Jeff's Great Pumpkin Challenge

What a crappy and disappointing giant pumpkin growing season!  Since 1992 there has never been so many VERY windy days!  We are now up to 30 days of 50 MPH winds or higher.  The previous record for the ENTIRE year was 26 days!  There have been 80 (not a typo) days of 40 MPH winds or higher!  That's almost once every 3 days! This past week it started out unseasonably cool and finished with a blow torch - near 100 and very windy!  The entire season there have been weather challenges so the result for giant growth has been dismal, compared to what is needed.  As I've said before, SW Kansas is just not a friendly place to grow Atlantic Giant Pumpkins! The biggest one I have at this point remains the pumpkin from the 1733 plant.  This morning it measured at 322 pounds or a paltry gain of only 70 pounds in a week.  Going from the cool to the blazing hot has probably set it in maturing mode.  Here is that pumpkin.... The pumpkin on the 1522 plant appears to maturing as it has

Below normal temperatures this past week really took a toll on the giants weight gain!  The two are still packing on weight, but no where near potential. The 1733 did have one day before it got chilly where it put on 20 pounds in one day.  Great except that potential is MUCH more! In two weeks this pumpkin has put on 188 pounds (measured not weighed) of which 97 pounds occurred this past chilly August week. Here is that 252 pound pumpkin this morning... A comparison over the past 2 weeks..... That deformation at the blossom end is filling in a little but will take away from the final size/weight. The 1522 pumpkins continues it's "slow" and steady growth and this morning was measured at 212 pounds, or a gain of 60 pounds this past week. With the trouble there has been with the pumpkins on the 1861 plant (4 have pollinated and grew a little before aborting) I wasn't sure I would have ANY pumpkins on that plant.  It's a shame too as there are strong

A week ago I posted (read that by clicking here ) about some issues this growing season and that the pumpkin on the 1861 plant appeared to have aborted.  Indeed that happened at around 38 pounds.  I did notice this morning a pumpkin on that plant pollinated yesterday (open pollination and probably from the same plant) but I haven't looked through the jungle of vines to see if any more were out there.  That's about six weeks too late.  We'll see what happens. The 1522 plant is showing some disease in the leaves closer to the base but I've sprayed a few times and hopefully have the progression slowed.  The pumpkin itself has had steady growth this past week but not really that great.  It was measured at 152 pounds this morning and was at 85 pounds a week ago, so it is averaging a little less than 10 pounds a day.  Nice but not impressive.  I do like the color though as it is showing a lot of orange at this stage.  Normally giants don't have a lot of orange - more ye

What a weird growing season for the giants.  In the previous post I did a week ago (you can read that one by clicking here ) the issues all season were revealed.  I have another pumpkin that looks like it's also done and will decay!  The pumpkin on the 1861 which was at 15 pounds a week ago, measured at 37.4 pounds this morning.  That is a paltry gain.  But it's gained only 4 pounds in the past 2 days so it looks like it is ready to die off the vine, just like several others have!  That leaves nothing on the 1861 since I've been removing all the females!  UGH!   To get another pollinated will take about a week, or maybe if I dig through the jungle of vines and leaves I can find on that is close so I can at least have something on that plant! On to the 1522.  It's been making steady but not heavy growth.  A week ago it was 40 pounds - this morning it measured at 85 pounds. The past 2 days it's gained an average of 8 pounds a day which is WAY less than expected or d

What a disappointing growing season!  I had looked forward to making a run at a REALLY giant pumpkin this year - way bigger than the 542 pounder that I took to the state fair last fall.  I put forth a lot of effort in getting the soil right during the off-season (specific soil test from a company in Idaho specializing in giants), getting seeds with a lot of potential, and getting liquid amendments (micro-nutrients) to have a good chance of a REALLY big one. However, there seemed to be way more problems this growing season.  First, I started  the seeds much later than I wanted and attended to.  Second, the growing weather early on was brutal with high winds and high heat. Note:  Next year I will have to build a substantial tent to shade young plants from the southwest Kansas sun, heat and wind.  Third, we were on vacation to Colorado when the first pumpkin pollinated.  I really need to know what the pollinator is for following years potential seeds.  Plus, the pumpkins need to be poll