Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 56 Entries. Thursday, September 23 View Page Got it out of the yard after taking off the gate- still only inches to spare   Wednesday, March 2 View Page Testing my 904 with the idea that I will grow my own seed for the first time in 2022. Planted a dozen test seeds and all 12 came up. No soaking, no filing just thrown in some potting mix. 1791 x 2469 has promise!!   Sunday, April 10 View Page And we’re off! Growing my own seed for the first time. 1791 Werner x 2469 Daletas and an HDA winner.   Wednesday, April 27 View Page Planting day!   Tuesday, May 24 View Page New tank system is installed plumbed and operational. It works off a Wayne sprinkler pump and a battery powered Galcon timer/valve. Running 3 cycles a day right now for 20 minutes. This system will allow me to adjust the pH accurately which should be a big plus over prior years.   Thursday, May 26 View Page Down to one plant now. So far everything looks great. Main is a little over 5’ now.   Monday, June 6 View Page The plant is looking healthy and strong so far. Like my friend Chris, I have a lot of disease pressure and so I’ve been taking his advice on best practices to manage it.   Monday, June 6 View Page Here is another view of the patch from the stump side of the plant. I still don’t understand how some of you folks get these tree trunks for stumps. My plants always seem to have skinny stumps.   Tuesday, June 14 View Page This is the female at 15’. She should open in 2 or 3 days. Stubby stem won’t be fun. I term the main after the fruit; this will help manage the short stem.   Wednesday, June 15 View Page This years plant is sensitive to heat so I added some extra shade cloth over the new growth.   Thursday, June 16 View Page Female opened today at 15’. Disappointed to find a malformed blossom with seeds in it. Worst part is that I’m a good 10 days from the next attempt which is 21-22 feet out.   Sunday, June 26 View Page The 906 plant is growing very well and getting close to filling the patch.   Sunday, June 26 View Page The first pollination was at 15’. It didn’t grow much at all - wasn’t sure if it had taken. But it’s growing well now. It has a nice elongated shape.   Monday, June 27 View Page Fun picture from the patch today!   Tuesday, July 5 View Page Day 19 - This fruit has had a very slow start. The plant appears very healthy and is rooting in nicely. I had two small backup fruit on side vines; terminates both yesterday. Doing very little fertilizing these days. Compost tea with a few additives and a weekly bio drench.   Monday, July 11 View Page Best 24 hour gain so far - 28 lbs overnight. I would love to get this fruit into the 30’s.   Monday, July 11 View Page Patch view after cleaning out all growth after the fruit. I tried to keep a couple downhill secondaries growing but it just was a mess. It was going to cause problems and sooner rather than later. So whatever 400 square feet will get me is what I will have.   Tuesday, July 19 View Page On pace for a new personal best- if I can keep the disease pressure away…   Tuesday, July 19 View Page Fun picture   Wednesday, July 20 View Page Another 31’lbs overnight - she’s holding steady at this growth rate. 96 degrees here yesterday. The slow start has been surpassed and the fruit that was behind all other recent pumpkins is now my best on this date. Still 65 days left to get to the County record.   Monday, July 25 View Page Third Tissue Test results. My nitrogen levels soared and not sure why. My guess is that the 0-4-0 guano I applied had an NPK ratio different from what it was labeled.   Tuesday, July 26 View Page Day 40 - still gaining 30 lbs per day. She’s done 310 lbs in the past 10 days, well ahead of anything I’ve done. Maybe having a Nitrogen level of 20k is a good thing lol   Saturday, July 30 View Page Another move needed. I fashioned a system using a 12’ length of chain between two anchor points   Saturday, July 30 View Page I can move the pumpkin at any angle necessary to relieve stem stress. I’ve had to move the fruit 3-4” this week alone.   Sunday, July 31 View Page Still enjoying solid growth by my standards anyway. 28.6 lbs per day over the last 5. And the better news is that the plant is not showing any signs of premature die-off as it’s had in the past several years.   Monday, August 1 View Page Every year the squirrels and rats destroy my tomato crop. And the problem is only getting worse. No more!! Squirrel-free in 2023!! (And the rest of ‘22??).   