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Ga.

Well,,first off,,had a decent year as I broke pb..Seems in my attempt at a second season every year something just doesnt co operate.Last year was whiteflies,...I have wf now,,but they are staying off plants..Eariler in season with 600 pistono,,had the best shot I ever had at a huge fruit.Disease took me out..Now 600 off(400 Glover) is a beautiful plant,no disease,huge stump and vines..Really aggressive.Healthy,huge leaves,what more could I want,,right??Well,,main broke,didnt concern me a whole lot cause plant is so aggressive.I figure it would recover,and has..Now for my problem..Fisrt fruit(only main vine fruit) just wont grow.Still at 9.5" for last 4 days.Its not dull,,still has a little shine to it.Second fruit is same,no growth,same size as 3 days ago.Been a really mild summer here..Todays high of 94 will be hottest day of year so far.I've never had a problem getting fruit set.WHY NOW?????I really work hard when it comes to my patch.Its starting to depress me all over again.First part of season was great,then leaf spot says Hello..Never got it under control and it took me out eventually.Other than living in the freaking south,,extreme south,,what the hect am I doing wrong?? I just knew it was gonna be a good second half..At this point,I'm almost ready to throw in the towel.Seeing all you newbies(first year groers) doing so well really hurts me.My third year,,soil is 5 times better than when I started three years ago.I dont know what else to do.. cont..

8/14/2003 9:01:30 AM

Ga.

Never been one to quit,but this is really getting aggravating.I have my ups,,then something always brings me back down to earth.I figured having the 501 fruit going,,at least I'd have a pkin for halloween for my kids,,but even its showing signs of not making it.I hear you guys speaking of cooler nights,,bummer here,,no cooler nights for at least another month,,maybe two.I'm starting to think AG's were designed and bred for the North.. I hear ya'll saying boily and mr.t grew big ones..Well,,just as the north isnt like south(weather wise),,south Ga. isnt like Bahamas and Australia...Boily,Mr.T,,not knocking you guys!! It just gets depressing to see everyone suceeding,,and me falling flat of my face...Looks like I'm gonna weigh things out during winter and see where I stand come spring..It really hurts..Someone please comfort a 38 year old in south Ga. please..Cause this really sucks..Thanks for listening..
J

8/14/2003 9:14:44 AM

Massillon, Ohio

hey i disagree and agree with your statement, "It just gets depressing to see everyone suceeding"...

eveyday i come on here and it almost gets me to the point of wanting to quit. not to mention VERY MAD. it seems that EVERYONE has something big and its alot bigger than my stuff. major flooding and external circumstances pushed me past the magical polination dates. then once i got stuff set, everyone of my fruits seemed to be stopping growth on day 19 or 20 then rotting. but i guess for everyone that is succeeding there is someone in the dumps like you and me. last yr i had no idea what i was doing, i didnt even try and had one 380 pounds; this year i cant get anything past day 19 and am putting major effort in. keep your head up, you arent the only one out there; the people having crappy years just dont post pictures of their nothingness so you dont see it as much as you do big pumpkins!

8/14/2003 9:52:38 AM

Cologne / Germany

Same thing here Jeff. No rain for weeks, temps up to 100 daytime, up to 80 at night. 2 nice pumpkins not doing anything. Carlos from Spain is having the same heatwave - but <900 pumpkins though.
No, it can´t be compared, I´ll never have an olive grove in my garden, nor palm trees...just started to follow the directions of the "how to push pumpkins" thread, last chance?;-)
Okay, maybe impatience is just another characteristic trait of AG growers. Still 6 weeks to go, fingers crossed. Best luck to you!

