Giant Pumpkins Part 2

I just saw that today as "A watched download never loads."

Ok. Got the message

Everyday I pick squash bugs off the plants and kill them. Everyday I remove squash bug eggs. Everyday I water. Everyday I have to mist the plants several times a day to cool them off. So everyday I see the pumpkins. And every giant pumpkin grower will tell the same thing. I tried to go all day yesterday without "looking" at the pumpkins but with the demanding care that it takes--its impossible. People who work away from home normally have their patchs set up with misting timers. And they do work in their patch every evening.

Some things are worth watching. I don't stare at it 24 hours a day.
I am having fun tending to my pumpkins.
Of course I don't mention the other things that I do every day because this thread is about growing giant pumpkins.
I also try to grow a giant tomato, a giant watermelon, a giant bellpepper, A giant Castor Bean plant, I have 400 cannas, I collect Amber glassware, I have a son in school, I have another son in the military and daughter in law whose goin to have a baby. I put the same amount of care into all of this as I do a pumpkin so my day is pretty full. And even fuller with Spring Greenhouse Plant Sales and Tomato Produce Sales and no one helps me. These are the things I chose to do in life and I love every minute of it.

Sounds busy! Speaking for myself, I enjoy the frequent photos and pumpking updates. I'm sure that for many of us, "watching" your pumpkins grow is as close as we'll ever get to a giant pumpkin.

-David

Wow! Busy, busy, busy! Any new pics? I don't have the room to grow giant pumpkins so am really enjoying watching this thread. Good Luck!

#1 pumpkin is growing faster than the other two. The other two slowed down and #1 picked up speed.
19 1/2 inches cc on Day 7

#3
17 1/2 inches on Day 7

#2 is really slow--only 1 inch a day. . It has a rotted vine. I could just let it grow since the vine is terminated from the main stump already and use it as a small pumpkin display next to a bigger one at the fair. Its not pulling any energy from the main stump. No picture of this one but its 14 1/2 inches cc on Day 7.

Finally the Main Primary vine has a 4 lobe female that will be ready to pollinate tomorrow. Yep, I peaked inside the petals to see because I want to cross it with the male blooms on the 1114 lishness plant and I didnt want to waste my time planning that out if the female wasn't worth it.. So, I will tie the bloom on the 4th female so it does not pollinate before I get outside in the morning. I will collect the males tonight that will open by morning and put them in a glass of water in the house so no bees pass other male pollen to them as they scurry about. In the morning I will use those males to pollinate #4 female and tie the bloom petals back in place so no bees touch it. Its a nice female. I will cut the leaf and tendril away from the female today so it will turn outward--perpendicular to the vine.

#4 female pollinated this morning on the 530 Lishness plant with 5 male blooms off the 1114 Lishness plant. Irregular 4 lobes. Female 5 inches cc side to side. 75 degrees at pollination time. Temps for today in low 100s. Will ice the female for 4 days covered with styrofoam cooler. All leaves cut from the vine within 1 foot from the female in both directions.

Also female is 20 feet out on Main Primary.

Tied after pollination.

Im here lurking around and I am just fascinated! I am trying to grow gourds and thought I'd see what others are doing, so I found this thread! I know Pumpkins arent Gourds but I figured close.
This has to be the most Educational as well as one of the most fun threads Ive found! I cant wait to see more on the "Pumpkin Saga"! E.

I know a man at bigpumpkins.com who grows the giant gourds. I am suppose to get some seeds from him this fall. I normally try to grow giant veggies that are edible after they have reached maturity but the gourd really caught my attention this year. So I been planning on where I want to grow it. We have a nice size barn with one side being open with a roof that reaches 12 feet off the ground at the crown. I was thinking about growing a gourd around the outside of the barn trusses. Let me see if i can find a picture of the barn.
I thought it would be perfect since the gourd itself needs shade. And that side of the barn gets evening shade.


This message was edited Aug 22, 2007 8:58 AM

A female flower FINALLY opened on my vine, but we have been deluged with continual rain, and when I saw the flower, the cup was full of water! I tipped it out and fertilized the flower w/o much hope, but it looks like a pumpkin is started after all!

You can place a one gallon plastic bag over the female flowers if you know in advance that it is goin to rain. Or you can place a styrofoam cooler over the female before it rains and collect the males the night before they open so everything is dry for pollination. If the female is still nice and shinny with nice firm stem after about 4 to 7 days then normally it is set and your on your way.

I received a few more Giant Green Squash seeds this week. They grow and look like giant pumpkins only they are green and since they are green they are called squash and not pumpkins. I am already preparing a patch bed for the green ones for Spring. Even though our state does not have any contest for giant green squash, it will be fun anyway. Especially if i can grow them just for display at the local fair. It's a shame that the growing season is pretty much over with at this point. NO time to start anything. Wish Spring was here again.

If you are truly interested in growing giant pumpkins, I recommend these books:
By Don Langevin, How-to-Grow World Class Giant Pumpkins I, II, III, and he is working on writing a 4th book and his final book. NOTE: the second book is no good without the first book and the third book is no good without the second book. In his third book it talks about stuff that he wrote in his second book but not in detail. What I did was bought the first book then I bought the third book and ended up needing the second book so I would know what he was talking about in the third book. %^$&*@#$%&
http://www.giantpumpkin.com
or find them at amozon used or new.