Friday, August 5 View Page Still going strong at Day 50. She did 23.8 lbs per day despite heat into the 90’s. Hoping for another 100 lbs on day 55!   Sunday, August 7 View Page View from the other side of the patch- stunning orange color!   Wednesday, August 10 View Page Well a new thing happened this morning. I've never grown a pumpkin that taped over 1,000 lbs in my patch. She's tracking 26.2% above my personal best! The heat has stifled the growth. It averaged 19.2 lbs per day over the past 5 days.   Monday, August 15 View Page Good but not amazing growth over the past five days; 16.4 lbs per day. I’m happy with that, especially given that the daytime high temperature was in the mid to upper 90’s the entire time. She’s on a path to 1,200 lbs plus of all thing stay constant.   Monday, August 15 View Page Nice pumpkin colored heirloom- my wife brought a tomato home from the farmers market a year ago and I saved the seeds. This plant throws off some huge beautiful fruit!   Monday, August 15 View Page Look at the density of this tomato   Tuesday, August 16 View Page Final tissue test for the year. Happy to see that it’s well balanced for the most part and what I’ve been doing has been working.   Monday, August 22 View Page Day 67 and still enjoying solid growth this past week. 17.3 lbs per day is new territory for me at this time of the growth cycle. OTT 379 inches.   Monday, August 22 View Page Bit of distress showing up on the main. Not soft at all but precautionary practices are best. Used a soft toothbrush to clean then Treated it with hydrogen peroxide solution.   Monday, August 22 View Page Then of course I put a fan on it   Tuesday, August 23 View Page Aging of the canopy from the main out. In past years these leaves and more would be dead. Despite regular fungicides, there is still a light layer of PM visible on the under side of these leaves which is no doubt at least partially responsible for the decay.   Wednesday, August 24 View Page Stress marks are happening. I like this a LOT. Is there even such a thing as a light pumpkin with stress cracks?? Probably. But please don’t email me and burst my bubble! Lol   Wednesday, August 24 View Page This is the reality of the back yard grower. Sometimes drastic measures are needed to accommodate the harvesting process.   Tuesday, August 30 View Page Day 75 - still enjoying 10 plus pounds per day. With the heat wave coming it will be tough to maintain anything close to that. 24 days until harvest.   Saturday, September 3 View Page This crack has now moved south and is very close to the blossom. Wondering if I should cut this fruit to avoid any further cracking. Harvest day is still 20 days away and the Weigh Off three weeks from today.   Saturday, September 3 View Page I marked the bottom of the crack and in a few hours it had grown 1/4” towards the blossom. Unfortunately the only way to stop the bleeding was to cut it off the vine. Now the problem is keeping it intact and we are having the worst heat wave of the year. Working on a plan….   Sunday, September 4 View Page Off the vine…   Monday, September 5 View Page So it’s so hot here that you could cook an egg on a pumpkin. And with my 906 just sitting in the patch, well it’s just going to dehydrate and/ or rot out. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Bought a second-hand portable air conditioner.   Monday, September 5 View Page Started fabricating a cold box using foam insulation panels. Don’t forget the service panels!   Monday, September 5 View Page Test fitting the air conditioner inside the box.   Monday, September 5 View Page   Monday, September 5 View Page Final assembly completed! Temp inside the box is about 73 degrees F. Outside temp is over 95.   Monday, September 5 View Page She is worth protecting, don’t you think!?   Friday, September 23 View Page Finally, it’s loaded in the truck!!   Sunday, September 25 View Page First place, a new PB, and also broke the county record! 1,240 lbs grown with 400 square feet of plant.   Monday, September 26 View Page Made the Sunday paper!   Monday, October 10 View Page End of season Disease Reports came back- Tissue Results   Monday, October 10 View Page Soil Sample for disease   Thursday, October 20 View Page Picked up Vin Scully for the trip to Scottsdale   Saturday, October 22 View Page Her final stop at the Westin Hotel. They do a great job with the display!