Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 105 Entries. Friday, January 13 View Page First Diary Entry! I will be growing 2 plants this year. The 2,230.5 Wallace (2009 Wallace x 1916 Barron) and the 2,261 Wallace (2009 Wallace x 1790 Wallace). I have two separate patches, this one pictured is roughly 1,000 square feet and receives roughly 10 hours of sun a day. While the other patch is about 400 square feet and receives around 7 hours of sun during the peak of the summer.   Friday, January 13 View Page Here is the view of my smaller size patch,Like I said this patch receives 7 hours of sun although you cant tell because this picture was taken in the fall when the sun is lower in the sky behind the neighbors trees. This picture was taken after I finished adding my fall amendments. I feel the a smaller amount of sun in this patch will be more helpful than bad. It can easily reach a real feel temp of over 100 degrees for days and transpiration can be a problem causing droopy leaves during the heat of the day. I have overhead misting system that will be in place and 30% shade cloth will be put over both patches   Friday, January 13 View Page Fall soil test of 1000 square foot patch. I really need to work on the organic matter level and the pH. I’ve been adding huge amounts of yard waste compost yearly and its taking it time to go up. I hear tilling soil lowers organic matter levels, so I will reduce tilling to twice a year.   Friday, January 13 View Page Fall soil test of smaller Patch. It’s Loam :) but the ph :(   Friday, January 13 View Page From where I started the soil is a lot better in texture. It’s not heavy clay. It drains better and has a lot higher nutrient values than when I first started. Almost every macro nutrient was very low and calcium 500 ppm. Now it’s better I just want to get that nitrogen up, it’s been a constant problem every year.   Friday, January 13 View Page For anyone that has puddling problems in there patch use perlite, it’s amazing what it can do! The soil will resist compaction, it will drain like potting soil and it’s cheap! Just check your local hydro store for chunky perlite I added 1 cubic yard for every 1000 square feet.   Friday, January 13 View Page Here’s what I did after taking my soil sample this fall. I planted Mighty Mustard Trifecta Blend and was able to get it 2 feet tall before the first frost came. I mowed it down and chopped it up fine with a lawn mower. I added the perlite like mentioned above, coconut coir, vermiculite, 1 yard of very well composted chicken manure for every 1000 square feet and huge amounts of shredded leaves. I know some are against adding uncomposted leaves to your patch, but it works well for me in my soil. In the spring they are completely gone, and the soil is full of worms, I added 16 lbs. of elemental sulfur to the 1000 square foot patch with a ph of 7.6, and 7 lbs. of elemental sulfur for the 400 square foot patch at a ph of 7.8. Let’s hope is down by spring. All of this was followed with a deep till.   Friday, January 13 View Page I’d also like to mention this will be my third year growing. My first year weighed 420.5 lbs and was grown in poor soil and the plant was not big and thriving. Last year I was lucky to get anything to the scale and only made it to 300.5 lbs. this was due to ribbon vines and stump rot. Every side vine decided to terminate themselves in this bundle of flowers and I lost the stump mid-season due to rot. This year I am mounding the stump up and using a cover starting in June. Strangely enough after taking seeds out of my 300 pounder and germinating a couple. One grew 4 cot leaves, the other one grew a ribbon vine instead of a first true leaf. This leads me to say the ribbon vines had something to do with genetics. Attached is a picture of the ribbon vines/flower vines last year from one of the secondary’s.   Friday, January 13 View Page Besides Giant pumpkins I will also grow Giant tomatoes, tall sunflowers, field pumpkin, and sunflowers for head diameter. Last year was my first try at a giant tomato.   Tuesday, February 7 View Page Here was the picture of the main patch. For some reason it didnt post   Tuesday, February 7 View Page Here is a glimpse of some of the products I will be using.   Tuesday, February 7 View Page Closer views   Tuesday, February 7 View Page Closer views   Tuesday, February 7 View Page ....   