Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 213 Entries. Wednesday, January 31 View Page It’s digging the patch time ready for this year’s dreams. This huge pile, believe it or not is exactly one third of the soil for one plant. I think it’s going to take me about 12 days to complete the dig. Seed choice is coming along but we’re still in discussions. All is good and as always in pumpkin growers we are full of optimism. We will probably be changing how we water this year but more on that later. Also for a few years now I have wanted to grow “Something “ for myself but that’s for another post.   Tuesday, February 6 View Page Here we go with the beginning of our line up and this has to be a very hot seed. It’s crossed with the Bears 2520 “ROCK” and at the time, the Cutrupi world’s biggest. Hot,Hot,Hot.   Wednesday, February 7 View Page It’s not much to see apart from 5 posts and a weed killed square. You all know that Stewie and I have no secrets, in fact quite the opposite. So if you go to Tic Toc under giant pumpkin wars you will find loads of “How to “ videos from Stewie. There are some videos on my Tic Toc Ianpaton3 but, as I’m new to it, my digging the patch video got archived. It’s my age!!! You can see another version on my instagram ianpaton2269. There will be loads to follow starting here on my diary. All we ask is that you in turn past this forward to other growers or potential growers.   Tuesday, February 20 View Page Drip tubes are going in which are spaced about 12 inches apart.   Thursday, February 22 View Page As there’s not a lot to see in the patch I thought I would share some photos of my man cave.   Thursday, February 22 View Page I’ve been building a wacky marble machine for years now and still photos don’t really do it justice. I have a 1930’s electric model train that will run outside in a tunnel at the back of the shed.   Thursday, February 22 View Page All my old lures are hung up and some do get the odd trip out to the lake for old times sake.   Thursday, February 22 View Page It’s going to be a very cool place to be.   Thursday, February 22 View Page Many hours of work but worth it.   Thursday, February 22 View Page Six automata will be running the hole marble machine but it’s work in progress.   Thursday, February 29 View Page I’ve always said to Mark that I would really like to grow some field pumpkins. He said I’m has been doing his very best to get my arse in gear. So this is the year there is no going back. He popped in to see us earlier in the week to pick up his GPC awards and brought me two more of his world record seeds. Considering he now only has two seed and he is encouraging me to break his own World and GPC record, it speaks volumes of the man. His whole family is one that I’m proud to have as friends.   Friday, March 15 View Page These are hopefully the five seeds that we want in our parch along with one 2907 clone. Ruben found a few more 1875 seeds and it’s always been good for us. Ruben thinks with our improved growing techniques we can beat the WR. So time will tell.   Monday, March 25 View Page The first seeds went in yesterday for the Spanish weigh off. They are wrapped up in tissue paper and in plastic bags between our 2907 clones.   Thursday, April 18 View Page Finally all of the plants are in and waiting for this time of year has been boring to say the least.   Saturday, April 20 View Page I’ve very quickly knocked up this frame for the solenoids and hopefully we can get it all up and running in the next month or so.   Wednesday, April 24 View Page It’s looking like the two early plants for the Spanish weigh off will but be 1727Jacobus’s. I personally think that these seeds are going to be very sort after next year. Of course Stuart and I both think that they can get a WR, if we didn’t it wouldn’t be in our patch. Just remember who said this first.   Thursday, May 2 View Page We will probably be going with this 2447 Cutrupi which was part of the plan and we like it when a plan comes together.   Thursday, May 2 View Page And a photo   Thursday, May 2 View Page Hopefully one of these two clones will make it but we do have a couple of 2020Patons at the other end.   Thursday, May 2 View Page The two middle stations will each have a 2365 Wolf.   Friday, May 10 View Page Our clone was not making proper side shoots so we pulled her out and will be going with our 2020 which is exciting because the seed has loads of potential. The roots were looking pretty healthy.   Thursday, May 23 View Page All the plants are looking bang on   Thursday, May 23 View Page We’re just working out where to send the secondaries and every plant is different.   Thursday, May 23 View Page The first pollination is done and the second early one will be tomorrow.   Thursday, May 23 View Page Vine burying is as early as possible   Thursday, May 23 View Page The pollinator plants are a great improvement for the patch because we don’t have to worry about burying the male flowers on our main plants.   Thursday, May 23 View Page We’re nearly all plumbed in for our new automatic watering system.   Thursday, May 23 View Page Because our glasshouse is so airtight just four of these pilot lights is enough to push the CO2 up to around 1500ppm   Friday, May 24 View Page Venting before pollination   Friday, May 24 View Page Venting on the day of pollination for 28 days. For those of you who are sharp minded you will wonder why the 30C figure? So if you look closely at the times you will see that it’s 30C from 9pm to 8pm. This is purely to keep the vents shut to keep the CO2 in.   