Cliff's Giant Pumpkin Blog

The late update

2010-08-26T14:23:00.003-06:00

Every time I think nobody is watching this blog, I get a note from someone who says that they enjoy it. I appreciate your interest!

It has been a tough year for giants. Let me give you the 30,000 foot recap.

I grew the 1240 Bogie. Unfortunately the plant seemed stunted. Likely it was my cold weather that stunted it. The nodes on it were very small, and the plant just wouldn't grow. A few weeks ago I started up the tractor and cleared the ground. Harsh, I know, but if I can't grow the plant, I'd like to at least remove the weeds.

Still in the patch is a 1211.5 Toftness. This was a fantastic plant, good to grow. The fruit on it has good color, but about one week into the life of the fruit, it developed a huge sag. Right now it looks like a bean bag chair that the big bad wolf has been sitting in. It collects about one cup of water every time the sprinklers come on. It will likely go down early. Unfortunately, I was not able to get another fruit to grow on the plant.

The 1467 Perham also has a deformed fruit. It's high on the stem end, and very low on the blossom end.

I'm growing the 1725. This plant just didn't want to get big. The fruit is there, and it's VERY small. I almost don't want to talk about it because it's NOT the seed, it's the grower. The fruit is currently white with a green-ish hue.

The 720 Warren is also a tiny plant. It had one node of a double vine early on. I was able to get the plant to come out of it, but because of that double vine, the plant has no dominant first secondaries. That is, instead of a Christmas tree shape, the plant has an egg shape. The fruit is a nice color, but looks malnourished and has not ribbed out at all. I doubt this fruit has a chance to be 300 pounds, but it's really my only candidate for the fair. (Unless I take the bean bag.)

Finally, the 1505 Holland has been an excellent plant. I really like it. The fruit looks nice, but as of yesterday it was only at 360 pounds! I guess that's what cold weather and late pollinations will do to you. I have a decent shot at hitting 500 with it. But I'm honestly getting tired of 500 to 700 pound fruits.

For next year, if there is a next year, I need to consider larger hoophouses and putting heaters in them. I'm starting to think that things like double-vines can be environmentally triggered. That is, some plants when subjected to cold might react differently than if they never saw that cold. I don't know. I want to cut down to four plants, and use two large hoophouses to start them back to back. And finally, grow them in a huge mound of well composted manure.

Two years in a row we've had terrible cold spring weather. And two years in a row I've had deformed fruits and small plants that don't want to grow. This is in different soil each year. I just wonder if repeated exposure to the low 30's causes a plant to just shut things down? Please tell me what you think.

1505 Holland

2010-08-01T16:38:00.002-06:00

This has been my best plant, the 1505 Holland. Most of my chance to get a PB this year rest on this fruit. I didn't expect this great color, if it gets better from here, which is normal, it should be great.

Raising the vine

2010-07-28T20:34:00.008-06:00

This first fruit on the 1211.5 is the one that has me worried. About a week ago I saw this gash and some "malnourishment" on one side. Usually this isn't good. But I have no other prospects on the plant, it will have to be this fruit, or an August pollination! Click on the image to see it larger.

The fruit on the 720. Like the others, tonight I added styrofoam blocks under the main vine, to help it rise with the fruit.

People always ask me why we bury vines. Why don't we just grow the whole thing under one massive piece of black plastic? This is why... Those little white things on the underside of the vine are the formation of roots. This vine tipped over in the tempest we just had. I need to fix it.

Plants

2010-07-17T11:07:00.010-06:00

Here we go. First up is the 1505 Holland, I'm growing it in a spider pattern:

Next, the 720 Warren. This plant had double-vine for one node, early on. After that, it went normal and has been fine ever since. But because of that double-vine, the plant doesn't seem to have a dominant set of first secondaries. I'm hoping this plant will produce the fair fruit.

I like this 1211.5 Toftness. I have a really good feeling about this plant. It's almost as big as the 1505, and the fruit on it is nicely shaped.

The 1467 Perham. In the picture it looks like the main is coming toward you, but in reality it is going out the left side of the picture.

Finally, the 1725 Harp. This is a good plant. I worry about the soil in this spot. It's now growing over an area where we had peas... we have other banks of peas that are truly awesome. This particular bank of peas turned yellow and shriveled up and did nothing. It's good for the plant that I can send the main out farther, but I wonder what's going on? There is a possibility that I will pollinate another fruit on this vine to experiment with fruit farther out on the main.

Pictures

2010-07-17T11:02:00.002-06:00

Fruit on the 720, and an open flower, not a controlled pollination.

1725

2010-07-14T06:35:00.003-06:00

This morning the 1725 opened, and I hit it with the 1467. That should be a great cross if I can get a good result from each plant.

It was 42 degrees this morning! Those flowers did not want to open!

There was an error in the previous post. The 1467 fruit was pollinated by the 1211.5, not the 1725.

Pollinations

2010-07-12T18:23:00.002-06:00

Yesterday the 1505 opened. Pollinated with the 1211.5 Toftness. These two are my best two plants, so that's why I put them together.

Then this morning was the crest of the wave. I had pollinations on the 1211.5 (by the 1505), 1467 (1725) and the 1240 (720). The 1725 is still a few days off.

Pollination update

2010-07-10T14:24:00.002-06:00

I pollinated the first fruit at 10 or more feet out today, on the 720. This was already the third on that vine, a six lobe fruit and I pollinated it with the 1725. I think I'll keep this one, as I really like that cross.

Tomorrow the 1505 should open, at 11 feet out. Next up are the 1211.5, 1467, and 1725. I'm not sure which one to cross the 1505 with...? My only plant that just isn't working out is the 1240. It's small and wilts every day in the sun.

Pictures

2010-07-03T19:05:00.005-06:00

Here is the 1505 Holland, my best plant so far. It's nearly 11 feet and has a female at exactly 10 feet.

Next is the 1211.5 Toftness. It's growing well.

I should mention that I actually pollinated a female on the 720 yesterday. It's not 10 feet out. But this plant is the one that I hoped would be the fair plant. It's an open pollination, followed up by one male from the 1240 and one from the 1211.5.

Measuring

2010-06-28T10:00:00.002-06:00

Normally I would be pollinating in about one week. July the 4th is normally "peak" time for me. This year I'm about two weeks behind.

The longest vine I have right now is a little over 9 feet on the 1505 Holland. Best case scenario, this one is at least two weeks away from setting a fruit. The 1211.5 Toftness and 1725 Harp are also in the running. The other three are good healthy plants, but probably three weeks out. I hope we have a good September.

If you are in my area, please make a comment on how you're doing! Thanks!

Two weeks behind

2010-06-24T11:24:00.002-06:00

Judging by previous years I think I'm about two weeks behind at this point. I will not, under any circumstances, set fruit at less than 10 feet out. This means that I might not be pollinating this year until mid-July.

Of course, one never knows. Once we finally heat up the plants could catch up in a hurry. We're heading for 85 today. Finally! My longest vine is on the 1505 at about 7 or 8 feet now. I certainly can't pollinate what doesn't exist yet. But I'm just going to wait on it... let it come if it ever does, and hope that we have a warm September. I just don't know what will happen for the fair.

