Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 62 Entries. Friday, April 7 View Page This is my 1621.5 from last year that was going to be a test plant but wow is this plant growing fast(up for 7.5 days). I had zero intention of growing this seed but almost everyone has been super fast to germinate. Now I’m thinking it might be a good candidate for the early Michigan State Fair.   Friday, April 7 View Page Sometimes my ocd is a good thing as I actually purchased four 2365 seeds cheap & four 1940 seeds last year and Pete sent me the 1707 seed for free after winning one of these at auction. So hopefully those three will be main seeds this year along with a 2493. I’m going to start these seeds tomorrow since the 30 day forecast looks amazing. Good luck to everyone this year.   Thursday, April 13 View Page Nine out of ten of my plants are up and only my 1621 failed to sprout. The 2365 had me a little nervous as it was the last one to sprout at 4&1/2 days.   Sunday, April 16 View Page My buddy climbed up 25-30 feet and dropped this tree for me. This might of doubled my sunlight in my patch and will allow me to grow another pumpkin this year   Sunday, April 16 View Page Everything got upgraded to one gallon grow bags today with one tablespoon of wow soil booster and two teaspoons of Mycorrhiza added to each bag.   Friday, April 28 View Page Finally got a few plants in the ground today. This is my 2287 Sadiq that has been just an awesome plant and the fastest one to come up at 3 days. Really didn’t plan on growing it but wow has it handled the sun and heat without a hint of wilting. Also planted the 1707.5 and the 2493 today as they are definitely my #2 and 3 plants. My 2365 started out a little slow but hopefully will be in the garden next week   Thursday, May 4 View Page Finally got the 2365 in the ground today and it has definitely done better than my outside plants this week   Thursday, May 4 View Page This is my 1953 that is definitely my biggest plant after spending another week in the house. Transplanted it into a two gallon grow bag about 10 days ago and it does not look root-bound after 29 days inside. The weather man was definitely wrong about our April weather but it does look good for at least the next 10 days.   Thursday, May 4 View Page Actually the 1953 was inside for 24 days.   Wednesday, May 10 View Page My 1953 is the first one on the ground this year.   Wednesday, May 17 View Page All of my plants are down and around 3 feet long. The 1953 is the exception as it is a little over 6 feet long and will probably outgrow the hoop house in the next day or two.   Tuesday, May 23 View Page Since there is a chance of frost Wednesday and Thursday night the hoop house was extended on the 1953 to 11 feet tonight.   Saturday, May 27 View Page Thought my diary could use a few a few photos that aren’t pumpkin plants. Btw this is my largest catfish and I also caught keeper six walleyes on Saginaw Bay on Friday.   Saturday, May 27 View Page This is my 2365 that unfortunately is a little slow growing secondaries. The same thing happened last year with this seed and it grew my biggest pumpkin last year. So I’m going to only give this one about 400 square feet and see how big I can get it this year. Really want to use it to pollinate the 2493   Saturday, May 27 View Page This is the 2287 Sadiq that was the fastest seed to germinate at 3 days. It has definitely slowed down but definitely has big and short leaves.   Saturday, May 27 View Page Btw hoop houses came off today as the plants were just getting to large for them. We have had frost the last two days and the forecast finally looks great. This is the 1953 and it has been a monster since going outside. Yesterday a male flower bloomed and I really wished that it was in a better spot. It will get a good 900 square feet but I’m not sure if it will get enough sun to match its aggressiveness.   Saturday, May 27 View Page The 1707.5 Caspers is in one of my two best spots and it has been a great plant to date. Should be able to get close to 1000 square feet and hopefully produce a monster this year   Saturday, May 27 View Page Wow did I go a little overboard with pumpkin plants this year. My goal is a 2000 pound pumpkin and of course my jacket if the weather is good this summer. Anyways this is the 2493 wolf that is in my best spot. It has also been a very good plant so far and the secondaries are starting to go. I debated about extending the patch for this one or the 2365 but the 2493 really seems like a more aggressive plant.   Saturday, June 3 View Page Wow what a difference a week can make when growing giant pumpkins. This 2287 wilted a little this week with the 90 degree temps but zero burned leaves.   Saturday, June 3 View Page The 2493 also did great with the heat and has two pumpkins on the main vine   Saturday, June 3 View Page The 1707 suffered a few burnt leaves this week and I’m still waiting on the first female to show up.   Saturday, June 3 View Page The 1953 has slowed down or the others are starting grow faster. The leaves on this one look amazing but it doesn’t get as much sun as the first three plants.   