Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 72 Entries. Tuesday, January 3 View Page 2017 desert season has begun   Friday, January 20 View Page The battle for three spots: Tunnel 3 928 Box vs 1143 Engel Tunnel 2 Two 794 Toftness plants New smaller Tunnel 1 A 513 Vincent and 1143 Engel competing for a 16x19 flag pattern spot   Thursday, February 2 View Page Team Pumpkin representative 793 Toftness, running already 2+ feet. (1000.5 Gansert, selfed) I have a smaller sample growing in the corner for extra male flowers We are at low 70's during day, 40's at night. Tunnels boost daytime heat.   Thursday, February 2 View Page 928 Box (1725 Harp, selfed) Yup, I have two tunnels with supreme orange genetics, sacrificed the third tunnel for a big and ugly...what the heck. Running about 2+feet. Growing season in the desert lasts for another 3 months....lets see if we can break 5 or 600lb in a remote, no electricity or supplemental heat/cables, patch   Thursday, February 2 View Page Small Tunnel a bit behind....on top: 1143 Engel is running, but skinny (359 Foss x 1374 Engel). Bottom of picture: 513.5 Vincent is stocky and not running yet (1059 V/M x 1161offspring)....both awesome orange genetics   Saturday, February 11 View Page 928 Box today, 80f last two days... secondaries starting to fire off the sides....I foresee hands and knees work in my future!   Saturday, February 11 View Page Here's the 793 Toftness today, also pushing secondaries. This is the second year I have had a double vine in this plot...taking what I learned last year, I pinched part of the growing tip to change it back to single vine. Obvious soil balance issue, no time for soil testing this year.   Saturday, February 11 View Page Final, smaller flag pattern tunnel will be 513.5 Vincent, 1143 Engel was just as good, if not better, but I went with my gut today and made the cull. This small tunnel collapsed earlier in the wind, burned some leaves as I rebuilt it...new growth looks good.   Saturday, February 25 View Page Took a couple picts on Saturday, both main plants were in need of secondary vine burying..   Saturday, February 25 View Page About 3 ft before it has to turn, tunnel is 20ft wide, female just showing at 14 ft on the tip, pulled a few already off the secondaries. Think I need a bit of magnesium...   Saturday, February 25 View Page Here's the Toftness, battling double vine, think it may have pulled out of it 6 inches from second main vine female, I even cut a piece out of part of the double and it continued double....mother nature does what she wants...Nice plant, again needs to start to turn.   Monday, February 27 View Page My 513 Vincent is plugging away in the smaller flag pattern tunnel, prob about 5 ft, leaves look good, taking it's sweet time, after a rough beginning. I'm off to Rome for a week on Saturday, DeanAZ across the path will keep an eye on things, I'll do the same for him later in the month.   Saturday, March 4 View Page Heading to Rome for a week, Just as first females are ready! Deanaz will have to manage for me...lit a candle for the fish and kelp gods to protect my plants while I'm gone. Back in 7 days, tunnels being left wide open, fertigation set, fingers crossed!   Saturday, March 4 View Page Night shot of the Toftness, female bud at 14ft and starting to turn both this and the Box, which also had bud at 14. Wed,Thurs ,Fri in the high 80s....time for fruit production.   Wednesday, March 8 View Page 793 Toftness selfed by ron while I was away. About 14 ft   Thursday, March 9 View Page Here I am in Rome, on a patch tour...I flew all the way here for this? Special thanks to Ron for pollinating the Toftness plant today back home!   Thursday, March 9 View Page 928 Box pollinated last Thursday 9th about 15 ft (Thanks Ron!)   Sunday, March 12 View Page Toftness on Sunday 12th...Phew! that bad dream I had in Italy was just a dream.   Sunday, March 12 View Page Box on Sunday 12th, turning plant at about 14 ft, first female at that point.   