Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 71 Entries. Monday, March 18 View Page I will be growing indoors this year. After the tragic season last year I began building a 30’ x 65’ greenhouse and customizing it to what I believe will be the best set up for my needs. I will only be growing two pumpkins inside. Each will receive a little over 900 ft.²   Monday, March 18 View Page Today for each plant I put together 240’ of gutter de-icing cables. Each plant will have a 12’ x 12’ area of heated soil.   Monday, March 18 View Page Here’s what they look like in the soil. This is just one, lots of digging today……   Tuesday, March 19 View Page Today I added all the amendments: kelp, blood meal, humic, gypsum, boron, and some small amounts of micronutrients needed according to the soil test. (Thanks again Cecil)   Tuesday, March 19 View Page After all amendments were added and tilled in I rolled out the Dewitt landscape fabric. I’m a huge fan of this stuff, no weeds here!   Saturday, March 23 View Page 2024 seeds are selected. 1109 McMillin 2245 Andrusz   Saturday, March 23 View Page March 23. 0001 am. Seeds filed and soaked. -1/8 tsp WOW 5/2 for soak. March 23. 0530 am Seeds were placed tip down in small pots in Miracle Grow Seed Starting mix. Heat mat is set on 88 degrees. LED grow light is set at 300 ppfd. Clear plastic tote placed on top to keep the mix from drying out and better control heated environment. -1/8 tsp WOW 5/2. -1/8 tsp Azos. -1/32 tsp DPH. All mixed in 1 gallon of water. -1/4 tsp Wow granular Mycorrhiza was added to starting mix also.   Monday, March 25 View Page 68 hours from the time I started sanding the seeds all 4 are up and have shed their seed coats. 2245 Andrusz / on Left 1109 McMillin / on Right They have been transferred to my Mars Hydro grow tent where they will be at 300 ppfd for 18 hours a day LED on / 6 hours a day LED off. This is the recommended DLI for pumpkin seedlings. They will be in this container for a total of 8 days from the time the seeds were sanded. On the 8th day (April 1st) they will be transplanted outside to my greenhouse.   Wednesday, March 27 View Page Here’s a look at this years soil test   Wednesday, March 27 View Page Here’s what was added, again thanks Cecil.   Monday, April 1 View Page Plants are officially in the ground!!! Here’s a YouTube link to the 2024 McMillin Giants season kickoff.. YouTube   Tuesday, April 9 View Page Not much to show this week. Here’s a look at the 2245 Andrusz and 1109 McMillin, They are both chugging along slowly and lighter green than I prefer, but we had a really cold and cloudy week plus the Motherboard on my new pellet stove went out after only two weeks of use, so I wasn’t able to maintain the perfect temperatures inside the greenhouse for about 5 days (that really didn’t help!) but were up and running now, the sun has came out, so things should definitely pick up now. Outside of the greenhouse I dug out a 6’x6’ area for heating cables then amended the soil and put a hoop house up for the 1783 New seeds we started. 1783 was started 4/4 and broke soil 68 hours later. It will be planted outside of the greenhouse in about 5 days.   Saturday, April 13 View Page 1783 New planted in outside patch on 4/13/24. 2 Seeds were sanded and soaked 6 hours in Wow5/2 at 88 degrees on 4/4. Seeds Broke ground/seed coat off in 68 hours. Planted one outside in auto-opening hoop huts with 60’ gutter cables and 750 watt heater with thermostat on 4/13. The other 1783 New was transferred to a 5 gallon pot and placed in Mars Hydro grow tent in case something would go wrong with the main plant.   Wednesday, April 17 View Page Today I added grow lights in front of the plants to try and draw the main vines forward. Right now both are reaching for the stars! I was amazed how bright 2 grow light can make a greenhouse! Here’s a link to a short April 17th patch update video. YouTube   Tuesday, April 23 View Page 1783 New weekly update. Healthy growing well in it heated hut.   Tuesday, April 23 View Page 1109 & 2245 are finally down and running. 2245 is in the lead with a 40” main vine. 1109 is bringing up the rear with a 28” main vine.   Tuesday, April 30 View Page 4/30/24 Plant update. I was kind of down and thinking I didn’t have as of good starts this year as I did last year, until I went back and looked at photos from last season, to my surprise my plants are several feet longer this year than they were last year on this date. I completely opened up the center of my greenhouse. The plants are out of their cozy warm area and are on their own now, they may suffer a few cold nights, but I’m sure they’ll be fine. I also ran my new overhead watering system for the first time today watering 300 gallons of all biologicals throughout the entire greenhouse giving the soil a good drench of good stuff.   