Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 134 Entries. Saturday, April 16 View Page Placed soil warming cable in greenhouse today, then covered it up and placed black plastic to hold in the heat. My giant Atlantic pumpkin plants are about 3 days old and already started to grow its first true leaf. The plant will be growing in lama manure,munched up maple leafs from last fall and Buffalo manure compost. Also some organic compost. The temps in the greenhouse fluctuate from 55f - 75f in the day time .. I'm a newbie at this ...so fingers crossed :)   Saturday, April 23 View Page My 1416 Macdonald now in my greenhouse -Taken a few days ago-   Tuesday, April 26 View Page 1416 Macdonald coming along nicely :)   Friday, April 29 View Page Yellow ring around one leaf. Installed a small ceramic heater in greenhouse to keep the temps warmer at night..   Saturday, April 30 View Page new leaves are starting to appear.   Sunday, May 1 View Page 1416 MacDonald keeps growing - so far so good   Monday, May 2 View Page Will move my moat outward next time I water   Tuesday, May 3 View Page Foliage is looking a little greener   Wednesday, May 4 View Page Spotted a few tendrils today...starting to vine I guess   Thursday, May 5 View Page Counted 12 true leaves today   Saturday, May 7 View Page Was very hot today ...27c (81f)   Saturday, May 7 View Page Nothing new to report today, except cooler temperatures   Sunday, May 8 View Page Strong and cold NW winds today. Leafs are getting big, and the vine is 3/4"   Monday, May 9 View Page High of about 22c today ...perfect weather. I gave my (1416 MacDonald) a watered down drink of 20-20-20 Next week I'll fertilize with fish fertilizer 2-3-0 Just an experiment ...I'm still a newbie   Tuesday, May 10 View Page One leaf measured 19" across, and the vine measured 1" thick.   Wednesday, May 11 View Page Nice weather today   Thursday, May 12 View Page I cut off the small leaves growing out of the stump area.. Main vine measures about 4 feet   Friday, May 13 View Page One leaf is 21" across It's growing faster than I ever imagined   Sunday, May 15 View Page High of 25c and really muggy   Sunday, May 15 View Page Cloudy today. Tomorrow I will fertilize with 3-2-0 fish fertilizer   Monday, May 16 View Page I am officially out of greenhouse room. Vine is approx 7' long   Tuesday, May 17 View Page Cut part of my greenhouse away to accommodate my plant. I also waited until it was hot inside the greenhouse and then I placed bamboo skewers on the secondaries to keep them straight.... and also on the main vine to keep it from going wild. (1416 MacDonald)   Wednesday, May 18 View Page Cloudy and much cooler   Wednesday, May 18 View Page Cloudy and much cooler. Was going to leave the ceramic heater turned off but it's just too cold out....don't wanna take a chance.   Thursday, May 19 View Page First female pumpkin blossom today @ about 9' .... pinched it off the vine. I would like one somewhere between 10 and 15 feet if possible.   Friday, May 20 View Page Much warmer today. Gave my plant a tall drink of H2O   Saturday, May 21 View Page Warm and windy .. Secondaries are really growing fast   Sunday, May 22 View Page Built a bogus wind fence (hope it holds) and freed the pumpkin plant from the greenhouse because there was no more room. As soon as I have time I'm going to raise the wind fence to 5 feet on the southeast side as it gets very windy here.   Monday, May 23 View Page Placed more skewers on sec/main vine .... Fertilized with fish 2-3-0. This is the first full day without the greenhouse over the plant. I thought the plant would be shocked a little bit without the warmth of the greenhouse (overnight) ...but it was fine. Temperatures hovering around 20c expected this week.   Tuesday, May 24 View Page Main vine is 10' ...weather is a bit windy and warm. I believe I have spotted my first tertiary vine, when I am 100% sure I will save one leaf or from it and cut the rest off.   Wednesday, May 25 View Page Placed more skewers on vines and spotted a immature female blossom on a secondary, also another tertiary vine. Going to start burying vines on the weekend, I'm way behind at that.   