 Gerhardt, from the back, smaller plant, slow and steady wins the HD...   Sunday, February 22 View Page 923 from the front....both plants are working on their secondaries, and we've had some low 40f nights with no box/candles anymore...so forward progress has slowed...prob 2-4" main vine tip growth per day...in nitrogen hold pattern....this plant visually looks about 2 1/2 weeks behind the other...different genetics, this was busy building a double vine for a few feet at the beginning. Slow and steady...   Sunday, February 22 View Page 923 Gerhardt vine tip, with female bud.   Sunday, February 22 View Page Note: The white spots on both plants in the foreground are remnants of Azos watered into the mound, got some on the leaves. I got a bit off when I sprayed the other day....I'm waiting until Wed when I spray seaweed, to try and get the rest off.   Sunday, February 22 View Page "And now for something completely different"...   Monday, February 23 View Page Diagnosis? Here is what the leaves look mid vine on the 1622. It looks like manganese deficiancy....can someone confirm? Oldest leaves do not have this, starts at about leave 10.   Monday, February 23 View Page Found an old post by John Vincent that said manganese deficiency is common at pollination time and stress/high growth period. All the secondaries are cranking on the 1622 so I assume this is the issue.   Tuesday, February 24 View Page Got confirmation from Matt D. it is Mn deficiency...it is a micro nutrient, so I need to be conservative and creep up on the problem. I am going to apply a mild drench in a day or two, as I have just watered, and we'll add this to the learned technique inventory. Thanks Cecil, thanks Matt! First pollination in a couple days on both plants. Took a Female bud off tip of first secondary today on each plant.   Friday, February 27 View Page Ok all you cold people....I throttled back on ferts two weeks ago like we were told....the 1622 is cranking out secondarys, the main with the female on the end is creeping about 3" a day at about 13 ft....we have been in the mid 40's at night over the past 5 days....I know the answer is "just sit and wait"....but is that the answer? lol....I assume energy is going to secondary growth. If I had fertilized a bit, would the main have not slowed down? Secondaries look great....female is barely growing... SUMMARY: slow tip/female growth lack of nitrogen? cold nights? secondaries just catching up? Arizona grower needs to pop a cold one and just chill ? Tunnel is upper 70's to low 80's during day......signed, Mr Impatient...   Sunday, March 1 View Page Here's picts of the 1622 from Friday. I think low 40's nights last week and growth to secondaries stalled tip growth, and female bloom development. I noticed my tomatoes, surrounded by "Wall o' Waters" with the tops almost closed, showed double the growth over those with wide open tops over the past two weeks. Trying to apply that to the stalled pumpkin tips, I covered both of my plants inside the tunnels with 1/2 oz frost cloth each night to try and retain ground heat.   Sunday, March 1 View Page Secondaries are starting to bump into the sides of the 13ft wide tunnel 2.....gotta figure out a transition strategy from closed to open tunnel. A patient grower would probably say the stalled growth tip is ok as the plant grows secondaries to gather steam.   Sunday, March 1 View Page Friday 1622 female....barely any change....   Sunday, March 1 View Page We crazy Arizona growers have to think outside of the box.....now that we have removed the boxes.....   Sunday, March 1 View Page "HELP! LET ME OUT!" 1622's secondaries hitting the wall   Sunday, March 1 View Page Outside view....cloth not removed for the day yet....I did notice a 4-5f temp difference....a hassle to do each night....but I had to try something....   Sunday, March 1 View Page 1622 tip and 923 tip seem to be slowly ramping up again, blossoms looked a tiny bit bigger. I gingerly worked on the 1622 tip, started the turn, trimmed the leaf.   Sunday, March 1 View Page Forgot trimmed tip pic   Sunday, March 1 View Page Now you know how I broke 100 postings.....lets just say I wanted to show you before and after...lol   Sunday, March 1 View Page 1622 Leaf about midway...I applied 1/2 strength Manganese/Iron supplement drench few days ago...here are results....leaves look better already, less definition between veins and main part of leaf....thanks Matt for your leaf disease powerpoint. Lot of pictures of 1622 plant lately, sorry, 923 is doing well, smaller plant at the moment, but same stage of first female bloom....   