Friday, May 24 View Page The latest soil sample, that has taken way too long to come back is okay. Nitrogen is to high, Boron is to low, HIGH five on getting the Sulphur up to 140 and magnesium is always bloody high. All sortable. But it’s only sortable if you get those soil samples away and learn about YOUR soil. Your most important soil samples are coming right up, just before pollination.   Saturday, May 25 View Page 2447 Cutrupi looking great.   Saturday, May 25 View Page Please don’t cut your tendrils off. It there in the way just crack them.   Saturday, May 25 View Page Our 2020 also looking great   Monday, May 27 View Page Hopefully you can see here that we’re sweeping the secondaries back to make room for all of the extra one’s once the pumpkins are set.   Monday, May 27 View Page If your using CO2 make sure that the doors are closed immediately when you go out of the house.   Monday, May 27 View Page This is the one of the 1727 Jacobus plants. I have just realised that I didn’t actually explain why we put the venting temperature up. So, after many hours of research we dug up from experiments growing cucumbers ideal conditions for cell expansion and cell division. We obviously had to take this information with a pinch of salt but it was really interesting. The experiments found that for the first 10 days after pollination the cucumbers went through cell division and cell expansion. Then for a further 18 days they went through cell expansion only. So, what to do? Well our thoughts are to keep the plants in a “happy place” and we felt that the plants needed the temperatures in my previous posts. It’s all a bit touchy feely but we know it’s working. Please, if there’s something in my diary that’s not explained just ask, Stuart and I prefer to have no secrets as pumpkin growing is hard enough as it is.   Wednesday, May 29 View Page This should answer burying the tendril and how we do it. Check out the root that’s desperate to get down into the soil, and it will. It’s absolutely imperative that you get your vines covered as soon as possible because once that white dot on the top sees too much light it will switch off.   Wednesday, May 29 View Page Sometimes tendrils cane be a little naughty.   Wednesday, May 29 View Page The two early pollinations look good.   Wednesday, May 29 View Page Nice   Wednesday, May 29 View Page This is the time of year when you sort of show your cards when you lay out the material for your pumpkins to slide on. My advice would be to aim for enough room to improve 500lbs on your pb and I wouldn’t ask you to anything that we don’t.   Thursday, May 30 View Page The first two look pollinated.   Thursday, May 30 View Page Is everyone ready to watch us Warping and Bending nature?   Saturday, June 1 View Page So vine burying with the”Paton pot system”. First pinch out the tertiary vines to as near to the growing tip possible. It’s important to nip these out early so that the cut is as small as possible and also give it a day to heal up. It’s all about mot giving disease and easy access to into the plant. Then apply a pinch of Wow Wallace mycorrhiza and azos.   Saturday, June 1 View Page Then tip up a 3L pot of soaking wet compost over the leaf node.   Saturday, June 1 View Page Pinch the leaf together and mould, or mold if you’re American the compost around the whole node. It’s important to go all the way round because that top root can come will randomly go anywhere.   Saturday, June 1 View Page Then replace the pot. This is to keep moisture in and help keep light out.   Saturday, June 1 View Page Rather annoyingly the main vine on one of the Wolfs slipped back into a hollow from it’s two supporting bamboos. It’s cracked about on third of the way through. It’s not the greatest of plants as it’s missing lots of secondaries but I did pollinated a nice pumpkin three leaves in front of the crack this morning.   Saturday, June 1 View Page Equally annoying is the first pumpkin that we wanted to pollinate on the Cutrupi shriveled up overnight.   Sunday, June 2 View Page Hopefully you will ger this photo   Sunday, June 2 View Page For those tiny tertiary buds the blunt, not sharp, tip of a knife will make a much better job than pinching them.   Sunday, June 2 View Page Both of the Jacobus plants are fantastic.   Sunday, June 2 View Page This is the other.   Sunday, June 2 View Page One of the Wolf plants looks great.   Sunday, June 2 View Page The other is the worst plant in the patch with loads of secondaries missing   Sunday, June 2 View Page The 2020 Paton is a fabulous plant.   Sunday, June 2 View Page And finally the Cutrupi plant is okay but just okay   Sunday, June 2 View Page A day later than planned my field pumpkins are sown.   Tuesday, June 4 View Page And the photo. Nitrogen is by far the hardest element to get right and it doesn’t always reflect in the size of the leaves. The leaves on this plant have been naturally big just like the 2907. The clear way to tell is by looking at the side vines. If they are running flat on the soil perhaps more Nitrogen is needed and if they are bolt upright you are going to have a problem burying them. Leaf samples really don’t help because they nearly always tell you that they are overdosed with Nitrogen even at the time of sending you feel that the leaves look a bit blue in colour. Personally the way to go is to experiment and build up a picture in your head for yourself. We always use Calcium Nitrate because we always want to improve on the Calcium. It always goes through the drip tube and we expect to see a change within 24hrs We normally put on about 10 ozs per patch but I would drop that down to 5 ozs until you can work out what works for your soil. Remember, you can’t take it off.   