Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 95 Entries. Friday, April 1 View Page Set the greenhouse up to warm the plants area for the pumpkins   Sunday, April 24 View Page These are some of my Giant Pumpkins this year.   Monday, April 25 View Page My 150 contest pumpkin will grown within this 6ft x 25ft area, which is outlined with 2 x 4's   Thursday, April 28 View Page List of 150 Challenge entries so far is attached. The list can keep growing until late May.   Thursday, May 5 View Page Soon I'll need to cull either the 2517 Mendi or the 2356 Mendi Tough decision. I really like these larger greenhouses.   Thursday, May 12 View Page 1800 Rose is off and running in the 10 ft greenhouse   Tuesday, May 24 View Page My plant for the 150 Challenge is the 1552 Young. Its just out growing its 8 ft greenhouse. Should be nice and orange since the 1552 was a HD winner. Hopefully I can get it to the scales in October.   Wednesday, May 25 View Page The 1800 Rose plant is outgrowing the 10 ft long freenhouse   Wednesday, May 25 View Page Actually this is the 1800 Rose plant. The last entry was a photo of the 2702 Cutrupi   Thursday, May 26 View Page For the 2702.9 Cutrupi plant. I added some the drip irrigation hose today, plus the 80% Windblock fencing   Monday, May 30 View Page More hot May weather. We just hit 91F and climbing. The only plants enjoying the heat are the 286 Connolly Bushel Gourds. I'm on leaf scorch alert for all the pumpkin plants. Those little plastic tables save any Giant Pumpkin leaves that show signs of high heat scorching lie the leaves shown on the 1552 Young plant. Added shade as a precautionary measure for the BG's.   Saturday, June 4 View Page Looks like the 150 Challenge is going to be a good one this year.   Sunday, June 5 View Page 48F outside. Too cold to adjust and bury vines this morning or I risk to possibility that they will snap. So I have time to log a few more photo's into my diary. First is the 2702.9 Cutrupi.   Sunday, June 5 View Page The 1800 Rose is my largest plant. First pumpkin will flower today at 13 ft out. I wonder....should I try keeping it for an early pollination.   Sunday, June 5 View Page The 2356 Mendi is chugging along with a 15 1/2 ft main. All my plants are growing in a Spider vine pattern. First few side vines are trimmed off at a short length.   Sunday, June 5 View Page This is my 1552 Young plant. Its the 150 Challange, pumpkin 13 ft main. First pumpkin on it is showing at 11 ft. It will be pollinated and then culled.   Thursday, June 9 View Page The Giant Pumpkin Plants are off and running. Shown is the 2702.9 Cutrupi   Thursday, June 9 View Page The 1800 Rose is my largest plant. Got one set. Waiting for another one in 3 days.   Thursday, June 9 View Page I have two set on the 2356 Mendi. 2nd one is hopefully a keeper. Vine bend in place to reduce any future vine stress.   Thursday, June 9 View Page My 1552 Young will be the real orange pumpkin Crossed 1st one with itself. Might also wait for the next pollination at about 17 ft. Got the 286 Connolly Bushel Gourd to finally start running too.   Thursday, June 9 View Page Here is the correct current picture of the 2356 Mendi taken yesterday. I wish I could edit a picture after it was posted.   Thursday, June 9 View Page Here is the correct current picture of the 2702 Cutrupi, taken yesterday   Sunday, June 19 View Page The Bushel Gourds are starting to run. This is the 286 Connolly plant, with a 10 ft main vine. I decided to grow it in a XMas tree pattern. Side vines are growing 12-18 inches per day.   Sunday, June 26 View Page THE HEAT IS ON! I got lots of the young leaves on the 2702 x 2356 cross covered with shade cloths today, so they wont wilt... The plants are trying to keep up with the demands of the new growth on every side vine and the main.   Monday, July 4 View Page I'm trying Field Pumpkins this year. Got 3 of them going for the weigh-offs. Here is the 128 Paul. from the seeds Michael Paul gave me.   Monday, July 4 View Page The 191 Kapelari   Monday, July 4 View Page The 124 Connolly   Monday, July 4 View Page The 124 Connolly   Monday, July 4 View Page This is my 150 pumpkin. Has a nice shape and good orange color   Monday, July 4 View Page My 1800 Rose x 2702 Cutrupi has a great solid shape. Should be very blocky when its older. Shaping up for a Good Orange color.   Monday, July 4 View Page Here is the 2702 x 2356 Mendi. Very slow growing plant. Some leaf damage from the sun.   