Vine Growth Happens!

Good afternoon, Growers!

Here are a few pictures from this afternoon of the vine. So far, so good. The primary/main vine is a little over 2.0' long. That said, something has been snacking on a couple of the leaves...

The 2008 World Tour Finale: Fullerton Arboretum!

Good evening, Growers!

The finale to the 2008 giant pumpkin growing workshop season was this afternoon, at the Fullerton Arboretum. Under a very sunny and warm area near the bleachers, 30 new growers, with a show of force of a few veterans, listened and questioned me for a little more than an hour. It's been a couple of years since my last workshop at Fullerton Arboretum, so it was very nice to be back. Ron Sallinger and his girlfriend were kind enough to drop by. Ron's one of the Pumpkinmania staff and a grower who's just finishing up his RN degree. It was a nice surprise to see them both. The giant pumpkin plant pictured above is being grown at the arboretum by Chris Barnhill. So far, so good!

Thank you very much again to everyone who attended and I hope your seedlings and seeds yield you some very large giant pumpkins!

Good luck!

An Excellent Morning at Orange County Farm Supply!

Good evening, Growers!

Yesterday morning was the annual giant pumpkin growing workshop at Orange County Farm Supply. As always, there was a large and enthusiastic group of past, present, and future giant pumpkin growers. We were even joined by Gisele Schoniger and Toby LeBron of Kellogg Garden Products who were most generous in adding to the door prize drawing pool by giving away some half-gallon bags of potting soil. If you look closely at the top picture, you can see the giant pumpkin seedlings that found new patches and gardens to eventually dominate and cover in a few weeks. One of yesterday's giant pumpkin seedling winners was Curtis Hayes of the South Coast Plumeria Society and the California Gourd Society, and a veteran grower.

Chris Roy and Ron Goff of Orange County Farm Supply will be growing again this year, so watch out!

Many thanks to all attendees for their support, enthusiasm and persistence.

Good luck!

Kim in Pasadena's Secret Fertilizer

Good morning, Stuart!

After losing both pumpkin vines early in the season last year, we're ready for another try. Getting both an early and a late start to the season this year. Early because we have a volunteer that sprouted out of the compost bin (though I'm not sure what type of pumpkin it is). Hopes are high as the compost is enhanced by the manure of our backyard chickens. I witnessed a bumble bee pollinating the flowers last weekend - does bumble bee pollination = bigger pumpkin . . . ? I'm kidding, but I'd like to think the logic works that way. A late start because on the evening of the May full moon we didn't have a seedling to transplant, but I did start 4 seeds that we brought home from your class at the Huntington last year. Unfortunately, I had to start them in 3" peat pots. Not ideal, but it was all I had on hand. Attached are some photos.

Hope to catch your class at the arboretum on Sunday!

Kim

Thank you very much for your update and pictures, Kim! Persistence is the key to success! Nice looking baby giant pumpkins! Plus, it looks like you're set for fertilizer!

See you Sunday!

Stuart

Companion Planting

Good afternoon, Pumpkinistas,

I thought you might be curious to see how my plants are doing. Here they are, on the afternoon, of June 6th. In order to make watering the radishes easier, I planted the seeds near the soaker hose. Since I'll only need 4-5 radishes, I look forward to eating the rest when they're ready to pick in 10-20 days.

So far, so good!

Container Growing with Charleen in Carlsbad!

Hi Stuart,

My name is Charleen and I attended your seminar at Cedros Gardens, in Solana Beach, CA. in April. I live in Carlsbad, CA. I went home and planted the seedling in mid-May. I elevated the planting by using a 45 gallon, plastic trashcan with the bottom cut out and placed upside down. Prior to this, I dug a hole about 3' deep, and I filled it with a combination of sand, mulch and planting mix. I used the same mix to fill the trashcan. I then ran a sprinkler line to the top of the trashcan and planted the seedling. The attached photo shows the progress and growth. I'm having a blast watching it grow "DAILY" ! Please see attached photo and check-out the method for "shade".

Charleen

Thanks very much Charleen! I hope you grow a monster!

Stuart

Alex in Montebello: Safe and Sound!

Good evening, Growers!