Tuesday, June 4 View Page One very nice flower about to open on the 2020   Tuesday, June 4 View Page All the pollinators got pulled out today which is a great time to check the roots.   Tuesday, June 4 View Page I’m doing a great job forgetting to add photos.   Tuesday, June 4 View Page Really clean hands are needed for the twice a day repositioning. We just lift them up and use the weight of the pumpkins to strengthen them out.   Tuesday, June 4 View Page 50 tonnes of second hand peat for four very lucky field pumpkins.   Wednesday, June 5 View Page Hopefully you can see here that we’ve moved the drip tubes away from the main crown. All of the roots from the crown have probably developed so at this point there is no need to water it. Now is the time to keep this part of the plant as dry as possible. If you grow outside cover it with anything, just don’t let water anywhere near it.   Thursday, June 6 View Page The FP seeds are being very stubborn to germinate so I’ve put everything left in the seed box in the airing cupboard.   Thursday, June 6 View Page Early days   Thursday, June 6 View Page I’ve rarely get excited at this stage but this pumpkin is extremely big for the pollination date.   Saturday, June 8 View Page God these are stubborn seeds to germinate.   Saturday, June 8 View Page Not a bad shape and I think the Wolf is pollinated   Saturday, June 8 View Page Pollinated a day later the 2447 should also be pollinated.   Saturday, June 8 View Page The 2020 is way bigger than the last two and pollinated after both of them. After mulling over last year my conclusion is this. We had 4 pumpkins on world record pace and probably growing faster than any fruit has ever grown. These split, which was probably down to a watering issue. The other two were naturally slower growing and we lost them to natural causes. So, for this year we will be changing the watering system but it’s still extremely difficult to calculate how much to water. Will we be playing it safe and slowing them down? In a word, NO   Monday, June 10 View Page This is exactly what we’re looking for.   Tuesday, June 11 View Page Me and my photos.   Wednesday, June 12 View Page The Jacobus hit DAP20 today and is slow for us at 77lbs but obviously very early days. Also when trying to lift her to reposition she’s a lump   Wednesday, June 12 View Page We’re taking to pots off the vines we can reach on the crown end and gently brushing the peat away. You can see the top and bottom roots nicely developed.   Thursday, June 13 View Page The other Jacobus DAP 20 was 1inch bigger so around 85lbs. We are definitely going to have a very mixed bunch in the patch this year. Hopefully several will go heavy and for breathtaking size my money would be on the 2020. Thank you Carl for helping out.   Thursday, June 13 View Page Cracking shape   Friday, June 14 View Page Every 7 days we water, by hand over the top of the last week’s growth which is probably around 8 or 9ft. This is extremely important if you’re growing indoors and using drip tubes. We need to keep the area that has just been buried moist in order to encourage those new roots.   Friday, June 14 View Page The areas that have been buried and rooted need to be nice and relatively dry on the surface. This is to keep disease risk to a minimum. Everything in the photo are added to the hand watering. Basically are the good stuff.   Saturday, June 15 View Page All drip tube systems need a filter and be sure to clean them regularly.   Saturday, June 15 View Page Here’s a great tip. Put the dam knife in the bucket every time you use it. Last year I lost at least three.   Saturday, June 15 View Page So a quick update on the plants. The first Jacobus is a great compact plant.   Saturday, June 15 View Page The second Jacobus is almost a twin and looks great.   Saturday, June 15 View Page The first Wolf is a great plant with a great looking pumpkin but more about that later.   Saturday, June 15 View Page The second Wolf plant is right up there with the worst plants we have ever had to deal with. I could tell you whats wrong with it but wouldn’t know where to start.   Saturday, June 15 View Page The Cutrupi is an okay plant but the pumpkin looks slow at the moment.   Saturday, June 15 View Page The 2020 Paton is a great plant and the pumpkin looks tremendous at the moment.   Saturday, June 15 View Page I have a time lapse camera on two of the pumpkins for the first time this year. If I can work them out the films will go on my Instagram “ianpaton2269” and TikTok “ianpaton3” Stuart is doing a totally everything How To on his TikTok “Giant.Pumpkin.Wars”   Sunday, June 16 View Page Jacobus   Sunday, June 16 View Page A very nice Wolf   Sunday, June 16 View Page Finally the FP’s are in except one that Mark is possibly bringing over for me. In a bid to keep a little more heat in at night I was forced to make some hoop houses. So cold at night   Monday, June 17 View Page The Wolf on the good plant has all the hallmarks of a great pumpkin with the added bonus of colour.   Monday, June 17 View Page The Cutrupi photo does this pumpkin a favour because it’s not a great shape at the moment. I’ve already had one week on my own looking after the patch and now as Stuart got married I have another two. If I’m totally honest looking after 6 plants is just too much as the first three days has been 5 hours in the patch each day.   