Tuesday, February 7 View Page Was busy the last couple of days. It was in the high 50s and I took advantage by getting a head start on some patch assignments. Got the shade cloth hung and the fogging system almost done. After fighting the heat for 2 years I feel this will be a better way to go   Tuesday, February 7 View Page Here is another view, I'm not the best at hanging it, I had to pull it tight down the sides. I used 1" conduit as post. It's holding strongly   Tuesday, February 7 View Page View of foggers from dripworks, this year I'm switching to overhead misting. Putting them on risers was impractical due to how high the leaves got   Tuesday, February 7 View Page This year I'm switching to T5 grow lights. My old set up worked great, I want to see if I can get an more aggressive plant before setting in the patch. These old lights will be out within the next couple of days   Tuesday, February 7 View Page Here is a pic of the germination chamber. It's controlled by a thermostat, I usually aim between 85 to 87 degrees   Tuesday, February 7 View Page Here's is a picture of the ez flow I will be using. I have one for each zone   Tuesday, February 7 View Page The past 2 years I was relying on 2 gallon pump hand sprayer. I just got this battery powered sprayer. I have connected it to a gas powered leaf blower. Works just a sthil blower!   Friday, March 3 View Page Last weekended I added 5 yards of compost per 1000 square feet, I added more perlite, and turned over the patch to a depth of 12 inches. Today I am sowing winter rye, its suppose to be above freezing for the next couple of days. I added extreme gardening Mykos to the winter rye. Now I'm going to water in.going to take a soil test towards the end of march. I want to let everything sink in so I don't get off the chart numbers that would be artificially high   Friday, March 3 View Page Here is bigger patch, getting more worms as the soil is gradually warming up.its been an unusual warm winter. Got the foggers set up on both patches   Friday, March 3 View Page Here is the foggers!   Friday, March 3 View Page This is my first year making planting mounds. Im not sure if this is how most do it. I'm thinking off flattening them out slightly   Friday, March 3 View Page New T5 light, with test germ seeds under. They just popped out this morning   Friday, March 3 View Page ....   Friday, March 3 View Page I want to try to get a better picture of the mounds, hard to get on camera   Friday, March 3 View Page Next project is too construct two of these hoop houses, I'm using 6mil plastic after hail nearly collapsed 4 mil last year   Friday, March 3 View Page Good results back for giant field pumpkins!!!' I still need to check the ratios, looks close   Tuesday, March 21 View Page Testing make shift sthil blower   Tuesday, March 21 View Page ...   Tuesday, March 21 View Page ...   Tuesday, March 21 View Page ...   Tuesday, March 21 View Page ...   Tuesday, March 21 View Page It works perfect:)   Tuesday, March 21 View Page Winter rye is coming in!   Tuesday, March 21 View Page Didn't think it was going to make it. After sowing it the weather decided to take a spiral in the mid teens. We're in a warm spurt again. Only 3 days old!   Tuesday, March 21 View Page Soil samples to be sent out this week   Wednesday, April 5 View Page Received my soil test results back a week ago, surprisingly Most nutrients came pretty low across the board. Going to work on lowering this ph, ever since i added Lime in my first year of growing to raise my PH, there has been a decent percent of free Lime in my soil. I'm not expecting it to lower into the 7's, but by adding elemental sulfur it will keep ph from going any higher. At this point nutrient values are locked up so John From western Labs Advised me to use chelated nutrients in season, and I will be taking a tissue test some time mid season to know what my plant is taken in. John advised me to add more than the standard recommendations to the patch for micro nutrients, Here Is What I am adding per 1000 Square feet in my main patch: 20 Lbs Elemental Sulfur 35 lbs of cotton seed meal 10.1 lbs of 0-0-50 22 lbs of Epson salt 4.6 lbs of Ammonium Nitrate 30 lbs of Kelp Meal 0.6 lbs of Borax 2.25 lbs of Zinc Sulfate 3.3 lbs of Iron Sulfate 0.6 lbs of Copper Sulfate 3.25 lbs of Manganese Sulfate I ran these numbers through the Soil estimator on the team pumpkin website, the estimated end values look like this Nitrogen 35.9 ppm Phosphorus 125 ppm Potassium 269 ppm Calcium 2821 ppm Magnesium 212.9 Boron 1.6 ppm Copper 3.9 ppm Manganese 23.8 Iron 27.1 Sulfur 500.6 Zinc 18.7 ppm And once I get the plant growing it will probably drain the nutrients in a month. a lot of trickle feeding this year!   