Saturday, June 3 View Page Last is the 2365 that is growing but really needs more sunlight. Hopefully it will still grow a decent size pumpkin this year   Sunday, June 18 View Page Number 2 in 24 hours. Something ate a few vine tips so hopefully this was one of the culprits   Sunday, June 18 View Page Pollinated the 2365 x 2493 this morning. Three more should open in the next day or two and the temperatures are suppose to be in the 80’s for the next week.   Monday, June 19 View Page Pollinated the 2493 x 1953 this morning   Monday, June 19 View Page Also pollinated the 2287 x 1953   Tuesday, June 20 View Page 1707.5 x 2287.   Saturday, June 24 View Page I’m not sure if it was the uv or the insecticide but one or the combination destroyed 3-4 leaves on every secondary on my 1707 and 2493. I cut the old leaves out yesterday and plan on running a secondary through the area that got destroyed. Hopefully that will work and not set me back more than a week. The 2287 gets full sun the longest of the plants and it only lost three leaves. Maybe the seed from Utah can handle the heat better or maybe I just got lucky.   Sunday, June 25 View Page 2493 wolf 7 dap   Sunday, June 25 View Page 2287 Sadiq at 7 dap. This one might be a heavy pumpkin.   Sunday, June 25 View Page Pollinated a few more pumpkins today. 2493x1707 and 2287 x 2365. The 2493 was a nice five lobe so I might go with that one since a week or so was lost with the burnt leaves. The 1953 should finally have another female open in two days   Monday, June 26 View Page Today was only in the high 60s and I should of known that today was not warm enough to be moving pumpkins. This was my 2493 so it looks like I’ll be using the one pollinated yesterday.   Tuesday, June 27 View Page Finally got a female flower to open on my 1953 and crossed it with the 2365.   Saturday, July 1 View Page This is number seven in the last few weeks and nothing has eaten any of my grow tips since the traps went out.   Saturday, July 1 View Page I had to deadhead the 1707 due to it falling parallel to the main vine. Going to run five secondaries from each side up and hopefully fill the rest in with tertiaries.   Monday, July 10 View Page 2365 x 2493 measures in at 143 ott for an estimated weight of 73 lbs at 20 dap.   Monday, July 10 View Page This is the 2287 at 20 dap comes in at 161 ott at 101 lbs.   Monday, July 10 View Page The 1707.5 x 2287 at 20 dap is 143 ott and 73 lbs. The 2287 and the 1707 are still pounding out the vines so maybe they will kick in soon. The 2365 is a small plant that the vines have stopped growing and the pumpkin has only grow 15 lbs in the last two days.   Saturday, July 15 View Page 2493 x 1707.5 is 77 lbs at 20 dap   Monday, July 17 View Page 1953 x 2365 is estimated at 89 lbs on dap 20   Tuesday, July 18 View Page 2365 30 dap with an estimated weight of 194 lbs   Wednesday, July 19 View Page 2287 is estimated at 331 lbs at 30 dap   Thursday, July 20 View Page 1707 is 284 lbs at 30 dap. Really can’t believe that this might be a pretty orange pumpkin.   Tuesday, July 25 View Page The 2493 has an ott of 239 inches and an estimated weight of 315 lbs at 30 dap   Thursday, July 27 View Page This is my last one at 30 dap. The 1953 has an ott of 244 and an estimated weight of 335 lbs.   Friday, July 28 View Page 2365 dap 40 and 369 lbs.   Saturday, July 29 View Page 2287 40 dap and 629 lbs.   Sunday, July 30 View Page 1707 dap 40 and 648 lbs   Friday, August 4 View Page 2493 at dap 40 and 700 lbs   Sunday, August 6 View Page 1953 at dap 40 and 687 687 lbs with an ott of 310 inches.   Monday, August 7 View Page 2365 at 50 dap and coming in at 491 lbs.   Tuesday, August 8 View Page 2287 is 50 dap and 811 lbs. It has averaged 19 lbs a day for the last 5.   Wednesday, August 9 View Page 1707 at 50 dap is 970 lbs with a five day average of 32 lbs.   Thursday, August 17 View Page Unfortunately I lost my crown and seven vines today on my 2493 after finding a small foaming spot on my main. It actually looked ok but just turned to mush when I grabbed it. This is a hard lesson to learn that visual inspection is not enough when it comes to your main vine and I need to actually run my hands down it to verify that it is not soft anywhere.   Thursday, August 17 View Page This is a pic of the area removed and look at the beautiful roots that I pulled up today. Ugh   Friday, September 29 View Page Loaded up for St Johns in the morning   Sunday, October 1 View Page 1281 for the 2287 Sadiq at ST Johns   Saturday, October 7 View Page 1594 for the 1707.5 Casper’s at Dundee. Still need 1425 pounds for my jacket this year   Saturday, October 7 View Page 1594 for the 1707.5 Casper’s at Dundee. Still need 1425 pounds for my jacket this year   Thursday, October 12 View Page Loaded up for Hamilton OH tomorrow. I just couldn’t wait and it is 1470 on my scale.   Saturday, October 14 View Page Ended up 10th with a 1469. That makes 4344 pounds for my top three and a growers jacket.