Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 18 Entries. Tuesday, January 28 View Page Nice Sunrise It still may be early in the year, but soon pumpkin season will be upon us. This is where the planning time comes in, to help ensure that (most) everything is in place and ready to go when the time comes. � Saturday, March 29 View Page Initial Spring Time Work Some of the plastic is now up. Days that are low wind have been hard to find, so the plastic is being put up in small stages when there is a weather window of opportunity. In this image the plastic does show some of the dirt from storage, but after a few rain storms this should wash off. Notice that there is no "roof" plastic. This is because instead of one large sheet three are used, two on each side and then one central "roof" plastic piece will be put on. However, this is the largest and most difficult so not only does the weather need to cooperate, but having access to a few extra hands is also welcomed. just in case😉 Also, behind the plastic that can be seen is insect netting so that when it gets hot out, the plastic can be taken down from the sides, to help air flow, but also still prevent insects from just flying into the planting area. � Saturday, March 29 View Page Spring Seed Starting Party! This is always a great time to get to see many growers in the area and exchange patch growing supplies. Wallace WOW was in attendance and in the green trailer is some 0-0-50. Soon all of the other growers will be arriving and there is a before lunch talk planned with speaker Steve C. to recap his past season. With any luck the seed to be grown this year should be arriving as well😉 � Sunday, March 30 View Page Anchoring Side Plastic Here is a little insight to help ensure the side plastic is secured well and also tight to reduce the amount of slack which will also reduce the chance of it tearing in the wind. First there is a trenched dug into the soil and then the plastic is attached at the top (about 6-8ft. above the ground) to wiggle wire channel that is part of a purlin. Then the plastic is draped over the trench and *some* of the soil is added on top of the plastic as can be seen in the image. While an effort is made to keep the plastic tight, it rarely comes out perfect, but hold on for the key tip in the next post. � Sunday, March 30 View Page Tightening Plastic With *some* of the soil added on the plastic the key part is now to pull up on the plastic. What is happening is the soil is self-centering on the plastic which will help ensure that it is tight to the hoops. While easier with two people, it can be done alone it may just take a few times to go up and down the side of the structure to ensure there is tension on the plastic. Once the plastic is tight and looks good to go the next step is securing it... � Sunday, March 30 View Page Securing the Plastic Here the tail end of the plastic is folded to fit into the trench and then the rest (majority) of the soil is placed on top. This helps to ensure it is well secured in place. Once it gets rained on the soil adds plenty of weight. The key is the self-centering of the plastic first and then securing it with this step. � Sunday, March 30 View Page "Roof" Plastic Installed No images of the set-up process but the window of opportunity opened so the work was completed quickly and efficiently. Nice when a plant comes together (Thanks Nick!). Still plenty of more things to do, but this is a sign that the season is about to officially begin! � Friday, April 4 View Page Amendment Line-Up While the structure still needs some key components (shutter vents to be installed for one) the soil also needs some preparation work. While this may be early in the season, with the plastic cover the risk for flushing out any amendments is reduced so going in early is justified. This area is about 32ft. x 40ft. with 30 cubic feet of Peat Moss being added along with 50lb of lime and 20 pounds of 0-0-50. This will be tilled in with the grass before applying OxiDate 5.0 as a drench followed by weed block. On top of this will be a smaller cold-frame (12ft. long x 8ft. wide) that the plants will go into "soon". � Thursday, April 10 View Page Seed Starting Day! This is the seed selected for this year the 2154 Sperry '23 (F: 1904.4 Sperry x M: 2365 Wolf), It produced two impressive pumpkins last year one over 2,100 pounds by a new grower and the pumpkin had fantastic orange color. The other had some grower error, but the shape was very symmetrical and the grower spoke highly of the plant. It will be interesting to see what it will produce this year. � Saturday, April 12 View Page 48-Hours Later There Are Roots! Since only one plant will be grown two seeds were started and they are basically both nearly carbon copies of each other. Note: Spoiler Alter- The one on the left is the "chosen one". � Monday, April 21 View Page Planting Day Both plants have been under some CMH (Ceramic Metal Halide) lights and have been