Ok you asked for the secret juice I am using, here it is.
Dills Atlantic Giant Pumpkins Part 2
I buy this stuff by the 55 gallon drum.
Naaaa This is what I am doing, Aerated Compost Tea.
http://s14.photobucket.com/albums/a318/amigatec/Brewer/?action=view¤t=Tea-Brewer01_2.jpg
I am thinking about the brewed tea. I have everything I need to do it. Just not sure if I want to. Have 55 gallon drums, water pumps with filter, and plenty of horse manure.
I have Soluble Humic Acid (contains potash, calcium and other minerals) on its way through the mail.
More Mycorrhizae.
Soluble Kelp.(1-1-17)
bought some low salt index liquid plant food, 2-15-15 and 8-16-8
still have plenty of Fish emulsion here. (5-1-1) and (2-3-1)with seaweed.
And the beds already have Horse , Donkey, and Rabbit manure in them.
I stood on my 2nd story deck and took a pic of the 898 holland from a far away distance. You can see 1/3 of my front yard.
the main vine on the 898 is about 10 1/2 feet long now. The female is more visible now. its taking forever.
The very first year that i planted some giant pumpkin seed was 4 yrs ago. I never read anything about giant pumpkins. Somebody from a garden website sent me the seeds. I put them in the ground and walked away. Months later, I had several pumpkins growing. I did not tend to the patch. I did not watch the patch. I never thought about critters and animals. A few weeks later I went out to check on them and the pumpkins were gone. And the plants looked all burnt up.
The second year is when i grew the 310. Third year grew nothing. Now here I am. It has been 4 yrs since I first heard about growing Giant Pumpkins.
This is a very time consuming Hobby. I spend some time in the patches every day. Either weeding, trimming, fertilizing, fungicide, insecticide, or burring vines.
I fertilized yesterday. Trimmed yesterday. Trimmed today. Buried vines yesterday, buried vines today. Went shopping last night for pumpkin plant ingredients, and went shopping today for pumpkin plant ingredients.
The main vine on the 898 is so big that it makes the secondaries look really small.
The secondaries are 2,3, and 4 feet long. Technically if i were growing the xmas tree pattern, the plant would be 7 feet wide and 10+feet long.
viewing the tips of the secondaries that are growing out then curving back headed hehind the main stump.
The 820* giant squash plant actually has 4 secondary vines from the main stump that survived the dog paw. I chose the first 2 secondaries to be primaries in place of the broken main. The first primary is 7+feet long right now with a small baby at the tip. The second primary is 6 feet long with a bigger baby 6 inches from the tip.
I cannot decide what to do. Let them both grow a giant squash to maturity, or cull one later after I see which is growing at a faster pace per day.
the 275 main is only 12 inches long. Pet the baby.
they grow so fast, dont they.
today they are playing in the park and tomorrow they will be in college.
This is the green baby. It will, and normally does, have a longer fruit stem.
898 orange baby, shorter fruit stem
Pat, I forgot to ask you: did you buy the Secret already mixed in that barrel or did you mix it into the barrel? did you have it shipped in? Heavy.
What I did this morning:
I raised the misting system. Used Duct Tape to attach the hose to the t-post. Then used Duct Tape to position misters on hose. Mist from both sides reaches the center of the plant. I will not use the misting system unless the plant looks like it needs to cool off.
The 275 is shifting to growth stage now. It grew 6 inches within 16 hours. Thats pretty fast at such an early stage.
Just wait til you grow your own giant pumpkin plant. It will amaze you too every day.
I fed the pumpkins fish emulsion today, and 2-15-15(low salt)
Ordered some 0-52-34. I should of ordered it two weeks ago. HollandsGiants recommends feeding it this 0-52-34 2 to 3 weeks before fruit set and continue the rest of season to promote bigger, heavier seeds which adds weight to pumpkin, and makes the meat grow thicker inside which also adds weight to pumpkin. By the time you also feed it the soluble kelp/seaweed 1-1-17, that sure gives a high potassium %. But this is what they recommend. I sure hope the fruit does not mature too quickly and stop growing before I want it to.
898 and her misting system.
Well the barrel is empty, I made the sign. I like to talk smack to other growers. LOL
ROFL.
Sooooooo,, the BS stops when the TailGAte drops!
Your so funny. HOpe their mouth drops when your tailgate drops.
I spent all evening weeding, raking, fluffing dirt. I wanted the soil nice and fluffy when i sock-em the go go juice this weekend. (humic, bloombooster, kelp, Fish)
They are already zooming.
Well when you set it on the scale it is what it is. It's all over except for handing out the prize money. The WO site I hope to go to this year paid $600 for top place last year, and that was a 1244 lber. I hope to al least place in the top 5.
This message was edited Jul 9, 2009 4:44 PM
I hope ya get first place.
criter yoru babie s so cute and I can't believe how huge th eleave s are.
Now when the growing and weighing and braggign right s over, what do ya all do with th epumkins and if you plac ein top weights , do ya sell the see d them , cuz they would have the good genetics wouldn't they to grow maybe thta big or bigger again?
You harvest the seeds and package them up to give away. Most Pumpkins clubs will have seed giveaways at the end of the year. You send in a hand full and you will get more seeds back then you can ever plant.
I just wondered, cuz it sur e is one time consumign and expensiv e hobby, so wondered if maybe seed sellign was a way to recoup a bit on what ya spend growign them.
The really good seeds i.e. World Record or 1500+ lb seeds are sold at auction to raise money for the WO site prize money and to pay for the event.
Some of these seeds will bring several hundred dollars per seed.
This message was edited Jul 9, 2009 8:44 PM
some 1400 pounders cost $25
Most of my seed have costed me some money. Very few were free.
Our state fair only gives $300 to the biggest pumpkin. That would pay for hotel and gas. I'm not even worried about getting it to a weigh-off, but have been told to bring it to KY which is about a 6 hour drive from here. In Ky, they make the smallest pumpkin grower wear a skunk hat. ( I'll pass on that)
Its goin to be a tough week next week. Will have high temps and trying to pollinate.
Have 3 babies to pollinate next week. Will have to make environment cooler.
They say that it is hard to get the giant green squash to set fruit. Gonna be even harder in this heat. I will set up a small sheet tent. Will place 3 jugs of ice several inches away from the babies. Will put a fan blowing air between the jugs of ice towards the baby. Will have to change out the jugs of ice several times during the day. I only have to do this for one day. The day of pollination. I think each baby will open on different days which is good cause I only have one fan. I will buy another fan if i have to. Right now I have 10 jugs of ice. (2 liter bottles)
I am using a sawhorse for my tent frame.
(its like being stranded on an island and trying to start a fire the hard way)
275 Main is 33 inches long this morning.
898 main is 13ft. 2 in. this morning.
First Male bloomed this morning. its in the very back under the large leaves.
898 secondary vines growing straight up.
I have to bury vines today. Fun.
898 1st female, at the 11 ft mark today.
820* plant is getting so long due to two primaries that its hard to get it all in the pic.
1st primary is 9ft long, 2nd primary is 8ft long.
820* first female.
Ahhhhhhhh don't forget your prenatal vitamins. hahahahha
Been a few days since I last updated, I thought the 1081 was slowing down. I pruned 5 or 6 little 'kins that the bees provided me with and pruned a bit of salad off as well. I also added some 8-24-24 to patch and added a small amount to my last batch of tea, and have increased the watering times to 2 hours per day.
I think it's time for a new thread.
Go to http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1013618/
This message was edited Jul 11, 2009 4:43 PM