I also have a DVD "The Secrets of Growing Champion Giant Pumpkins" with Jim Beauchemin. It is good for beginners. http://www.pumpkinjim.com

Happy Gardening

Does it take longer to grow a giant pumpkin to maturity?

I get the impression they just grow at a faster rate.

You grow other giants, too? You'd never get anything done if you had a thread going for the biggest of each of them! I'd read them all, though. :) What is the largest/heaviest you've grown of each of them?

Share just a little about the others, Please!!

The biggest tomato was just over two pounds. I never weighed my bellpepper. But it was big.
The biggest tomato was a Brandywine. When growing large tomatoes--beauty is out of the question. they all ugly. The best tomato to grow for a giant tomato is the Burpee Delicious. I just bought a book on growing Giant Tomatoes so maybe I will get it right next year.

Large tomato--Brandywine

After it was ripe
I think it was 2 pounds 4 ounces. I can't remember.

This is a Super Heavyweight Bellpepper. It can get much bigger. This one was grown in a container.

I had a Beefmaster tomato growing this year and it was huge but my step dad was picking himself some tomatoes and he picked it. I never got a picture or weight. Was extremely disappointed.
When growing giant tomatoes, you should look for double or triple blooms which are normally in the beefsteak family.
This is the biggest Big Beef I been able to grow. It is a hybrid cross between Big Boy and Beefsteak. Never saw any double blooms on the big beef. They all come out single, nice and round. But great tomato taste. These are what I grow and sell as Vine Ripe Tomatoes.

I haven't grown any other giant veggies so far. Tomatoes, Pumpkins, Bellpeppers.
Next year I want to grow --Onions, gourds, giant green squash, radish, cabbage. We have only lived on our new property just over a year , this being my second growing season. The ground is really bad and I have to build my beds a few at a time each year.
In addition to growing a giant tomato, I want to grow a Giant Tall Tomato Plant. My goal is 20 feet for year 2008. I can get one single vine to grow that tall, but not sure about a whole plant.
I have two tomato books. One called " How to Grow World Record Tomatoes" by Charles H. Wilber, 1999. The other book called " Giant Tomatoes" by Marvin H. Meisner, M.D. 2007.

there's a giant okra, Cow Horn, sold by Pinetree Garden.

oh yeh, and Corn too.
I would probly love to try the okra but I don't really care for peppers much. I only grow the bell peppers cause my grandfather eats them.

The Heat won the battle. The pumpkin plants are sick. The pumpkins have aborted. All 4 stopped growing.

Ohhhhh no! So very sorry to hear that.

So disappointing

So, when can you start next years crop? I have really enjoyed sharing your quest! Thanks!

Ooooh, that is sooo sad. Those plants were your babies and reading about your struggles was fascinating! Thanks for keeping us abreast of their progress, and now their demise.

Well, maybe next year.

Cricket I only just now found and read this thread. I feel just like I have read a gripping novel and then got a knock out punch with a surprise bad ending. I can just imagine your disappointment and disgust. I hate it for you and for us who were pulling for you. Can we do it again next year? Please?

Oh, shoot! Sorry about the pumpkins pooping out on you. :(

I bought some huge peppers on special at Lynd's Fruit Farm a little over a week ago. He had a bunch and had to move them quickly, so I got them 5/$1.00! I bought 35 peppers, some for me and some for my mom.

Here is a shot showing their size. I never remembered to weigh any before I made stuffed peppers. I know the stuffed peppers weighed a pound each after cooking. LOL

I saved the seeds from the largest one, but don't know if they're hybrids or if they'll come true from seed. It was all I could do to juggle the pop can and the pepper for this shot:

This message was edited Aug 27, 2007 5:47 PM

I have never seen peppers that big.

I too am sorry about your punkin :(

Man that is a big pepper. Even though you were growing "giant tomatoes" Did you fertilize them? and if so what and how often. We have had 100 and higher but I think I watered to much thinking they needed it.Have enjoyed your pumpkins the one got huge, sorry about the latest. Deanna

Somewhat scarred and pocked, this one is still growing, though it's nothing like Cricket's pumpkins. At 5 weeks it measured 46" stem to stem. It's already as big as any pumpkin we've grown before, and frankly, I'm not sure how we'd move it if it got over 100lbs, let alone as big as the newsmakers we've seen here!

Here's the pretty one, still nestled in its greenery. 44" stem to stem at four weeks. This one is on the main stem while the previous one is on the first branch. Both of these would probably be a lot bigger if we ever watered the plant, besides the lawn sprinklers that run three times a week...

Well, so far my first two female pumpkins have aborted. #3 looks kinda promising, and #4 just opened. But time grows ever shorter.

Nice looking punkin's there Tropicalaria! I love it when they are scarred, pocked and all warty looking. Good luck and keep us updated please!

I thought I'd revive this thread with some giant pumpkin pictures. This is not my pumpkin. I took these pictures at a local fair. This one was the winner at 1,130 lbs.

This message was edited Sep 20, 2007 8:17 PM

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