Wednesday, April 5 View Page Smaller patch soil test, pretty much the same story, not as high of a ph. Calculations For 1000 sq ft, its only 350 sq ft so I need to do some math: 10 lbs of Elemental Sulfur 10 lbs of K Mag 28.1 lbs of 0-0-50 4.5 lbs of blood meal 25 lbs of Cotton seed meal 4.9 lbs of Ammonium Sulfate 1.5 lbs of super Phosphate 15 lbs of Kelp Meal 0.35 lbs of Borax 0.6 lbs of Copper 2.95 lbs of Manganese Sulfate 1.5 lbs of Zinc Sulfate Estimate of end result: Nitrogen 37.8 ppm Phosphorus 128.2 Potassium 357.3 Calcium 2494 ppm Magnesium 163.9 Boron 1.1 ppm Copper 4.3 ppm Manganese 23.5 ppm Iron 25 ppm Sulfur 281.9 ppm Zinc 15.9 ppm Might have problems with magnesium this year being so low, I might include Epsom Salts in a regular feeding schedule to avoid a deficiency. For all of you taking soil samples: Don't use Galvanized shovels to take a sample, it will make you zinc look super high, you can compare the zinc from last falls soil test to now, there is a big difference   Wednesday, April 5 View Page Going to start seeds April 13th, I changed the line up to the 2261 Wallace and the 2624 willjiems. Both will be reversed cross with each other. The most aggressive seedling will go into the bigger patch, and the least aggressive will go into the smaller patch. Hoping to get a huge forest of leaves before fruit set, looking at previous years plants they were very deficient in Nitrogen   Wednesday, April 5 View Page Got walking board made, still have a lot to do including hoop houses, soil heating cables, digging the stump sites up, tightening up the shade cloth, finish the fogging system, installing drip tape, and tilling under the winter rye within 10 feet of the hoop houses etc... with all the heavy down pours the past couple of days it been nearly impossible to get outside for a second. A couple 10 hour days outside and I should finish in time. Lets hope the rain stops soon:)   Sunday, April 16 View Page Seed Starting Time! All are soaking in 1/2 strength seaweed and humic wow products Left to right 46.5 Ives field Pumpkin 2624 willemjins 2261 Wallace 146.5 Razo field pumpkin   Sunday, April 16 View Page Nice and cozy in the incubator   Monday, May 8 View Page All seeds ended up popping a root in 24 hours. After putting them in 2 gallon grow bags they broke the surface in 48 hours. Here is a picture of them yesterday hardening off   Monday, May 8 View Page Field pumpkins hardening off, you can see the winter rye in the background, this will all be tilled in within 2 weeks   Monday, May 8 View Page Here is a picture of the 2624 willemjins root system upon transplanting today. This is by far more aggressive than the 2261 wallace so it is going in the 1000 square ft patch   Monday, May 8 View Page And here is picture of it in its new home. Hopefully it will take off fast and keep its aggression   Monday, May 8 View Page Size comparison   Monday, May 8 View Page After a brutal 12 inches of rain, the patches are just starting to become tillable, I'm tilling the patch which will be the future home of the 2261 wallace tomorrow. All ferts went down today on that patch. I've loosened the main patch 3 feet down in the stump site and 12 inches else where and will do the same in the other patch.   Monday, May 8 View Page I did already prep both stump sites. After digging down 3 feet I installed soil heating cables, and mixed the soil dug out with 1/2 bag pro mix, 1 bag worm castings 1 bag ancient forest 2 bags ocean forest potting soil After backfilling I put a mound on the stump site. I was able to stick my whole arm down to my shoulder with out any resistance   Monday, May 8 View Page Patch view this evening   Tuesday, May 9 View Page Finished tilling for 2 weeks. After 2 weeks I will till in the remaining winter rye   Tuesday, May 9 View Page 2261 wallace is in smaller 400 square ft patch. Although the 2624 was a bigger more aggressive seedling above, the 2261 is more aggressive below. Can't wait to see how they do in the next few weeks!   