Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 61 Entries. Sunday, April 16 View Page This years line up. Going to have five keepers. Planning on growing an 1844.5 Holub Squash, 1408, Zappa, 1805.5 Zappa, 2066 Geddes, and the rest are up in the air. Plans can always change. Best of luck to all and Happy Easter !   Wednesday, April 26 View Page I had two of my 1408's in for around 1 1/2 weeks. I noticed a few days ago that they were not growing very good since putting them outside, even though the weather has been pretty good. I saw some wilting the past two days and suspected that maybe corn seed maggots or possibly a faulty heating cable. They soil temp checked out good yesterday. This morning they were both laying down. I dug them out and right at the soil line were the maggots ! Very small but you can see a few in the stalk. I had a backup in a larger pot that I put in today with the rest of my line up. I drenched all seedlings while in the pot still with merit and when planted they got a dose of spectracide, plus a dusting of seven in the hole, and lastly they all got plastic collars around the stalks. I have criterion ( merit) spread in the hoops when i assembled them, but i may have forgot that hoop. I did not water it in either and that is what i am going to do now. Hopefully , they are under control now.   Monday, June 5 View Page All back ups were cut out a few days ago. Final line up is : 1408 Zappa 1805.5 Zappa 2008 Neptune 2066 Geddes 1844.5 Holub squash   Sunday, June 18 View Page Happy fathers day to all the Dads !! We had a nasty storm here this afternoon. Strong winds, maybe a micro burst. Damage was very minimal luckily. Only a few broken leaf stems on my 1408 , ( in this pic ) and on my 1805.5 in the next pic. I spent almost 2 hrs this morning preparing and readjusting my silt fence incase of a bad one. The fencs took a hard hit, but did their job. I had to fix some of them after the storm. Too much N in the soil for this plant. Cobras won't settle down.   Sunday, June 18 View Page Some of the stakes broke, fences was flopping and flipping but no vines were damged. This is my 1805.5 , doing very good. Very good growth the past week with the warm weather. Also, I dont appear to have any leaf burn on any of my plants from last week which is very odd.   Sunday, June 18 View Page 2066 Geddes, my most aggressive grower this year. Should have the first pollination on this plant this week.   Sunday, June 18 View Page 1844.5 Holub squash, doing ok. Deffinately green baby's, as they should be. Still need to take down the conduit down.   Sunday, June 18 View Page Not pictured is a 2008 Neptune. It's doing just fine. Starting an S bend, probably 5 days or more for this one.   Monday, June 19 View Page I had to share this fathers day card that my wife got me.   Wednesday, June 21 View Page Pollinated today , June 21st, the 2066 Geddes x 1805.5 Zappa, 15 feet out on main, perfect 5 lobe, Cool morning. 7 secondaries on each side behind pumpkin.   Wednesday, June 21 View Page Very early in the year for problems, but I may be having some. I noticed small yellow dots on some of my leaves. They seem to only be on newer, small leaves. My guess s downey mildew possibly. I sprayed eagle this morning. About the only fungicide I have not sprayed yet is copper, which will get sprayed tomorrow.   Saturday, June 24 View Page Pollinated 2008 Neptune x 2066 Geddes. Nice 5 lobe at 12 ft out on main.   Sunday, June 25 View Page Pollinated the 2nd one on the 2066 Geddes x 1805.5 Zappa. Nice 5 lobe at 16 foot. Big plant behind both pumpkins. Also, 1408 Zappa x 2066 Geddes. 1st one on main vine. Nice 4 lobe at 13 foot.   Monday, June 26 View Page I normally don't post pics of female flowers, but this one is a little rare for me. Must have been a birthday surprise for me, lol. Pollinated 1805.5 Zappa x 2066 Geddes this morning, June 26. Perfect 6 lobe at 12.5 feet out.   Monday, June 26 View Page This is my 1805.5 Zappa , which is doing pretty good.   Monday, June 26 View Page 2066 Geddes plant with 2 pollinations. My biggest plant this year by far.   Monday, June 26 View Page This is my 1408 plant. Too much nitrogen in this plant, all the vine tips are like king cobras. Also, some of the secondaries are not growing.   Monday, June 26 View Page Up front is the 2008 Neptune, back left is the 1844.5 Holub Squash, and back right is the 2066 Geddes. 4 inches of rain last week has compacted my soil some.   