It's been said, to not pollinate until there are 100 leaves on the plant. Right now I'd say that most plants are averaging 35 leaves. But, The number of new leaves is now probably eight per day.

Close call

2010-06-18T08:44:00.001-06:00

They were saying 42 as we went to bed last night. It ended up getting down to 32! That's right, 32 here on June 18th. We survived, but barely. I could sure use some global warming right now.

June 5th Roundup

2010-06-05T18:42:00.008-06:00

No, not that Roundup, just a roundup.

For diehards, here are pictures from today. After working all day on various things, I didn't have the energy to weed these good before taking pictures.

Here is the 1505 Holland, which has the longest vine to this point. (Remember, I've had record lows and the coldest May on record.)

Next is the 720 Warren. This one had a double-vine for one node, then split in two. I pruned one. Based on last year's experience, that worries me a lot. Other than that, great leaves as always.

The 1211.5 Toftness is the biggest plant in the patch:

The 1467 Perham is looking good. I'll need to do a little main vine re-direction, but it's not bad.

Here's the world record 1725. It was the second to touch down. There is a little damage on some of the early leaves. That was from a 25 degree night, when the plant was covered only by a sheet.

Finally, the 1240 Bogie is the smallest plant so far, but that is a good indication that it will produce the largest pumpkin. It's heading in exactly the right direction.

Six healthy plants

2010-06-02T20:18:00.002-06:00

Well, we still haven't hit the 70's. Most of this week has been cloudy and rainy, although a little bit warmer.

The good news is that I have six healthy plants. The only anomaly (normality?) is the 720 Warren. It was a double-vine for one node, then split in two. I took one off, and maybe it will be OK if it doesn't split again. Other than that, the plant is gorgeous (as all 720s are). Every plant is small, healthy and pointed in the right direction!

The 1505 Holland is crawling and will be to three feet long tomorrow. The others haven't even touched down yet.

May 28, 3:30 pm, 54 degrees and cloudy

2010-05-28T15:32:00.002-06:00

The good news is that next week we are finally going to hit the '70s. The bad news is that we haven't done that before this time.

I went out and cut the upper half of the plastic off the hoophouse covering the 1725. My theory is that with cloudy days AND plastic, the plants just don't get enough light to grow. The weather is starting to change. By cutting the top off, I keep the wind protection but lose the heat, and gain sunshine. I don't know. But I figure insanity is to keep doing the same thing when it isn't working.

I want to watch closely the 1725 vs. the other plants, and see what it does over the next few days.

Still cold

2010-05-24T21:29:00.002-06:00

29 degrees, night before last. Tonight is supposed to be 35. Today is May 24th! Finally after today we might actually get some sun and warmth. Maybe. I think we've had one day over 70 degrees all year. As bad as last year was, this year appears to be worse.

Soil temp measurements

2010-05-17T18:03:00.003-06:00

I just found out something very interesting.

Normally (or this year at least) I put a black weed mat down to raise the soil temp around each plant. This is it's only purpose, as far as I'm concerned. Well, I just went out and did some soil temp measurements.

Outside the hoophouse, baseline measurement: 70 degrees.

Inside the HH, under the weed mat: 77 degrees.

Inside the HH, not under the weed mat: 79 degrees!

I then went to another HH and repeated the measurements. They came out as 78 and 80 degrees, respectively. That is, under the weed mat is cooler by two degrees! Not what I expected.

It may not seem like much, but us giant pumpkin growers really want any extra degrees we can get. I think I'll remove the weed mats.

Mid May pic

2010-05-16T15:13:00.002-06:00

I seem to always start taking pictures of the plants in mid-May. This is the 720, probably the best overall looking plant. It looks good, but it's pretty small for this stage. Really small.

Still cold

2010-05-13T13:05:00.002-06:00

Not much is happening, or growing. The hoophouses help during the day, but the cold nights continue and I wonder if I'm not missing the boat by not trying to heat the HH during the night. I don't know. This was the year that I wanted to "put it all together", but the cold weather (I assume) is holding me back.

I'm also in the midst of 11 or 12 days straight with some sort of event to attend, every night. I need to get busy, the only thing growing in the hoops is... weeds.

Well, I may be a little over-dramatic. We are finally supposed to hit 70 this weekend. That should get things moving in a hurry.

Another record

2010-05-07T09:11:00.002-06:00

We had a record low for the morning of May 7, 24 degrees. It snowed all morning yesterday, about 3 inches. Today is looking much better. Full sun all day, no wind, and while it's only 31 degrees here at 9:15 am, it should only get better. I need some good growing weather soon, or all my efforts to get them out early will have been in vain.

My patch

2010-05-03T19:45:00.004-06:00

It would have been better to get the manure earlier, but I do what I can. I'll try to compost this a little more and have mid-season stuff to work with.

Click the image to get a bigger view.

Bad weather

2010-04-29T08:52:00.002-06:00

I built all six hoophouses on Monday. Since then our weather has been bad.

It's now Thursday and I hope to get the plants out by Friday night or Saturday. The plants are in one-gallon pots and are looking fantastic. But, they face no challenge indoors. Right now I can't even harden them off......... it has me worried. Maybe I should call home and have my wife move them into the garage for an hour or so. I don't know..... plants can really be thrown for a loop if they go from 72 degrees and under grow lights, to overnights in the low 30's.

Spring update

2010-04-26T20:34:00.003-06:00

So much to catch up on. The focus now is doing the work, not blogging.

I now have temporary housing for six small families. If I get no takers, these plants will go out in the hoop houses. These are bigger domes, and the biggest that I've had in the last five years.

All of the plants germinated, but the 1087 Bhaskaran's seed leaves were rotten. The stump is still there, and turning green. It could actually come around. The other plants all look great.

For backups, I decided to try the "paper towel method". This was a bad idea. I have no idea what I'm doing, and here I am trying to start backups? It's been bad. None of them have germinated. It goes to show that you should always practice something before "going live". Part of my problem is that all of my pots that are the proper size are in use.

Seeds are up

2010-04-23T10:59:00.002-06:00

Well, if you haven't noticed, I make it hard for you to find information on what I'm doing. You need to go to Facebook, bigpumpkins.com, and also this blog to find out what's happening. The real problem is that I can't decide where to post stuff.

Last Sunday I started this: 1725 Harp, 1505 Holland, 1467 Perham, 1240 Bogie, and 1211.5 Toftness. Also, a pure orange 1087 Bhaskaran. I also started two of my own 720 seeds. All of these are up, at 4.5 days. Everything looks good except that the 1505 has funky multiple seed leaves. I doubt it's a problem.

Flatviners always disappoint

2010-04-15T13:30:00.002-06:00

Today's entry in the digest suggests a change in thinking from just one year ago. If you go back in the archives, you will see that I "performed surgery" on the 998 plant that was double-vining.

There is a subtle difference between a flat and a double-vining plant. But, the result is the same.

