Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 33 Entries. Tuesday, May 7 View Page Even though the weather this year is not cooperating (cold) my season has begun. Since I only have the resources to give frost protection to two plants I've only started two of my five plants. Decided to go with the 1062 Rivard 01 and the 1064 Needham 00. After 2.5 days the Rivard has germinated but I have a bad feeling about the Needham - we'll see. As a backup I have started a 1020 Papez 01. Next week I'll start the remainder of my plants - it has to warm up eventually. I am going to be experimenting with my digital camcorder this year. I will be attempting to record the main patch from the same location, angle, and time, every day or two for about 10-15 seconds - I'll let everyone know if it turns out like I hope (I am hoping for an amateurish time lapse of the growth for the season).   Sunday, June 16 View Page This has been about the worst spring ever for me. April through to early June was the coldest and driest in our area since 1907. To top it off, May was one of the windest months on record. I lost two good plants when 90km/hour winds blew away the cold frames destroying the plants in the process. I then lost two more plants, not to mention some tomatoes, cucumbers, zuchinni, ect... when an unexpected frost hit me on June 02. The forecast was for a low of 9C and it was nice and warm when I went to bed. I couldn't believe my eyes when I woke up the my weather station indicated the low overnight hit -1.1C. With all the cold weather we have been having it took along time for the ground to warm up enough for any real growth to occur but finally things are starting to move. I'm still a good two weeks (at least) behind but with a good sommer and a nice September you never know.   Friday, July 12 View Page So far this year has been as depressing as it can get. Cold spring, late frost, high winds, then hot and dry and windy. All of that set me back by 2-4 weeks plus I lost a couple of my "better" plants. I then received two days of continuous rain which has drowned out about 25% of my garden. Then it was the attack of the cucumber beetles - and it was like a bad B movie. It seemed like overnight it went from the odd one to hundreds. They wiped out my zucchini's and made a serious dent on the AG's. After several rounds of spraying they seem to be under control but....... you knew there would be a but, several of my AG have something seriously wrong with them. I will post a picture on Monday but the growth is now all vine with very little leaf development (any ideas anyone). I'm not sure if it has to do with the beetles transmitting something or the spray I used. I do have one plant that is OK so far but...... it started out as a flat vine which after about 7 feet has split into two normal vines. Man, I'm starting to know how Blkcloud feels. Here's hoping for a warm September.   Friday, July 19 View Page I finally was able to pollinate two pumpkins this morning on the 819 La Gras. So I'm still about two weeks behind normal but with good weather I still have a chance at a descent sized one. Both pumpkins are about 3-4 feet past the point where the double vine split into two normal vines; so even with significant repositioning of the vines there is not a lot of room between the two. Both had 5 lobes and are yellow with light green stripes. Temperatures were ideal (20C or 70F) with the high today around 30C (85F). Should have two or three more pumpkins to pollinate over the next couple of days - this year may still work out! On a different note, all my plants this year are very short. That is, the leaf height is much lower than other years. Typically I have leaves, which are between one and two feet high, this year everything seems to be one foot or less even though the size and vigor of the plants are similar to other years. I'm not sure what to make of it.   Tuesday, July 23 View Page The 819 LeGras is producing females in abundance now. I currently have 5 pollinated on this plant so far. After the double vine on this plant split into two vines one of these vines continues to show characteristics of a double vine - here is the latest pumpkin to be pollinated on this vine, it's the largest flower I have ever seen but....   Tuesday, July 23 View Page ...This huge flower is the result of a twin pumpkin. I've never heard of anyone having success with twins but I will leave it on for a while to see how it does. In the rest of the patch the 1062 Rivard has finally recovered fully from a early June frost which nearly wiped it out and has set a pumpkin. My largest plant, the 656 Bhaskaran, has yet to produce a female. They are there but are very slow to mature and open - I had some high hopes for this plant. Hopefully two of the females will open in the next day or so but time is running out.   Thursday, August 1 View Page The 10 day measurements are in and things are looking average - some good potential but nothing to get overly excited about yet. I have two good ones on the 819 LaGras which both measured in at 20-20-28. They have a nice shape but their stems are a little on the short side. I didn't have a beverage container around for scale so I put my big foot in for reference.   Thursday, August 1 View Page I will eventually have to choose between the two on the 819 LaGras even though they are growing of two different vines. Their location relative to another will only allow them to get to a hundred pounds or so before they start to interfere with each other - as you can see in this picture. The pumpkin on the 1062 Rivard is 10 days old today and although it is not really big it has on of the longest stems I have ever seen - unfortunately I forgot to copy the picture over when I left for work this morning.   