Ingo

8/14/2003 9:59:55 AM

Garden State Pumpkins

Hang in there buddy! Went two years and never set a fruit! Watched plenty of Newbies growing big ones and just gotta wish them all the best...You can only do what you can do to get the soil right...sun,plague,fungus and weather hit us all! Know that you've done the best with whats available to you...I know you've done all ya can!! seems to me a PB every year is pretty darn good! Keep your head up that magic seed is around the corner!!
Chuck

8/14/2003 10:17:37 AM

Cooks Creek, Manitoba, Canada

I know what you mean but I would say keep trying. I had absolutely nothing my first three years. In my fourth year I was about to throw the towel in for good, in fact I did. I walked away from the patch at the beginning of August and didn't look at it again until September, and what did I find? A 318lb pumpkin. So I decided to give it one more try the following year - grew a 495lb one. It was like something clicked that year. I can't say it was anything in particular, just that I now seemed to understand how to grow these things - despite the fact that I grew great gardens for years before this. I'm not saying you don't have the knowledge yet - it sounds like you do, I just think you haven't had the final G of my pumpkin growing moto.

Good soil
Good seed
Good weather
Good luck!

8/14/2003 10:23:10 AM

ipswich, ma usa

Jeff if you throw in the towel now who is gonna keep giving Pappy SH@#!!

John (5150)

8/14/2003 10:34:17 AM

Montoursville, PA

Jeff........when you can and are ready I believe you can build your soil into a forgiving great healthy soil. This may involve some simple but dramatic changes in your practices. In the begining the changes are not costly. Along the way you may elect to spend some of your growing costs and losses into a determined plan to up the patch quality. Feel free to E me if you like. Your developed plan could lead you to a series of successes. It take guts and determination which you seem to have in limitless quanity.

8/14/2003 10:35:10 AM

Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin

Basebell, I feel about the same way as you. Last year we got a plant from a friend, put it in the garden and let it grow without much knowledge at all. End up with 389 pounds, how, I have no idea, the things that happened to that plant should have never allowed that growth. This year, I really put my heart into it, so to speak, spent all winter learning, and had high hopes for this year. First I was later getting plants in the ground, then I had to pull both plants out and start over with some extra plants I had started. My first female didn't open until July 20th, and the growth is SLOW, about 5 pounds a day. My other plant had one explosion and now has a small one started (a local bar wants a bigger pumpkin for a "weight guess" contest). My brother one the other hand barely pays attention to his patch (and only at my urging does he do anything), so I find myself helping a lot at his patch, and while his pumpkins are smaller, they were pollinated later than mine but the growth is a lot better. Oh well, sorry about the rants, I guess things could be worse. -Tim

8/14/2003 10:36:02 AM

Sequim, WA

Zoloft, Prozac, Lithium, take your pick.......then get back to work....nobody said this would be easy......think how good it will feel when you get that big one....keep the dream alive.....and don't knock the success you've had, it didn't occur by accident.

8/14/2003 10:42:11 AM

Utah

After having 6 plants in the patch this spring...
suffering through the hottest summer on record ever ...
having to yank 4 plants do to desease...
and having only one fruit on one plant ...
i'll be happy to get anything this year, let alone a personal best!

8/14/2003 11:19:52 AM

Utah

i heard this somewhere ...
I felt sorry for my self because I had no shoes then I met a man with no feet.
... i feel lucky to be able to complain about pumpkins ... and not something really serious like my families health...

8/14/2003 11:21:20 AM

Utah

in order to win the race of life-
your need not run faster than anyone else-
you just need to get up each time you fall and continue on.

8/14/2003 11:22:51 AM

Nova Scotia

jeff352 if it's any consolation i really beleive that my pumpkin would never have gotten as big as it did without your help. and i thank you. you may want to move your patch to some fresh soil if that's possible (usually not for most of us) i think you may avoid some of the deseise and pest problems you have. as well you may gain some micronuitrients lost in your old patch from previouse pumpkin growth. and i'm sorry for your pumpkin lose this year you really did have a great one started

8/14/2003 11:25:40 AM

Oz

burn sage to the four winds...take a sweat(health spa)and thank your grandfathers,,,and chilll! that is the true "edge" of growing anything...my growth is slow right now,,,but i didnt get them on ground untill mid june.
but i know they might die tonight in a grub stampeade!lol
sniff!
where can i get GLOVER seeds? i want to mix em with any survivors from this [email protected]