In the case of the 998 from last year, I had no backup plant in that spot. So I tried to rescue it. That never works. Over the winter I read in the latest Don Langevin book a statement that now makes a lot of sense. There has never been a world-class (or even an Idaho class) fruit from a double or flat-vining plant. After seeing this first-hand on a number of occasions, I'd have to say that I agree.

In the case of the 998 Bowles plant from last year, I kept nursing it along. Aside from the doubled main vine, the plant was good. It still grew well, was dark green with handsome leaves. It was my best looking plant! It was one of the few plants where I could set a fruit on the main (or what was left of it).

And, that fruit grew, really, really, slow. I needed to nurse it along until a week before Halloween, as the local farmer's market scheduled a weighoff on Oct. 24th. Well, when it was time to go I was estimating 350 pounds. Really quite small for a fruit on the main at around 10 feet out, growing all season on a nice looking plant. When I was lifting the fruit with the tripod, I had a mishap and dropped it. As it hit the ground it split in two pieces right down the middle, and after I came to my senses I noted that this fruit was EXTREMELY thin. I doubt it would have made 250 pounds and it would have been a serious disappointment, not to mention embarrassment.

So, the lesson here is, if you get to late May or early June and find a double-vining plant, just rip it out and go fishing. ;-)

Things to remember

2010-04-08T15:08:00.002-06:00

For those of us who live with four seasons with winter being the longest, there is an interesting phenomenon that happens each year. At the end of the growing season your mind is focused on all of the things that didn't go as planned and more importantly, a list of items to improve for the coming season. Then, we have winter. Four or five or six months of winter, depending on how you want to measure it. And when spring finally arrives, you're so excited to finally get started that you have forgotten all of the things that you were going to fix.

So, here's a list for giant pumpkin freaks like me. And, if you're just into gardening I'll bet you can find parallels in what you do.

Number one, you WILL have a double-vining freak plant. If you have five or more plants, you could have two. Plan for it by double planting each site, and leaving enough space between the two plants so that each can get to the vining stage before needing to cull one of them.

Number two, you WILL have cold weather and wind challenges! Hoophouses are essential in southeast Idaho. It's impossible to be competitive without them. Consider also, if your local area is like mine, you need a hoophouse and also a fortress around it built from wood pallets to slow the wind around the HH.

Three, get in the habit of checking the weather closely each evening. Whatever they say the temp will be, subtract X to be pessimistic. For me near Pocatello, I subtract 7 from whatever number they say. So if they say the low will be 37, plan on it being 30. It isn't always so extreme, but just one freeze can end your season before it gets going. I don't want to be the only one at the fair this fall. Watch your plants carefully and don't let them freeze!

Having said that, it's amazing how close I came last year to loosing them. One night a few years ago, I woke up at 2am and realized that I had forgot. I went out at 2am and covered, and saved the season.

Well, that's just the quick fundamentals. I'll be back with other tips. Please use this page to post your own in the comment section.

OK, time to get to work!

2010-04-08T14:49:00.002-06:00

Good news, maybe. I'm going to maintain this blog for another year.

Yesterday I was able to burn all of last year's left over debris. That can be significant with around 50 trees on the property. Now, I've already started creating this year's debris. Oh well.

Today I hope to do quite a bit of tractor work. We will see how it goes. Can you believe it? Above 50 degrees. Incredible. (Tongue in check statement.)

Hello out there...

2010-04-07T09:33:00.001-06:00

Should this blog be resurrected? I may be having second thoughts...

Time to change

2009-11-17T15:46:00.002-07:00

No, I'm NOT giving up growing. Far from it. I hope next year to put forth my best effort ever.

If you've known me for a while, you know that I can't stay in one place very long with this giant pumpkin blog. Over the past year, I've become somewhat of a Facebook junkie, and I also see better things happening over at bigpumpkins.com. Or at least, that site is REALLY stable.

So, because I already put more pictures up on FB, I'm going to discontinue this blog at this location and move my efforts to Facebook and bigpumpkins.com. I will probably do a regular "Grower Diary" on bigpumpkins.com and will also put updates on Facebook. Doing a diary on BP.com gets me MUCH more visibility to giant pumpkin growers across the world, while Facebook brings in a much more diverse audience.

Also on Facebook, I have created a page called "Southeast Idaho Giant Pumpkin Growers." You can go to FB and just do a search. If you like it, please join. This gives you the instant ability to send an email to everyone on the page, share photos with the group, stay involved in what's going on, etc.

I've found FB to be really "worthwhile"... it is so cool to catch up with old friends there. Who knows, maybe in a year from now FB will collapse under it's own weight, or maybe it will be passed by another hot thing... but for now it's the place to go.

Fruit cut

2009-11-03T09:19:00.002-07:00

OK, finally an update.

I should (or maybe shouldn't) mention the Farmer's Market weighoff. Unfortunately, it was a non-event. On several levels. Oh well.

I cut the 423 orange fair fruit and the 617 yesterday. Each was thick and had lots of seeds. I'm saving all of the 423 seeds, even though they are "open" pollinations. A lot of people have asked about them, and they are perfect for beginning growers.

Now, really is busy time. I need to do everything possible to add organic matter. Last year I was really held back by my soil. Next year I'm returning to the "good side" of the garden, and I want to add everything possible to it. I'm starting in on collecting Starbucks coffee waste.

I'm alive

2009-10-16T11:02:00.002-06:00

Just a note to mention that I'm still alive. The 998 is alive as well. It lives under several blankets and a tarp over that. It's been warm lately, and I really should let it breathe. Most days I never make it outside.

One week from tomorrow is that final weighoff. I wonder if there is a prize? I wonder if anyone else will show up? I really hope so... This could become another weighoff to shoot for.

Cold and snow

2009-10-05T14:14:00.002-06:00

It has snowed most of the day here. Not much is sticking, but it is very wet.

As for seeds, I have already had some inquiries about the very orange 423. On the good side, it is in fact VERY orange, it went heavy for it's size, and it has a rib-structure which I think could support a much heavier fruit. Get this one on a healthy plant, 15 feet out, and it would be real nice. On the downside, it was an open pollination. In fact, I was gone the day that it opened. I wish there was a way to determine a seed's color potential before committing to it.

To anyone interested in the 423 or the 617, they will be available. Likely I won't cut the fruit until around Halloween, unless it looks like we might go into an early deep-freeze. Freezing doesn't hurt the seed, but I'd rather not spend hours picking seeds out of COLD pumpkin flesh, lol.

The 998 is probably around 350 to 400 (guessing), but if it goes like the other two went, it could go into the 400's. I hope I can keep it healthy over the next few days, while the overnight temps dip down into the 20's.

Pocatello Farmer's Market Weighoff

2009-10-01T07:59:00.003-06:00

Believe it or not, there is one more weighoff for me this year. The Pocatello Farmer's Market is hosting a weighoff on Oct. 24th. That's right, right about when AG's are already a block of ice around here. That's a whole three weeks from this coming Saturday. It's quite likely that we'll have temperatures in the TEENS between now and then. Atlantic Giants have a very high water content. At those temperatures, the flesh of the fruit will actually freeze.

