Ed in Carlsbad: First pumpkin of the season!

Good afternoon, Growers!

Ed in Carlsbad filed the following update on his season last night:

"Stuart,

Hard to believe considering the cool weather we have had so far this season in Carlsbad, but it looks like my vigorous Breznick is already producing its' first pumpkin...and I haven't even started any fertilizing yet! I had a profusion of male flowers early on however when I checked the plant today, it appears that I already have a small pumpkin beginning to grow. Don't know yet if it will survive but if it does, I may well be on to something "big". Isn't July 4th the typical date for seeing the "baby" pumpkins - am I getting close to a full month head start - I hope so!

Ed in Carlsbad"

Thank you very much for your update, Ed!

Yes, July 4th is when many of the competitive giant pumpkin growers like fruit to set. This is because many of the competitions are scheduled for the first week of October. For those growers wanting giant pumpkins for Halloween, seeing female flowers and fruit setting in mid-late July is perfectly acceptable. In fact, the challenge of early fruit set is making sure that vines and pumpkins continues growing through late September to early October...