Thursday, May 2 View Page Here’s a panoramic view from inside the greenhouse. The plants still have a lot of space to fill…lol.   Wednesday, May 8 View Page 1109 McMillin Photo was taken from one of the ptz security cameras in the greenhouse. Apparently I need to move my Govee wifi thermometer to a different location so it doesn’t photobomb the 1109 anymore.   Wednesday, May 8 View Page 2245 Andrusz What else can I say, it’s a freaking great plant! It’s slightly bigger than my 1109 and my 1109 this year is my fastest plant yet. I should be pollinating near the end of May on both plants.   Thursday, May 9 View Page Both 1783 New’s were later starts than the ones in the greenhouse. They are just over 30 days old and are starting to run good too. They are outside with no heat so they probably won’t grow as fast, but to my surprise they are doing really amazing. One has 5’ main vine already and other is around 3’. They have outgrown my small huts and are out in the harsh world now…   Tuesday, May 14 View Page Not much going on, just burying vines and anxiously awaiting growing a pumpkin instead of a plant…. I do have a tiny pumpkin buried in the tip of both plants, so I should be pollinating in 10-15 days on both. Hopefully it takes, because I will be at the end of the greenhouse with both these pumpkins.   Thursday, May 16 View Page 2- 1783 New plants growing outside the greenhouse. Wind fence put up, plants are out in the open completely exposed to the weather now! Good luck guys….lol. One 1783 will have over 1600 ft.² and the other 1783 will only have 3 to 600 ft.²   Wednesday, May 22 View Page Earliest pollination ever for me, by a month!!! - (1109 McMillin x 2245 Andrusz) at 19’ with 25 secondaries behind the pumpkin.   Wednesday, May 22 View Page I was able to pollinate both plants in the greenhouse today. This is the: - (2245 Andrusz x 1109 McMillin) 20’ with 26 secondaries behind the pumpkin.   Tuesday, May 28 View Page 1783 New has a pumpkin buried in the very tip, that will be ready to pollinate in about 10-13 days.   Tuesday, May 28 View Page Heres a link to a short YouTube clip patch update if anyone is interested. YouTube   Friday, May 31 View Page DAP 9. Scales have been placed under the 2245 and 1109 pumpkins. The 2245 Andrusz is the current heavyweight of the patch coming in at a whopping 7 lbs…. Hard to believe in 21 more days these guys will put on 500lbs, this is my favorite part of the growing season waiting to see how big they grow in just 30 days!   Friday, May 31 View Page The 1109 McMillin weighing in at a strong 6lbs. Who will be the 30 day heavyweight champion? This little guy has the heart of a Lion but will heart be enough to take on the undisputed current champ, the 2245 Andrusz…… just 21 more days to see who shall be named the 30 DAP Champion of the Patch!   Thursday, June 6 View Page Crack Kills….R.I.P. 1109 McMillin DAP 15 @50lbs I was so excited I had all of my side vines terminated, and was almost done burying vines. All I had to do was bury the tertiaries growing forward to fill in the greenhouse. Now I have to reposition two side vines and will be pollinating a pumpkin on each one of them within 3 to 5 days on my 1109 and of course, burying vines for another three weeks on that plant. YUK I know it’s still early but in my mind, I was set up and ready to go Plus, it was kind of cool that both pumpkins were pollinated on the same day. I could compare them in size and shape. I was almost done burying vines, other than the tertiary’s growing forward. Now I got another 3 weeks of burying vines and repositioning vines and resetting up the scale. I was kinda enjoying being done with everything. On a brighter note, the 2245 Andrusz is still growing strong, it’s on DAP 15 @ 53 lbs today   Saturday, June 8 View Page Any help/ ideas welcomed, What causes blossom end splits? I can’t believe this …. 2245 88lbs DAP 17, and boom ?? I have no idea why both 1109 and 2246 blew blossoms out. If it was just one pumpkin I would probably say genetics. Tissue test prior to pollination was fine. They have 70 degrees nights and mid 80 days in greenhouse. Watering is consistent and All fertilizing has been checked with an EC meter to make sure its not to high. Any idea what is going on and causing this? Im completely clueless?   Saturday, June 8 View Page Cross section of the splits for better reference. 2245 on top 1109 on bottom Neither appear to be extremely thin in blossom end, they just split.   