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Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 68 Entries.
Wednesday, April 14 View Page
I started my pumpkin seeds on April 14th. All 10 came up after 4 -5 days. I will have 4 plants this year. 4 of my 1652.5 squash 2 2304 Geddes 2 2200 est Geddes 2 2268.5 LaBlanc Planning on planting next Monday or Tuesday, looks warm after that.
 
Monday, April 26 View Page
Plants went in the ground today. I believe they are 12 days old today. These two 2200 est Geddes, are my best seedlings.
 
Thursday, April 29 View Page
Finally getting some needed rain here in Western PA. This has been the driest spring since I have been growing . It was nice to get all my tilling done on time for once. 1st round of amendments went down on April 22nd, and got tilled in.
 
Monday, May 17 View Page
Plants have been in for 3 weeks now. Pretty slow growth so far, especially with last weeks cold weather. Temps are to get warmer every day this week so growth should really pick up. They are the greenest plants that I have ever had at this point, thank you Cecil for the advice.
 
Monday, May 24 View Page
Burying the water line to make mowing the lawn easier. It is all slightly down hill to the house, so i am thinking of leaving it in and trying to just let it drain out and maybe even try to blow air through in the fall.
 
Monday, May 24 View Page
Plants are starting to get ready to lay down, finally. Should happen this week with all, but maybe not my 1662.5 squash.
 
Monday, May 24 View Page
All plants have been in ground for 1 month now. Here are my 1662 Zappa squashes.
 
Tuesday, June 1 View Page
Amazing at what 1 more week can do to these plants. This is the 2304 Geddes, around 6 ft long. Secondaries are doing good. Cut out the other plant next to it this morning.
 
Monday, June 7 View Page
Giant head sunflowers were started last week. They are about 2 inches tall.
 
Monday, June 7 View Page
A Geddes plant, ( cant remember which one at the moment ), doing very good, around 9-10 foot long and side vines doing well.
 
Monday, June 7 View Page
The other Geddes plant, either the 2200 est or the 2304. I better make signs to keep them straight. Doing very good, close to 10 foot long, with sides doing good. My other plants, the 1652.5 Zappa squash is around 5 ft long, and the LaBlanc plant is around 6 ft long.
 
Friday, June 11 View Page
I sprayed a bad combo two days ago, burning many leaves badly. Plants should be ok. I sprayed it on my veges also and burned some leaves on them also. Even a few weeds under a tomato got burned. The combo was Garlic barrier and Phyton 35. Looking at the bottle of Phyton 35 as I write this, it appears that I have two different applications rates written on the bottle. I used the bigger rate, which may have done the damage. Either way, i wont use that combo again.
 
Friday, June 18 View Page
Strike 2. 2nd time I sprayed and again plants got burnt. This definitely seemed to set the plants back, especially the secondaries growth. In about ten years of growing these , I have never burnt my plants with spray. This time I can only blame spraying in the morning. It was very cool two days ago and i spayed about 45 minutes before the sun got on the plants. I would have thought that the spray would have dried by then. It possibly could be the sticker spreader , but doubt it.
 
Friday, June 18 View Page
Pic of another plant. I am going to start some field kins, as its likely. Will be pulling two plants out.
 
Saturday, June 19 View Page
1st pollination today, June 19th, on the 2200 Est Geddes x open. ( not enough male flowers, so had to use from two plants.) 4 lobe, about 13 feet out on main vine. Next one in about a week should be around 17 or 18 feet.
 
Monday, June 21 View Page
Open Pollinated 2268.5 LaBlanc this morning 6-21-21. Don't plan to keep it so i did not cover female. Too small a plant still. I hit it with some 2200 eat Geddes pollen just in case i need to keep it.
 
Friday, June 25 View Page
Pollinated today 6/25/21, 2304 Geddes x 2200 est Geddes,18 feet out.
 
Saturday, June 26 View Page
Pollinated #2 on 2200 Geddes X 2304 Geddes, around 17 feet out. Nice 5 lobe.
 
Monday, June 28 View Page
Pollination this morning, June 28th, on the 2268.5 LeBlanc X 2304 Geddes.Will have to measure the distance but pretty sure its past 15’. 90* today and tomorrow and i have to go to work. Ice bottles are out and will have my son switch them out a little later. Shade netting is out as well as some sheets.
 
Monday, June 28 View Page
2304 Geddes plant, a very good grower. The pumpkin babies have very long stems on this one. A few chemical burnt leaves on the main, but doing well over all.
 
Monday, June 28 View Page
2200 Geddes in the background, doing very good also. Both Geddes plants are good growers. Im growing both of them in a diamond pattern. 2 pumpkins pollinated on this plant.
 
Monday, June 28 View Page
My 1662.5 Zappa squash is growing very poorly. Not sure what is going on here. Plant Growth is very slow.
 
Thursday, July 1 View Page
Pollination today July 1st on 2268.5 LeBlanc X 2304 Geddes. This is #2 on the main vine, 20 ft out.
 