Thursday, July 7 View Page Sky shot of my pumpkin patch   Friday, July 8 View Page Well, the deeds been done, for 2022. I pollinated the 286 Connolly Bushel Gourd at 9pm last night. Hopefully she takes. Set at 18 ft out from the stump, and at the 1st leaf node, on a side vine. Sounds complicated but its not.... lol.   Saturday, July 9 View Page The 2356 Mendi x 2702 Cutrupi hit DAP 30 (days after pollination) taping 434 pounds.   Wednesday, July 13 View Page My 150 Challange plant has filled its 6ft x 25 ft allotted space. The pumpkin is a 1552 x 1552 Young. Shown at 28 DAP. I'll get the first OTT at 30 DAP.   Wednesday, July 13 View Page The Field Pumpkins are on the march. Shown is the 191 Kapelari with a 12 ft Main Vine. I create walled stalls for each plant so the neighboring plants like the powerful Atlantic Giants don't overwhelm the Field Pumpkin space.   Friday, July 15 View Page My pumpkin for the 150 Challenge is at 30 DAP. It's a 1552 x 1552 Young cross and, taping 420 lbs. It's hard to get a good picture without breaking leaves. Plant is only 6 ft wide. With only 3 ft side vines I need every leaf I can get.   Saturday, July 16 View Page My 286 Connolly Bushel Gourd at 5 DAP. Got it propped up on some blocks to keep the blossom from growing under. This one was set at 19 ft out in a side vine. I culled the one that was set at 18 ft.   Saturday, July 16 View Page This is the youngest pumpkin in the patch at 30 DAP. Its the 1800 Rose x 2702 Cutrupi. Set at 18 ft out on the Main. OTT measurements says it Taping 464 lbs today.   Tuesday, July 19 View Page The 2356 Mendi x 2702 has hit 40 DAP. OTT taping indicates it weighs 900 pounds. It's been averaging a weight gain of 57.6 lbs/day for the last 3 days. So far the blossom end innie is holding and the pumpkin is sound. Shown in next entry picture. Fingers crossed.   Tuesday, July 19 View Page 2356 innie picture   Saturday, July 23 View Page The 2356 Mendi x 2702 Giant Pumpkin is staying cool under a white tablecloth plus a Queen-sized white goose feather and white goose down, Comforter. Added the comforter at 5:30 am today. Will remove it every night.   Saturday, July 23 View Page The 1800 Rose x 2702 Cutrupi is blocky and has a nice orange tinge working its way into the fruit. She is taping 605 lbs at 33 DAP, and is putting on 30 lbs per day.   Sunday, July 24 View Page The 100F heat this weekend was just what our (286 Connolly x self)) Giant Bushel Gourd needed, to kick into rapid growth. Its got a long way to go until the Weigh-off in mid October. But for now....They love the heat.   Monday, July 25 View Page Our Giant Pumpkin for the "150 Challenge" is the 1552 x 1552 Young cross and its taping 687 lbs at 40 DAP. Its slowly turning a dark orange color, which is what I hoped for. Good symmetrical shape   Tuesday, July 26 View Page I think my 2702 x 2356 caught monkeypox. Its still growing a lot though.   Thursday, July 28 View Page Our 286 Connolly Bushel Gourd is in Rapid Growth phase. A lot has happened in 17 days   Friday, July 29 View Page The 2356 Mendi x 2702 Cutrupi is taping 1257 at 50 DAP and has averaged 36 lbs/day for the lasts 10 days. As shown in the picture in my next entry, the blossom end innie is still holding, but stress cracks are starting to form in that area. With heavy rains expected tonight, I'll be keeping a close eye on those stress cracks for the next couple days.   Friday, July 29 View Page Here is the 2356 Mendi x 2702 Cutrupi blossom end innie   Tuesday, August 2 View Page Our mighty little (286 Connolly) Bushel Gourd is on the march. It has tripled in size in the last 5 days   Thursday, August 4 View Page At 50 DAP, our "150 Challange" Pumpkin is taping 978 lbs with an average weight gain of 29.1 lbs/day over the last 10 days. Being a 1552 x 1552 Young plant it is turning a nice Orange   Thursday, August 4 View Page Its 101 F per our cheap dial thermometer today and rising, so I decided to add a little shade tent and fans over the "150 Challenge" pumpkin (which already has a white table cloth on it). in its 6 ft wide x 25 ft long patch. This little plant had 80 leaves this morning. Everyone counts so when I had to cull 2 leaves off and go down to 78 leaves it was a big deal for me.   Saturday, August 6 View Page The 286 x 286 BG shown August 6th (15 DAP) next to a picture taken August 2nd. It has doubled in size in 4 days. I"ll start measuring on 20DAP.   Sunday, August 7 View Page 2nd day I've had the 6ft x 6ft white shade tents up 24/7. Its 95F right now to they are well worth it. Two more days in the mid 90's are in the forecast. At least it cooled way down to a frigid 78F last night.   