Monday, June 26 View Page Melons are doing good. Only got 1 pollinated. Not sseing many female blossoms yet.   Wednesday, June 28 View Page Another 6 lobe. Pollinated the 1844.5 Holub squash x self, at 15 foot out.   Thursday, June 29 View Page Pollinated another melon on the 239 Leonard plant this morning, June 29th. Open pollination.   Friday, June 30 View Page This morning, June 30th, Poll 2008 Neptune x 2066 Geddes # 2 on main vine. Pol 1408 Zappa x open, # 2 on main. 5 lobe. This one had a short flower and was green yesterday, but was half open when I went out this morning. Poll 208.5 Zappa melon x open.   Saturday, July 1 View Page 2.5 inches of rain in the past 24 hrs. Patch is a soggy mess again.   Saturday, July 1 View Page Poll 1805.5 Zappa x 2066 Geddes, #2 on mian vine. Slightly deformed 4 lobe and a few seeds in blossom. Poll my 208.5 Zappa melon x open, on main vine around 12.5 feet out. Females are starting to show.   Saturday, July 1 View Page Pretty sure I figured out where the yellow dots on leaves are coming from. This is only happening after a big rain event. When the vine tips are covered in mud, something in my soil attacks the baby leaves. Possibly fertilizer of something else in the soil. From now on, I am trying to spray the mud off with a spray bottle. It does not seem to hurt the plant, just looks bad.   Friday, July 14 View Page day 20 for 239 Leonard today, 109.5" for around 40 lbs. day 20 for 2008 Neptune today, c=65.5, 153.5 ott, nothing spectacular. day 23 for 2066 Geddes, did not measure but VERY impressive. Day 25 for squash, did not measure but still growing ok, plant has suffered from being too wet at bottom of patch. 1805.5 Zappa is doing very good, did not measure yet, Sunday is day 20. going to be a low pumpkin like mama was. 1408 fruit has aborted. Trying to get one set anywhere. have another one set on the main.   Friday, August 4 View Page 1408 Zappa plant and fruit. Main vine kept aborting and giving very high wheel like fruits. Had to settle for a side vine . Day 24, not impressive at all. I think I will wait until day 30 to measure. I tossed some N,P and kmag under the canopy of all the plants, and they have responded very well. Plant growth greeened up and is growing better. The warmer temps this week have helped the gains go up some. Last week was bad with the cooler weather, and my watering neglect. Patch is moist again with waterings and rain this week, and with the humidity, i now have two fans going. Stumps are holding on still.   Friday, August 4 View Page 1805.5 Zappa, seems to be packing on pounds this week. Did not measure today. Day 40 is tomorrow, maybe i will post some numbers.   Friday, August 4 View Page 2008 Neptune, growing well. I taped today at day 41. 306", around 661#. Around 30 a day. Not great numbers. I should be recieving my tissue test results today, so hopefully i can get them back on track.   Friday, August 4 View Page 2066 Geddes, had a bad week last week for numbers for this one. Day 25-35 was fantastic for gains, then the weather cooled, soil got a tad too dry( my fault ), and we will see about the nutriets later today with test results. It should be around 950 lbs or better now. Nice looking pumpkin. I pulled some soil away from the stump to expose the entire stump. It seemed a little too wet a few days ago. I cant tell if its leaking or not, so I will keep a close eye on it.   Friday, August 4 View Page 1844.5 Hulob squash, no complaints, except i wish i had planted this in a dryer spot. I lost a mess of vines near the squash and beyond, when it sat in standing water for several days. The plant shut down for about a week, aborted my chosen fruit and a few after that one. This was the first pollination, and I had no intention of keeping it. The vine was never set up, but I am making it work. Considering the poor conditions, this fruit is doing great. Day 46 today, 315", around 720 pounds. Getting darker green now, and skin is very smooth still.   Sunday, August 6 View Page 1408- day 26 sidevine, 201", 189# 1805.5- day 41, 314.5", 717#, 26 per day for week. 2008- day 43, 314", 714#, 29.6 per day for week. 2066- day 46, 351.5", 990#, 27.6 per day for week. 1844.5- day 48, 319", 748#, 20.4 per day for week. Melons: 239 Leonard day 43, 118#, 3.4# per day last 8 days. 208.5 Zappa day 37, 98 pounds, 3.25 per day last 8 days.   