Wednesday, May 24 View Page 2261 wallace update: By far the best looking plant, has thickest main, and is starting to through out secondaries. I've been feeding lots of N, and it is showing in leaf size. By far the biggest leafs I ever had, biggest being 22". I tried to get it more green in color, but I don't think pushing it with more N will be the answer, it's been a low of 50's in the morning and I don't feel the it's warm enough to get enough vigor so I'll let it play out. She gave me a hard time about laying down, but she wasn't as bad as the 2624 which has a different story   Wednesday, May 24 View Page 2261 wallace   Wednesday, May 24 View Page 2624 willemjins update: The main is 51" as of today, secondary's in their first leaf, I would say this plant is more aggressive, but I'm trying to slow it down. The leaves are getting so big they are snapping the stalks with their own weight with no wind in the closed greenhouse, luckily I just lost one leaf and the other ripped as it fell on a stake holding the main. I'm holding back on all ferts on this one, The main grew 16 " last night and I can see this one will be a salad and not a fruit pretty soon if I don't slow it down. This one would not lay its main down without a battle, she went 2.5 feet straight up and wouldn't budge in the heat of the day. I managed to get her down without any major damage. I thought she was kinked after I seen her go down abruptly as I was trying to train her down. I got really lucky and what I thought was a kink wasn't as the main bulged itself round again in a couple days. So there is no retraining a secondary, and she has not slowed down since then which was a week and a half ago! She has a baby coming in at 5 feet, I'm not pollinating that one.I probably won't do anything till 9 feet, just in case anything farther out wouldn't take. My goal is to get something 13 to 15 feet out, as I feel that will bring a big one in conjunction with everything else I'm doing.This plant has the most aggressive tap roots coming out of the leaf nodes. I will be inoculating them with marks root keeper soon. Still got to get some merit drenched, before the cucumber beetles come   Wednesday, May 24 View Page 2624 willemjins   Monday, May 29 View Page 2261 wallace is doing well. I was going way to heavy on nitrogen and the plants were wilting during the heat of the day. After backing off for a while and seeing the light green as shown, I will be back to fertilizing   Monday, May 29 View Page 2624 willemjins. Definitely want to green this plant up, but I am not sure if it's a good idea due to it wilting during the heat of the day? The main is over 6 ft long and secondaries are just popping out. Typically the secondaries are more aggressive for me. Any advice is appreciated   Tuesday, June 13 View Page 2261 wallace is doing good, my hopes and dreams for October rely on this plant for 1000 plus, leaves are huge, vines are thick, and the leaves stand almost 3 feet tall. The roots are all the way to the end of the patch and the crown is big for this time of year... what else could I ask for?   Tuesday, June 13 View Page I did end up adding 140 square ft to this patch as a last minute decision, since I don't think the 2624 has potential to make it past the 600 mark considering it contortions. I couldn't lossen the soil like I did to the rest of the patch due to the grinder down stump of a 90 ft pine tree that use to sit there, and some of its roots. Also forgot to mention this plant is tolerating the heat well, no wilting at all. I did burn a couple edges of the leaves with some ferts, but it got greened up:)   Tuesday, June 13 View Page 2624 just started throwing out secondary's last week. Lots are missing, and the ones that are there remain on the skinner side, the roots are getting more aggressive I noticed as I was burying vines, yet she is wilting BADLY during the heat of the day despite 40% shade and the foggers going off every 30 minutes for 1 minute and 30 seconds from 11 am to 5:30. Luckily she bounces back up at night. The main is super skinny and I think that has to do with not taking up enough nutrients. I feed like crazy hoping to beef her up, and I end up burning some leaves. I will just let it play out and see what she brings, won't be huge but it will be something. Luckily I got my 2261 that is doing awesome!   