Sunday, March 1 View Page Here's the 1622 bloom today. Looks much better, flower looks a lot more full. Possible bloom tomorrow? 923 Gerhardt at exact same stage....either the frost cloth at night is working, or the plant just decided it was time.....lets say it was the frost cloth so I look like I know what I'm doing. After contemplating zip ties, foam cups, cheese cloth, string, mesh bags....the gardeners friend the clothspin got the call....I use these things all over the garden...Clip them to a bamboo stake to mark blooms, sets, mark plants, hold my nose when someone sprays neem oil lol (I hate the smell of that stuff), not as effective when I spray Eagle ;)   Sunday, March 1 View Page Hey Sandkin! Are ya "sandbagging" already? Show us your plant!   Sunday, March 1 View Page 8:30 Tonight, Here is the 923 Gerhardt, looks primed for am action like the 1622 Young. I have three males from the Gerhardt from yesterday that look ready tonight, I harvested another Gerhardt male tonight that looks ready to go tomorrow morning. As luck is finally smiling on the garden, a big male blossom was also ready for tomorrow morning on the 1622 Young. I plan on selfing both plants.   Sunday, March 1 View Page Tonight's bloom harvest brought to you by Molson Canadian Beer.......... "Molson Canadian.....when Molson Golden is out of stock" (Big ol' 1622 Bloom loaded for beer, er, I mean bear)   Sunday, March 1 View Page "And now for something completely different...." (one of our judging candidates for our weigh-off)   Monday, March 2 View Page 830 am...weird, 55f and cloudy, about to rain. Brought some flowers I had collected prior, some were trying to open/bloom...give it a go anyway...heres the 923 Gerhardt   Monday, March 2 View Page Well, clothespin removed....boing.....923 open 5 lobes....pollinated with 2 self blooms....hope it's not too cold.....   Monday, March 2 View Page 1622 Young next   Monday, March 2 View Page 1622 makes a "boing" sound   Monday, March 2 View Page 1622 is a five lober also....sorry for weird camera angle, holding the phone in "the office" to get a picture....selfed with one from last night and two I had collected two days ago....   Monday, March 2 View Page Mother Nature was not please that DeanAZ and I are trying to outsmart her with tunnels, as soon as I started to close up tunnel 2, the temp dropped from 60f to 50f, the wind kicked to 26mph, and the rain started...too bad the rain doesn't hit the plant....good thing the wind doesn't hit the plant. Threw a tarp over the shade screen-covered "back office" to keep 1622 tip dry. Kinda cool temp, who knows if they'll take....   Monday, March 2 View Page Not really sure why the lobe shot of the 923 didn't appear....oh well, and I repeat...."boing"   Wednesday, March 4 View Page 923 Gerhardt day 2, "stay shiny, my friend"   Wednesday, March 4 View Page 1622 Young day 2, "Stay shiny, my friend".....I added 1/2 strength Hollands Blossom Booster and fish to each plant and main vine yesterday, and heavily watered all the ground in both tunnels. Left the tunnels wide open yesterday to keep humidity down. Left them vented and one door open on both today, max temp was 80f in the tunnels. 923 is starting to finally kick in more secondaries....the vine and secondaries on this thing are thick! 1622 is starting to touch the sides with all secondaries....minor bump out two days ago used up.....may be time to crack the sides and add extra windbreak. Some new females showing on some secondary tips...   Friday, March 6 View Page Mid 70's to 80's next few days....Picture of tunnel 2 with the 1622. Removed all the mulch from the sides and rolled up the film a couple feet. Found some dusty old shade cloth rolls at Wallmart, and schmoozed the Manager into letting me "take them off his hands".....installed some as side windbreaks. Nice to see the sides open and the plants getting more running room. This is the short side, I miscalculated "Middle" when I built the tunnel, so this side will be a bit of a spider, while the other side still has 10ft to run...ooops...   Friday, March 6 View Page North side of tunnel two...see that extra room?   