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formerly RGG

Come Aug 16th Ky. State Fair will begin. So just a few more days to see what Frank's first big melon of 2018 looks like. Frank has won this contest for so many years I wonder if he has ever lost there. .

8/4/2018 11:39:05 PM

East Tennessee

Not until this year...

8/5/2018 11:55:48 AM

NE Arkansas

Down goes Fraser... Lol

8/5/2018 12:56:21 PM

formerly RGG

Times are always changing. Will there be a new "big dog" this year ? I have to admit it gets a bit boring expecting the same grower to win year after year and then watching it happen. Still Frank lives in a great place to grow giant watermelons and he has been on the cutting edge of new growing techniques. Frank is very determined and experienced and shows great consistency with his melons not to mention the added advantage of a properly run greenhouse. Frankly, no pun intended, I think it would be good for the sport for Frank to lose this contest once in a while. Anyway, no one stays on top forever. I will say this though, at this point I would not bet against Frank winning again. I believe Frank sees winning the Kentucky State Fair as the most important contest of the year and I know of no other grower who is so focused on this particular contest. Good luck guys. I hope you are right and bring the Ky. State Fair prize home to Tn. a few more days and we will know.

8/5/2018 10:23:05 PM

Lexington, Ky

I've never entered a State Fair. I consider myself a professional grower and only compete with peers at professional weigh offs. I've always thought that State and County Fairs should be reserved for the casual, non-competitive growers, like kids and true back yard gardeners. Having kids myself, I chose not to compete against kids at that level. The pumpkin money is good so I don't fault any adult that enters however, I'm sure a lot of kids won't participate as they know in advance that they'll generally have to have an 800+ lb pumpkin and 150+ lb watermelon for the win. Big prize pay outs across the board are a detriment for the long term future of our hobby. Growers are traveling a shit ton of miles and hitting multiple weigh offs for the money grab.

I can't wait until a grower from the "zone" travels all the way to North Carolina to grab some easy cash....lol. Most of the growers that hit multiple weigh offs will tell you they grow for fun...yeah, right!

Sure, I grow multiple fruit every year but only one weigh off for me, that's it. I "declare" the weigh off that I want to attend and I stick with it. By doing that, I hope that I allow some other grower a shot at a top 10 ribbon.

8/6/2018 1:46:58 PM

NE Arkansas

Wexler I think it's ok to go to multiple weigh offs, The promoters and people who come to watch and look at the fruit deserve to see the best they can in each location, plus there's only a few times a year we as growers from different areas get to meet up and talk and hang out.

Examples are when I go to Old Washington weight off near Hope, AR I get to see the growers from Texas and Louisiana.
When I go to Operation Pumpkin in Hamilton, Ohio the southern growers get to meet a lot of northern growers.
I took 253.5 lbs to Kentucky last year knowing I wasn't gonna win but I went to see the other growers and help make the line up better, you don't want people saying "I'm not going up there to watch because they only have 3 or 4 melons" I'd rather them say "Let's go up there and watch, last year they had 10 melons over 200 lbs

8/6/2018 3:12:51 PM

simpson,KS

If it wasn't for a few heavy hitters going to our state fair the pumkin and watermelon display would really suffer. Two hundred thousand fair goers funnel through the building just to see the giant pumpkins and melons. I been there about every year and that's the first thing I look at. I compete there now and have increased the participation at the fair . I dethroned the watermelon champion last year and I evpect him to come back and do the same to me . And it's not the money there 300 for pumpkin and 50 bucks for the watermelon. Bragging rights and your name on the wall of state champions what it about for me. GOOD LUCK

8/7/2018 7:22:40 AM

formerly RGG

Brother Dave Cantrell prety much took things into his own hands a couple of years back and now the Tennessee Valley Fair has gone GPC. The prize money is not awesome but it is way better than before.
Pumpkin
1st - $1000
2nd - $500
3rd - $250
4th - $125
5th - $75
6th-10th $50

And

Watermelon
1st - $600
2nd - $300
3rd - $150
4th - $100
5th - $75
6th - 10th $50

8/8/2018 3:15:49 AM

Eastern Shore of VA

I see both sides.
The competition between the heavy hitters pushes the money up.
I know I’m not in that league,so I’m more about the ribbon.
That’s a little more of an accomplishment for me.
I know I can’t compete with the bigger growers and that’s ok.

8/8/2018 10:39:23 AM

formerly RGG

ESheel, you need to be positive. A vine is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you are going to grow. lol The first year I grew a pumpkin I had no expectations. I put my pumpkin plant down at the bottom of my lot where it was in the shade the biggest part of the day. But I kept after it and kept the vine healthy and it grew slowly for a pumpkin. But grow it did and it had a fair shape and nice orange color to it and so when Allardt rolled around in October I felt it was good enough an excuse to drive up there just to see if I got close and talk with the heavy hitters about how they grew theirs. Well it ended up weighing 585.5 pounds and I ended up winning the second place ribbon and a check for $500.00. So I was very pleasantly surprised and it was just a very off year for big pumpkins in the area. I mean who would have bet a sub 600 pounds pumpkin could win anything at a GPC event ? After that I got to playing around with plant steroids and never grew one bigger than that. You just have no way of ever knowing how things will turn out. Just don't do the same thing every year hoping for a different result. Keep fine tuning and innovating your growing techniques and maybe you will grab a big prize one of these years. If you don't think you can do it then you probably never will do it.

8/9/2018 12:55:26 AM

sevierville, Tn

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. LOL !
also
The only things you can't do are the things you say you can't !

8/9/2018 6:47:40 AM

Grant, AL

Spot on Chris! The only things you can’t do are the things you don’t believe you can do and the things that you don’t attempt to do! I have always found that the most rewards things you do are the things that require practice, repetition, and work to accomplish.