Tuesday, June 13 View Page This is of how the foggers work,.. pretty cool, in fact during today's 90 degree heat they cooled me off as I trained around some vines   Tuesday, June 13 View Page 2261 wallace main is 13 feet 2624 willemjins main is 15 feet   Thursday, June 29 View Page 2261 wallace pollination: 19 ft out, 5 lober Ended up selfing it with 4 males, don't care for the aggressiveness of the 2624. Next goal is to get the patch filled before 20 DAP, which will leave 396 sq ft of plant behind the kin! Now it's ice every hour till dark   Thursday, June 29 View Page 2624 pollination took place today as well. 20 ft out on a 4 lober, selfed with three males. It's a bigger plant than the 2261 but the roots are not at all aggressive.   Thursday, June 29 View Page But I do like the shape   Thursday, June 29 View Page Better view of 2624. Also need to get it to fill in   Thursday, June 29 View Page Think the pollination will take, but will find out for sure in a couple days for sure;), look at the out temp, that's inside the pumpkin cooler as I'll show you. I got to give someone credit for the idea I'm about to show you, I just don't remember where I found it? Anyway the high temp around the pumpkin was 76 and it was really 94 outside   Thursday, June 29 View Page 2 Coolers glued together with the hole cut out for the vine on the bottom, holes drilled, then load with ice. Cold air sinks to the bottom. Didn't have to reload yet and it's 4 pm   Thursday, June 29 View Page Yep still lots of ice   Monday, July 10 View Page 2261 wallace 10 dap 34.5 " CC This means nothing at this point in the game, but Day 30 is right around the corner   Monday, July 10 View Page Ain't no Howard dill contender. I promise that   Monday, July 10 View Page 2624 10 dap. 27" CC Maybe a better looker   Wednesday, July 19 View Page Day 20 2261 wallace 72 cc 47 ee 45 ss This estimates at 108 lbs according to 2017 gpc chart   Wednesday, July 19 View Page Day 20 2624 Going to be orange 39 ss 42ee 62 cc 143 inches or 69 lbs according to team pumpkin chart   Wednesday, July 19 View Page Recently Did my first Tissue Test, and I'm pretty happy with the results! A little too high on Nitrogen, so no more feedings of N for a while. Would have never thought I was That high! Otherwise looks like I dialed in with my soil test. I made the few minor adjustments the lab suggested through foliage and we will see what the next 20 days brings. Its going to be over 100 degrees in a heat wave the next couple of days, but both plants are handling the heat like a champ. No signs of stress or wilting!   Saturday, July 29 View Page 2261 wallace Had 108 degree heat that slowed the pumpkin down tremdiously. Before that heat last Saturday it was doing 30 lbs a day. It stopped completely, then gradually went back up to 15 to 20 lbs a day. Only time will tell if it will be able to recover and put on huge weight gains again. Could have easily been close to 400 lbs today. 98cc 62ss 61ee 221 inches for a estimate of 248lbs At lest I know I will beat my personal best of 420   Saturday, July 29 View Page 2624 Don't expect much from plant as it is not well rooted in. 90cc 52ss 57ee Estimates at 183 pounds   Monday, August 7 View Page Today is DAP 40 on both kins. Here is my 2261 Wallace, Growth would not recover after that heat despite some days it did some bigger gains, its been averaging about 10 lbs a day. The weather has taken a turnaround and is unusually cool. unfortunately it just wont recover. 110 CC 71.5 SS 71 EE She estimated at 370 lbs, which is only 50 lbs away to breaking my personal best which is my goal for this year. 500 lbs would be Nice! it all depends when she will really start to slow down. The leaves and crown are in good health. no signs of disease etc...   Monday, August 7 View Page ...   Monday, August 7 View Page The 2624 is putting on about 20 lbs a night and currently stands at 288 lbs. The secondaries that wouldn't come out in May decided to finally come out, which ended up causing a jungle under the canopy with endless third and fourth growth. I used a telescopic pruner and believe to got all the tips cut, but unnecessary leaves are overcrowded everywhere. Not really sure if they are helping the plant since they are not rooted in. Also had to cut the main after the kin due to stem stress. 