Friday, July 2 View Page
Pollinated 2304 Geddes X 2200 est Geddes, #2 on main vine, 20 ft out.
 
Thursday, July 8 View Page
1652.5 Zappa squash, finally got a pollination two days ago. It appears to be growing. Its going to be tough to grow a big one with thIs late of a pollination, but for some reason this plant only grows a few inches a day.
 
Thursday, July 8 View Page
2268.5 LeBlanc plant with a 7 day old pollination way out on main.
 
Thursday, July 8 View Page
2200 Geddes plant with a day 19 pumpkin. Doing about 6.5” circ per day. I will do a day 20 measurement tomorrow.
 
Friday, July 9 View Page
Day 20 today for the 2200 Geddes . 165.5” ott, about 109 pounds. A little disappointing from what I had last year. Plant looks very healthy, except for the fact that leaves are approaching 4 foot tall. One big rain event will flatten this plan, not good.
 
Friday, July 9 View Page
Leaves on the 2200 Geddes plant, nearing 4 foot tall. Last year tall, big leaves hurt my season, so I decided to cut way back on my nitrogen that i put down in the spring. I cut back by about 40% from my soil test recommendation. The only thing i can figure is that in July when it really warms up, my manure that i put down must really start to release the N. I have the caution tape out, and it really helps keep the leaves from falling over.
 
Friday, July 9 View Page
This is my 2304 Geddes fruit. This one seems to be my best grower so far. I believe this will be my only hope at a personal best this season. It is at day 14 today. The notebook os 5 x 7” for reference. We have a cooler cloudy day today, not great for growth. We got about 3/4” of rain in a few downpours the past two days.
 
Wednesday, July 14 View Page
My squash finally made it down to the ground at day 8, only it came down too fast. I should have known to build some dirt up, just like letting the main down on the initial touch down. Lesson learned the hard way. Extremely long stem on the 1662.5 Zappa. Mine was planted in the wettest part of my patch and with all the rain, It is suffering. Slow growth on vines. Next year, I'm thinking I will plant this in the beat spot.
 
Thursday, July 15 View Page
Pollinated another squash x self today, 7/15/21 on the main, nice 5 lobe, 3 feet farther out.
 
Thursday, July 15 View Page
Day 20 for 2304 Geddes. Doing very good , 196” ott, around 176#. Plant health is good at the moment. Back up got the knife today.
 
Thursday, July 15 View Page
2304 plant, filling in nicely.
 
Thursday, July 15 View Page
2200 est Geddes, day 26. 233” ott. Weight gain 41# in 24 hrs. Will check at day 30 for a better average. Very nice color. Of coarse i scratched it twice already.
 
Thursday, July 15 View Page
2200 plant, very nice also.
 
Monday, July 19 View Page
Day 30, july 19th, for the 2200 est Geddes. 272” ott, around 464#. Despite the rainy ,cloudy past few days, gains in the low 40’s. No bugs at all, no signs of any disease.
 
Tuesday, July 20 View Page
Pic taken today at day 31 of the 2200 est Geddes . Very nice color and shape is pretty good.
 
Tuesday, July 20 View Page
Pic taken today at day 31 of the 2200 est Geddes . Very nice color and shape is pretty good.
 
Saturday, July 24 View Page
Note: Sunlight on patch is between 8-9 hrs depending on what section. Will check in 3-4 more weeks.
 
Sunday, July 25 View Page
2200 Geddes, doing well. Day 36, around 727#, 44# a day average the past 6 days. Plant health is great.
 
Sunday, July 25 View Page
2304 Geddes at day 30. Around 531#, averaging 36# a day the past 6 days. Both Geddes plants look great and i have a lot of plant past the pumpkin for the 1st time ever. Need to pull both of these back today or tomorrow, getting some vine stress.
 
Sunday, July 25 View Page
This is my 2268 LeBlanc fruit. Not doing so great. Day 24 today. I will measure on day 30, but i dont expect much. This pumpkin is way out on main vine, around 22 foot. Not ideal. I have a huge plant behond it, but barely any past the fruit because its at the end of the patch. Im trying to swoop some vines back to gain some more plant.
 
Thursday, July 29 View Page
Day 40 for the 2200 Geddes. 341” ott, around 908#. Still averaging around 45# a day. No pics, having charging issues with ipad.
 
Sunday, August 1 View Page
2200 est Geddes, day 37, 326” ott, around 797#. 38 # last 7 day average.
 
Sunday, August 1 View Page
Last entry was the 2304 Geddes. This one is the 2200 est Geddes. Day 43, 357” ott, about 1035#. Average 44# last 7 days.
 
Wednesday, August 4 View Page
Day 20 for the Late timer squash. 189.5 ott, pretty good number for the past 4 cool nights. Supposed to start to warm up so I'm sure it will take off like mama did last year. Looks very similar to the 1652.5’s shape. Big plant, all behind it.
 
Wednesday, August 4 View Page
Day 20 for the Late timer squash. 189.5 ott, pretty good number for the past 4 cool nights. Supposed to start to warm up so I'm sure it will take off like mama did last year. Looks very similar to the 1652.5’s shape. Big plant, all behind it.
 
