Anyone Growing Your Own Pkins?

Do you have a special way to carve a pumpkin?
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NeverMore
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Re: Anyone Growing Your Own Pkins?

Post by NeverMore » Mon Jul 09, 2012 11:37 am


Hmmm... still not a lot of pollen on the 'Big Max' flowers. I don't know if that breed just doesn't produce much or if the insects are whisking it away. Would be funny if we end up with some mondo large squash. We already got one seriously orange one. I had two female flowers open up this morning and I got as much pollen on them as I could but it wasn't much. Don't know what I would do if only one of those pumpkins grow. What would I do with a 1000 pound pumpkin? I'm shooting for multiple pumpkins on that vine in the hopes of getting a few 300 pounders.

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Re: Anyone Growing Your Own Pkins?

Post by Pumpkin56 » Mon Jul 09, 2012 1:44 pm

If you end up with a half ton monster, call up Ray Villafane and have him carve it for you :wink:

http://laughingsquid.com/ray-villafane- ... o-zombies/

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Re: Anyone Growing Your Own Pkins?

Post by NeverMore » Mon Jul 30, 2012 4:44 pm



Sam says HI!

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Most of the original pumpkins on the trellis are orange. Don't expect to get another round of pumpkins on there since the vines aren't doing too well. Only two vines made it back down to the ground and re-rooted. One of those vines has a mostly full size pumpkin growing on it with another just started. If I do this again next year I'll make the trellis smaller so more vines get down the other side. I'm gonna try leaving the ripe pumpkins hanging as long as possible since it looks so darn cool. Plus I have nowhere to store them. I'm not really worried about pests and critters since they're off the ground. I'm having a lot of problems with the powdery mildew. Probably because everything is is so close together. I've been spraying the leaves but the mildew is coming back faster and faster.

We have a bunch of 'Sugar Pie' pumpkins growing on the other trellis, three of which are already ripening. My roommate is so excited to get started canning them. The 'Cinderella' vines are spreading well but no pumpkins yet. I'm having a problem with the vines on the ground in that the dog keeps breaking them. I think muttly is mad we took her yard away. I only have one 'Connecticut Field' and one 'Big Max' pumpkin growing. The Big Max is amazing! It's still growing and it's bigger than the one above. The vines are still spreading so I'm hoping to get at least one more.



Big Max last Wednesday...
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Big Max today (Monday)...
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Max is currently 16" in diameter. It's said that these pumpkins can grow 20" or more and weigh up to 100 pounds.[/size][/color]

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Re: Anyone Growing Your Own Pkins?

Post by Pumpkin56 » Mon Jul 30, 2012 5:48 pm

Thank you, Nevermore. You've made my afternoon with these pics 8)

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Re: Anyone Growing Your Own Pkins?

Post by witchy » Mon Jul 30, 2012 6:26 pm

The pumpkins are looking good!! Maybe next year I'll give it a try.
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Re: Anyone Growing Your Own Pkins?

Post by Demonic Duck » Fri Aug 03, 2012 4:15 pm

Awesome pumpkins Nevermore I have the furthest thing from a green thumb so no home grown pumpkins for me.

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Re: Anyone Growing Your Own Pkins?

Post by NeverMore » Fri Aug 03, 2012 5:35 pm


Well... it probably helps that we are now on our second sewage flood in a year so there's lots of fertilizer out there. I know... YUK! Actually, the yard didn't get much spillage. We're thinking that weeds growing in the yard and dying for so many years made the ground very fertile. That and the excellent job I did of running the irrigation.

Here's one of the zucchinis my roommate grew. The one in front is store bought.
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Re: Anyone Growing Your Own Pkins?

Post by NeverMore » Sat Aug 04, 2012 6:04 pm


Jadewik,

I'm wondering how your pumpkins are coming out. That heat has to be tough on them? Hope you're getting some good output.

I'm definitely learning a lot, mostly from my mistakes. Biggest thing I found out is that if you are growing on a trellis it helps to let the vine get back to the ground and re-root. That way the vine will keep growing as the leaves closer to the source die off.