106.5CC 60.5 SS 65EE   Sunday, August 27 View Page The 2261 is taping 290 inches or 563 pounds Cir: 133 Ee:78 Ss:79 Starting to get some promblems on the plant. Had the leaves get downy mildew, I ended up spraying heritage, and it has seemed to stop the progression. I got some of those tertiary that popped out of know where filling in where the old leaves used to be. Gains have been anywhere from 5 to 10 pounds a day I have been really diligent on keeping up on spraying, but the problem is it is now it is late summer and the yard is starting to become shaded as the sun lowers in the sky. In past years this hasn't been a problem till mid September. Which growth is no longer relevant for me I having my fingers crossed for 600 pounds and she goes heavy   Sunday, August 27 View Page The 2624 plant is not doing well. Like I mentioned above, the yard is shaded and this portion is almost always after 9 am. This led to downy mildew which ended up losing half the leaves. I have been spraying diligently, but different diseases keep on appearing. Still have enough leaves to get me through the season, but by October there probably will be nothing left Plant wise. Kin is taping 122cc 68 ss 74ee Estimates at 424 pounds   Sunday, August 27 View Page Field kin: Here is the picture of the 46.5 Ives, not sure of the cross, but remember it has some good gentics. I am growing this in a small 100 sq ft retaining wall. Plant pictured   Sunday, August 27 View Page Field kin,dap 17 50 cc 34.5 ss 36 ee Estimates at 36 pounds   Thursday, September 7 View Page   Thursday, September 7 View Page Update: patch is completely shaded, lost many leaves due to that. Gains are small, but steady. 2261 wallace - 300 inches OTT 623 on 2017 chart Or 602 on older chart   Thursday, September 7 View Page Although it was not my ideal weight range in the beginning of the season, I am thrilled. Couldn't even imagine what it would be like to have a WR in a patch. Beats my personal best of 420, and I get to use a chain hoist and tripod:)   Thursday, September 7 View Page 2624 is taping 274 inches or 475 lbs on 2017 chart. orange and unique shape. I already got about 60 improvements for next year, so 1000 here I come   Thursday, September 7 View Page Need to update above picture. She was way smaller in that one, and already posted... Feild kin on 46.5 Ives is taping 149.5 inches or 69 pounds   Saturday, October 7 View Page Just came back from republic, new personal best of 650 pounds! Weighed right on chart as the 2017 chart said 648   Saturday, October 7 View Page Lifting setup   Saturday, October 7 View Page Truck couldn't get in yard, so I found a solution   Saturday, October 7 View Page   Saturday, October 7 View Page It was safe and sound in the truck   Saturday, October 7 View Page 650 pounds of pure pumpkin   Saturday, November 4 View Page I want to conclude my diary for the year. So these will be my last entries. So the 2261 Wallace became the 650 Drozdz (2261 Wallace x self) The 2624 original plan was to get weighed at Hamilton Ohio, but unfortunately it went down a couple days before. Stem rotted out and proceeded more than 3 inches into the pumpkin. I managed to get it weighed by a local landscape yard. And the 2624 willemjins became the 466 Drozdz (2624 x self) DMG and of course it's not official as it was not seen at a gpc event, but the scale was certified   Saturday, November 4 View Page ...   Saturday, November 4 View Page Scale reading... 466 was taping 490 weighed light. Happy the 650 Drozdz went right on chart for the new 2017 chart.   Saturday, November 4 View Page It was a blast (not) getting the 466 pounder out. Poured the day before. After pulling the plant. Setting everything up, the tripod sunk down 1 ft, due to the mud created. That was not the problem. Since I can't get the truck in the yard I used my engineered rough terrain dolly, which got stuck. Couldn't even move a foot with 2 people pulling. Ended up setting it back down on a tarp and pulled it to the grass by myself( poor back)then reset the tripod and dolly and finally got to the front. My point.... What we get ourselves into with this hobby!! Neighbors thought I was crazy tilling up a huge patch and had such a little seed. Then by July they were freaked out by the fast growing vines, huge 3 ft leaves. oh the fun   Saturday, November 4 View Page News did stop by the day after Republic. Interviewed me for an hour. Then put this on! It was fun http://www.kmov.com/story/36548122/man-grows-missouris-2nd-largest-pumpkin-in-kirkwood-backyard   Saturday, November 4 View Page That concludes my diary!!!