Sunday, August 8 View Page
2200 Geddes day 50, up 217 for week, 31# a day average. Still getting about 8 hrs of sun on this plant. Cooler nights last week, but did not expect this big of a drop.
 
Sunday, August 8 View Page
2304 Geddes , day 44. Up 217# for week, 31# a day average. Around 1014#.
 
Sunday, August 8 View Page
Squash is doing very good. Day 24, Around 288#, about 32.5# a day average the past 4 days. Plant looks great. Very nice round shape.
 
Thursday, August 12 View Page
1 inch of rain the past 2 days, warm nights all week, mostly cloudy, very humid. Keeping a close eye on all stems. We dogged some very bad storms, only a few leafs down. Squash is doing great, at day 28. Will be over 500# by day 30.
 
Saturday, August 14 View Page
Day 30 for my 1662.5 squash, Around 515#. Weight gains have been dropping the past few cloudy, rainy days, but will have a nice weekly average when i check tomorrow.
 
Sunday, August 15 View Page
2204 Geddes day 51, 377” ott, 1204#. Up 197 for the week, Average for the week, 27# a day. Next pick shows a little damage from Thursday’s storm.
 
Sunday, August 15 View Page
Thursday’s damage. The squash plant had some as well. Nothing too serious.
 
Sunday, August 15 View Page
2200 est Geddes at day 57. Getting very wide and taller on the stem end. 400.5” ott, around 1421#. Up 181 for week, about 26# a day. Plant health is very good on all plants. Seeing a few leaves hiding under canopy with a little pm. Looks like a crappy week weather wise coming.
 
Sunday, August 22 View Page
Bad week in the Zappa patch. I noticed mid week that my main vine about 3 feet up from the stump had a brownish color. Went to feel it and it was all mush. So, no stump and one or two side vines per side are gone. It still had a decent week. Around 790#, up 233 for week, averaging 33 a day.
 
Sunday, August 22 View Page
#2 is now my healthiest one. 2304 Geddes day 58. Around 1338#, up 134 for the week, averaging 19# a day.
 
Sunday, August 22 View Page
Nemo, ( 2200 est Geddes) is at day 64 today. Around 1510#, up only 89# for the week. Averaging 12.7 # a day. I noticed yesterday evening that my main vine had a brownish color on its main vine also, only this time it was about 3 feet behind the pumpkin. So i am going to loose a good part of the plant and my stump. Nemo already showed a big drop in the gains. I will keep it going as long as i can. It still has a chance for a pb.
 
Sunday, August 22 View Page
This is what I cleaned out after cutting the stump and 4 feet up from the main vine on the squash plant. Only lost one or two secondaries per side, not too serious. Still have a lot of healthy plant to keep it going. Will be interesting to see how much the gains drop this upcoming week. Temps are supposed to be warm.
 
Sunday, August 22 View Page
Here is Nemo after clearing the stump and a mess of side vines. It still has a nice amount of plant, but it will be very tough to get this one to 1800 plus pounds now. I would say i lost about 1/4 to 1/3 of the plant. Got some terts to clear out this week to keep good air flow under the canopy. When i cut the stump open. It was full of water, as well as most of the main up to the pumpkin. This one never showed any foam, so it really took me by surprise. I have to blame this on all the rain and very high humidity last week.
 
Sunday, August 29 View Page
1652.5 Zappa squash, day 45, 349” ott, about 970#. Up 180 for week, 25.7# per day. 2304 Geddes day 65, 402” ott, 1431#. Up 93# for week, 13.3# average. 2200 est Geddes day 71, 414.5” ott, about 1550#.up only 40# for week, 5.7# a day average. No stump and lost 14 ft of main before pumpkin two weeks ago. , but i would think gains would be better than this. Plant looks healthy, no idea whats going on.
 
Sunday, August 29 View Page
Note: still getting about 7 1/2- 8 hrs of sun. Much better than last year.
 
Monday, September 6 View Page
notes : 1652.5 Zappa squash, 725 sq ft plant. 2304 Geddes and 2200 est. Geddes plants were both 950 sq ft.
 
Sunday, September 12 View Page
1662.5 Zappa squash at day 59, doing decent still with no stump. Up 70 for week, around 10# a day. Around 1140#. Slowly loosing leaves to soil disease on all my plants
 
Sunday, September 12 View Page
Sophia next to #2, the 2304 Geddes. Day 79 sitting around 1530#. Up 34# for week. Water system turned back on today, finally drying out from the past 3 weeks of rain.
 
Sunday, September 12 View Page
Nemo at day 85, around 422”. Not much difference from last week. No more measuring pumpkins until weigh off, just not enough growth to spend the time doing it. Both Geddes seeds are great, disease hurt me this year. On to a new patch for next year. Going to solarize soil and do the mustard crops and so on.
 
Sunday, September 12 View Page
Sunflowers are almost done heading up. Nothing impressive .
 

 

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