Thursday, June 20 View Page I really don’t know how we have overlooked this but it will be a major improvement for next year. Because the 2907 clones weren’t behaving we went for the first time ever with the 2020 back up plant running from the centre towards the side. Stuart found roots from the plant way,way back into the Cutrupi plant. It’s just one of those light bulb moments.   Thursday, June 20 View Page You will probably get another photo of this Wolf in the next few days but I thought you would like to see this absolutely stunning pumpkin. Super happy.   Thursday, June 20 View Page The 2020 is also a fantastic looking pumpkin but without the colour. This one will probably light up the OTT chart like a Christmas tree. I might be wrong but I have no intention of doing a sneaky measure. It was twice the size as all the other pumpkins even at pollination.   Saturday, June 22 View Page DAP30 the first Jacbus is 449lbs averaging 53 lbs a day for the last 10 days   Saturday, June 22 View Page And the photo   Saturday, June 22 View Page DAP 20 the Wolf is 108lbs which is about 30% faster than the Jacobus   Sunday, June 23 View Page Well done for Spudder for spotting my deliberate mistake, it’s my age. The other Jacobus is almost identical in shape and weight to its twin and DAP 30 is 444lbs averaging 36 pounds a day for the last ten. One has colour the other is white.   Sunday, June 23 View Page The Cutrupi has improved in shape but this is the last time we will see her blossom for a while. At DAP20 she is 154 inches and not really on the chart.   Sunday, June 23 View Page From the top she looks alright.   Sunday, June 23 View Page It’s been a particularly brutal 6 hours in the patch today but at least the two Jacobus plants are on their way to filling out the patch. I’ve finally got the automatic watering system figured out and it’s working well. Instead of getting 50 gallons three times a day we can now give each plant 30 gallons four times a day. The system is extremely accurate so we might even end up watering more often but this is a good start.   Sunday, June 23 View Page Tomorrow at DAP20 the 2020 will blow your minds.   Sunday, June 23 View Page I’m very proud of the plants   Monday, June 24 View Page DAP 20 the 2020 is 200lbs which is great news as the 2907 was 188lbs.   Saturday, June 29 View Page I didn’t want to post this last week because I didn’t want to spoil Stuart’s honeymoon. About 5 days ago I found this crack that had gone side to side on the orange Jacobus. I put an airline on it and it is absolutely fine. The real problem is, if I’m honest, is dealing the difficulty of the stress it causes us growers.   Saturday, June 29 View Page The Wolf was a very nice surprise and at DAP20 is 140lbs. Absolutely no chance of stopping her growing over the blossom end but very happy.   Saturday, June 29 View Page We’re in the “funny 30 days” now when the pumpkins will be growing at their fastest and it can go Pete Tong at any moment. To try and elevate this we set up the automatic watering which has been difficult but the end result is well worth it. So in the photos peruse your eyes over this scrappy bit of paper. In this period of pumpkin growth last year we were giving each plant a 50 gallon drum of water 3 times a day. If you look at the picture,on the bottom line,we are giving in gallons these figures. (The line above is litres) Now this does vary but this is because in some of the patches the drip tubes are shorter. So on the old system we would have been giving more water per Meter squared on the small drip tube patches. All of this also has the advantage of watering 5 times a day. So, fairly confusing but it’s what we do.   Saturday, June 29 View Page This was a first for me and I had to get some of our staff to help. The White Jacobus was growing back on its stem so we winched the pumpkin forward and it worked okay.   Tuesday, July 2 View Page The touch paper in the patch is well and truly lit. DAP40 the first Jacobus is 970lbs and averaged 52lbs a day for the last ten. The crack is callusing over and as long as the growth rate continues we know the it hasn’t gone into the cavity. Fingers crossed. Not a bad looking pumpkin as well which is always a bonus.   Tuesday, July 2 View Page The first Wolf is still looking like she will be a stunning pumpkin. I’m not sure if we have left quite enough space and she will grow over the top of a thin side vine but it’s probably not a problem. DAP30 she’s 469lbs and averaged 36lbs a day for the last ten.   Tuesday, July 2 View Page The field pumpkins look okay and are just getting going.   Tuesday, July 2 View Page It’s really important not to let any of the vines touch the side of the pumpkin because they tend to infect them so some soft plastic works well.   Tuesday, July 2 View Page Happy with the plants.   Tuesday, July 2 View Page Over the next week I’m going to run through our P&D starting with powdery mildew. I’m starting with this as we have had a small battle with PM that was carried over from the clones that were over wintered. Systhane is our go to chemical but has just been taken off the dam market. It will pucker up the leaves but needs must.   Tuesday, July 2 View Page We also useAQ10 which is a Bio fungicide. It’s a natural occurring hyperparasitic fungus. It’s we worth spraying all of your polythene or glass structures as well as the plants.   Wednesday, July 3 View Page Another good day in the patch. DAP40 the second Jacobus is 963lbs and averaged 35lbs a day for the last 10days.   