Friday, March 6 View Page Here's the 1622...still good so far   Friday, March 6 View Page Here's the 923 Gerhardt. Also still shiny and looks viable. Noticed one of the secondaries is a double.....Experimenting on this one by pinching part of double tip to see if it will change to single....need to work on this plant in the afternoon. Secondaries slower to start on this so I let them run a bit before starting to bury......I need to bury vines and run the drip lines on this plant still.....and lift all tunnel sides and till from tunnel to open side areas.   Sunday, March 8 View Page Good Afternoon! Here is the cool logo DeanAZ designed for our new group!   Sunday, March 8 View Page This morning I rolled the south half of Tunnel 1's film and overlapped it on the north side and clipped it in place. I then used some 1/2 oz Remay that Dean loaned me to cover the now-open south side of the tunnel. This will give me a bit of permanent ventilation, and some nice diffused light/shade. I have been growing under 30% shade and Dean has been under about twice as much shade cloth. His leaves look less weathered, and he is still getting good bloom production, so with the 80's we are starting, I thought I'd up the shade percentage. I left the spare at the base to allow secondaries to grow outside of the original tunnel frame.   Sunday, March 8 View Page Here's the inside of tunnel 1 with remay installed...goes almost to center spine...right side, north, now holding doubled up film.   Sunday, March 8 View Page Tunnel 2, 1622 Young, with same remay installed....."thanks Dean for the cloth!"   Sunday, March 8 View Page Rolled up the north side of tunnel one and tilled the rest of the growing area, installing 1/4" drip lines here this afternoon, like I did on the 1622 couple weeks ago. Still hand watering, but with the warmer temps, drip will need to be fired up this week or next.   Sunday, March 8 View Page For lack of a smaller comparison model, the ol' beer bottle gets called into service early....here's the 923 this morning.   Sunday, March 8 View Page And the ever popular 1622.   Sunday, March 8 View Page And now the ever-popular Sunday "Now for something completely different!"   Monday, March 9 View Page Well, Tunnel 1 got to go first. I didn't want to have to cut the door threshold on tunnel 1 like I already did with tunnel 2......923 is at the door. I decided the best thing would be to leave the end tunnel rib, but remove the door/frame. A couple screws removed, and voila, end frame pulled away from the last tunnel rib.   Monday, March 9 View Page Here is tunnel 1 with end frame removed. I added a wind break five feet in front of the opening, and added a piece of 1/2 oz remay draping off the last rib to shade the late afternoon sun. I finished the drip irrigation today and ran it a couple times. I have a line running next to the main, and a line running next to each secondary,running in a sleeve under the main to the other side. Not a lot of fruit growth, especially the 923...but both still shiny....itching to fertilize to boost 923 plant growth....trying to be patient, day 7 after pollination   Thursday, March 12 View Page 923 Gerhardt (selfed) this morning. 85f yestd but scattered clouds. Thin Remay on south side is working great. To work on plant, I just remove 3 clips at bottom and clip cloth high on frame, giving me full access to both sides of plant. I am going to try to expose the plant to sun in the morning to acclimate the leaves a bit.....would like to grow the plant under just the overhead 30% cloth.....but keeping flagging to a minimum and soil cooler may mean keeping the Remay extra shade in place.   Thursday, March 12 View Page 1622 this morning, really like this plant, glad I selfed it....females popping up all over the secondary tips....pollinated a couple this am for insurance.   Thursday, March 12 View Page One of the 1622 secondary blossoms....I caught a big whiff of perfume when I pollitated it.....never get tired of these big golden blooms every morning!   Thursday, March 12 View Page 1622 tip in relation to set. Got fed up with the back office frame mess, and thought tip was in too much shade, and ditched it, draping front of plant with Reemay now.   