Home What's New Message Board
BigPumpkins.com
Select Destination Site Search
 
BarryL - 2021 Grower Diary Point your RSS aggregator here to subscribe to this Grower Diary.

Show Entries in

Grower Diary Menu
  Back to Previous Page
List Other Grower's Diaries
Submit to Your Own Diary

 
Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 61 Entries.
Thursday, April 1 View Page
First post for 2021. Good luck to everyone this year! I picked up some new grow lights this winter and have been testing them. I fried a few leaves initially but I've got it dialed in pretty good now.
 
Monday, April 5 View Page
Started these three seeds on 4/1. The 2114 and 2294 are already up and under the grow lights.
 
Friday, May 28 View Page
This is the 2114 Wallace, started on 4/1, planted in the patch on 4/25. This has been the most aggressive of my plants from the start. Currently at about 13 feet with pumpkins forming at 10 and 12 feet. I'll probably pass on those in favor of one in the 13-16 foot range on a much bigger plant in mid June.
 
Friday, May 28 View Page
This is the 2294 Noel, currently at about 11 feet, just starting to produce nice side vines.
 
Friday, May 28 View Page
The Mendi seed I started just never wanted to grow, not sure what the problem was but I eventually gave up on it in favor of the 1450 Fifolt. That seed did nicely for me last year so I decided to try it again. This was started a week after the 2214 and 2294, so it's a little behind at about 8 feet right now.
 
Friday, May 28 View Page
Long gourds are coming along nicely. I started them about a week earlier than previous years, they are currently about 4-5 feet high. I'm growing my 139.5, my 146.5 and the 155.
 
Friday, May 28 View Page
This is what the 2552 looked like one month after planting it. I know others are doing great with that seed, not sure what went wrong with this one.
 
Friday, June 4 View Page
This is the 2114 Wallace Plant. After a brutal few days last weekend where the high temps never got out of the 40's and a few inches of rain, all the plants have recovered and are once again growing nicely. This plant has a pumpkin showing at about 12 feet.
 
Friday, June 4 View Page
This is the pumpkin on the Wallace plant at about 12 feet with 17 side vines behind it, it should open in a few days when temps are expected to be in the mid 90's. Not sure whether this would be my ideal keeper anyway. I feel like it's still early enough to hold out for one in the 14-15 foot range with a few more side vines behind it. In my opinion, the ideal spot is the 13-16 foot range with 20 -24 side vines behind it.
 
Friday, June 4 View Page
Long gourds are climbing!
 
Monday, June 7 View Page
The heat is on! 96 degrees today. Using shade cloth for the first time this year, the plants are loving it.
 
Tuesday, June 8 View Page
Pollinated this slightly less than perfect blossom today at 13 feet on the 2114. Temp's today back in the low 90's. This one has 19 side vines behind it, so it may be a keeper if the pollination takes.
 
Wednesday, June 16 View Page
This is an 8 day old pollination on the 2114. I'm going to wait a few more days to be 100% sure it took before cutting tap roots on the main and getting the plywood and mill fabric into position. The plants all got pounded with heavy rain as storms moved through yesterday afternoon. I had to rinse the mud off all the vine tips this morning.
 
Wednesday, June 16 View Page
Pollinated this blossom this morning on the 2294 plant at about 16 feet. It's in a perfect position on the plant, I really hope this one takes.
 
Wednesday, June 16 View Page
The 2294 plant. Real aggressive plant with nice thick vines.
 
Friday, June 25 View Page
The 2114 Wallace plant has a pumpkin set. I like the shape of it so far.
 
Friday, June 25 View Page
The 2294 Noel plant has two pumpkins set. If they both take, I'll have a decision to make soon.
 
Friday, June 25 View Page
This is the 1450 Fifolt plant which was started a week later than the other two plants. I pollinated one yesterday, but the blossom was very deformed. There's another pumpkin that will open in a couple days, right when temps are forecast to be in the mid 90's. So what's going to happen with this plant is uncertain.
 