Tuesday, March 14 View Page Box selfed #2 on Tues 14th   Tuesday, March 14 View Page Toftness Bouquet on Tues 14th   Tuesday, March 14 View Page Selfing #2 on Toftness Tuesday from the "bouquet"   Wednesday, March 15 View Page Finally on the Vincent, about 10 feet   Friday, March 17 View Page (Other pictures posted via phone app not showing up...I'll try tomorrow)   Saturday, March 18 View Page Toftness secondary about 10ft up the vine "drilling for water"   Sunday, March 19 View Page Upskirt shot of Box plant today....ya, I said it...   Sunday, March 19 View Page 793 Toftness #1 Starting to grow a bit....best plant in best plot   Sunday, March 19 View Page 793 with ribs already! About 10 dap...they always start slow for me...   Thursday, March 23 View Page #1 Toftness went dull on me, next in line about 15ft looks good. Pollinated two more down line this am for good measure, this is #3   Thursday, March 23 View Page This is #4 Toftness selfed today   Saturday, March 25 View Page Beefsteak and Big Beef tomato plants in front of small tunnel #1 in full bloom...... fire up the bacon!.... sorry getting ahead of myself...   Saturday, March 25 View Page Flag pattern Vincent plant doing better...   Saturday, March 25 View Page 513 Vincent #2, on main vine about 12 ft?   Saturday, March 25 View Page Toftness Plant pretty much complete in 20x26 patch....   Saturday, March 25 View Page 793 Toftness #2, #1 went dull on me last week, this is about 20 ft out at the turn   Saturday, March 25 View Page 928 Box plant in tunnel 3 about complete also....this patch was deep tilled and not as good as #2 Toftness patch.....plant is a bit brittle...obviously unbalanced soil issues this year.   Saturday, March 25 View Page Box #2   Saturday, March 25 View Page 928 Box #1.....(watch date is wrong).....we weigh in about 60 days....this weekend I may be doing the final cull.....not alot of time to waste, judging which is growing fastest in the desert, , unfortunately...we start to hit 100 in mid May usually...   Friday, March 31 View Page 793 Toftness about 30" circ....younger one about 2 feet down the vine, maybe 12"....time to cull or cut bait? Gently slid the plywood under this baby...Avoiding the oh sh?t moment next weekend when it's too big ;). And I'm encouraged it decided to set next to the pvc pipe...only the good ones set in inconvenient spots...   Friday, March 31 View Page Box #1, only about 20", second about 15"   Friday, March 31 View Page Vincent #2, may be the keeper, although #1 looks about the same size.   Friday, March 31 View Page Vincent #2 ..looks yellower than the picture shows, great round shape...26.5 circ   Friday, March 31 View Page Vincent #1, about 2 ft closer towards the stump....both look about the same great round shape(2 inches smaller, at 24.5 circ.)   Tuesday, April 4 View Page Well...Box kin #1 & # 2 went soft...20x26 plant with no fruit....frantically pollinated a female on a tertiary, 2 days out there is one on one of the first secondaries, and there is a pea at the tip about 23ft...Vincent and Toftness are doing well, made. 3/4 cut in the culls...no time to waste   Saturday, April 8 View Page Team Pumpkin Presents.....   Saturday, April 8 View Page Toftness 25 DAP 127 OTT Plot full...I have a nightstick close by In case the growing tip attacks when I enter the tunnel!   Saturday, April 8 View Page Toftness....kinda looks like a cinderella   Saturday, April 8 View Page Topside...could be shoulder issues...why make it easy?   Saturday, April 8 View Page And, the backside.....Nice color...orange...yes...big....?   Saturday, April 8 View Page Vincent 24 DAP OTT 121.5 She had a twin two days ago, made the final cut and this jumped 7" circumference in 2 days! 8 days ago 26.5 C. This morning 48.4. Great shape, great color, great skin...wonder why? (1059 V/M mother)   Saturday, April 8 View Page Looks so smooth, like it's been photo shopped....   Saturday, April 8 View Page The business end   Saturday, April 8 View Page The rear end... This plant is in the smaller plot growing flag pattern, was delayed from storm damage, coming on strong....just filled the patch...yup, I just gently slid some plywood and sand under her.   