Thursday, March 12 View Page DeanAZ and I have been searching and searching our plant tips for that necessary second female to show up....his Sherwood revealed it's second main vine female end of last week.....I was hoping mine would follow suit sometime this week....bingo....about 3 ft past the first set........same has happened with my 923.....so far so good....now to get the second two set and growing on each main to give us a choice.   Sunday, March 15 View Page I pulled the remaining north side film off of tunnel two today, and replaced it with 1/2 oz reemay, it was going to be 90f today...thanks again to DeanAZ for reemay. I need to add some more framework to the north part of the plot, it has 6 feet uncovered, and this plant just seems to like to be under diffused light. I tried to let the secondaries grow out from under the tunnel wall, shading the tips, but the older leaves still didn't like the sun.....maybe sun is more direct here. We are playing with different techniques as we go....this isn't the typical US growing environment.   Monday, March 16 View Page Here's the 923 today....looks good!....too bad the bottle was empty...   Monday, March 16 View Page Here's the 1622 Young....bigger than the 923, nice long stem...nudging it into position day by day   Tuesday, March 17 View Page Here's female #2 on the 923 Gerhardt this morning...looks good, selfed it with 3 fresh flowers.   Tuesday, March 17 View Page Here's my third plot on the south side of tunnel 1 plot. Brandywine tomatoes started Nov 7th from seed at home...the planting bed used to be two rows with a path down the middle last year...I dug out the path last fall and filled it with old manure....let it sit for a few months, and then tilled the two rows and the manure in the middle to make one big tomato bed. By the time I planted these in mid Feb, they were already 3 month old plants....talk about getting a jump-start on a long-season tomato! You have to do that in the desert, because growing season ends in June, too hot! I also grew 150 tomato seedlings started mid December, for our garden club fundraiser.   Tuesday, March 17 View Page Happy St Patrick's Day....as my father's mother was Irish Protestant....it was always whispered by my father that I should wear orange today. He died 26 years ago today....Here's some orange for you Dad!   Wednesday, March 18 View Page Here's the view 3/4 way up Sunrise Trail in the McDowell Mountains....about 8 miles from my house. We live/grow in the valley, but are surrounded by various mountains that have hiking trails all over them. DeanAZ called us "Sonoran Heavy Hitters", unfortunately my wife agrees...so I took a hike to exercise more to become a "Sonoran Light Hitter" that grows heavy pumpkins lol   Wednesday, March 18 View Page Hedgehog cactus in bloom, amazing such a rough, prickly plant can make such a beautiful flower......wonder if I could cross it into the 1622 for a darker orange fruit.....would be a bitch to try tobury the vines...lol   Wednesday, March 18 View Page Pumpkins growing way in the distance on the desert floor.....   Wednesday, March 18 View Page By the way....I had a double vine on one of my 923 secondaries....so I experimented on it. I pinched one part of the fused double growing tip and it proceeded to grow as a single.   Thursday, March 19 View Page Here's the 923 Gerhardt today. (not using app)   Thursday, March 19 View Page Here's 1622 Young, nice and round....second fertilized couple days ago 3 ft further down vine. Both plants pounding out secondaries. I gave each a big shot of Fish, Seaweed, Humic and calcium drench, and sprayed with fungicide and Bifenthrin. Had bit of rain last night...cooler today, low 70's mostly cloudy.   Thursday, March 19 View Page Hope this shows up. I did a progression on the 923 from day 6 to day 17 after pollination.   Thursday, March 19 View Page Here is the day 6 through day 17 progression on the 1622. We had some 40f nights earlier in the month, and I have held off on nitrogen since the beginning of the month....to ensure pollination. Slower progress than you experienced growers, I'm sure, but I'm trying to error on the side of caution as we Sonoran Desert dwellers figure out what works here.   Friday, March 20 View Page If you are going to "The Big Show" say "hey" to my growing club neighbor DeanAZ.....he is attending!....hope someone posts picts of him doing Neptune's Harvest jello shots.....   