8/14/2003 11:41:40 AM

Caceres, mid west of Spain

Hey Jeff, in my opinion, you are right. AGPs are horrific, dreadful, terrible demanding living things.
AGPs aren't designed to be grown in warm countries; we are fighting against Nature, and that is not an easy war. AGPs aren't designed to be grown in cold countries either; they are fighting against Nature as well. I believe AGPs are a damn delicate capricious plants, only good to be grown in the Azores Islands of Portugal in the middle of the Atlantic Sea (maybe that is its name's true origin), where never is cold, nor warm enough to disturb them.
People from New Hampshire or Washington State (cold and cool) have to use greenhouses and heat cables in May and sometimes in September to keep them growing or even alive. I myself (hot and dry) have to continuously irrigate 8 hours per day to keep the patch cool. You in South Georgia (hot and wet) have to invent something useful to get and keep that Azores microclimate and that supersoil these fussy ladies like.
Don't give up, friend, everything is possible where a will is.

Ah! in my humble opinion, is the soil; maybe it's five times better than three years ago, but... the problem is in the soil.

Carlos

8/14/2003 12:36:29 PM

Western Pa.

Jeff,

I hope you don't feel worse after you see the emails I just sent you! My Bobier 845 planted suffered severe stump blowout yesterday morning. (Picture submitted to gallery) Any of you experts out there know what this could be?

8/14/2003 1:02:28 PM

San Luis Obispo Ca

Heck! I'm still trying to figure out that Dolphin joke! I still don't think Dolphin's can swim.

8/14/2003 2:47:23 PM

[email protected]

We are Human & we're NOT in control. Breath deep & relax. We do this for fun remember? Keep it fun & it will be. Take it too seriously & the fun disappears. Take what we've learned & go into next year a little wiser.

Steve

8/14/2003 2:52:40 PM

Knopp, Germany

Jeff, i enjoyed your and pappy's season last year, you brough me much joy on my way to a big 165 pounder, thanks and do not get depressed, you have made a difference, thanks my friend

8/14/2003 3:18:28 PM

Appalachian Mtns.

Sorry to hear another Southerner is having trouble. Personally I'm working my butt off and it's starting to pay off....punkins' are looking good and gettin' big.

Need seed in the Fall Jeff?

8/14/2003 3:36:12 PM

[email protected]

I don't normally talk to plants nor condone violence. But what Doc says may not be a bad idea. Most pumpkin varieties I have dealt with respond favorably to physical abuse. It's a built in genetic response to stress that may be threatening the plants ability to perpetuate itself. As rediculus as this sounds, perhaps the last ditch effort of a desperate grower might be to throw a major hissy fit in the patch & break several large secondaries on purpose. The plant might just respond with a bunch of new females in an effort to recover.

I have never proven or tested this theory on any pumpkin variety. Though I am in the process of "experimenting" on a trouble maker & will post results when they come in.

Steve

8/15/2003 7:17:20 AM

North Ga

Dang J! Get over it Bud!! I've never heard so much whining in my life!! Heck man, you beat your pb, You learned even more this year than you ever knew. Start your strategy for next season and all will be well. I've had a bad season too, but things will be better!! Jeesh!!

8/15/2003 8:01:47 AM

New Brunswick

And here I have been complaining cause mine aren't as big as everyone elses! At least I have some growing on each plant. My personal best was 192 pounds a couple of years ago and I thik I have that beat by one having an estimated weight of 200 pounds. But then I live in the Atlantic provinces where these A.G.'s began. Apparently we have the climate for it...since I have grown for three years and always have something at Halloween time....and I know not what I am doing. *grin* We have severe winters and hot summers....but no poisonous snakes or spiders. Few tornados, hurricanes or earthquakes. But we do have snow in winter and lots of it. I envy those of you who can grow year round.

8/15/2003 8:32:10 AM

Ga.

Thanks to all of your responses,,expect B's!B,,not gonna give up,,but I am gunning for your butt next year!!SO watch out!!Just had to vent...
McPumpkins,,you can get seed by emailing me for my addy..Will try to send seed to BP if Ken will accept seed from a 400#'er....J

8/15/2003 9:28:18 AM

Garden State Pumpkins

Wooooooooooo....them georgia boys are tough!!! Sounds like another good off season in the making!!! I'm sure Pappy won't shy from the challenge!!!LOL guys...Venting is good for the soul! Grow em Big! chuck

8/15/2003 4:25:14 PM