Tuesday, August 9 View Page The 2356 Mendi x 2702 Cutrupi is putting on 30 lbs/day. Its taping 1554 lbs today. I am growing it in 1200 sq ft which is larger than my average 850 sq ft plants. Took forever to fill the allotted space as shown in the 2nd photo, hopefully the pumpkin will hold its daily gain with so much plant growth.   Tuesday, August 9 View Page This shows the 1200 sq ft I'm using for the 2356 Mendi x 2702 Cutrupi   Tuesday, August 9 View Page The 191 Kapelari x self (Field Pumpkin) looks like its going be a long one. Pollinated on Dec 3rd, so this one is 6 DAP. Set at 19 ft out on the main. We need some cool weather so this fruit can really kick into gear.   Tuesday, August 9 View Page The 286 x 286 Bushel Gourd, is settling into a dark green color with a very spherical shape... Plant has been looking very healthy with the last week of 100F+ or near 100F temperatures.   Thursday, August 11 View Page After 5 days (Aug 6th - 11th) at 95-100F, the growth has been very good for our (286 Connolly) Bushel Gourd. I've been moving it forward daily to relieve stem stress. That was a long heat wave for us. But now cooler days and nights are in the forecast so the growth rate of this fruit will probably slow down.   Saturday, August 13 View Page The 1800 Rose x 2802 Cutrupi is chugging along and tapes out at 900 lbs. Had to pull the stump on this plant after if foamed out a few weeks ago.   Sunday, August 14 View Page For the 150 contest in the 6ft x 25 ft patch. We reached 60 DAP. Its now taping 1135 pounds and is still putting on 16 lbs per day. Had to trim off 2 more leaves so I'm down to 76 leaves on this small plant.   Sunday, August 14 View Page Another pic of the 150 Contest pumpkin Nice orange color from the cross ....a 1552 x 1552 Young Pumpkin   Monday, August 15 View Page We have 3 Field Pumpkin plants growing this year. All the keepers were pollinated on August 3rd. Shown are the 191 Kapelari x self, 124 Connolly x self, 128 Paul x 124 Connolly   Monday, August 15 View Page We have 3 Field Pumpkin plants growing this year. All the keepers were pollinated on August 3rd. Shown are the 191 Kapelari x self, 124 Connolly x self, 128 Paul x 124 Connolly   Friday, August 19 View Page The 2356 Mendi x 2702 Pumpkin is Low and Wide. She's taping 1768 lbs at 70DAP and has averaged 21 lbs per day for the last 10 days   Monday, August 22 View Page FINALLY, after almost 1 a month drought, we got some rain. No sheets on the giants today, just these homemade contraptions with plastic sheets to keep these fruits dry   Tuesday, August 23 View Page For the 150 Contest, and grown in a 6ft x 25ft patch. This is the 1552 x 1552 Young pumpkin, shown at 70 DAP. Over the last 10 days it has averaged 15.8 lbs/day. It is taping 1293 lbs. 5 weeks to go before the weigh-off   Wednesday, August 24 View Page These two pictures were taken from exactly the same place. Using the Mill cloth as a reference for size. I can see that the 128 Paul x 124 Connolly Giant Field Pumpkin has almost tripled in size in the last 9 days. I need to tape it and get a chart estimate. Darn its Starting to ripen.   Wednesday, August 24 View Page Our 286 x 286 Connolly Bushel Gourd is healthy. By the chart her estimated weight is 205 lbs. and she's put on 6 lbs./day for the last 10 days.   Tuesday, August 30 View Page The 2356 Mendi x 2702 is taping 1900 lbs and only adding 12.5 lbs per day. Sorry about the cover. The heat is in the 90's today with full sun, and I didn't want to tear down the shade structure and fans, for the picture.   Tuesday, August 30 View Page This is the 128 Paul x 124 Connolly Field Pumpkin, shown 25 DAP. It started to ripen, so there probably wont be much more weight gain.   Thursday, September 1 View Page Had a great time in Connecticut today. Weighed the first of the pumpkins from our patch, at the Woodstock Fair. It was the 1800 Rose x 2702 Cutrupi. It weighed 993 lbs., and went to chart.   Thursday, September 1 View Page At the Woodstock Fair today we also weighed the first of our Field Pumpkins. It was the 128 Paul x 124 Connolly. Weighed 90 lbs and also went to chart.   Saturday, September 3 View Page The 1552 x 1552 Young pumpkin is chugging along slowly at 80 DAP. Took a photo from the stem end this time. OTT Tape measurment estimated weight is 1357 lbs and averaging only 6.4 lbs per day over the last 10 days. Giving it a Zerotol wipedown today.   