Friday, June 25 View Page
Long gourds have made the climb to the top of the trellis and are starting to fill in nicely. I'm trying something new this year, I have a shade cloth I've been attaching to the top of the trellis on hot, sunny days to shield the plants from the hot sun. They look much less stressed than they normally would on those days.
 
Friday, June 25 View Page
One of our two vegetable gardens is located right next to the pumpkin patch. My wife Linda enjoys working in the vegetable garden while I work in the pumpkin patch. Life is good.
 
Monday, June 28 View Page
Temps in the mid 90's the next few days. I've got the patch set up to hopefully deal with the heat. 20 X 5 pieces of 40% shade cloth cover all the vine tips.
 
Monday, June 28 View Page
Another Picture. Also a few chairs and other items being used for shade.
 
Monday, June 28 View Page
Using shade cloth on the LG's as well.
 
Tuesday, July 6 View Page
This year has been very challenging to say the least. In New Hampshire last week, we set records for both high temperature and record low high temperature. Also received over 4 inches of rain from Thurs - Sat. More heavy rains are expected later this week. Crazy weather for sure.
 
Friday, July 9 View Page
I usually donate my pumpkins to our local regatta in the fall, but I think it may be held early this year, like maybe in my patch this weekend. Going on something like 7+ inches of rain in the past week, any more and my pumpkins are going to be floating.
 
Monday, July 12 View Page
Growth on the pumpkins remains slow as we continue to have no sun and nothing but rain. 9 inches in the past 11 days and 2+ more inches today. This is the 2114 taken yesterday at day 33.
 
Monday, July 12 View Page
19 DAP on the 2294 plant.
 
Monday, July 12 View Page
This was a July 3 pollination on the 1450 plant. This was the first blossom that was not badly deformed with seeds in it. I've got this one and another one I pollinated on 7/7, I think they are the last shot on this plant.
 
Monday, July 12 View Page
View of the patch.
 
Monday, July 12 View Page
Another view of the patch. The LG's can be seen in the background. Nothing pollinated yet on them.
 
Tuesday, July 13 View Page
2 more inches of rain yesterday and it's raining again today. We can't get a break.
 
Wednesday, July 21 View Page
Weather continues to be a challenge with colder than normal temps and way too much rain. This is the pumpkin on the 2114 Wallace plant chugging along.
 
Wednesday, July 21 View Page
Finally got one started on the 1450 Fifolt plant. This one is somewhere between 25-30 feet out on a massive plant. We grew or 1895 last year on this same seed way out on the main vine as well.
 
Wednesday, July 21 View Page
This is the pumpkin on the 2294 Noel seed. This one will be 30 DAP tomorrow. Starting to pick up growth despite the poor weather.
 
Wednesday, July 21 View Page
This was our pumpkin on the 2294 seed last year at 30 DAP. This eventually became our 2268. Looks a lot like this years pumpkin....
 
Wednesday, July 21 View Page
View of the patch in the morning fog. The long gourds in the background are filling in nicely. I pollinated 5 females two nights ago, too soon to know if they took. I'll pollinate every female I can for the next week or so and then go with the best looking ones.
 
Thursday, July 29 View Page
This is the pumpkin on the 1450 plant at 24 DAP. This one continues to be a challenge. Dealing with stem split & stem rot issues.
 
Thursday, July 29 View Page
Stem on the 1450. It doesn't go into the cavity. I've done everything possible to clean and dry it out, the fan is on it 24/7, time will tell if it's enough to save it.
 
Thursday, July 29 View Page
This is the 2114 Wallace pumpkin. I haven't posted any weights because I honestly have not been measuring them. The slow growth early on was frustrating, so I decided to stop measuring them on a regular basis. I'm pushing them as hard as I can and we'll see in the end what I have.
 