Saturday, March 21 View Page droid test 1   Saturday, March 21 View Page droid 2   Saturday, March 21 View Page droid test 3 deleted this is test 4. hedgehog bloom this am on the trail   Saturday, March 21 View Page test 5 here's the 923 right now. via android   Saturday, March 21 View Page here's the 1622 right now via droid app   Saturday, March 21 View Page right now...here's where I separated root 8 inches down stream from 1622. it was straight down like a taproot!   Saturday, March 21 View Page Cheers from AZGPG test tunnel 2 via droidcam   Sunday, March 22 View Page "I'M about 1/2 inch out...wondering if I should cull!"   Sunday, March 22 View Page And now for Sunday something completely different...."Officer....I didn't get a good look at him but he kinda looked line a 923 Gerhardt!"   Tuesday, March 24 View Page 923 from the patch...Added two layers of mill..again thx Dean...added some foam to start raising main vine...sprayed for cuke bugs last night...second spray this week to knock em down   Tuesday, March 24 View Page 1622 from the patch...signing out, Team Pumpkin, Southwest Branch....   Friday, March 27 View Page Day 25 circumference 46"   Friday, March 27 View Page 1622 circ 51" day 25   Friday, March 27 View Page 1622 day 25 circ 52"   Sunday, March 29 View Page Drove 2 hours north of Phoenix to Oak Creek Canyon, north of Sedona....went for a 3 1/2 mile and back hike through the woods along the creek. I thought I was back in Minnesota. And of course in the middle of a creek crossing I met people that live 2 miles from my old house in Minnesota....fate...   Sunday, March 29 View Page And now for Sunday "Something Completely Different"   Saturday, April 4 View Page Heres the 923 Gerhardt in the distance....most sides terminated...still trying to fill in a bit in the back.   Saturday, April 4 View Page 923 up close measuring 66" in circumference   Saturday, April 4 View Page Here's the 1622 Young. Circ measuring about 75"...176.5 OTT. I kept trying to adjusted as it grew and it still leaned over on it's blossom end.   Saturday, April 4 View Page Any suggestions? Appears the ground end stopped growing the the upper side continued. Do I dust on some sulpher before it grows over? I did keep adjusting and adding sand under last week, but no resolution.   Saturday, April 4 View Page I was inspired by "Abbynormal" and his photos hiking through the woods...here's another from Oak Creek Canyon, north of Sedona. That is all....Team Pumpkin, South West Branch   Sunday, April 5 View Page It's Sunday......"what you look'in at?... I ran outta sunblock...."   Sunday, April 12 View Page Here's the 923 overall...embarrassing 79" circ at around day 40. I am obviously too conservative with the ferts, but not sure how/how much to feed weekly.....Fish and Seaweed once a week drench, foliar. Followed by weak 10-10-10 three days later. Do I need to go heavy with 15-5-15? How much is heavy...we are 6 weeks from finishing....   Sunday, April 12 View Page 923 back...great color...slow growth, about 6-8 lb per day....   Sunday, April 12 View Page 923 Gerhardt stem side today   Sunday, April 12 View Page heres the 1622 Young overview...same slow growth @ 91" circ on day 40, as of today.   Sunday, April 12 View Page 1622 back, growing over it's blossom end....I painted on some Daconil in the area just to try and ward off issues when I cant access it....   Sunday, April 12 View Page 1622 stem side today   Sunday, April 12 View Page "Guess what day it is?"....now for something completely different...   Saturday, May 2 View Page Ok, Sorry Team Pumpkin SW Division has been in sleeper mode. Here is the 923 Gerhardts new digs, the foamboard roof has been rising so it was time for a new cover. We have been struggling to get decent weight gains, and I've been embarrassed to post lame picture gains. As of this week the patch has been changed from full coverage of 70% shade to 30% shade on east half and 70% shade on west half. I think we were too aggressive with shade...live and learn   Saturday, May 2 View Page 923 Gerhardt in the distance.....growing at less than 1/2 the rate it should be....not genetic issue, grower issue.   Saturday, May 2 View Page 923 Gerhardt side.....what a beautiful shape....it has been growing in height more recently....28 days until our memorial weighoff....trying my best to at least break the AZ 469lb record....thought that was easy 2 months ago.....   