Thursday, May 26 View Page Accidentally cut a secondary off each side (same spot) near the end of the main vine...*sigh* Hoping a tertiary vine will come out there and I will train them to replace my mistake. Not sure if that will work but it's worth a try. Not the end of the world anyway...   Friday, May 27 View Page finally some rain...I'm thankful   Saturday, May 28 View Page Bought (20) 2" x 8' fence posts to make a higher wind fence. Where I live the SE and NW winds are very strong...so I needed something more sturdy. My wind fence will end up being 6' high covered with heavy mill poly.   Saturday, May 28 View Page It's kinda of cold in the patch today after a good dump of rain. I was tempted to pull the ends of the vines down but remembered how grave an error that would be when it's cold...   Sunday, May 29 View Page Rented and post hole auger and have posts in place now for a higher wind fence, my original wind fence was only 3' high and not very effective. My new wind fence will be 6' high. Also the sun came out and it's a beautiful day, much warmer. (1416 MacDonald)   Sunday, May 29 View Page putting a little pressure on the end of the main vine to coax it down ....a wee bit at a time   Monday, May 30 View Page The secondaries are growing so fast, but the main fine seems to be going quite slow now. Hoping for a female on the main vine (fingers crossed)   Tuesday, May 31 View Page First male flower   Tuesday, May 31 View Page Nothing much to report. Weather was a bit muggy and 23c.....gave AG plant a drink of 2-3-0 fish 'n' water   Wednesday, June 1 View Page Raining at the moment, hot temps expected later this week.   Thursday, June 2 View Page Found a female growing on main vine at (13' 7") I'm happy   Thursday, June 2 View Page a little pumpkin on the main vine @ 13' 7"   Friday, June 3 View Page Windy and chilly. A few males flowers popping up...   Friday, June 3 View Page Going to finish my new wind fence this weekend. I was going to make it 6 feet high but I think that's overkill… I think 5 feet will be sufficient.   Saturday, June 4 View Page Gave my plant a shot of bloom booster today. Weather is very hot 30c   Sunday, June 5 View Page Finished part of my wind fence on the northeast side where we get summer winds. Thanks Richmond Dave for the suggestion   Monday, June 6 View Page 28c today .. Several small pumpkins on the secondaries. Cut a few tertiary vines off and some tendrils. Gave my plant a medium size drink of H2O   Tuesday, June 7 View Page Gave my Atlantic giant a drink of seaweed elixir today. High of 20°c   Wednesday, June 8 View Page I think my liquid seaweed from last year has gone bad, I gave some to my plant yesterday and today I noticed some funky looking leaves around the stump...so today I just gave it a drink water. I'm going to throw the old stuff out, I don't want to take a chance.   Thursday, June 9 View Page Sun with cloud and warm today. Spotted another pumpkin at about 14' 6" on the main vine.   Friday, June 10 View Page I self pollinated this little pumpkin after work. Almost all of the male flowers were either underwater or damp. I found the best ones I could and tried anyway. I think there is a fairly slim chance that this worked, but you never know... I did the best I could   Saturday, June 11 View Page Off and on showers today. Not the greatest weather in the forecast..   Sunday, June 12 View Page Here's my most hopeful at 13.5' on the main vine. Problem was the weather is changing to rain tomorrow and the next day and the next day... So this female opened up about 1/3 of the way today but no more, so I put a light bulb in front of it to coax it to open (LOL) but to no avail.... So I (here's one for the books) forced to petals open and tried my best to pollinate it with my damp male flowers. My theory is that the flower would probably opened tomorrow during a rain shower and along with the males..filled with water. Ya never know...it might work P.s. The female has five lobes   Monday, June 13 View Page Cold and drizzle ...12c   Tuesday, June 14 View Page Hopefully the crazy cold weather is over. I need to get back to vine burying   Wednesday, June 15 View Page Better weather today. Pollinated another pumpkin on a secondary vine. I don't know if it's going to work, everything so damp still.   