Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 8 Entries. Tuesday, March 18 View Page Getting the plot ready for my third year of giant pumpkin growing. I will try to beat my last year’s weight of 1161 lbs which was grown from a 665 Cook seed. Working with a 500 sqft urban front yard limits my growth area but I will maximize growth by adding a greenhouse to get an earlier start and to keep the heat units up during our cooler summer nights here on the northern Pacific coast.   Thursday, March 20 View Page That’s not snow in Vancouver - it’s Vermiculite!! It’s the white stuff in potting soil and when tilled into to the soil it makes it light and fluffy and easy for roots to grow.   Sunday, April 6 View Page Thanks to Pumpkin Dave for calculating all the amendments needed according to the Langley formula and also for helping to source all these “ferts”. Added a dusting of Azos and Mycos to the patch to get the all the “bios” inoculated too.   Sunday, April 6 View Page Used a grass seed spreader to spread out all the amendments. Will rototill in everything.   Sunday, April 6 View Page Heating cables being installed close to the transplant area - rows 3 inches apart. On the right shelf is ceramic heater and a rotating fan, on the left shelf is another rotating fan and a dehumidifier as it gets very wet when grow tent is all sealed up and this stops the condensation drips. Soil will be piled back over top of the coils to a depth of 4 inches and a mound created for the transplant site.   Monday, April 7 View Page All 3 seeds germinated and put into 1 gallon pots with mixture of Promix, Mycos, Azos and Miracle Grow. Growing 2 pumpkins this year as I opened up an area on the city boulevard that’s about 300 sqft. I will choose from the Barron 2144, the Chan 2252.5 or the Polay 1161 - have to see what comes up from the pots!   Friday, April 11 View Page Final rototill is done, heating coils are warming soil temperature around transplant site, heater set for 78F to keep nighttime temps decent. Small 10x20 ft greenhouse warms up very fast in the morning with any amount of sunshine. Final step will be to hang grow lights over transplant area to provide extra nighttime heat and a little extra boost. Transplant day is less than a week away - all three seeds are showing their first true leaf now.   Wednesday, April 16 View Page Since snowshoeing season is over now I have been using these modified “garden shoes” when I need to go in the greenhouse. They seem to really keep compaction of the tilled soil to a minimum. I did modify them by removing the metal grips on the bottom to prevent any damage to the irrigation system.