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Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 24 Entries.
Friday, April 10 View Page
My patch hasn’t been very active the last few years - too many other hobbies and passions. I hadn’t planned on growing anything this year with plans to be away the majority of the summer - then all my events were cancelled and I find myself at home with time on my hands. So here we go - no thought went into this. Just going to plant some of my own seed and see where that takes me.
 
Sunday, April 19 View Page
Growing nicely so far.
 
Sunday, April 19 View Page
This is probably the earliest I’ve ever put up the tent. I have a very low tech patch with no warming cables or watering system so hopefully the soil will warm up enough just with a tent and portable space heater.
 
Sunday, April 26 View Page
Transplanted the pumpkins to larger pots today. As expected, soil tests came back with some nutrient and disease issues to be addressed, so there likely will be a delay in planting. So maybe the wind storm that toppled my tent yesterday was a sign to wait a bit longer and tray for a healthy plant rather than an earlier start.
 
Thursday, April 30 View Page
Initial steps to try and mitigate poor drainage. I would add more Perlite but I wiped out our local store. This will have to do for this year.
 
Friday, May 8 View Page
These two plants will be living in the new and improved hoop house now. We’re behind a bit and there’s more to do to mitigate nutrient deficiencies but I’ve come to the stage where I just have to move forward. Hoping to get them planted when the soil warms up a bit.
 
Thursday, May 14 View Page
Putting power out to the shed we’re building meant excavating part of the pumpkin patch. Good thing it’s early in the season and no root trauma to worry about.
 
Tuesday, June 16 View Page
While weeding the patch I lost my balance and almost fell on the stump - crisis averted with the only casualty being one broken leaf. It's been a bit of a slow start but it looks like I'll have a pumpkin to pollinate in about 10 days. The secondaries have been especially stubborn but have finally decided to grow. My goal is to simply maintain a healthy plant through to September and not have it succumb to disease.
 
Sunday, June 21 View Page
Hopefully I’ll be able to self pollinate this one soon. The plant has almost grown out of the tent and it’s getting too hard to tend to the vines under it without fear of falling on the plant.
 
Monday, June 22 View Page
I think it’s time to take off the hoop house.
 
Tuesday, June 23 View Page
First pollination today - pumpkin is a bit close to the base, but would be okay if nothing else is viable in the next couple weeks. I'm trying not to be lazy and am getting extra dirt to bury vines rather than digging trenches and disturbing the root system.
 
Saturday, June 27 View Page
While the plant is still small, it has grown out of the hoop house so it came off today and was converted to the shade tent that will be used later. I’m happy with the health of the plant so far.
 
Saturday, June 27 View Page
Hoping this little nugget will grow well. The other pumpkin on the main is too close to the edge of my patch so I’m really hoping this one works out. If not I’ll have to grow one on a secondary vine.
 
Thursday, July 2 View Page
Pollinated a couple more on some secondaries. There are no more viable pumpkins on the main vine so I’m hoping the first one keeps on growing. 9 DAP
 
Friday, July 10 View Page
The colder, cloudy weather certainly hasn't been appreciated for the patch. My main vine pumpkin is only the size of a basketball but has a stem split that will likely be problematic. I'm keeping two back ups on the secondary vines for now. Several vines have been terminated at the edge of the patch, most flowers have been snipped off and vines buried.
 
Monday, July 13 View Page
20 DAP. Stem split is still worrisome but it hasn’t noticeably grown in the last couple days.
 
Monday, July 13 View Page
Just in case the main vine pumpkin doesn’t work I still have a couple backups on the secondaries.
 
Thursday, July 23 View Page
Made the call today and chose the pumpkin on the main to keep- it’s about 10 days beyond when I would normally choose but wanted to make sure the stem split wasn’t getting worse. All vines were terminated and my back up pumpkin will be culled over the next couple days.
 
Friday, July 31 View Page
With the help of friends this fella has now been named “George”. He’s starting to get the 20+ pound gains per day. This plant (1074 Perras) has only produced one other pumpkin so Not much to compare George to but we’re a bit ahead of last year.
 
Thursday, August 27 View Page
George is beginning to show his age. 65DAP. His growth has slowed and while he won’t be a monster he’ll still delight his audience at the local pumpkin fest.
 
Wednesday, September 9 View Page
Found a sneaky little fella growing in the patch. The plant is still fairly healthy but definitely showing it’s age. 78DAP
 
Thursday, September 10 View Page
A picture for the last post
 
Saturday, September 26 View Page
George was sent to his retirement home today. He was still gaining a bit of weight but he wasn’t getting the care he needed ever since his caretaker had to go back to work in September. He will spend the rest of his days putting smiles on kids faces at Coastal Black Pumpkinfest. No official weight for George as the scale was broken at his new home but he measures out at just over 800.
 
Saturday, September 26 View Page
George was sent to his retirement home today. He was still gaining a bit of weight but he wasn’t getting the care he needed ever since his caretaker had to go back to work in September. He will spend the rest of his days putting smiles on kids faces at Coastal Black Pumpkinfest. No official weight for George as the scale was broken at his new home but he measures out at just over 800.
 

 

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