Wednesday, July 3 View Page The Cutrupi did better than expected and DAP30 is 420lbs averaging 35lbs a day for the last 10 days.   Wednesday, July 3 View Page And the inevitable, forgot to load a photo. She’s not going to be a pretty pumpkin that’s for sure.   Wednesday, July 3 View Page White fly will be common in protected cropping and very simple to control with encarsia and eretmocerus mixed on hanging cards. The encarsia with not be able to tackle the bremisia tabaci white fly but eretmocerus probably will. It’s extremely important with IPM (integrated pest management) to make sure that your friendly control measures are not damaged by any chemical controls. It’s also essential that you apply your friendly controls before you see the problem as they are rarely able to keep up.   Wednesday, July 3 View Page Scarid is a real problem in protected cropping and spraying with chemicals will not cut the mustard. As with all friendly controls it’s wise to go in with at least two modes of action. Both of the following are equally as good so I will start with atheta beetles. These are extremely aggressive and move quickly around the crop. The other excellent control is nematodes. These need to be watered into the crop and they attack the larva. When you put these on you need to use overhead systems removing any filter. They will block up your drip systems.   Thursday, July 4 View Page DAP30 and the 2020 is 700lbs which, to be honest is quite ridiculous. She’s averaged 50lbs a day for the last 10 and looking good.   Saturday, July 6 View Page Red spider control is easy but I get plenty of growers mailing me photos with a nutrient deficiency and it’s RSM. We put phytoseiulus every week and this is important because you want to be building a population of these tiny mites. And tiny mites mean that you have to take your time to put them on evenly. If you already have a big population of RSM you will have to go in with multiple sprays.   Saturday, July 6 View Page For aphids we have tried to control them with friendly bugs but as soon as they develop wings outside they pour in through the vents. This year we are back to spraying. The only other way round it is to put netting on our vents.   Sunday, July 7 View Page Always a welcome sight. For all of those slightly observant the 2020 is growing the opposite way round and I don’t know why we haven’t done this before. Rather than the crown roots hitting a concrete wall they can make use of the patch behind them. We did have a quick measure off the 2020 just to see when it hits the 1000lb mark and it appears to have averaged 72lbs a day for the last three.   Tuesday, July 9 View Page DAP30 the smallest Wolf is 439lbs and averaged 30lbs a day for the last 10. It’s not destined to make a huge pumpkin but we fight for every pumpkin in the patch.   Tuesday, July 9 View Page Cleaning gutters on a wet miserable day and at 8m high it’s not for the faint hearted. I did get this rather different photo of the orange Jacobus. If we get either of them to the scales they will be massive.   Tuesday, July 9 View Page The 2020 is a very vigorous plant.   Tuesday, July 9 View Page DAP35 the 2020 is around 1050lbs   Friday, July 12 View Page The first Jacobus is doing okay and DAP50 is 1478lbs averaging 51lbs for the last 10 days.   Friday, July 12 View Page DAP40 the Wolf is 1035lbs and averaged 57lbs a day for the last ten.   Friday, July 12 View Page And a photo.   Friday, July 12 View Page I couldn’t find the latest soil samples but this should give you something to aim for. You want to be taking around half a dozen soil samples from the root zone. Mix these very well and remove any big stones. And that’s it, just send the required amount to your lab. Literally as simple as that.   Saturday, July 13 View Page The second Jacobus DAP50 is 1515lbs and averaged 57lbs for the last ten days. She is a big and imposing pumpkin with no netting at all at the moment so is likely to be huge.   Saturday, July 13 View Page The Cutrupi is sorting of plodding along and DAP40 is 885lbs averaging 46lbs for the last ten days. (Not a big fan of this one but it’s no beauty contest)   Sunday, July 14 View Page DAP20 the 2020 is 1204lbs and there is possibly something wrong with the pumpkin as the last ten day average has dropped to just 50lbs a day   Sunday, July 14 View Page I checked the numbers for the 2020 and found a foot missing so he’s 1311lbs and averaged 61lbs a day for the last 10. Even with the extra pounds I am slightly concerned about this one but there’s plenty in the patch to be grateful for.   Wednesday, July 17 View Page   Wednesday, July 17 View Page That could be my best diary ever. No text, no photo. Mildew this year is a real pain.It all came from the overwintered plants and it’s been a bit of a battle to be honest. We don’t have a lot of mildew but we all know how quickly it spreads.   Wednesday, July 17 View Page Spraying knocks seven bales of s- -t out of the plants and it breaks my heart having to do hand to hand combat with mildew   Wednesday, July 17 View Page We’re just being to cut the water down from 3 minutes five times a day to 2 minutes. At the moment we just need to get all the DAP60’s out of the way   Wednesday, July 17 View Page   Wednesday, July 17 View Page The FP are coming along and I think it’s going to be a great distraction from the main event. This is a text that hopefully Howard will find. Many, many years ago I remember Sarah calling “Do you know how much this phone call’s costing”? I won’t bore you with the details but the long and short of it was that I was calling the great Howard Dill and he taught me many growing techniques. But and here’s the BUT he taught me something much more valuable. He spent, probably hours helping us to become British champions. He had no secrets, all he had was this amazing passion for pumpkins and helping others. So that’s where we are today, we are passing it forward to all growers and in return all we ask is that all growers do the same. Pumpkin growing can be absolutely brutal and our real competition is with ourselves. So why do we love our sport? Particularly because we love to Warp and Bend nature but really, because on the whole everyone is just so dam friendly. Now I’m sure I’m talking to Danny but I can’t for the life of me remember your sister’s name?   