Saturday, June 8 View Page 2nd pollination attempt on 1109 side vine turned forward 1109 x 2245 4 lobe. Another pumpkin will be pollinated tomorrow on the 1109 on the other side vine which is turned forward also.   Sunday, June 9 View Page 3rd pollination 1109 x 2245 5 lobe on side vine turned forward   Monday, June 10 View Page 6/10/24 Kali pollinated her 1783 New x 2245 Andrusz 6/12/24 Anthesis applied.   Wednesday, June 12 View Page My 1783 New is smaller plant closer to greenhouse. Kali’s 1783 New is larger plant furthest from greenhouse. Photo is from 6/7/24. Hers is pollinated already and mine will be pollinated on 6/14 most likely. Also I will be pollinating 2 more pumpkin on the 2245 Andrusz between 6/14-6/17.   Friday, June 14 View Page 2nd pollination 2245 x 1109 5 lobe It will have another pollination ready tomorrow on the other side vine.   Saturday, June 15 View Page 3rd pollination left side vine 2245 x 1109 4 lobe   Saturday, June 15 View Page 4th pollination right side vine, second pumpkin wonky lobes 2245 x 1109 5 miss sized and shaped lobes   Sunday, June 16 View Page 1st pollination 1783 New x 1109 McMillin 6 lobe   Monday, June 17 View Page 5th pollination 2245 x self   Tuesday, June 18 View Page 6th pollination (3rd on right side vine) 2245 Andrusz x Self 4 lobe   Friday, June 21 View Page 2nd pollination, Kali’s 1783 1783 x 2245 5 lobe   Saturday, June 22 View Page My 1783 New porch pumpkin.   Saturday, June 22 View Page Kali’s much larger 1783 New. I have a feeling this ones gonna do big things.   Saturday, June 22 View Page I’m honestly scared to post this. I was going to wait till DAP 20 to make sure it doesn’t split before I posted any pictures but i’m to excited to wait. (My first 2 split on DAP 15&16) This is the 1109 McMillin DAP 14 @ 50lbs. I’ve never had a pumpkin close to this big. Id be lying if I said I wasn’t worried it will split after how my year started. Time to sit back and pray.   Friday, June 28 View Page 1109 McMillin DAP 20 148 lbs. I can’t get the camera to take a picture of the weight because the scale flickers from number to number. Any photographers out there that know a trick of how to take a photo of the moving numbers??   Wednesday, July 3 View Page 1109 McMillin DAP 25 260# actual scale weight. 13% Heavy to Chart It’s my belief that this pumpkin will be 13% heavy to chart at DAP 100, and even heavier if it grows more than 100 DAP. Here’s why: The first year I grew on a scale my DAP 25 was 16% heavy to chart. After DAP 25 it went down and did not get to 16% heavy again until DAP 100. DAP 25 16% DAP 30 9% DAP 40 7% DAP 50 0% DAP 60 10% DAP 70 10% DAP 90 14% DAP 100 16% HEAVY TO CHART One thing I found very interesting was that at DAP 25 the percentage heavy to chart was the same as the final percentage heavy to chart at DAP 100. So I am monitoring the DAP 25 OTT weights vs the Actual weight on the scales to try and replicate this. I think it would be really cool if you would be able to tell by your DAP 25 percentage heavy to chart what you end results for percentage heavy would be.   Wednesday, July 3 View Page Left side is my 1783 New porch pumpkin Right side is my daughter’s 1783 New, I have a really good feeling about this one. Both pumpkins should be that fire red color, but only time will tell.   Thursday, July 4 View Page 2245 Andrusz DAP 20 148# +3% Heavy to chart This is the exact same weight as my 1109 was on DAP 20, which one will be the President, I mean the biggest in the end….. Happy 4th of July!!   Saturday, July 6 View Page 1783 New DAP 25 241#   Saturday, July 6 View Page 1783 New. a.k.a. the Porch Pumpkin DAP 20 127 lbs. This is my first 6 lobe pumpkin, It appears to have a great shape. In hindsight I probably should’ve entered this one in the 150sqft challenge since it’s growing in a 10’ x 15’ area, O well at least I don’t have to worry about staying inside the borders.   Monday, July 8 View Page 1109 McMillin DAP 30 405lbs scale weight OTT 249” = 356lbs +14% Heavy to Chart This is my 1109 that started out like it was going to be 600+ lbs on dap 30, it has never gained more then 27 lb a night and isn’t s large as I thought it was be? Today is DAP 30 it was 405lbs. Last night the weight gains finally went up and It did gain 35 lbs over night, so hopefully it picks up. It is also 14% heavy to chart, so maybe that has something to do with it’s slow start.   Tuesday, July 9 View Page 2245 Andrusz DAP 25 275lbs OTT 224” 259lbs 6.5% Heavy to Chart   Thursday, July 11 View Page Kali’s 1783 DAP 30 442lbs   Sunday, July 14 View Page 2245 Andrusz DAP 30 399 lbs. +6 % Heavy yo Chart   Tuesday, July 16 View Page 1783 New#2 (a.k.a porch pumpkin) DAP 30 120 80 81 = 281” 512lbs. This just blew my expectations away for a porch pumpkin! It was originally allotted approximately 150 sqft. Plant has officially been let grow now because of how big the pumpkin is getting. It’s currently about 300sqft. It can only get to approximately 450-500sqft in the space available, but I'm officially letting it get to that size. Both my 1783 new plants are blowing away my expectations! I will be planting that seed next year in the best spot in my greenhouse.   