Saturday, May 2 View Page 923 stem side...this plant seems to be 2 weeks behind other plant.   Saturday, May 2 View Page 923 Gerhardt side. OTT only 232 inches....more sun for last 30 days, hopefully the photosynthesis factory kicks into gear in the tail end, tough to ask an old plant to step it up at the end....but it hasn't been working hard for a month ....we planted Jan 04....so this is like everyone else's September.   Saturday, May 2 View Page Here is the 1622 Young in the distance. Leaves still look pretty good....losing a few older ones along the main stem. This plant has also been in a slow growth mode, probably from too much shade cloth. We had leaf burn at the start of the season and were overly protective of the leaves....leaves did not reach under 70% shade...but photosynthesis was obviously stunted....I have changed to 30% on east side and 70% on west side of patch...may just change to 30% over most....our weigh off is in 28 days and we haven't even got to 400lbs yet....great genetics, rookie growing techniques....   Saturday, May 2 View Page Here is the 1622 Young overhead shot....sitting on it's blossom end....   Saturday, May 2 View Page 1622 blossom end.....kin grew over it's blossom end no matter what I did.....kind of a peach color with green flecks.   Saturday, May 2 View Page 1622 stem   Saturday, May 2 View Page I opened the gate to my plot after being out of town for 5 days, and a damn gray squirrel climbs the fence and escapes.....in the middle of the desert....so I furiously scan both kins, and there are "taste" marks in a couple places on the 1622.....3 traps set, more mouse traps moved to stem side.....   Saturday, May 2 View Page 1622 Young stem....vine looks under tension but it is not....checking and adjusting every day.....OTT a mere 250", again grower skill and shade versus genetics is the issue.....i've beat my personal best from 4 years ago....but I thought I'd be at least double at this point.....less shade for rest of the month....come on kins....you can do it...we've worked really hard this inaugural season....   Sunday, May 3 View Page Sorry I have been remiss in posting my Sunday pict.....we have been having slow growth...so AZGPG has hired this desert Wiccan to help our cause.....I don't think Dean used the interview questions we agreed upon when hiring her....but I'm good with it....   Sunday, May 3 View Page Ok folks....hard to believe the rest of the U.S. is trying to get first true leaves to pop...and I am 19 days away from pulling this thing....building tunnels in December, checking on seed germinations Christmas eve night, showing up every night in Jan to cover and light candles (Dean coming every morning in Jan to uncover), double vines, not enough shade, too much shade, disappointing growth, wow.......here's the 923 Gerhardt plant....I've been working really hard to keep leaves, and add a few fresh ones this month.   Wednesday, May 6 View Page Note: Moved 70% cloth over to shade west wall only. Both plots now completely 30%. Added some sand around kin bases. Noticed a mouse in a trap in my tool shed...put up 4 baited traps in the perimeter just for my peace of mind. Come on photosynthesis! Gerhardt 923 is a stunner, beautiful orange and very round, symmetrical...Had a buddy visiting from Minnesota down to the patch yesterday, his neighborhood has a contest.....trying to lure him in....he he......"rip your wife's flower bed up...this is more fun!"   Saturday, May 9 View Page ....Ok folks....hard to believe the rest of the U.S. is trying to get first true leaves to pop...and I am 19 days away from pulling this thing....building tunnels in December, checking on seed germinations Christmas eve night, showing up every night in Jan to cover and light candles (Dean coming every morning in Jan to uncover), double vines, not enough shade, too much shade, disappointing growth, wow.......here's the 923 Gerhardt plant....I've been working really hard to keep leaves, and add a few fresh ones this month. (Had to repost this May 10th pict as May 9, incorrectly posted as May 3)   Sunday, May 10 View Page Not a state record candidate....but beauty contest winner....next year, both. I just shake my head every time I look at the shape of this thing....Thanks Jim for such a great seed!....this is selfed....so the line continues...   