Friday, June 17 View Page Pollinated about a week ago, not sure if it took yet. (1416 Macdonald)   Saturday, June 18 View Page Cold and rainy today   Sunday, June 19 View Page Not sure if pollination took... Hope so   Monday, June 20 View Page Sunny today   Wednesday, June 22 View Page This is my best grower, it's off a secondary vine and is about the size of a baseball or slightly larger.   Thursday, June 23 View Page Secondary vine and one leaf are in the way. I will have to get some advice on this…   Saturday, June 25 View Page Buried the rest of my vines, except the ones nearest my pumpkins   Tuesday, June 28 View Page Almost the size of a volley ball 3 secondary (1416 Macdonald)   Friday, July 1 View Page This ones growing good, it's amazing to me   Saturday, July 2 View Page Muggy then cool....no hot temps here. I have 4 pollinated pumpkins - One on third secondary about basketball size growing well - One at 13' growing very slowly ...going to cull it eventually ...I think - One at 16' (small) but growing fairly quick in the past few days - One on the 12th secondary ..pollinated yesterday. 1416 macdonald   Sunday, July 3 View Page Foliar fed the leaves on my giant pumpkin plant. I used 20 20 20 fertilizer, A bit watered down. Next time I think I'll change up and feed the leaves a soluble seaweed mix. Just experimenting as I am new to foliar feeding ~ also sprinkled some 0-0-50 potash around to hopefully beef up my pumpkins~ 1416 MacDonald   Monday, July 4 View Page Larger pumpkin is on the third secondary, smaller on is at 16' on the main. I have a feeling the smaller one on the main vine is going to outgrow the larger pumpkin.   Thursday, July 7 View Page Replaced 1x4 the pumpkin was siting on with styrofoam insulation, also cut the roots at the bottom of 3 leaf stems so they weren't pulling on the pumpkin. Now if the weather would warm up ...lol. I used an app to estimate the weight, and it comes in at about 48 pounds so far   Friday, July 8 View Page Super windy and cold for July, feels likes mid October or November. Pumpkin gained only a pound overnight, hopefully it warms up some.   Saturday, July 9 View Page This little pumpkin gained a whopping 1 pound overnight and is now 5 pounds! ...only 2,000 to go ;-)   Sunday, July 10 View Page Gained 4 pounds in 24hrs (60 pounds) ..weather is still chilly ...wish it would warm up! Very unseasonal :/ My 5 pounder at 16' on the main vine gained 2 pounds last night ..now 7 pounds- (1416 MacDonald)   Monday, July 11 View Page Bigger Pumpkin Gained 3 pounds last night -63 pounds - my 7 pounder did the same, now at 10 pounds. Sure could use some real July weather.   Tuesday, July 12 View Page This pumpkin tapes to about 10 pounds, gaining a few pounds a day. Odd shaped though, roundish one one side and sort of flat on the opposite side......I don't know what to make of it - Maybe it'll straighten it self out when it peeks at 2,500 pounds- lol   Wednesday, July 13 View Page Wow this odd shaped one is putting on good weight considering the bad weather we've been having.. Gained 5 pounds in 24hrs, now 15 pounds   Thursday, July 14 View Page 73 pounds (1416 Macdonald)   Friday, July 15 View Page Not very symmetrical but it's putting on weight still. It gained 3 pounds overnight...22 pounds today.   Saturday, July 16 View Page Bigger one gained 4 pounds overnight and is now 82 pounds. The smaller one gained 5 pounds overnight and is now 27 pounds. I think the smaller one is going to outgrow the bigger one because it's on the main vine at about 16 feet, and the bigger one is on a 3rd secondary   Sunday, July 17 View Page This one gain 5 pounds .. Now 32 lbs Bigger one only gained 3 pounds today, sitting at 85 pounds.   Monday, July 18 View Page Small pumpkin gain 5 pounds overnight and is now 37 pounds, bigger one in picture gained 5 pounds and is now 90 pounds. Slow but sure :)   Tuesday, July 19 View Page The last four days this pumpkin has gained 5 pounds per day. Now sitting at 43 pounds.   