8/9/2018 10:14:56 AM

Eastern Shore of VA

I agree with you guys.
I just have a bit of disadvantage because I only have room for one plant.
If it goes down,I’m done for.
I didn’t even get to plant one out this year.
Too wet.
My 53 Lindley cantaloupe stump exploded when we got 6 inches of rain in 2 days.
I worked on my soil last year,and will do it again this year as well.
Maybe next year I will try a graft.

8/9/2018 9:55:11 PM

sevierville, Tn

stick with a traditional if only one plant. That way you will get one to the scale. Grafts can be risky.... ask a bunch of us how our grafts are doing..... BOOM !

8/9/2018 10:54:30 PM

formerly RGG

Esheel, is your garden a raised bed ? If not it would benefit you to change it to one. Then incorporate a few loads of coarse sand into your soil mix and you will get great drainage for just about any amount of rain. That should equal no more missed opportunities for a season and also healthier plant roots. Maybe try a conventional plant in one corner and a grafted plant in the other and then make a decision later in the season depending on how the plants are doing. I mean if you really want to reach out to do the very best, you need the type of plant which is capable of giving the best result and we know that would be a grafted plant.

8/10/2018 12:17:03 AM

Eastern Shore of VA

I’ve actually been contemplating a raised bed for the last few weeks Dennis.
I’ve got a 20 x 20 area picked out for it.
Earlier this spring I bought what I call a broad fork.
It’s like a very wide pitch fork with 11 inch tines.
It’s a heck of a work out,but it will really loosen the soil up.
I live in a coastal area so my soil is sandy anyway.
Just been hard to get out in the garden to work when it’s pouring rain almost everyday.

8/10/2018 8:14:10 PM

formerly RGG

I am very well acquainted with a spading fork. When I was young I spent many hours using them. They work well if you have no tiller to loosen your soil. But they do nothing for soil structure. Add quality organic matter for that. The best I have ever found is spent mushroom compost. Chris uses it or at least I know he used to. The best soil is a combination of sand, clay and organic matter or loam. If there is no clay in your sand you may want to find a load for working into it. I believe For hard-pan soil maybe the best way to break it up is by working some gypsum into your soil.Gypsum is a source of calcium which is a major mechanism that binds soil organic matter to clay in soil which gives stability to soil aggregates. Gypsum complements or even magnifies the beneficial effects of water soluble polymers used as amendments to improve soil structure.Gypsum may be just the answer to help break up and loosen the soil structure. Poor drainage, soggy soil, and soil compaction are just a few of the conditions that clay or hard-pan soils create.Here are five key benefits of gypsum:

Source of calcium and sulfur for plant nutrition. ...
Improves acid soils and treats aluminum toxicity. ...
Improves soil structure. ...
Improves water infiltration. ...
Helps reduce runoff and erosion.

You may purchase bags of this amendment at your local farmers co-op. I can't say what it will do for you but I have used it in the past with good results and it should make your use of a spading fork unnecessary or at a minimum much easier. BTW, have you had a fertility analysis done on your soil. If not I highly recommend one as it will bring you into the light of exactly what to add to your soil to get the best results possible. And great results is what we are all after. Right ?

8/10/2018 8:50:04 PM

Eastern Shore of VA

I added gypsum this year.
Also enough mushroom compost to make a 4 inch layer on the top of the patch.
I then used the broad fork to mix it together.
Also composted chicken manure,lime,kelp,crab meal,and humic acid.
Soil test had me excited !
Then it rained.
Almost everyday.
For 6 weeks.
The flip side was the cantaloupe plant didn’t go down due to disease.
I was diligent with my spray program and all my plants looked great.
I’ve struggled with GSB in the past.
At any event,I will test again in the fall and add more compost,amendments,etc...
Ive also started making my own compost.
I’ve been turning and cooking it since last winter.
It should be ready for the fall.

8/10/2018 10:26:02 PM

formerly RGG

Sounds like you have everything under control, ESheel. Guess I haven't been paying good attention. Sorry if I am running my mouth too much.

8/11/2018 7:56:59 AM

Eastern Shore of VA

No Dennis.
It’s good to hear from you.
Still waiting for that monster from the Philippines!
Surely good growing conditions there.

8/11/2018 8:35:21 AM

formerly RGG

Temps are great here year round.The record low temp here in Manila is in the 60's But not so good is the always extremely high humidity. The UV index is sometimes 11 or more and even my cactus get sunburned. And we have tremendous flooding rains. We have had maybe 15" in the last 2 days. I can't even leave the house right now because of flood water. But if I had ANY land other than what this house is built on I would try to grow something other than the potted plants I find myself limited to. They do love a good contest here. All the market melons I see here are very small. I am not sure if that is by choice or perhaps that is the best they will do here.Still, if I had lots of money I might build a large greenhouse where I could control growing conditions. Dream on TD.

8/12/2018 7:03:11 PM

Eastern Shore of VA

Never know !
15 inches of rain in 2 days !?
I won’t complain about my garden anymore !

8/12/2018 8:28:53 PM

formerly RGG

Ky fair results anyone ?

8/18/2018 12:05:59 AM

formerly RGG

Some of the Kentucky State Fair results:
Frank Mudd 1st place with 238. pounds
Joseph Miller 2nd place weight was inaudible
Gary Gunther 3rd place 151 pounds
Dwight Stone won biggest pumpkin with 878 pounds

Not a particularly good year for this contest.

Anyway, congratulations to all the winners.

Here is the link to the video:

https://www.facebook.com/kystatefair/videos/2132603673660829/

8/18/2018 3:34:13 AM

Princeton Kentucky

Yep Congrats to all the growers & Kudos to Mr. Mudd on 1st place just watched the video myself!

8/18/2018 3:49:43 AM