This could be an interesting experiment, to see if I can keep it going with lots of blankets and tarps. I might just trim it down to nothing but a main vine and the fruit. Essentially that is all that is left now anyway.

So, I'm hanging on with a 400 pounder (hopefully) on the 998 Bowles. It was supposed to be orange, but it's white/pink. I do appreciate the idea from the Pocatello Farmer's Market... I just wish it could be two or three weeks earlier.

Group photo

2009-09-29T15:39:00.002-06:00

Most of the growers that showed fruit at Brian's weighoff!

Betty's big orange one

2009-09-29T15:34:00.002-06:00

Congratulations to Betty Urquidi, who really stepped up this year and grew this amazingly orange fruit. 507 pounds!

Brian's Weighoff

2009-09-29T15:29:00.003-06:00

Well, I'm so slow to update this blog, I didn't even mention that I won Brian Christensen's weighoff in Rexburg this past Saturday! My pumpkin on the 1436 Nesbitt went heavy and ended up 617.5! It was taping around 530 or 550, so a finish like that always puts a good end on the season!

Main vine cut down to size

2009-09-15T08:35:00.003-06:00

On the 1436, I've been worried about a potential rib split. I've been watching it a few days and it has not become worse, but we had a lot of rain yesterday. It's still cold now, but could warm up and with some warm sunshine and a saturated plant, those ribs could swell up and that would be it.

So, I cut the main. Not right at the fruit, but from the fruit to the base, I cut the vine so that there is only about two feet of vine in the ground before the fruit. There is also the vine after the fruit. Hopefully this will stop any major infusions of juice into the fruit, but keep it fresh.

My blog is lame.

2009-09-14T15:18:00.002-06:00

OK, back for another installment in the world's lamest blog. I think next year I might switch this again and use a combination of Facebook and the blogging features on bigpumpkins.com. We shall see. Can we get an Idaho Giant Pumpkin Facebook thing going?

In the meantime, I did happen to win the fair. 423 pounds. There were some other "large" pumpkins there... some I could tell were not Atlantic Giant and one that was about 100 pounds, I'm not sure. But I really like that someone else sent some large fruit to the fair. To anyone in our area, plant some ATLANTIC GIANT seeds next spring and bring them to the fair!

At the fair I was talking to Sharon, and promised that next year eastern Idaho is going to break their record and provide 10 giants for the fair. I believe the record is nine. So, are we up for it?

The fruit on the 1436 is somewhere between 500 and 550. It's also very close to having a rib split. This one might be worth top prize at the weighoff, but if it splits it's worth nothing but bragging rights. I need to look at it closely tonight, and maybe consider cutting it from the vine. I hate to do that, but that split could happen. It might have already happened, because I didn't look at it yesterday, and right now the rain is coming down.

Heading to the fair tonight...

2009-09-03T16:41:00.001-06:00

In fact, within two hours. Rumor has it that I may have the only entry this year. I hope not.

Coming to a fair near you!

2009-08-22T13:22:00.002-06:00

If you are near Blackfoot, Idaho, that is.

It looks impressive, but it doesn't measure impressively. On the 1392 Bresnick. I think it would be double size if it were 15 feet out and in good soil.

I didn't do nearly enough soil prep in the off season, and it shows. I can really begin to see the relationship here. Back when I got a few truckloads of manure, and built up my soil, my weights, while small, rose. This year has been a disaster. I need to get back to basics, and also try some completely new things.

Next year, raised beds

2009-08-16T22:33:00.001-06:00

Next year, I will do some raised beds. Formal raised beds, constructed from lumber. More details later.

A very cool late-summer

2009-08-16T22:28:00.002-06:00

Heading for a low in the low-40's tonight. We've had several of these already and will have a few more this week. All in all, it's not a record breaking year. I just measured my largest, it's at a whopping 350 pounds now. If I'm lucky, it could get to 500. One thing it has going for it is a great shape and no internal cracks, just like the 779 from last year. So I suppose it could weigh heavy like last year?

Summer was one month

2009-08-08T07:40:00.002-06:00

This year we really didn't hit full-time summer weather until just after the 4th of July. Now, it's sort of like mid-September out there. Cool, with drizzly rain. Overnight temps below 50. This is not going to be a record-setting year.

Zzzzz...

2009-08-05T20:17:00.002-06:00

OK, well my blog is about as boring as this season is. I have one decent pumpkin, and two other slow growing ones. It will take quite a turn of events for me to get to a personal best this year. I'd like to top the 779 and get into the 800's, but, it's a long shot.

Here is the 1436. It appears to be my only hope.

Down to three...

2009-07-28T18:08:00.002-06:00

Well, the 779 fruit aborted. On this one, the main vine is simply running out of energy, much like the 964 did. I have no explanation for it. And on the 964, that "peanut" isn't growing. This puts me down to three fruits that have any chance at being competitive. If I get a split or two, well...

Everything is reversed

2009-07-24T10:21:00.002-06:00

Well, here we go. This is just such a "good and bad" year.

Two months ago, if you had told me that the 1436 and the 1392 would be the kings of the patch, I would have not thought it possible.

1436 - Looking awesome. The fruit is growing nicely, and has a perfect shape.

1392 - Also looking great. The fruit is doing well, even though the plant doesn't seem like much.

998 - The double-vining freak plant. The fruit is coming on. It should be round and orange.

Now, for the two that I THOUGHT would do well:

964 - The fruit is PEANUT shaped!! Ugh. I might need to go with a side vine fruit. I'll post a picture, but this shape doesn't bode well for it's long-term prospects. My 964 plant last year produced a 100% perfect fruit with big walls and no cracks. This one, well I mentioned that the vine kind of died off near the fruit... looks like the fruit is bad as well.

779 - Has a fruit pollinated at a good spot, but it just isn't growing much. There is still time for it to kick into gear, but so far I'm disappointed. Maybe this will become the Pocatello Farmer's Market weighoff fruit. ;-)

The 1232 is still around, and should produce some nice carvers.

Shaded, sanded, pruned and buried.

2009-07-14T19:40:00.001-06:00

The 1436 Nesbitt.

Update

2009-07-12T08:54:00.002-06:00

Here is a general update. Maybe I'll post pictures later today.

998 - The plant is a genetic freak, with lots of vines going double, and vines going everywhere. I try to keep it pruned but it's hard to know what is what. I have a pollination at about 12 feet, on a vine that I turned into a "secondary main". It's too soon to know if this one will take, but if it doesn't just about any other fruit on the plant might do just as well.

964 - Was my best plant, but the leaves on the main just past the 10 foot mark seemed weak, would wilt every day, then finally the vine just DIED at the 13 foot mark! I don't know why. Some of the leaves there look my friend Brian Christensen's leaves, but certainly not as severe. I have a fruit there at 12.5 feet, and it will stay. Nearly all of the rest of the plant has had vines terminated already. There are a few still growing. But if the fruit takes, then it will grow at the end of the main. It has a good plant to drive it. For the moment I'm not taking off any other females until I know that this one on the main will stay.