Thursday, July 18 View Page Kinda did a little 2024 Patch Tour video if anyone is interested, here a YouTube link to the video. YouTube   Sunday, July 21 View Page DAP 40 Kali’s Pumpkin 1783 New x 2245 Andrusz It’s by far the biggest DAP 40 to ever come out of our patch, hopefully She can say the same on DAP 50,60,70,etc……… We had 3 colder night in the mid 50’s, I was concerned the large weight gains would go down and they did, but only by 3 lbs. Now the night time temperature is up and hopefully it will continue these large gains for awhile… fingers crossed   Wednesday, July 24 View Page 2245 Andrusz DAP 40 7/24/2024   Friday, July 26 View Page My 1783 New is 3 inches less in OTT than my daughters was on DAP 40…… too close to call, it’s gonna come down to % heavy at the end of the year……   Monday, August 5 View Page DAP 50 My 1783 (aka porch pumpkin) 165 + 106 + 109 = 379” 1222 lbs. I’m so impressed with this 1783 New pumpkin it started out with a 150’ plant which I decided to let grow out. It has just now completely filled in all available dirt and is only a 588sqft plant. It is 500lb smaller than my daughters 1783 was on DAP 50, but that is to be expected because her plant is approximately 2400sqft.   Tuesday, August 13 View Page 2245 Andrusz is an absolutely beautiful looking pumpkin. I really loved this seed, I feel it had a chance to be the biggest pumpkin in the patch, but unfortunately it wasn’t. I originally had a pumpkin pollinated on the main vine that was the fastest growing pumpkin in the patch in the beginning which had a blossom end split. By the time I had rearranged the side vines and pollinated another pumpkin. The plant was 30+ days older than it should be when you first pollinate a pumpkin, so unfortunately the plant was just worn out by this point and didn’t have enough left to push the second pumpkin to its fullest potential, but it’s definitely a looker!? 2245 Andrusz DAP 60 924lbs 150+95+96=341” OTT 908lbs +2%Heavy Facebook link to a 360 degree video of the 2245 Andrusz. https://www.facebook.com/share/v/PZMEdzfVFHCbwGQZ/?mibextid=WC7FNe   Friday, August 23 View Page 2245 Andrusz DAP 70 156+99+98=353” OTT 1002# Scale 1013#   Tuesday, August 27 View Page July 31st Kali’s 1783 New DAP 50 184+104+111=401” 1421lbs   Tuesday, August 27 View Page August 10th Kali’s 1783 New DAP 60 201+111+123=435” 1748lbs   Tuesday, August 27 View Page August 20 Kali’s Pumpkin Dap 70 209+127+116=452” 1918# OTT 1868# Scale   Tuesday, August 27 View Page Today was a proud Dad day for me. At only 76 DAP my daughter took her pumpkin to our local fair and weighed in at 1951lbs. Great job Kali, I love you and am very proud of you for sticking the whole season out and for breaking (Actually crushing) my PB! YouTube   Wednesday, August 28 View Page My 1783 completely quit growing on DAP 52 at 1305lbs. It had some stem rot issues that I didn’t take care of quickly enough. I left it on the vine hoping to keep it alive for a weigh off, but the stem completely fell off today so I pulled it and will harvest the seeds this week.   Saturday, September 7 View Page I added 16 tons concrete sand evenly to the outside patch then tilled it into my clay soil. I will then added 5 yards leaf compost 2 yards mushroom compost and planted Kodiak Mustard In about 6 weeks After I till the mustard in, I will do another soil sample. Add more of what is needed than plant annual rye or cereal rye (I haven’t decided yet) This is the outside patch one of the 1783’s will be grown in next year I will do the same thing to the greenhouse in two weeks when I pull the other two pumpkins.   Tuesday, October 8 View Page I have fell behind on diary updates this year so here’s a look at what happened with my 1783 New a.k.a. the porch pumpkin It ended up at 1305 pounds. It was pollinated by my 1109 which turned out fire red in color and 21% heavy to chart. I cut it in half to get a good look at the thickness of the pumpkin, then my daughters began to beg me to put it in the lake so they could float on it. I didn’t think it would float because it was cut in half, not hollowed out, but they were persistent and of course I gave in…. To my surprise, it actually floated and they paddled around the lake for hours till dark. It was one of the greatest days of my life to see their little smiles.