Giant Pumpkin page

October 17, 2005 - Well we chopped them off. They came in at a rather light 135 lbs but I'm not sure how accurate our bathroom scale is for measuring big pumpkins! We had a great time this year and we have already mapped out our massive garden expansion for next years patch.

September 19, 2005 - Here are some pictures of the girls with their pumpkins. They got a kick out of sitting on them to get their picture taken.

September 18, 2005 - Finally got some more pics of the beasts. Everyone who came to Claire's Party got to see how big these things really are in person. The pictures don't do them justice at this point. I'll be chopping them off soon and will put the kids on top of them.

September 7, 2005 - I added a Community Section to the website late last night. It is a forum area for those interested to post comments and provide any tips you may like on growing giant pumpkins or on the world in general. Everyone is welcome to come and view but you need to register to post. Your Email will NOT be shared or distributed!

On the pumpkin front we are still going strong. The main two pumpkins have REALLY slowed down. I'm guessing they are around 175 pounds right now which isn't bad for no-name seeds and it being our first year. I have three other pumpkins growing now so they will be ready in time for Halloween. With any luck they will be well over 50 pounds. Two of them are around 35 now. I'll get some new pic's up ASAP.

August 24, 2005 - Well the pumpkins are going to get a survival test by flooding. I forgot the soaker hose was on yesterday and it ran until this evening. I wondered what the heck the running water was for! ;-) The main pumpkins are up on a hill so at least they are out of the water. We will just have to wait and see.

August 21, 2005 - We had another cucumber bug explosion right after a big rain this weekend. I hate these little suckers. I dusted with Sevin this morning and by this evening it was a death zone. The pumpkin is making a good comeback from dying off a bit due to heat the past few weeks. I had to chop off about 10 small pumpkins and do a lot of trimming back. The pumpkins are still growing albeit much more slowly now. One of them is perfectly smooth and orange but the other is an ugly scabby mess! I guess that one will be the ghoul for Halloween.

I'm already looking forward to next year. If anyone has any good seeds that they are willing to part with let me know! Thanks. Just shoot me and email.

August 16, 2005 - Well the pumpkins have been growing on their own despite my neglect from working and golfing over the weekend. I finally measured them again last week and they measured in at 155 and 162 pounds. The plant is really starting to die off at the main but the secondaries I buried are throwing off flowers all over the place. With the big pumpkins slowing down I'm going to let a few more pumpkins grow so we have a bunch for Halloween. Next year will be a different story since I learned a ton this year on what NOT to do. Here are some new pics.

July 25, 2005 - It has been really busy at work so I haven't had much time to update the site (sorry). Anyway the past week has seen several developments on the pumpkin front. First I had a spotted cucumber beetle infestation that I had to deal with. These little suckers were eating everything in site. One day there were none and the next there were 200+. Must have had some type of hatching event in the field out back?

It looks like I finally have them under control but there are carcasses all over the place. I'm just thankful the Sevin I put on the plant worked so well. Over the weekend I put shades on the pumpkins (stop laughing). It's almost 100 degrees here and these pumpkins are growing fast. It won't take many days of this heat to split them. Here are some updated pics. If I can get a break tomorrow night I'm going to get a new tape measure so we can see where the pumpkins stand.

July 19, 2005 - Shelly was a saint and helped me place peg board underneath the pumpkins. It worked out great but the boards are bowing around the pumpkins due to weight and it is screwing up my weighing estimates big time. I'll figure out a way to measure all the way to the ground but I know they are packing on the pounds because my 5 foot measuring tape can no longer measure the circumference of the biggest pumpkin. I've decided to just add pics below the entry to make it easier to see.

July 17, 2005 - Spent last night chopping out a bunch of vines so that the plant concentrates on the pumpkins. Measured them again this morning and they are up to 133" and 139" respectively. That maps out to 57.8 and 65.3 pounds estimated using the OTT Method. Several of you asked what this was so here is a link explaining how it works (pumpkin estimator explanation).

July 13, 2005 - - Alright I chopped off the 'baby' so we are down to Two. The one I lopped off officially weighed in at 24

pounds. The main pumpkin come out at 117.5 Inches using the OTT method. That estimates to 41.08 pounds. The

pumpkin on the second main came in at 113.5 Inches using the OTT method. That estimates to 37.34 pounds. They

July 08, 2005 - We are down to two 'finalists' in the pumpkin patch. I borrowed the neighbors tiller

and expanded the patch AGAIN. At the time of this posting the main pumpkin calculates at around 27 pounds

July 05, 2005 - Chopped off a bunch of sacrificial pumpkins and Claire painted them for us!

June 27, 2005 - We pollinated about 4 more pumpkins yesterday. I think three or four will take.

Feel Free to check out or family site as well. It is just getting updated but will be up and running complete soon.