779 - Finally had a main vine fruit pollinate yesterday. This one took forever to open. I sure hope it takes. Once I get to 12 feet, my vines really slow down.

1232 - Will be a wild plant to grow small giant pumpkins.

1392 - Plant looks a little weak, but it has my oldest main vine fruit at about 9.5 feet, and another one at around 11. It's doing OK.

1436 - This could become my best plant, depending on what the 964 does. It's a nice, straight plant that is easy to train. I have two pollinations on the main, similar to the 1392.

Looks like I might have a another weighoff to look at this year. The Pocatello Farmer's Market is hosting a weighoff, the week before Halloween. Not sure if I can keep a fruit going that long, but if so I might as well go down there and promote the sport. This weighoff appears to be really low-key. I suspect that over half of the entries will be field pumpkins. But maybe I can meet someone who is wanting to get involved, here in Pocatello. Or, maybe I'll be the only one there, with this weather we've had!

A siamese female...

2009-07-05T21:11:00.002-06:00

Strange things are all around us!

And the storm clouds gather...

2009-07-05T20:08:00.002-06:00

This image is a prime example of how this summer has gone. Nearly every day there is some of this.

Last night we got pounded again. I've never seen so much rain in 30 minutes, at least in this part of the world.

As for the plants, despite all the water they look "wilty", probably because the soil is so compacted the roots are smothered.

Pollinations - 1392, July 3rd, open; 1436 July 4th, x964; 964 July 5th, x779;

Update

2009-06-27T12:55:00.003-06:00

I'm surviving here. The plants have responded to some nice weather and some good feedings. Although I'm never where I'd like to be, considering the weather I'm glad to have what I have.

One thing to note, the growth in the patch is not linear. That is, right now they are taking off. A week ago, they were not.

Pictured here is the 779 Warren. This is going to be a good seed. I already know that this one will be in my patch next year. It's at 10 feet right now.

The 964 is at 11.5 feet. The 1436 is around 9, and the 1392 is at about 8. The 1392 has taken a lot of hail damage. As for the 998, it's doing a little better but it's an odd plant due to it's propensity to throw double vines. On that one I'll probably set a few fruit wherever and keep the best one.

What a difference a day makes

2009-06-21T20:04:00.003-06:00

I was so positive yesterday. Things have made a turn for the worse.

We got another downpour today, along with hail. Lots more leaves have been ripped up and shredded. The 1392 is particularly bad. I don't see an intact leaf on the plant.

My soil is so wet, I sink in 4 inches if I take a step on it.

Catching up...

2009-06-20T20:03:00.006-06:00

Here is where we stand. Not bad, considering the lack of warmth we've had!

998 Bowles - This one started out "gangbusters". Then the main vine went double, twice. I stopped the main and have anointed a secondary to become a new main. But it has taken forever to develop. One of the side vines is also a massive double vine. Many of the vines simply grow straight up into the air... it's a crazy plant and I'm not sure what I'll get from it.

964 Wolf - Awesome in every way, except that it has a nice split in the main vine. I think it's manageable, if I can keep it from getting worse. The main is out beyond 10 feet right now, I think.

779 Warren - Also very good. Almost as long as the 964, (from whence it came). It has a female at about 9 feet which should open in about 5 days. But that one is early. I should have a nice set at 12 or 13 feet, at the proper time!

1392 Bresnick - Odd looking plant, hairy, weird leaves, but doing OK. A little smaller than the first three I mentioned.

1436 Nesbitt - Looking fine. About the same size as the 1392. This was Elise's plant, but she seemed to have lost interest this year when she found out that the fair wasn't hosting a big money prize. So far I've done all the work, and so it becomes my plant. Between this one and the 998, likely one of these will need to be the fair fruit, because I can't get the others out until one of these comes out of the patch.

1232 Bailey - Out of the running. The plant has always been small, and then a section of the main got some sort of rot or it just didn't develop. It came out 90 degrees out of phase, and the main is now snapped... The plant might stay around simply because there is no other use for the space.

These leaves.....

2009-06-20T19:58:00.002-06:00

I wish I could figure out what's "eating" these leaves. They first appear as tears in the leaf. And then they progress.

Click on the images to get a high resolution version.

I did use neem about one month ago, and then I used it again today.

My leaves always look like this, every year. I'd like to know what causes it!

Still hasn't changed

2009-06-20T19:57:00.001-06:00

I haven't needed to water anything for three weeks!

We're in the wettest month ever for Pocatello, and it's only the 20th of June!

When will this weather change!?

2009-06-11T08:30:00.000-06:00

It's been cool and rainy since May31st!

998 Surgery

2009-06-09T18:46:00.004-06:00

I performed surgery on the 998 Bowles, to stop a double vine.

First of all, if you are seeing this via Facebook, it's because I setup my blog to send the blog posts to Facebook as notes. But, on FB you aren't seeing the pictures. If you would like to see the pictures, visit me at:

http://cliffsgiantpumpkin.blogspot.com/

OK, well the idea is to stop the double-vine completely and then train a secondary to take over. You can see how this vine is a trouble spot. It's sticking straight up and probably won't come down.

The offending main vine:

With the amount of "stuff" pruned away, hopefully that will send a lot of energy to a secondary. The secondary I have picked out is two nodes up from the double-bundle of pumpkin parts.

Before:

After:

998 double-vining

2009-06-09T08:41:00.003-06:00

Well, I see now why the 998 has such a monster vine. It's double-vining again. It had done this early on, then it split and I terminated one. Now it's double vining again. Not to panic... I'll just have to look at it and decide how to best manage it. Pics are forthcoming, I hope. And, it does look like it's spliting again, and if so I'll just terminate one.

Comeback

2009-06-08T14:14:00.002-06:00

These plants never cease to amaze me. On Friday I was blasted by wind. The plants were a mess. I pruned out quite a few twisted vines and a lot of broken leaves. By Sunday evening, the plants are looking great again. To the untrained eye, it would appear that nothing happened! They just fill in the empty spots and look great! I should always remember that top growers take out 1/3 to 1/2 of their secondaries anyway, and it should be good for the plant.

I'd say that I'm nearing 7 feet on the mains of the 998 and 964. That's pretty good considering that I've been with cool temperatures over the past week. Today is the first day that we're starting to see some sun in quite some time. This rainy pattern is supposed to continue through this week, but I'm hoping for some lucky breaks of sun.

The 998 is a monster. I've never had such a vigorous plant. The main vine is huge for this stage.

Is this the end?

2009-06-06T21:01:00.002-06:00

I'm not talking about the end of my giant pumpkins.

When we have to turn our central heating on, in June? When we get more rain in one week than we usually get in a year? I've had the sprinklers off for a week now. That has never happened before. The sun is at a low ebb, but it's out of character, out of it's normal cycle.

On Friday the wind really did a number on my plants. I had to do a lot of pruning, but they will come back just fine. Right now I'm wondering when the weather will give them warm growing conditions.

Hmmm

2009-06-02T23:25:00.000-06:00

OK, looks like I need fins, a snorkel, a mask...