Friday, July 19 View Page This is classic systhane side effects.   Friday, July 19 View Page And I know it’s getting boring but here’s the photo.   Friday, July 19 View Page We now go to the middle of the plant. At a guest we have about 50% of plant behind the pumpkin and 50% in front. Although losing leaves at the back of plants will be inevitable you can still end up with roots working. When you get to the last third of the season the front of the plant will easily cope feeding the pumpkin with water to add those last few pounds   Friday, July 19 View Page The front of the plant will have been very slow to fill out because the pumpkin, from around the size of a beach ball would be nicking just about everything. This all plays nicely into growers hands giving us some nice young fresh growth for those all important last few pounds.   Friday, July 19 View Page Our small Wolf is not quick but doing okay and DAP40 is 875lbs and at an average 35lbs and day for the last ten.   Saturday, July 20 View Page I’m pleased to say that the 2020 is still doing well and has easily got the potential to be a pb as do a couple of others in the patch. We do have a little fusarium in the patch which is the greatest challenge certainly in most European indoor patches. Although it really goes against the grain for us we will have to sell some seeds this year to cover the cost of steam sterilisation this winter. If anyone else out there is growing a 2020 we would be interested to know how they’re doing. The 2907 was truly a bullet seed with huge DAP numbers and crossing it with the Wolf that tends to go heavy will undoubtedly raise many growers pb’s. Although this one is peach in colour there is a truck load of orange in the genetics which is always a bonus. It’s going to be a long, long summer but great fun.   Monday, July 22 View Page DAP60 the orange Jacobus is 1729lbs and averaged 25lbs a day for the last ten years she will end up being a mighty pumpkin for sure.   Monday, July 22 View Page The big Wolf is still looking gorgeous and will hopefully get more orange as she ages. DAP50 she’s 1468lbs and averaged 43lbs a day for the last 10.   Tuesday, July 23 View Page Pap, what can I say, he did so much for so many but most of all he was another father to Stuart and I. He was so proud of us and we loved him dearly. My heart goes out to Mom and my brother Ron. We will get that world record and when we do it’s for you Pap xxx   Tuesday, July 23 View Page On a happier note the other Jacobus which I have nicknamed Hagrid has had a fantastic last ten days averaging 32lbs a day. He’s now 1838lbs and great potential for a WR. I am touching wood as I write this but I’m not a big fan of sand bagging and would prefer every one to enjoy the ride with us.   Tuesday, July 23 View Page The Cutrupi is plodding along and DAP50 is 1302lbs averaging 41lbs for the last ten days. Hagrid is on DAP60.   Wednesday, July 24 View Page DAP just 50 the 2020 or from now on Tiny Tim is a massive 1768lbs and averaged 46lbs a day for the last ten days. The growth rate of this seed is way in front of every thing else in the patch and it will surely be one of the next hot seeds. As only two are known to be planted this year there is no chance that we picked the bullet seed out of the batch so probably a very exciting seed for the future.   Wednesday, July 24 View Page Even for us this is a WOW pumpkin. But and here’s the But we enjoy the dream and get right back to what we so best “Roots & Shoots”. This is not the time to be complacent.   Friday, July 26 View Page Day to day maintenance. The Wolf has been growing backwards on to its stem for a few weeks and today was the day to take action. Just a case of getting down and dirty digging under the main vine to release the pressure. It’s one awesome looking pumpkin.   Friday, July 26 View Page Tiny Tim, the Wolf that Sarah informs me is called Pippin and Hagrid.   Friday, July 26 View Page The FP’s are getting there   Tuesday, July 30 View Page DAP50 the 2365 small Wolf is 1152lbs and averaged 28lbs for the last 10 days. The plant is absolutely rubbish but we will continue to look after her.   Tuesday, July 30 View Page A really cool photo of the orange Jacobus   Thursday, August 1 View Page Everything in the patch is doing what it should and no nasty surprises which is always welcome. DAP70 the first Jacobus is doing very well at 1979lbs and averaged another 25lbs a day for the last 10.   Thursday, August 1 View Page If I had to be picky it would be nice to have a bit more hight on the big Wolf to make it look more impressive. However the really low pumpkins generally tend to go really heavy so time will tell. DAP60 she’s 1739lbs and averaged 27lbs a day for the last 10. It’s about 60 day until her weigh off so as long as everything goes okay she will be magnificent. Orange and some.   