Wednesday, August 7 View Page Slow and steady seems to be the rule this year. The two pumpkins on the La Gras plant are on pace to hit (or come close) the 60" Cir. on day 20. One of them is starting to fall behind the other and I think I will cull it starting today since I don't have extra time to play with this year. I have formal training in climatology and I dabble in mid range forecasting and I don't like what I see for my area starting early next week - cold!! I hope I'm wrong because this is the age when historically some of my largest weight gains have occurred. The rest of this week is looking good so I figured if I cull down to one pumpkin now maybe I can pump the weight on while the weather is good.   Tuesday, August 13 View Page I'm down to two plants and three pumpkins that have any chance of being a descent size by Oct 5th. Unfortunately the weather has turned cool and they are calling for it to stay cool for several days (Highs in the low 20’s C and lows in the lower teens). I've culled everything off the 819 LaGras, including the twin, which never really took off. The remaining pumpkin is at 165 OTT on day 23 and is starting to put on good daily weight gains. The other two possibilities are on the 656 Bhaskaran. Both are at day 13 and measure around 90 OTT. This plant is very big and healthy looking and the pumpkins look really nice - big steams, good steam length, one is on the main about 18-20 feet out the other is on the opposite side of the plant on a strong secondary. The 1062 Rivard is throwing greenies that have very long steams but very slow growth rates. I noticed this plant welting yesterday when none of the other plants were. After inspecting the plant I could not find anything so I suspect it may be the result of a poor root structure which may have been caused by the frost damage it received in June. Unless the weather turns around the chances of beating my personal best do not look good but baring any catastrophes I should still get in the 300-400lb range – but you never know. I'll post some pictures tomorrow.   Friday, August 16 View Page The cool weather has slowed down the growth over the last several days. Here is my largest one which is on the 819 LaGras. It is around 180 OTT on day 25 - not bad but not great either. Forecast is calling for heavy rain tonight which is good as I have not had a good rain since early July and everything is really dry. It also looks like the warm weather will return early next week so hopefully the wieght gains will jump back to the 20+ #'s per day.   Friday, August 16 View Page Here is a picture of the 656 Bhaskaran plant. I keep promising myself that I will keep up with the prunning but one plant always seems to get a little out of control. I was so worried about the slow growth in the early part of the year I ended up leaving more secondaries than I really should have. This is by far the biggest plant I have ever had. It is covering approximately 1000 sq.ft.   Friday, August 16 View Page Here is one of the two pumpkins on the 656 Bhaskaran. I have a good feeling about these - big plant, vigorous growth, good positioning, and nice shape. This one is around 115 OTT on day 15 and much of this growth has occurred during cool weather. So, like I've been saying in most of my entries - If the weather is good for the rest of the growing season you just never know what may still happen. I won’t have a contender but I still could get a good sized one.   Wednesday, August 21 View Page Well the warm weather has returned but growth rates did not jump as I had hoped. The 819 LeGras is still chugging along at around 15lbs per day and the two on the 656 Bhaskaran are only putting on 10lbs per day. I hit them hard with potassium fertilizer and calcium and will see over the next couple of days if it will kick them into high gear. If not, I may cull one of the pumpkins on the Bhaskaran plant (it would be my first 100lbs+ cull). Started removing the 1062 Rivard plant yesterday as the stump rot has progressed to the point of no return.   Thursday, August 22 View Page The much hoped for and anticipated jump in growth has occurred. My two largest are both now put on over 20lbs a day, now I have to see if I can keep it going for the next 10-15 days. Last night’s low won’t help much (5C or 41F) but the next week or so is look very summer like with highs in the mid to upper twenties and lows on the lower to middle teens. After mulling over whether I should cull one of the two pumpkins on the 656 Bhaskaran, I've decided to leave it. Since it is getting fairly late in my season (mid September is our average first frost) the chances of getting it really big one is small so I'd rather go with a couple of good sized ones for Halloween. Also, you never know when something might just split on you, or rot on you, or just stop growing.   Tuesday, August 27 View Page Things continue to chug along in the patch. All three of my 'keepers' are putting on around 20lbs per day. The pumpkin located on the main vine of the 656 Bhaskaran is slowly catching up to the LeGras pumpkin and if it was early to mid August instead of being late August I would be getting excited about this one. The weather looks as if it will cooperate for at least the next week so there is still an out side chance of beating my personal best (514), but they will probably have to weigh heavy to do it.   Wednesday, August 28 View Page Here is a picture of the 819 LeGras. It's currently at day 38 and it tapes out at around 255 OTT for an estimated weight of 350. It likely won't win any contests but after the poor start this year I can't complain.   Wednesday, August 28 View Page Here is the largest one on the 656 Bhaskaran (although the second pumpkin on this plant is not far behind). This is on day 30 and it tapes out at 220 OTT for an estimated weight of 230. I still feel that if September's weather is nice this one has a chance of getting over 500 lbs.   Friday, August 30 View Page There is some late season excitement in the old pumpkin patch. The pumpkin located on the main vine of the 656 Bhaskaran has put on a 60lb. growth spurt in the last two days. The weather continues to look good so......this season may still produce a contender.   