Thursday, July 29 View Page
This is the pumpkin on the 2294 plant 36 DAP. I did do two measurements on this one at day 30 and 35 and it averaged 45 pounds a day for the 5 days. Not bad considering the cool, wet weather we continue to have. High temps are supposed to only be in the 70's for at least the next week. This one is currently around 700 pounds.
 
Thursday, July 29 View Page
Picture of the patch with the 2294 on the right and the 2114 on the left.
 
Thursday, July 29 View Page
I've been pollinating several long gourds every night. I like to get lots of them started, then cull them down to the best looking ones when they are 3-4 feet long. Here are two on the 155 Lazic plant.
 
Friday, July 30 View Page
And the beat goes on- Some parts of NH received up to 6 inches of rain last night. We got 3 inches at our house. That's approx. 8,000 gallons of water on my patch for three plants. Crazy.
 
Friday, August 6 View Page
This is a 35 day old pumpkin on the 1450. I continue to battle stem issues with this one. I'll be surprised if it makes it to the end.
 
Friday, August 6 View Page
Pumpkin on the 2114 plant. This one keeps chugging along, getting pretty big. Have not measured anything in a while.
 
Friday, August 6 View Page
2294 Noel plant. Got another nice pumpkin going on this one just like last year's. It even looks almost identical. Not quite as big, but not that far off.
 
Friday, August 6 View Page
view of the patch
 
Friday, August 6 View Page
This is the pumpkin off the 2294 Noel plant last year on 8/1 that eventually became our 2268.
 
Friday, August 6 View Page
This is our pumpkin this year on the 2294 Noel plant on 8/5.
 
Thursday, August 19 View Page
Lost the pumpkin on the 2114 Wallace plant yesterday to a split on one of the ribs. It was taping around 1400 pounds and was still packing on the weight. Plant was still in great shape as well. Very disappointing.
 
Friday, August 20 View Page
I've been growing since 2007 and this is probably the most challenging weather year I can remember. 3 1/2 more inches of rain in the past 24 hours and now the Northeast is looking at a likely hurricane / tropical storm hit Sunday night into Monday.
 
Wednesday, August 25 View Page
The 2294 continues to grow, currently between 1,600 - 1,700 pounds. Haven't measured it in a few days, but as of last week it was still doing a little over 30 pounds a day. I built a shelter over it before the last storm. Trying to keep the pumpkin and the area around it as dry as possible. I've got some third stage growth popping up that needs to be removed tonight. The plants have so much energy, this time of year it seems like I'm removing excess growth every few days.
 
Wednesday, August 25 View Page
We've got 4 decent long gourds going. None that will likely break any records. These are two on the 155 plant. The one of the left was about finished growing before the one on the right started.
 
Friday, September 3 View Page
Down to only one pumpkin, the 2294 Noel. Got another 4 inches of rain two nights ago. I've got fans going on both ends, just trying to keep everything dry. The plant is still in fairly good shape but roots can't be happy with all the rain we've had.
 
Friday, September 3 View Page
Another view
 
Friday, September 3 View Page
Last picture from the other side. I've also got about a half dozen mouse traps around the pumpkin, I've been averaging one mouse every other night since I put them out a few weeks ago.
 
Tuesday, September 7 View Page
If you are long gourd grower, this is not something you want to find in the morning on your best long gourd. This happened overnight. I've had them split before, but never explode. This was close to hitting the ground at 12 feet and still growing a couple inches a day. It was the 155 X my 146 from last year. On a positive note, harvesting the seeds was easy.
 
Tuesday, September 7 View Page
Another view-
 
Tuesday, September 7 View Page
My two daughters came by this weekend for their annual pictures with Dad's pumpkins. This is the pumpkin on the 2294 seed. Looks very much like last years pumpkin on the same seed.
 
Tuesday, September 7 View Page
This was last years
 
Thursday, September 30 View Page
Loaded and ready to head to the Deerfield fair tonight.
 

 

Top of Page

Questions or comments? Send mail to Ken AT bigpumpkins.com.
Copyright © 1999-2024 BigPumpkins.com. All rights reserved.