Friday, August 2 View Page Photos don’t really do the second Jacobus justice because it’s already an huge pumpkin. We would obviously prefer to see no sag lines but if it gets to the weigh offs it will be a force to reckon with. DAP70 its 2091lbs and averaged 25lbs a day for the last ten.   Friday, August 2 View Page The Cutrupi is still doing okay and DAP60 is 1506lbs and averaged a respectable 20lbs a day for the last 10   Friday, August 2 View Page It’s been extremely hot and humid which is ideal for fusarium. It can be found in patches and this is probably the worst. There is hopefully enough left in all the plants to get them all over their pumpkins over the line. I’m getting lots of emails about this problem and sadly the only answer is steam sterilisation or dig the whole area out. Hydrogen peroxide is good for sterilising walk boards etc but in my opinion that’s about it. We get to measure the 2020 tomorrow!!   Sunday, August 4 View Page For some reason Tiny Tim’s update didn’t go through so if at first you don’t succeed. DAP just 60 it’s coincidentally 2091lbs and averaged 32lbs a day for the last ten.   Sunday, August 4 View Page This photo of Sarah and the Wolf really shows just how big these pumpkins are getting.   Sunday, August 4 View Page All the field pumpkins got pollinated today apart from one little sucker that opened yesterday and caught me out.   Sunday, August 4 View Page Three monsters in a row.   Sunday, August 11 View Page The pumpkins are all just chugging along with no real drama. DAP80 the first Jacobus is 2091lbs averaging 11lbs a day for the last ten. There must be something in the water because that’s the third one to tape 2091lbs. It’s a very nice looking pumpkin and will be massive.   Sunday, August 11 View Page Our good friends Nick and Christy rocked up to our house with their lovely family.   Sunday, August 11 View Page DAP70 the amazing Wolf is 1969lbs and averaged 22lbs for the last 10 days. If I ever was to guess that a pumpkin would go seriously heavy it would be this one but time will tell.   Sunday, August 11 View Page Royalty   Monday, August 12 View Page Not the best looking pumpkin to say the least but DAP70 the Cutrupi is 1631lbs and averaged 12lbs a day for the last10. We might be able to get her taping around 1900lbs so it would be a welcome back up.   Monday, August 12 View Page Hagrid has had a fantastic last 10 days and averaged 15lbs a day for the last ten. He’s now 2245lbs and absolutely enormous.   Tuesday, August 13 View Page Tiny Tim is going to be massive. Just DAP70 he’s 2265lbs averaging 17lbs a day for the last 10. That’s slightly bigger than Hagrid but ten days earlier.   Tuesday, August 13 View Page My good friend Jamie Graham swung by to have a patch tour.   Tuesday, August 13 View Page When pumpkins grow backwards it’s the worst job ever to dig under and free up the vines. I’ve had to dig out the Wolf three times now.   Wednesday, August 21 View Page Everything is just ticking over nicely. The sprays for mildew have taken their toll on the leaves but there’s enough left in the plants to get them over the line. DAP 90 the Jacobus is 2152lbs and averaged 6lbs a day for the last 10.   Wednesday, August 21 View Page What a pumpkin !!!!! DAP80 the Wolf became our fourth pumpkin in the patch over 2000lbs She’s 2091lbs and averaged 12 lbs a day for the last 10.   Thursday, August 22 View Page It’s very difficult to express how colossal Hagrid is and he has about another 44days days to go. So basically slowly then very slowly putting on those all important pounds. DAP90 he’s 2338lbs and averaged 9lbs a day for the last 10.   Friday, August 23 View Page The Cutrupi DAP80 is sort of getting there and is 1680lbs. It’s a good job it’s not a beauty contest, just saying.   Friday, August 23 View Page Perhaps I shouldn’t have put the photo on.   Friday, August 23 View Page Tiny Tim however is a different kettle of fish and looks beautiful. It’s one massive pumpkin and DAP just 80 is the biggest in the patch at 2379lbs There’s about 42 days until his weigh off and at a guess will probably be taping over 2600lbs. Great plant, immense pumpkin and awesome seed. What’s not to like.   Saturday, August 31 View Page It’s going to be a very slow week with very low night temperatures. The first Jacobus only put on 11lbs and is 2163lbs. But you can’t take pounds off and it’s an imposing pumpkin.   Saturday, August 31 View Page The Wolf is about the hardest pumpkin we’ve ever had to measure. Stuart measured even smaller than I did. DAP90 it’s 2132lbs, on my measurements.   Saturday, August 31 View Page The Wolf has really sunk into the ground and the dam pumpkin has decided to grow down into the hole I made for the stem. All a bit of a mare but all great fun to watch.   Monday, September 2 View Page Yesterday DAP100 Hagrid was 500inches and 2411lbs averaging 7lbs a day for the last 10.   Monday, September 2 View Page Tiny Tim DAP90 is 502inches and 2431lbs. We lost the Cutrupi which was not a surprise but it does focus the mind and reality kicks back in.   Monday, September 2 View Page Just one out of four field pumpkins left but it looks okay, not that I know much about them. All the other three kept weeping on the blossom ends until they went through to the cavities. I didn’t like the look of them weeks ago and Nick confirmed my fears. All part of the game.   Saturday, September 7 View Page We got a months rain in one day and it frustratingly took out my last FP.   