growing well. Since they both look so good and there is no clear winner, they both will get planted to see if one takes the lead in the near future. Note: Spoiler Alter- The one on the left is the "chosen one". � Monday, April 21 View Page Planting Success Both plants have made it safely to their new home and will be grown together until one needs to be culled. The plants are in a smaller cold frame that is in the larger structure. There are ceramic heat lamps around the plants that are controlled via a thermometer. In addition, there is another CMH light over them which the plants are accustom to growing under (in addition to the now added sunlight they will be receiving. Below the ground there is a 40ft. soil heating cable (also controlled via a thermostat) to try and keep the root zone around 68F (20C). The black tubing in the background on the metal frame is rain-tubing that is used for CO2 delivery. Note: Spoiler Alter- The one on the left is the "chosen one". � Sunday, May 11 View Page Sometimes the Plants Choose While each of these plants has been very consistent, both have been left to grow with only some slight directing provided to keep them going in the same direction. It has been difficult to determine which plant is the better one. However, in this case the plants made the decision. Note: Spoiler Alter- The one on the left is the "chosen one". � Sunday, May 11 View Page Kinked Main Vine The plant on the right grew vertically for slightly longer than it should have and as a result the main vine has developed a kink in it that has also led to some splitting. While this looks bad upon a cut away dissection it is not as bad as it looks. However, when given the choice between a normally growing main vine and this one, there could have been issues with this going forward. So, this was the determining reason for this plant getting culled. � Sunday, May 11 View Page The Chosen 2154 Sperry '23 Plant The process of culling the other plant is a simple cut at the soil line. This minimizes soil disturbance and will now provide extra room for the "chosen one" to freely expand. Was the right decision made? It is impossible to tell, but in the end, this was the slightly better plant so now all of the attention can be focused on this plant going forward � Saturday, June 7 View Page 2154 Sperry '23 June 7th, 2025 Update This shows what the plant looks like and early secondary vines will be terminated soon. Two "Henry Fans" (carpet/floor fans that were recommended by "Henry-the giant pumpkin grower" here in bigpumpkins.com) have been added to help keep air moving inside the structure. There is also CO2 being added so these fans help ensure an even mixing of CO2 and temperature in the growing area. These are only run during the day when air circulation is needed the most � Saturday, June 7 View Page 2154 Sperry '23 June 7th, 2025 Update The browning on the leaves is something that is typically not experienced with this set-up, as it is cold damage. The plant out grew its smaller inside structure and then there was an unexpected cold night. This is not frost damage, but simply cold damage that was likely more of a cold temperature shock to the plant as only leaves exposed to these conditions has the browning. The damage pattern is also unique (but hard to see in the image) but it is portions of the plant that were outside of the secondary heating area of the two 315-watt CMH lights. In general, the damage is minimal, but does look a little scary at this point in the season � Thursday, June 12 View Page Getting 2670 Thompson Pollen (The Exchange Site) Hillside Pizza sounds like a great place to eat, but this evening's goal was not food, but pumpkin pollen. Special thanks to "Hayden R." for some 2670 Thompson '24 (F: 2465.5 Sperry x M: 2560 Gienger) pollen. While genetics on paper have been a staple breeding practice, to help speed up the selection process the goal is to match the "on paper" genetics, while also taking into consideration the plants performance during the season. The goal is to find the best of the best. While some plants that are known to be slow starters can complicate this idea. However, an aggressive plant and pumpkin growth are the main goal with this theory to maximize growth potential. When a grower reports... "the 2670 Thompson which has been the best plant since day 1" this is the trait that would be great to breed into the next generation. Also just having the grower say "I like photographing this plant" tells the plant has generally good behavior and is problem free. The 2670 Thompson is an unproven seed at this moment in time, but sometimes a calculated risk needs to be taken to push the genetics of the hobby forward. Only time will tell if this works out, but the hope is the research and work will pay off in the end. Today is also another growers birthday so Happy Birthday GreenGene ;-) Today is typically measure day of the plants, but instead the priority was getting pollen. �