Just add sun

2009-06-02T09:56:00.002-06:00

About the only thing I could ask right now is to have some sun. We're in the second day of heavy overcast and rainy conditions.

Looking good

2009-06-01T08:33:00.002-06:00

Welcome to June. My three best plants, the 998, 964, and 779 are as good as any that I've had at this stage. So far, we haven't had a weather event to do any damage to the plants, but perhaps it's only a matter of time.

One point that I need to write in bold letters, is that last year's 779 was grown at 13 feet out. It was probably the furthest out that I've had a fruit on a good plant. That is something to focus on... I'd like to get these fruits further out, even if it means that I'm into the second week of July to do it. But unless our weather turns cold, I have a good chance at getting some distance on some of these.

779 Warren

2009-05-28T21:35:00.003-06:00

I have five nice plants (one is Elise's) and one that is tattered and torn, but should recover soon.

The 779 Warren, 998 Bowles, and 964 Wolf are each doing awesome. The 1392 Bresnick and 1436 Nesbitt (Elise's) are also doing great. The 1232.5 Bailey, well, I made a mistake in where I put it in the HH, and it got battered and burned as the leaves were into the plastic.

Anyway, our weather is fantastic (at least for now!) so the plastic is down early this year. I'm going to love this as long as we continue to get great weather.

Here is the 779 Warren, which is a good example of the others:

Aerobic Compost Tea

2009-05-28T20:57:00.003-06:00

6 good plants

2009-05-21T08:18:00.002-06:00

Well, here we are. Another hard freeze this morning. Sunspot activity is really low, and I think we're going to have a very cool summer. I have six really nice looking plants. I can't complain on that front. Hopefully this Saturday I'll be able to catch up with each of them, take pictures, etc.

Anyone out there who is reading this and has plants going, please let me know how you're doing!

998 Photo

2009-05-18T08:12:00.002-06:00

Here is the 998, this morning. Those are milk jugs in the picture, so you can see how "tall" the plant is getting. In a few days this should fall, and then the plant starts crawling. Right now, my biggest challenge is to get each plant to fall in the right direction. Several of them seem to want to tip backward and go in the opposite direction from what I have planned for them.

Finally

2009-05-11T10:41:00.002-06:00

I was about to say that the weather is finally getting nice, but we're supposed to go through another round of wind and cold starting this afternoon.

I only have 5 plants, plus one for Elise, this year. No backups made it out to the patch. It seems that any time I have a spare 5 minutes the wind is blowing or it's extremely cold. But each of the six plants out there is doing really well. The 998 Bowles is shaping up to be the Big Kahuna this year, and the 964 Wolf and 779 Warren are not far behind. My other two plants are the 1392 Bresnick, and the 1232.5 Bailey. Elise is growing the 1436 Nesbitt.

If I ever find a spare moment, I'll take some pictures.

25.9 degrees last night

2009-05-08T07:38:00.002-06:00

Well, the headline says it all. I should be fine, all plants were covered.

Last night I was lying around, about 9pm, playing on my iPod. Tap, tap, scroll, and I can get an hour-by-hour report of the predicted temperatures. I saw that it was going to get down to 33. I know that for my particular spot, take what they say and subtract 7 or so degrees, and that's what you might get. It's easy to get complacent when you go about a week or so without freezing temperatures, to forget, to slip up just once and guess what? Your season is done. But the iPod really saved me last night!

Time to swim

2009-05-03T17:58:00.001-06:00

I think I might swim out to my patch tonight....................

The weather has been very bad for giant pumpkin growers.

Catching up

2009-04-27T16:27:00.002-06:00

Well, I need to be more committed to updating this blog. It seems that I spend more time with Facebook these days.

Germination was pretty bad this year. I did get enough to fill every spot, but overall I'd say that the success rate was around 50%. Terrible! But luckily, other than the 1459 Sundstrom, each of the six spots has the plant that I had hoped would be the number one plant. Each site is planted, but each has only one plant at this time. No backups in the patch yet!

The 998 Bowles, 964 Wolf, 779 Warren, 1392 Bresnick, and 1232.5 Bailey are out there. Also, Elise's choice was a toss-up between the 1436 Nesbitt and 1362 Poirier. I put the Nesbitt out because it's easier to say than Poirier... but the Poirier could go out as soon as the HH is complete for that spot.

As for the 1459 Sundstrom, it came up but the seed leaves were mangled. It has a first true leaf, but so far I don't see any second true leaf developing. I will continue to monitor it.

So, about six days ago I started a 1071 Christensen and 583 Young. The Young is finally coming up today but the Christensen never moved. Then, later still I started a whole bunch of 720 and 779 Warrens, hopefully I'll get a few of them to show so I can put some backups out there. I don't know what I'm doing wrong, but I'm thinking I should blame it on the moon.

2 out

2009-04-23T11:28:00.002-06:00

My best two, the 998 Bowles and 964 Wolf are now out in the patch. Photos will come eventually.

Two others, the 779 Warren and 1459 Sundstrom are doing well and will probably go out tomorrow. Elise's 1362 Poirier will also probably go out. The last one, not decided yet, but I'm leaning toward the 1071 Christensen if it comes up.

8 up

2009-04-21T13:33:00.003-06:00

From the top left corner, the 998 Bowles. Next, going clockwise is the 1459 Sundstrom, just a little bit concerned, one of the seed leaves is connected "by a thread", and neither of them look good. They have that typical section of the leaf that sometimes fails to come to life. Next, the 964 Wolf. Solid. Next 1362 Poirier, really hasn't come above soil yet.

Continuing clockwise, now on the bottom row, the 779 Warren. Next is the 1392 Bresnick. That is followed by a 452 Wolf, and finally 1436 Nesbitt.

Me in my impatience have them out in the sun even though some of them are taking their own sweet time getting their feet set.

Seeds update

2009-04-21T09:58:00.002-06:00

Here is an update. Last Thursday I started 12 seeds for 6 plants. The 998 Bowles was the first to come up, followed by the 964 Wolf, 1459 Sundstrom, and one of the 779 seeds. The 1459 has very poor seed leaves. Then the 1362 Poirier came up. I can see movement on the 1392 Bresnick, 425 Wolf, and 1436 Nesbitt.

All of the "first-string" seeds came up. The 1104 Brinkley, 1121 Bobier, and one of the 779 seeds have no movement. Today I started another 1104, 779, and also a 1071 Christensen and a 583 Young.

The season has started...

2009-04-17T18:04:00.001-06:00

Started twelve seeds last night. More details coming...

I'm going to try to post my slides on growing the giants.

The daffodil meter

2009-04-13T20:31:00.000-06:00

Every year I look to the emergence of daffodils as a meter as to how much "spring" weather we've had. In past years the daffodils are in bloom in mid-March, but this year the official day is April 13th.

Seed selections... backups?

2009-04-13T14:42:00.002-06:00

Wow, here we are approaching seed starting season, and I still haven't given much thought to backups. I do have the starting lineup:

1. 779 Warren, backup is another double-planted 779.

