Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 10 Entries. Saturday, May 23 View Page On a whim I bought a giant pumpkin start in a 1 gallon pot at a plant sale. Tag says it's descended from 2271 Vander Wielen. This is my first giant pumpkin. I wasn't ready, had done no research, only had a tiny area in the garden left to plant it, and I'm not even the real gardener in the family. Too bad, I'm going to have fun! Saturday, July 11 View Page Planted May 23 but didn't take any pictures till July 11. Added a tractor bucket of old manure and a wheelbarrow of garden compost to the soil. It's coming along nicely but obviously way behind where it could be if I'd been prepared more. Tuesday, July 28 View Page I pollinated one bloom on July 15 and two more on the 19th. I've had to let the plant grow thru the picket fence out into the yard Saturday, August 1 View Page Finally starting to look like a pumpkin, but long ways from giant. Friday, August 7 View Page I've picked a keeper and culled the rest. The culled pumpkin measured 22 lb and the slightly larger keeper measured out to an estimated 21 lb. I've been fertilizing with fish fertilizer, a general 6-3-3, and compost tea made from fermented comfrey leaves that are supposed to be high in potassium. Sunday, August 9 View Page Wow, culling caused a giant growth spurt. Doubled to 44 lb in two days! Thursday, August 27 View Page Now it's taking off - estimated 243 lb at 39 DAP! Averaging about 11 lbs a day recently. Saturday, September 5 View Page 48 DAP: 349 lb Nothing like it's potential, but I'm thrilled. I've never grown anything this big and it has far exceeded my expectations. Question for you all - this is supposed to be an orange pumpkin so when should I start seeing some color? Saturday, September 5 View Page Another question for you all. All the oldest leaves are yellowing on the outside fringe and slowly dying towards the center. Similar to pictures I've seen of potassium deficiency and downy mildew, but not exactly. Any hints? Wednesday, September 9 View Page I couldn't find any bugs on the leaves. I'm starting to suspect the manure I started it on. Might be some residual herbicide but more likely that it's just too much for such a small area. I didn't spread it over the whole growing area and didn't dig it in all that well. Anyway, I decided to prune the worst leaves since they're probably a drain on the plant. That let me get access to the stem where I found the skin was slimy where it was touching dirt and rubbing the vine. Dug out the dirt, scraped it clean lightly and squirted it down with peroxide. Estimated weight is up to 398 lb, so I'm happy.