Sunday, May 10 View Page 923 Gerhardt side....perfect shape.....hope ground side is ok....we'll see in 19 days...   Sunday, May 10 View Page Here's the 923 stem. This am 243.25 OTT....leaves look good, temps mid 70's last two days, mid to upper 80's next week....do I leave it uncovered for the last week to jack up the color....like it needs it....   Sunday, May 10 View Page Here's the 1622 Young plant....I looped the first secondaries back to the stump area so both are double length.....this has added some fresh leaves to compensate for old and crispies starting to appear. Plant is 126 days in the ground this am. Watered both plants with seaweed and micro nutrients and a bit of ferts. Plants looks better now that shade has been changed from 70 to 30%, sporadic tertiaries showing are indication of better photosynthesis....live and learn.   Sunday, May 10 View Page 1622 in the patch   Sunday, May 10 View Page 1622 stem. As of this am 263 OTT......AZ record is 469lb....don't know if I'll make it.....maybe one of Dean's 3 will.   Sunday, May 10 View Page 1622 back....hope that blossom end under there is ok....hope I don't get a nasty surprise on the 29th when we lift it...seems to be about 5lb per day....creeping along on an aged plant.   Sunday, May 10 View Page Happy mother's day to my wife, Kim....who gave me these two great kids....   Sunday, May 10 View Page And Happy Mothers day to my mom....what a ride it's been, 4 kids and about 16 house moves...and she's still kickin' after 86 years...   Sunday, May 10 View Page And now for Sunday something completely different...a secret picture of me the night before weigh-in....lol   Thursday, May 14 View Page Welll...we are grinding down.....Here's the 923 Gerhardt, only gaining 2.75 lb per day over the last few days...OTT only 244.75, estimating 329lb   Thursday, May 14 View Page Here is the 1622 Young....victim of too much shade....I could just shoot myself.....OTT 266.5 for estimated 421lb....state record is 469lb and this is only gaining 4lb per day....If this slows down anymore...I'm out of the running. DeanAZ has 3 cookin', his are a bit younger so hopefully they will have better gains and break the record at our spring weighoff on the 30th of May......   Thursday, May 21 View Page Beautiful weather, mid to upper 80's...got almost an inch of rain last Friday! We are usually high 90's and a few 100's about now.....still, my pumpkins are creeping along....I'm getting 3-4 lb per day on each....923 Gerhardt, The Beautiful, is at a mere 357 OTT....but i'm blinded by the orange planet look-alike...so it softens the blow. The 1622 Young, the Speckled One, is at 447 OTT. If I can get the Young to break the AZ record of 469 lb I'll be happy, and the state champion for 5 minutes. I believe at least 2 of DeanAZ's will easily surpass this....It would be great if our efforts this first year of AZGPG bring at least 3 pumpkins over the existing record on Saturday May 30, our spring weighoff at Harper's Nursery....Team Pumpkin, Southwest Division, taking charge....that is all....   Friday, May 22 View Page "show your colors" Here's mine, flown over USS Midway...God bless all Service men and women. (Pap's message in General Discussion inspired me)....lets see your flag....   Friday, May 22 View Page 923 Gerhardt side....beauty queen   Friday, May 22 View Page 923 business end....probably about 350 lb....selfed....good for another try next year...   Friday, May 22 View Page 1622 Young mooning you....spreading out low...kinda like me....lol   Friday, May 22 View Page 1622 side   Friday, May 22 View Page 1622 business end. Probably about 450 lb....19 lb from state record...praying it goes heavy....all shade cloth has been removed for last two weeks...leaves looking really tired....about time to put a fork in it...   Tuesday, May 26 View Page DAP 84, all growth has stopped on both. And now the next three days it will be approaching 100.....water and keep em covered....leaving them on the vine until we cut them this Friday afternoon....Weighoff the next morning......I still think I'm 350 for 923 Gerhardt and 450 for 1622 Young....19 lb shy of state record...hope Dean can break it...we seem to have a decent amount of people showing for the weighoff at Harper's Nursery...may be first 100F day of year....   Friday, May 29 View Page 923 Gerhardt pre harvest today...   