Saturday, September 7 View Page Our big Wolf has some very thick cantalouping which is, in some places weeping so fans are on it. We started to think about taking it to the Spanish weigh off but after measuring it’s way to big for the pallet. The problem is that we have to pay ridiculous money just to have a special pallet made and stamped so that it meets requirements to go into Europe. So we will lift this beauty on Monday and have the plant health department check her. Stuart and Kaz will get the over night ferry to Spain. I will fly out on Thursday and we will meet up at the weigh off. All rather complicated and very expensive. Even if we were to win the Spanish show I doubt if the prize money will cover the costs. But it’s not just about the weigh off or money, it’s about meeting up with our fabulous friends. Let the games begin   Monday, September 9 View Page The Orange Jacobus took us forever to get out of the patch. It’s a great looking pumpkin and DAP109 is 490inches or 2307lbs. It’s probably gained an extra 110lbs at lifting and is a monster.   Tuesday, September 10 View Page A couple of nights on the ferry and the Jacobus will be in Spain. What an epic pumpkin.   Tuesday, September 10 View Page Our beautiful granddaughter Martha posing for the press camera. I’m sure the 2020 will be one of the great seeds.   Tuesday, September 10 View Page Her little sister Etta was an absolute star. Etta’s twin sister Polly is a little shy but just cute.   Wednesday, September 11 View Page Hagrid continues to impress and DAP110 is 504inches and 2451lbs   Thursday, September 12 View Page I measured Tiny Tim yesterday as it was an early start for me to get my plane to Spain. DAP100 he’s 2472lbs or 506inches averaging 4lbs a day. I’m fairly sure that somewhere in the Christmas tree pattern of vines some fusarium has cut off some for the water supply. It’s not the sort of thing you can get a plumber to fix and it will not help walking through the patch trying to find it. He should be around 70lbs heavier than Hagrid right now but there are no complaints here. This seed has already proven that it can out grow anything we have in the patch, it has the potential to grow a 3000lb pumpkin and has fantastic orange.   Monday, September 16 View Page For some reason diary entries didn’t go well is Spain   Monday, September 16 View Page The pumpkin was light at about 2156lbs but I forgot the exact size as we were always eating and partying. Thank you Ruben and Spain for making it such a memorable weigh off.   Tuesday, September 17 View Page First of all don’t panic. On my second inspection of the day on the 2020 I found a soft spot on the stem. As I pushed my finger into the soft spot about a cup of mushy water poured out. After making the hole bigger so that I could clean it out it got plenty of strong alcohol. This was followed by our air hose to gently try and dry it out. On the pumpkin side of the stem it felt fairly good so as long as it dries it should be fine. Well at least I’ve found the reason for it’s slow growth and we will be planting this amazing seed next year Perhaps I should be drinking the alcohol. It’s going to be a long 25 days until they are all weighed. We are thinking about taking one to Germany but it’s going to be difficult with the costs.   Monday, September 23 View Page Oh yeahhhh Hagrid DAP120 is 507 inches and 2482lbs. That’s 3lbs a day for the last 10 and we will take that all day long.   Wednesday, September 25 View Page It’s TV madness and on Sky news this morning so you can see the 2020 being lifted if you can find it. Finale taping was DAP113 509inches and 2503lbs. We have probably lost at least 150lbs but that’s pumpkin growing. If I’m honest, whatever Tiny Tim weighs is not as important as growing this amazing pumpkin with my brother. Good luck everyone   Thursday, September 26 View Page Stuart and Kaz had booked a holiday before our Sunnyfields weigh off got moved to the Great Malvern show. Sadly they couldn’t make the weigh off so I got this nice photo before leaving. Sarah and I took the pumpkin up to the show and to be honest it was not enjoyable. The pumpkins are just too big for our standard trailers. Anyway the drive was all worth while as he weighed in at I think 2641lbs.   Sunday, September 29 View Page It’s difficult to know for sure but I think the stem has gone into the flesh of the Wolf so rather than lose it we will probably lift her in the next couple of days. We will get her weighed but it will be an unofficial weight and she will get a little stardom. Hagrid is looking mighty impressive.   Monday, September 30 View Page The Wolf went pretty much on the money at 2257lbs. All we could do with now is a little luck and Hagrid to go heavy.   Friday, October 4 View Page Ridiculous is about the only word that explains this phenomenal photo. I think, but not exactly sure that Hagrid tapes 513inches which is probably about 2540lbs ish. To be honest the weight is not important to me now. The pure size is just something to be totally proud of. The world record will come and if it’s tomorrow we will be very happy. All we need to do is is keep improving and next year’s blue print is well underway.   Saturday, October 5 View Page Now, you tell me how it’s possible to grow two 2600lb pumpkins in a year with under 2lbs between them? But, and here’s the BUT, Curtis pays and runs this show without sponsorship for just the good of it. That’s exactly why we love the show so much. Thank you Curtis and all of your helpers for a wonderful day. We will get that WR   Sunday, October 20 View Page That’s what you want to see on a seed germination test after 3 days.