Saturday, April 8 View Page DeanAZ? Oh, he's over there across the garden path...got a BIG squash going...and some big ones coming on strong...He feeds me an occasional morsel of info he gets from "The Great One" if I keep in line....we had some of the local gang that are as crazy as us tour our plots today, I couldn't make it....that darn family getting in the way.   Saturday, April 15 View Page I win! I win! First split of the season! Damn it...on my best plant 793 Toftness...I noticed the blossom end looked like it was narrowing, stopped growing...so I'm down from 3 plants, to one flag pattern plant...   Saturday, April 15 View Page So maybe some corn and alfalfa to pull excess nutes/potassium out of those plots...crap....   Saturday, April 22 View Page Need some advice. This skin split happened a week ago about 1/4" deep, I packed it with sulfur. I still have another decent plant/kin growing. Is there any hope with this for the next 30 days or am I wasting time and water, should I just pull it?   Saturday, April 29 View Page The last remaining healthy pumpkin. On Saturday morning...I'm thinking about 230lb with 28 days till weighoff...and maybe hit 100f next week....513 Vincent   Tuesday, May 2 View Page I'm making lemonade out of lemons. I brought the old stihl blower sprayer I bot and rebuilt a few years ago out and practiced on my plant with the slow/cracked skin...took about 47 pulls to get the old gas worked out but then it ran and idled like new.   Thursday, May 4 View Page My other "lemonaideout of lemons" was to plant short season sweet corn in the plot that I had removed a pumpkin plant that wouldn't set last month. Deadens the pain to have corn seedlings occupying the failed patch.   Saturday, May 6 View Page Vincent plant....this was the grow for color small plot and now it's the only contestant left in contention....20 days left....500lb in the desert eludes me again....but always a "looker" going to the scales, hopefully   Saturday, May 6 View Page Like any good prospect in my patch, the set always happens near a piece of structure....amount a 1/2 inch away and closing   Saturday, May 6 View Page Ok, bent the t bar temporarily out of the way....buys me a couple days then the 2x4   Saturday, May 6 View Page Patch spy satellite shot.....   Saturday, May 13 View Page Well, my last pumpkin had two weeks before the spring weighoff and I see this yesterday!   Saturday, May 13 View Page It almost looks like sunburn. But kin is covered. Push the white skin and it leaves a mark! Crap! disheartening! One plant kept aborting, pulled, one splits but still alive, but not very big, and now this...   Saturday, May 13 View Page Picture after scraping away the skin, toothbrushing the areas with peroxide and drying with towel...after this I dusted with sulpher and set up battery operated fan (remote site) set up....I think I'm screwed....   Monday, May 15 View Page Stem separating a bit..took more pressure off stem...dusted all new splitting areas with sulfur....if I don't post again, you'll know why, very light watering now to try and hold together....   Wednesday, May 24 View Page Here is the sad tale of my Vincent pumpkin that was a showpiece May 6, three weeks before spring weighoff. Multiple splits 1" deep all around...cant believe it hasn't gone through yet...but This Friday's cut and lift will most likely seal its fate...   Saturday, May 27 View Page Forgot to post pictures of disappointing spring weigh off. On left 262.5 that cracked month and a half before weigh off, from 793 Toftness. On right 305.5 DMG that developed a softspot 2 weeks before weighoff, from a 513.5 Vincent....held on until weigh off morning, but developed a pin hole.   Saturday, May 27 View Page Here is Ron Watkins, first place at the spring weighoff, 479 lbs, just missed the state record in his second year! He later donated it to the Phoenix Zoo, to entertain and feed the elephants!   Saturday, May 27 View Page Here was the spring weighoff line up, Ron's on left, Deans squash and pumpkin next, my two, and one of our new members Sonny's