Friday, May 29 View Page Warning Carnage Ahead....couldn't resist the 1622 Young for one more day...bad timing on night of dap 86.   Friday, May 29 View Page Our AZGPG sign at Harper's Nursery...think lots of people coming tomorrow am for our first weighoff....Saturday morning garden show broadcasting from the nursery tomorrow.   Friday, May 29 View Page Our good friends from hometown Minnesota gave me this nifty pumpkin shirt....thanks Mary and John! (Kinda looks like I have a dickie on...lol)   Friday, May 29 View Page Up goes the 923, cool seeing your first fruit on a trailer....we had a bunch of guys help with a lifting tarp   Friday, May 29 View Page Here's the gang helping pull the 1622 Young....definitely heavier   Friday, May 29 View Page Both of mine are up....Dean's heavier ones on next trailer trip   Friday, May 29 View Page Bart Toftness visiting the Team Pumpkin SW branch to inspect and supervise, Thanks Bart!   Friday, May 29 View Page Off we go with mine....fun seeing your pumpkins rolling down the road together.   Friday, May 29 View Page Arriving at Harpers Nursery   Friday, May 29 View Page 1622 Young on Left, 923 Gerhardt on right...first real year...off to get DeanAZ's bigg'uns   Friday, May 29 View Page Dean's join the gang, already attracting spectators. Sherwood on left, big Holland on right....had a split but holding together....definitely the heaviest of the group....glad we had a bunch of guys to move that baby. Dean calls it Casper....I called it mighty elephant man   Saturday, May 30 View Page Me at our weighoff today   Saturday, May 30 View Page Bart showing me how much excess vine to trim off on the 923 Gerhardt before weighin   Saturday, May 30 View Page The lift to the scale   Saturday, May 30 View Page DeanAZ giving the public the seed/plant specifics   Saturday, May 30 View Page I was guesstimating 350....pretty close...great seed, great shape, selfed 923 Gerhardt.....less shade next year   Saturday, May 30 View Page Smallest but prettiest....   Saturday, May 30 View Page Up goes my 1622 Young....guesstimate 450...AZ state record 469 lb   Saturday, May 30 View Page Missed it by THAT much....doh!   Saturday, May 30 View Page 465 Smith 15....missed the state record by 4 lbs! Beat personal best by 175 lb. (1622 Young Selfed, great plant, less shade next year)   Saturday, May 30 View Page 465 Smith 15 second place, personal best   Saturday, May 30 View Page First place and new Arizona Record 486 Baker 15....way to go DeanAZ....lots of hard work payed off! Team Pumpkin, Southwest Division, signing off.   Saturday, May 30 View Page Even Flat Norm, travel size, came down to inspect the orange...prior to this photo he had his shoes and socks off to judge texture, density, and dance-ability. (Thanks Bart for the pict)   Wednesday, June 3 View Page Kind of bizarre to show seed harvesting in June in the US.....Here's 465 Smith (1622 Young, Selfed) opened up...   Wednesday, June 3 View Page Cross Section...you can see the bump in the bottom...thats the blossom end that ended up on the bottom.   Wednesday, June 3 View Page "Que: Munchkin Voice" Follow the yellow brick road....about 460 Seeds in the 465 Smith 15....only small because I over shaded the plant...If you want 1622 Young genetics...here you go.....although you are all too busy in the patch to think about seeds....lol   Wednesday, June 3 View Page Here's the 361 Smith (923 Gerhardt, selfed) opened up....Isn't it cool Home Depot had orange buckets made especially for orange seed harvests?   Wednesday, June 3 View Page Here we practiced with the lifting ring. We lifted all with a lifting tarp this year.....but NEXT year, man....I can see it now.....blinding orange giant Orb....nervous tractor driver....people screaming...Flat Norm hollering, lol   Wednesday, June 3 View Page Oh ya...forgot...361 Smith (923 Gerhardt, selfed) has about 336 seeds....if you want a HD winner, this is the genetics for it....ya, ok......talk to me in December.....but I might be busy starting my seeds then...lol   Wednesday, June 3 View Page Phat Jack field pumpkin, testing, one, two, three....Might stick one in the ground in July....what's that saying about idle hands?.....Team Pumpkin SW Division out.....   Monday, December 21 View Page Testing, testing, Team Pumpkin SW Division checking in....Seed test, 8 hour soak, into pillbox, into incubator, success