Saturday, August 12 View Page I have no idea how old it is, but this one is my best this season. I have grown a 26" circ in the past from a Brutus magnum. This is from the big zac line, my own seed the 5.28 Zappa. It is still hard so i hope it grows another inch or two.   Friday, August 18 View Page I had this one officially weighed this morning. The circumference was smaller when i measured it on my table, around 26 3/8". So, it weighed less than i was hoping for. Still, this is a personal best by far. Paul, your record is safe, atleast from me this year :)   Friday, August 18 View Page Top view   Friday, August 18 View Page Next pic will be the scale.   Friday, August 18 View Page 6.13 , official. Some day, i need to put some effort into these, lol. They got some drip feedings and fungicide sprays, but that is all. This will most likely be my biggest for this season.   Friday, August 18 View Page Here is the pic that did not show in an earlier post of my 6.13. It was grown from my 5.28 Zappa seed which was originally a Brutus magnum. I have had very good luck with them.   Monday, August 28 View Page Weighed my last one. Much hevier than i thought it would be.   Monday, August 28 View Page One more   Monday, August 28 View Page Last photo of it. 5.60 Zappa, open pol. Grown from the 5.30 MacCoy, big zac i believe.   Monday, August 28 View Page 2066 Geddes. Nice color and shape.   Monday, August 28 View Page 2066 Geddes, has been problem free so far.   Tuesday, September 19 View Page This is my 208.5 melon plant, still decently healthy.   Tuesday, September 19 View Page 208.5 fruit. Pretty good size , taping around 180ish pounds.   Tuesday, September 19 View Page Head on pic of it. Has a flat top so she may go light.   Tuesday, September 19 View Page This melon is bigger and is getting closer to the State record every day. It does not have a flat top, so i am hopeful :)   Tuesday, September 19 View Page But, the plant is slowly going down. This is the 237 Leonard plant that my bigger one is on. I was rather impressed that both of my melons got to this size considering how cool the summer was.   Tuesday, September 19 View Page This is the 1805.5 zappa plant with pumpkin still attached and growing. She got a blossom end pin hole 3 weeks ago. I put caulking on it to hopefully keep from rotting , so that i can give it to a local pumpkin stand to display, and let the kids have fun with it. I am happy to see it still growing. He is coming over to pick it up. I will weigh it first as i am curious to see if it is heavy to chart. I pollinated it with the 2066 Geddes. It looks very similar to the 1805.5 in color and shape. It was a very good grower.   Tuesday, September 19 View Page Side pic of the 1805.5 fruit.   Tuesday, September 19 View Page 2066 Geddes fruit, still doing very good. Very pleased with this seed. Nice color, shape and size considering my weather. No issues with plant at all. Pollinated with my 1805.5.   Sunday, September 24 View Page My bigger melon, the 237 Leonard, with Sophia posing with it for me. Growth is nearly finished, over 200 pounds.   Sunday, September 24 View Page 2066 Geddes. Pretty sure i have a mouse underneath it. Traps and snickers going out tonight. Growth is hanging in there, 5 pounds a day last week.   Sunday, September 24 View Page One more.   Monday, October 16 View Page A pre harvest pic of the 2066 Geddes.   Monday, October 16 View Page Side view . Very good shape over all. Great plant all season. May grow another one next year. This one could have definately been a lot bigger without my mistakes, and the cool August.   Monday, October 16 View Page Weigh off time. My son Derrik posing with his new PA record sunflower head of 28.5 inches !   Monday, October 16 View Page Derrik with his hardware.   Monday, October 16 View Page A very big surprise to beat my old melon record. This was grown from a 239 Leonard seed. We had a very cold August and Aphids hammered the plant the last month. No plant left the past two weeks. Never hit 4 pounds a day either, so I was extremely happy with what this melon weighed. Est was 208#, actual weight was 210.5 #. My son Derrik was a huge help this summer with covering the melons and pumpkins at night since late July till the end.   Monday, October 16 View Page The scale may be cut off in the pic. Snuck into 10th place. 1671 Zappa 2017 ( about 3 % heavy ) Cross, 2066 Geddes x 1805.5 Zappa   Monday, October 16 View Page Lets try this again. This is for the last post.