Thursday, September 15 View Page This old plant is getting tired. Leaves are starting to show their age. 2 more weeks until the pumpkin gets weighed. No more measuring since doing that causes me to break leaves. Its definitely got the 2702.9 Cutrupi genes in it. Currently its 7 feet wide. Growing at a snails pace based on it decreasing distance to some stakes in the soil.   Thursday, September 15 View Page Here is the pumpkin picture to go with the previous post 2356Mendi x 2702 Cutrupi   Monday, September 19 View Page The 150 pumpkin in its small patch is covered with plastic today to keep it dry. Its growing slowly now and is waiting till Sept 29th to harvest for the Topsfield Fair. The neighboring Bushel Gourd plant was pulled out to get the fruit we enter the Durham Fair   Wednesday, September 21 View Page A nice 2-fer at Durham. We had a great time. Got a 105.5 lb. weight on our Field Pumpkin (191 Kalepari x self). Had a couple dips on this pumpkin but nothing went through so it was sound. And the Bushel Gourd weighed 227.5 lbs. (286 Connolly x self)   Wednesday, September 21 View Page Here is the 227.5 Bushel Gourd pic that goes with the last post   Wednesday, September 28 View Page Our 150 Challenge Pumpkin (1552 x 1552 Young) is still growing. Turning into a nice uniform orange color. I hope to bring it to Topsfield Fair in 2 days.   Wednesday, September 28 View Page Our Big Old Girl (2356 Mendi x 2702 Cutrupi) is still putting on about 5 lbs per day. The plan is to harvest her in 8 days for the Frerichs Farm Weigh-off. Hopefully she has a flat bottom, and we can eke out a few extra pounds.   Thursday, September 29 View Page THanks Bill Sullivan for helping me lift the 150 Challenge Pumpkin. Off we go to the Topsfield Fair weigh-off   Thursday, September 29 View Page My "150" pumpkin is loaded on the Trailer for Topsfield tomorrow. So Bill Sullivan and I decided to unhitch the Trailer and drive 80 miles up to the Deerfield, NH Weigh-off and see the Geddes Pumpkin get weighed. Took this picture, with Steve Geddes, when we got there, and we joined the caravan of 20 Giant pumpkins, lined up on the highway, to go to Deerfield. It sure looks massive. Cant wait to see what she weigh's, later tonight.   Thursday, September 29 View Page Wow. The Geddes pumpkin won the Deerfield, NH weigh-off tonight. It weighed 2359 pounds!!   Thursday, September 29 View Page Group Shot at Deerfield   Friday, September 30 View Page We had a great time at the Topsfield Fair tonight. Finally got to weigh our 150 Challenge Contest Giant Pumpkin and it did not disappoint! The new "150" World Record was just waiting to get weighed. This 1552 x 1552 Young cross produced our 1375 lb. pumpkin in 150 Sq Ft of growing area. Still a few weeks to go in the Weigh Off season, (with entries from 41 "150 SqFt" growers World Wide still coming in) but we did officially break the 3 year old 1175 lb Record, set by John Butler from Ontario Canada, with this 1375 lb and new World Record 150 Challenge Pumpkin.   Friday, October 7 View Page That was a heavy lift. But we have lift off of the 2356 Mendi x 22702 Cutrupi pumpkin. Looked good down under. Guess thats how I got the dirty knees. Frerichs weigh-off is tomorrow   Friday, October 7 View Page Decided to use a skid steer to lift this one insted of my gantry crane. Glad I did. ITS HEAVY.   Friday, October 7 View Page We did a pre weigh on the 2356 Mendi x 2702. We will see what she officially weighs tomorrow   Saturday, October 8 View Page The 2356 Mendi x 2702 Cutrupi cross went 12% heavy at the Frerichs Farm Weigh-off, and weighed 2240.5 pounds.   Saturday, October 8 View Page 2240.5. 12% heavy. 2356 x 2702   Thursday, October 27 View Page Season over Was a good one this year. Time to relax an chill with the giant pumpkins   Tuesday, November 1 View Page Here are the Final results of the 150 Challenge for 2022. Congrats to all the Growers shown who took on this Challenge. Its not as easy as it may seem but now many more of us are familiar with growing Giants in small spaces. Awards are being sent via Paypal to the top 5 finishers as promised in the Flyer sent out in the Spring. We look forward to seeing you in the "150" 2023.   Saturday, November 5 View Page Air shot of the The 150 pumpkin taken on August 28th. Its on the lower right of the picture in its 6ft x 25 ft space. THats a Bushel Gourd growing right next to it. You can tell by the different colored leaves. It weighed in at 1375 on September 30th at the Topsfield Fair   Sunday, November 13 View Page Its officially the off season. Time to do other stuff.. Yesterday we Top dressed, and then tilled under, 16 cubic yards of 2 year old composted cow/horse/chicken Manure, to 4000 sq ft of soil.