Wednesday, July 20 View Page Taped to 96 pounds. Small weight gains :/ Smallest one gained 6 pounds today and weighs 49 :-)   Thursday, July 21 View Page My bigger pumpkin has all but stopped growing and my smaller one has what looks like a crack in it...ugh You can't see the crack in the picture. It's an odd shaped pumpkin that I would normally have culled .. One in picture tapes to 55 lbs ...bigger one tapes to 98   Friday, July 22 View Page Gain 6 pounds over night , now 61 lbs. bigger one gained only 2 lbs...now it's 100lbs. Not sure why the gains for the larger one have drooped off so much ....   Saturday, July 23 View Page Gain of 9 lbs ..tapes this evening to 70lbs   Sunday, July 24 View Page 8 pound gain today - 78lbs   Monday, July 25 View Page Another 8 pound gain day. 86 pounds. (1416 McDonald)   Tuesday, July 26 View Page Gained est 9 pounds since yesterday (95) 1416 Macdonald   Wednesday, July 27 View Page 9 pound gain overnight. 104 pounds. (1416 MacDonald)   Thursday, July 28 View Page Another 9 pound gain- 113lbs   Friday, July 29 View Page Gained 10 last night - 123lbs   Saturday, July 30 View Page Tapes to 135lbs .. a 12 pound gain overnight   Sunday, July 31 View Page Est 145lbs - gained 10 last night   Monday, August 1 View Page Taped @ 156lbs   Tuesday, August 2 View Page 10 pound gain- now 166lbs   Wednesday, August 3 View Page Gained another 10 pounds overnight. 176 pounds   Thursday, August 4 View Page Gained 13 pounds last night, that's the most ever -189lbs - (1416 Macdonald )   Friday, August 5 View Page Another 13 pound gain. 202 pounds   Saturday, August 6 View Page 215lbs / another 13 pound gain   Sunday, August 7 View Page 11 pound gain -226 lbs (1416 McDonald)   Monday, August 8 View Page 239 today, hopefully it makes 250 tomorrow   Tuesday, August 9 View Page My goal was to grow a 250 pounder. Today's est weight is 251lbs :-)   Thursday, August 11 View Page 274 est   Friday, August 12 View Page Est 283   Saturday, August 13 View Page Est 300 pounds   Sunday, August 14 View Page I need advice on how to measure my pumpkin side to side. It's growing on an angle and difficult to measure.   Monday, August 15 View Page Marked my pumpkin with a jiffy marker so I know where to put the tape each time.   Tuesday, August 16 View Page Circumference of pumpkin is 111 3/4   Wednesday, August 17 View Page Approx 355lbs   Thursday, August 18 View Page Approx 363lbs   Friday, August 19 View Page My wife Brenda holding down the pumpkin patch. (1416 MacDonald ~ circumference -115)   Saturday, August 20 View Page Tapes to 376lbs today   Sunday, August 21 View Page Tapes to 386 lbs   Monday, August 22 View Page Tapes to 400lbs   Tuesday, August 23 View Page 409lbs est   Wednesday, August 24 View Page Evening picture. 31c today   Thursday, August 25 View Page Tapes to 423lbs   Saturday, August 27 View Page i used masking tape to keep the measuring tape parallel when measuring circumference. Today's weight 437lbs   Sunday, August 28 View Page Cold and cloudy with some showers..   Tuesday, August 30 View Page Tapes to 467lbs today   Wednesday, August 31 View Page Measured wrong yesterday, pumpkin weighs approx 458 pounds according to my pumpkin app.   Thursday, September 1 View Page Measures to 465 pounds   Friday, September 2 View Page Tapes to 473lbs   Saturday, September 3 View Page Sunny and cloudy today   Sunday, September 4 View Page Hoping pumpkin will make 500.... by oct 8 th .......35lbs to go   Tuesday, September 6 View Page Tapes to 475   Wednesday, September 7 View Page Tapes to 482 today. It's a mighty strange looking pumpkin, but it's all mine :-)   Thursday, September 8 View Page Tapes to 495 (1416 MacDonald)   Saturday, September 10 View Page Had to put another piece of insulation under the pumpkin, as it was growing off the original piece.   Wednesday, September 14 View Page Pic from the road   Sunday, September 25 View Page Measures to about 530lbs   Thursday, October 6 View Page Loaded in the truck and ready for sat morning   Saturday, October 8 View Page Got second place @ the Campbell river garden centre weighing 655lbs (125 lbs heavier than I though) :-) What a fun day!