2. 964 Wolf, backup not known yet

3. 1459 Sundstrom, backup with an 1121 Bobier.

4. 1392 Bresnick, backup not known yet.

5. 955 Brinkley, backup with a 720 Warren.

6. Elise's seed: Not completely decided yet. She says that she wants heavy, color not important! We could do another 779, but we will have one of those already, so maybe we'll try another.

Don't let anyone say that my membership in the New York grower's society is not for real! My patch is the official western outpost of the New York growers!

I'll need to get my seeds out and find some backups.

Holding pattern...

2009-04-13T08:06:00.002-06:00

Normally this might be the week I would put seeds into pots. Say, start seeds on the 15th, or maybe a few days later. Then, 3 or 4 days for them to pop out of the soil, and another 3 or 4 days and they're ready to go out. But it just doesn't seem warm enough out there for this.

Today should be about 60, but then we're predicted to get colder, 35 degrees for a high on Wednesday!

When we get to Friday or Saturday of this week, I'll check the long range forecast. If that looks decent, I might start some seeds then.

Spring is here!

2009-04-07T08:51:00.003-06:00

Well, a few days can make a big difference.

For yesterday and today at least, spring has arrived in south-east Idaho. We spent yesterday evening burning brush and cleaning up the garden in preparation for tilling. Hopefully today we will get the garden tilled. I'm at the mercy of my neighbors, as my tractor will need some work this summer. More on that later... I need to decide if I want to sell it to someone who wants to restore it, or if I can rebuild the engine. This decision would be easier to make if I had a shop space to keep it in.

So, today I hope to get a load of sand on my way home. This is a "sharp sand", which is coarse and is actually crushed rock. This should (hopefully) avoid clumping. It's definitely not beach sand. I'm only adding it to one or two plots.

No change

2009-04-02T10:53:00.002-06:00

Still getting snow and rain almost every day. Our reservoirs are full. I think we're going to have floods in the region, or at least very high, fast moving rivers. While I'm sitting here, I see that we have a fresh 2 or 3 inches of heavy wet stuff out there since I arrived at work.

I'm beginning to think that this could delay patch prep and the start of the season. Normally, I'd be planting in about three weeks from now. It just seems like an eternity, looking at all the saturated ground and cold temperatures. I have sprinkler lines to run, some sand and compost to bring in, not to mention a tractor that won't budge, and none of this can be done until it dries out. And, the forecast for the next week is much the same.

I sound like a broken record, but I'm absolutely in a holding pattern right now. Nothing can be done.

Still winter here...

2009-03-30T13:18:00.002-06:00

Some notes...

In the past 7 days we've had three significant snow storms. High winds in-between each storm. I'm STILL at least 10 days from getting on the soil. I have sprinkler lines to run... and...

I still can't start my tractor. Quite puzzling, as I have good spark, and it still won't start even with starter fluid. It could be a head gasket. I don't know.

I'm giving a How to Grow seminar at Town and Country Gardens on April 9th at 7:00pm. If you are in the area and are reading this, please stop in! I will be giving a presentation, doing Q&A, and giving out free seeds.

Home, and nothing to do...

2009-03-23T15:55:00.003-06:00

Well, I'm at one of my weeks off, in this slow economy. I would like to work outside, but...

Yesterday we had rain all day, and today we have 4 inches of thick new snow on the ground. This will melt quickly, but any hope I had of getting out on the tractor is pushed out another week or two.

Oh, and I still can't start my tractor. Timing set, points new, new plugs last year, new coil, battery good. It's really strange. I did pick up some Autolite 437's, I'm reading that the 216's that I have in there now is a "cool" plug, and I need the hot one. Also, a carb rebuild kit is in the mail. I guess this water will give me more time to figure it out.

Good Stuff

2009-03-14T11:46:00.003-06:00

I picked up some old pallets this morning for free. These are great for constructing wind fences around the patch. I stand them on their side, and stake them up. As the plant grows, the fence can be moved.

I think I have a real pumpkin grower in Elise. Of my five kids, she is the only one who has shown an interest in this hobby. I guess this is a "one of a city, two of a family" sort of pursuit. Anyway, this morning at breakfast I said, "So, for your plant this year, do you want one like my 779 from last year (pale, but heavy and solid) or do you want one that will be a nice pretty orange?" She (10 years old) looked me in the eye and said firmly, "Whatever gives me the best chance of beating ---- at the fair next year!"

I think she's getting it...

It's almost time

2009-03-12T13:12:00.002-06:00

The weather has been extremely nice, but cold, the last two days. Bright sunshine, and you can tell that the sun is much higher in the sky. It's warmer when you stand in it. Even if this nice sunshine continues, it's going to be another week at least before I can get into the patch and do any meaningful pre-season prep. I need to run some sprinkler lines, get more loads of compost, maybe some sand, and then I finally need to get the tractor running. Wow.

For anyone in Pocatello, I'm doing a Giant Pumpkin seminar at Town and Country Gardens on April 9th.

I am SOOOOOO ready to ditch the coat, and the jacket, and put them somewhere where I can't find them, and be done with them until at least late October!

Snow, snow, snow, snow, snow..................

2009-03-10T15:33:00.001-06:00

"It's beginning to look a lot --- like --- Christmas!"

Sigh.

At least nobody will be whining about "not enough water" this year.

Winter isn't giving up...

2009-02-19T17:09:00.002-07:00

Winter just won't go away here. Normally I'm pruning my trees at this time of the year.

One thing I should mention, these posts on my giant pumpkin blog are now being routed to Facebook. I'm not sure how that will work out. If it confuses people I just might kill the connection.

My neighbors now have windmills. One neighbor has one, and another has two. They are quite interesting. I don't mind them at all, and maybe someday I'll get one. Pictures are forthcoming.

Winter's Last Stand

2009-02-04T08:40:00.002-07:00

Ha ha, we can only wish. But when this current deep freeze is over, the subsequent ones won't be as deep or as long. Yes, we'll get more snow and cold temps, but all this is coming to an end soon. Really.

All winter I've been pondering soil temperature. I live in an area where the temps really fall off at night. If the soil is shaded, well, the soil doesn't really get all that warm. We can have a 90-degree day, and then when the sun sets, it can get too cold to go barefoot on my back lawn.

One thing I've been thinking of trying is to get some large rocks (about the size of a fat loaf of bread) and use these to form a circle about five feet in diameter. This then gets backfilled with soil and other good stuff, to form a "raised bed" for a seedling. This whole spot gets covered with clear plastic in the early season. With the raised bed, and the rocks, and the plastic, and the addition of some dark colored "sharp sand", this might help raise soil temp.

Best laid plans... but this year I might actually have the time to pull it off.

779 germination

2009-01-30T12:58:00.003-07:00

I decided to take a couple of 779 seeds and germinate them. They came up fine. Nice, green, sturdy seedlings. Not unexpected, but nice to see anyway. These seeds have a simple white coat, so I think they will come up readily without any sanding of the sides.

Seminar date moved...