First my apologies to Alex in Montebello for not getting these images on the website sooner. The e-mail forwarding service that I have from Cornell University sometimes forwards messages and images, and sometimes doesn't. These images were sent to me by Alex in Montebello May 21st, but I didn't see them until tonight...

As you can see, Alex went ahead and punched a hole in his patio in order to have sufficient space to grow. That, dear readers and growers, is dedication! Alex also used some shade cloth to cover his seedlings to protect them from the wind. As soon as I have some updated images, I'll be posting them.

Finally, please make a note of an alternative e-mail address for me: interpac007@yahoo.com Your images and messages should be able to get through without any problems.

Have a great evening!

Stuart

Jen at Blue Hills Nursery: Season One

Good evening, Growers!

Jennifer Van Diest, the manager at Blue Hills Nursery www.bluehills.com in Whittier, has found the perfect spot for her first foray at giant pumpkin cultivation near the back of the store, across the street from the elementary school next door. She sent me these pictures of her obvious progress together with a question on how to address insect pests. I suggested a more natural/organic approach, in the form of a companion planting of radishes. I am trying this method this year, and have germinated some "National" radishes to circle my mound. According to the National Gardening Association, radishes have a repellent effect on insect pests. We shall see... The research I did said to plant 4-5 radish plants in the area that you want protected, and to leave them in the ground for the duration of the season. I sowed plenty of radish seeds so I'll have plenty to eat in addition to the 4-5 guard radishes. I'll post pictures of The Great Wall of Radishes soon.

Have a great evening, and please keep those progress reports and pictures coming!

Joan in Altadena: An Impressive Start!

Good evening, Growers!

Here are some images from Joan in Altadena. She's off to a great season, isn't she? Her vine looks great, and is already fruiting! I believe she started her seeds pretty early in order to have these kind of results. (Or, I hope she did. If not, we are all very behind.)

Thanks, Joan, and keep them coming!

Stuart

John aka Farmer John: A Season of Change

Stuart,

How are things going?

If you go to the link below you will see how this year's patch is progressing.We have made a lot of changes this year. The main improvement was to replace the 30 year old "railroad tie" planters with the concrete block versions. We think this will help with the bug situation. As you can see we have decided to try two mounds this year as well as putting a couple of seedlings in last year's mound. I also thought you might like the way I converted my sprinkler heads to suit my pumpkin watering needs. It was the most logical way to use the timers as well as prevent the overhead watering that the normal sprinkler action would have done. We are using 4 different kinds of seeds this year and had a 100% germination rate! As you can see I found a place (Atwood sales in Placentia) to buy bulk manure. It was extremely cost effective. That truck load was only about $35.

Good luck and we'll see you soon, Farmer John

http://photobucket.com/Farmer_John

Matt in Moreno Valley's seedlings

Good evening, Growers!

These images are from Alex in Montebello's nephew, Matt in Moreno Valley. It looks like he's off to an excellent start!

If you have some images of your seedlings or vine(s), please send them to me and you'll see them here.

Have a great evening,

Stuart

Soaker Hose and Timer Installation 101

Hello, Pumpkinistas!

I've had a few questions about installing a simple automatic watering system. (Since my seedlings are still pretty small, I've been hand-watering using a watering can.) So, I thought I'd take advantage of the cool weather to install my watering system this morning.

I used a soaker hose wound around the mound, connected to a standard garden hose that's connected to a 4, AA-battery-operated/powered watering timer. (Since the timer uses very little electricity, one set of 4, AA batteries easily last the season.) To hold the soaker hose in place, I bent 3, 8"-10" lengths of clothes hanger wire into U-shapes, and pushed them over the soaker hose, and into the mound where necessary. After the hoses and timer were tightly connected, I placed a mulch over the mound and soaker hose to keep water evaporation to a minimum, the weeds down, and to moderate the soil temperature.

From start to finish, it took about 20 minutes. Of course, the first time I installed the system, it took about one hour. Just make sure that you have the soaker hose, garden hose, timer, and batteries before you start the installation. If you'll need to use the hose bib for another hose, don't forget a Y-hose splitter.

Once the seedlings are a few more days old, I'll water for 15 minutes/day at 6:00 a.m., and then increase it to 30 minutes/day, once the seedlings start vining or if the weather starts warming up.