Sunday, September 1 View Page The excitement continues in the patch - I may have something to be proud about yet. The main pumpkin on the 656 Bhaskaran has broken all my growing records over the last 5 days. In the last 24 hours it has put on 34lbs. and in total over the last 5 days it has packed on 156lbs (200lbs. in the last week). On day 35 it now measures 74-71-120 which is almost respectible. The pumpkin is still yellow and smooth and it looks a sound as one could hope for. The weather for the next week is still looking good so here's hoping for another 7 days of 30+lbs per day growth.   Tuesday, September 3 View Page Never I my best dreams have I ever imagined getting 6 days in a row of 30+lbs per day growth, but the 656 Bhaskaran has done it. It has now past the 819 LeGras and is measuring around 280 OTT on day 37. The LeGras pumpkin has slowed down and I can maybe expect another 50 or so pounds. The Bhaskaran has started to slow down now but it is still putting on well over 20lbs per day and the weather continues to look good right to the middle of the month. So as long as I can avoid splits I think I just might break my personal best.   Wednesday, September 4 View Page The week long 210lb. ride appears to be over. Growth rates have dropped significantly over the last couple of days. Not sure if there is something wrong with the pumpkin or if it's the windy, cloudy and coolish weather or the shorter days, weaker sun, and old plant, which are to blame. Temperatures are suppose to be warm for the next several days so if I can't find anything wrong with the pumpkin, I will give the plant one more shot of fertilizer and see if I can push it to the 500-600lb. range.   Monday, September 9 View Page My two main pumpkins have now past the 500lb. mark using OTT. The Bhaskaran pumpkin is now in the lead with an estimated weight of 525lbs and the LeGras following at 510. Both have been averaging around 12lbs per day over the last 3-4 days. My pumpkins have weighed light two of the last three years so I still don't know if I have a personal best sitting out in the patch or not. My gut is telling me that the Bhaskaran pumpkin will weigh heavy - gut, don't fail me now.   Wednesday, September 11 View Page September's weather continues to be almost perfect. The pumpkins have continued to move along at a good pace (10-15lbs per day) and I have had to step up my pruning as the vines have begun to grow like it’s the middle of summer. My largest has now surpassed the 300" OTT mark (my bench mark of good sized pumpkin) - so the moral of the story, don't give up, you never know what these babies might do.   Wednesday, September 11 View Page Here is a picture of my largest pumpkin. It is currently measuring 81-81-142.   Wednesday, September 11 View Page Here is a picture of my second largest pumpkin. It is currently measuring 83-86-128.   Tuesday, September 17 View Page The nice weather has continued and so has the growth. The pumpkin on the LeGras plant is now around 550lbs. but is now full mature and won't likely put on much more. The main pumpkin on the Bhaskaran continues to put on around 12-15lbs. per day and is currently estimated to be between 625-650lbs. Another 1.5 inches in circumference and it will pass 150 inches - a personal best for this measurement. It looks like we will have a couple more days of nice weather before more Fall-like weather moves in later this week with a good chance of frost by the weekend.   Friday, September 20 View Page The latest measurments on the 656 Bhaskaran has it flirting with 700lbs. With all the growth around it I am finding it hard to get a good picture. On the plus side I was forced to take all the pictures from ruffly the same spot so if you go back you can see the growth over the last month or so.   Friday, September 20 View Page I just couldn't help posting this one of my son and the 819 LeGras. I can't even imagine what might be going on in his head when he sees the pumpkin from his prespective. The pumpkin has a nice shape and pretty much stopped growing. It current measures around 308 OTT.   Friday, September 20 View Page Getting ready for next year. My pile of age cow manure just delivered by my neighbor - no charge!   Thursday, September 26 View Page The frosty nights have arrived and put an end to any further growth on my big one. I decided to built a lifter for the pumpkins and after seeing PumpkinBrat's design I copied it (I hope he doesn't mind). Put it together for around $75 cnd. and tested it yesterday on a 400 pounder - worked great! I don't think it will have any problems with much biger pumpkins. The picture is of my bigest one which was grown on a 656 Bhaskaran. The last measurement I took were 85-87-155.   Friday, September 27 View Page Well thanks to PumpkinBrat's design I was bale to load on second largestpumpkin (estimates at 600 lbs) with only two people (me and my neighbor) - what a difference. I am getting a little worried about the big one as the dig in the middle is starting to havea little "give" when you apply pressure (so, like the doctor said: if it moves when you apply pressure, don't do it). I have had to put triple frost protection is place as it it is forecat to go down to -8C tonight (two blankets, a plastic cold frame, than another blanket) if that does keep it from free   Friday, September 27 View Page Let's try that again. - It seem I hit the wrong key stroke on that last entry, Well thanks to PumpkinBrat's design I was bale to load my second largest pumpkin (estimates at 600 lbs) with only two people (me and my neighbor) - what a difference. I am getting a little worried about the big one as the dip in the middle is starting to have a little "give" when you apply pressure (so, like the doctor said: if it moves when you apply pressure, don't do it). I have had to put triple frost protection in effect as it forecast to go down to -8C tonight (two blankets, a plastic cold frame, than another blanket) if that doesn't keep it from freezing nothing will. Hoping I weigh heavy tomorrow.