2009-01-23T16:49:00.001-07:00

The new date for the Giant Pumpkin seminar at Town and Country Gardens is now April 9th. More details to follow as we get closer to that date.

Some seeds to think about

2009-01-21T09:35:00.002-07:00

I got my seeds from the NYSGPGA. Here is seedlist rev 1.1:

1. 779 Warren, with another 779 as a backup.
2. 964 Wolf. I do have yet another 964, so if one doesn't germinate I'll just use the other.
3. 1459 Sundstrom and 1121 Bobier - these two do battle, one survives!
4. 1392 Breznick (904 Stelts X 1502 Wallace) The 904 produces nice orange. This seed is getting some buzz for a first year seed, and I have two.
5. 955 Brinkley - Orange.

I might throw in some 720 Warren seeds as backup on the orange sites.

Giant Pumpkin Seminar Coming

2009-01-20T12:01:00.002-07:00

I just signed up with a local nursery to do a giant pumpkin seminar. The date is March 26th, at Town and Country Gardens in Pocatello. More details to come. I hope we can generate more interest in growing the giants in our area.

The seed list, Revision 1.0

2009-01-12T15:26:00.002-07:00

Here is the annual 2009 seed list, first draft. Of course, this is incomplete, and will change a half-dozen times before mid-April. Five plants this year. Each seed has a confidence level on it. This is a guess on the scale of 1 to 10 as to how confident I am in wanting to plant the seed.

1. 964 Wolf - confidence level 10

2. 779 Warren - confidence level 10

3. 1121 Bobier - confidence level 7

4. 1191 Zunino - confidence level 5

5. ?? - something orange? or big? I don't know.

Seed germination...

2009-01-09T15:31:00.002-07:00

I was reading Brian's page (see the link from this blog) and noting the seed germination experiment that Brian and his daughter are doing. I find it fascinating that at 80 degrees they got 43% germination, at 85 degrees they got 83%, and at 90 degrees, 84%. Take a look. This supports the long-time rule of thumb... get those seeds up to 85 degrees Fahrenheit if you want to have good results!

2009

2009-01-09T13:18:00.002-07:00

Here we are in 2009. This is the really slow time for us giant pumpkin enthusiasts. Actually, last night I got the bug and decided that I would do some test germinations of last year's seeds. But then I went looking for potting soil and found that we don't have any in the house. But within three or four weeks, early season germinations of tomatoes and such will begin again!

I'm also on the lookout for the seed distribution from the NYSGPGA. Yes, I love New York.

Meanwhile, due to the downturn in the economy, in the first half of the coming year I need to take some time off (without pay). What this means is, I'll have lots of time to work on the pumpkin patch and the garden. I won't have a lot of extra money to spend on it. No vacations, just staying home, so I should have lots of time. Fortunately I still have a job, and in the industry I'm in that's pretty good.

Here is a copy of the actual test...

2008-12-31T11:11:00.001-07:00

Here is the test...

You can never be too rich, too thin, or have too much organic matter...

2008-12-29T15:21:00.007-07:00

I just got my soil test results, which I will attach to this post.

First of all, this is not the soil that I have been using for the last 6 or 7 years. This is soil where I want to move the patch next year.

Naturally, the soil that is part of my general garden gets less attention than the soil in my usual patch. It doesn't get "zero" attention, but it gets less. A few numbers in this report are quite a bit worse than ones from my soil test about five years ago.

My pH is 7.9, up from 7.3!

My organic matter is 2.1, down from 2.3.

Everything else seems pretty standard. One bright spot is that my salts are now 2.1, which is quite high, but a much better reading than 5 years ago when it was over 6!

At this point I'm not sure if I'm going to move the patch or not. I think what this tells me is what I already knew... just add organic matter. The difficult thing is that I live in a desert, and organic matter is sometimes hard to find in any volume. In fact, most agricultural activities around here are wheat and potatoes, and very little cattle, so again, sometimes it's hard to find manure other than from individual homeowners, one pickup load at a time.

One thing has me puzzled. The test shows my sulphur to be very high. Of course, sulfur is something you add to reduce pH... I haven't added sulphur in years (other than ammonium sulfate for nitrogen) and so it looks like adding sulphur is not in the cards for reducing pH.

Please comment, right here in the blog.

NOTE: I'm not at home, and I'm having difficulty posting the *.pdf file to the blog. I'll put it up soon.

Snow

2008-12-22T12:45:00.003-07:00

Wow, we got walloped today, and it's still snowing. I'd say that we have 10 to 12 inches already.

I did receive email notice about my soil test. This was on Thursday, and said that I'd get the results in about one week. That would be Christmas... so unless I see it Tuesday, perhaps it will be a while. No hurry.

Soil test coming...

2008-12-17T20:02:00.002-07:00

Here I am, on business in San Jose, CA. Bored... can't wait to get the results of my soil test. It is supposed to come via email, so it could come at any time. As soon as I get the results, I'll post them. One thing to look at, I need to know what's going on with my salts. Ece.

Some seeds to ponder, the annual winter dilemma

2008-12-08T09:05:00.002-07:00

So what's going in the patch next year? Every year I look at the list of seeds I'd like to plant, and try to balance that with the fact that I typically can care for about four plants when the season really gets rolling.

Last year I started six plants, but in the end I ended up caring for only four. Barely. What I'd like to do is start five, and give each of them adequate care. So, what's going in?

My 779 is definitely going in. My personal best, 964 Wolf X 1092 Martin. That fruit was so trouble free. I can only imagine what it might do with an earlier pollination.

So naturally I also want to plant the 964 Wolf again. Why would I not plant the best seed I've ever grown?

Also in my possession is a 1121 Bobier (845 x 898). This one is certainly "proven", and is quickly becoming a highly regarded seed. I have to plant it.

So, that's three, and I still don't have any true orange. I would like to see some true orange in the remaining two spots, but at least one of them will be so. I have plenty of my own seeds that should be true orange, but I may need to do some horsetrading to find something with a little name recognition.

For Elise, I was going to encourage her to grow the 779, but maybe I'll just let her pick a few. There are so many good seeds to try.

Right now the most important thing is to keep working on the compost. Also, I've ordered up a soil test.

A good book...

2008-11-25T09:39:00.002-07:00

Last Saturday I went and got another load of compost, and then did some deep subsoiling on the new patch. I'm going to continue getting compost whenever I can find the time. This stuff is quite good, and will do wonders for the soil in the new patch.

I like to read gardening books over the winter. This year I found a great one. "The Vegetable Gardener's Bible", by Ed Smith. Ed teaches the reader his method for wide rows and deep raised beds. I always thought that my garden would be better if I could quit walking on the same soil that is housing my roots. This book teaches you how. I'm still not sure with regard to the giants, but I now have some ideas.

The author will challenge your thinking with regard to using fertilizer, other than seaweed and fish. The plan is to start with good soil amended with compost, and then not to shock the plant with fertilizers. There is a lot of material that challenges our thinking as gardeners. I'm not sure that all of it translates to giant pumpkins, but, most of us do a lot of conventional gardening and this book is surely beneficial.