I also learned that as soon as you see the powdery mildew, take care of it. I'm using the baking soda concoction. It seems to help but it's hard to keep on top of it. I think that is going a long way towards killing off my leaves?

I planted way too many vines too close together. They definitely need room to spread and breathe. Plus it's really hard to get in there to spray the mildewed leaves. I would have thought being on a trellis would have allowed air to get around the leaves but that doesn't seem to be the case. They got the mildew first, and now it's spreading everywhere. Even the sunflowers are getting it.

I'm still getting new pumpkins. One of the vines on the trellis re-rooted and is still producing. One of the 'Connecticut Field' vines on the ground was a little slow in developing and is now getting female flowers. My 'Cinderella' vines were the last I planted and are starting to produce. Only one giant pumpkin though. Really wanted two for each side of the walkway. I'm wondering if all the gnats we're getting is affecting the pollination? Every morning there are zillions of gnats in the flowers.


Here's my first 'Cinderella' pumpkin...

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Two more growing on the vine that re-rooted. The vine went back up the trellis and I noticed this morning that another pumpkin is developing up at the top. Production definitely seemed to go up once the vines thinned out. Three pumpkins on that one vine, so far.
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[/size][/color]

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Re: Anyone Growing Your Own Pkins?

Post by Demonic Duck » Wed Aug 15, 2012 4:50 pm

Nevermore you're pumpkins are coming along nicely hopefully they grow to the point you want them in time for the big day. Keep posting pictures!

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Re: Anyone Growing Your Own Pkins?

Post by NeverMore » Thu Aug 23, 2012 7:15 pm


Well... it looks like my pumpkins are done stewing. 2 months early! Still don't know where I'm gonna store them but I'm going out tomorrow and cutting them off the vines. I'm hoping I can prune the dead vines and get the ones that are still growing to supply me with some more pumpkins. I was really hoping to have a pretty good size pumpkin patch for our pumpkin carving party but the sun has not been very kind. At least I think that's what did in the vines? The powdery mildew surely didn't help.


Here's the main trellis with all those beautiful orange gourds hanging on it, along with a bunch of dead leaves. Dead, dead, deadski!

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We already plucked some of the sweet sugar pie pumpkins cuz the vines were getting pretty weak and I was afraid they'd fall. The bigger one in the front is a Jack-o-lantern brand pumpkin. Only one I got so far, though I'm still getting healthy leaves.
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Only ones that haven't turned orange yet are the cinderella pumpkins. Those are so cool looking! We're probably gonna spray paint those or some other fancy treatment. That's my roommate's job, I grew them.
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Re: Anyone Growing Your Own Pkins?

Post by Murfreesboro » Fri Aug 24, 2012 9:04 am

Your pumpkins are amazing, Nevermore! I hope they store well for you.

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Re: Anyone Growing Your Own Pkins?

Post by Tee » Fri Aug 24, 2012 3:21 pm

Wow, Nevermore! I'm totally in awe of your punkins! They're beautimus!

I've been trying to grow mine in containers and I actually have 3 that might make it this year. But we've had so many casualties =/ About 15 baby punkins got to about the size of golf balls, then turned yellow and squishy and fell off the vines. From the research I've been able to do, we've narrowed it down to either a calcium deficiency or they weren't pollinated. Do you have any ideas on that?

The powdery mildew hit here day before yesterday. Last year, I did the milk/water routine. But I was out there spraying every single day and, after about three weeks, the mildew finally outran me and I lost all my plants. This year I'm going to try an organic friendly fungicide. I hope it works. I'm just north of Seattle, so we get just about any kind of mildew there is =P
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Re: Anyone Growing Your Own Pkins?

Post by NeverMore » Fri Aug 24, 2012 7:55 pm


Yeah, I had quite a few baby pumpkins fall off, a few bigger ones. It looks like the vine will shed any pumpkins it can't sustain. Could be because not enough water or nutrients? I pretty much followed the feeding schedule on this page. I really expected more so I still have some things to figure out.

The unusual humidity we got this year hurt. The homemade fungicide I linked to in an earlier post worked very well. The sooner you catch the fungus the better. Don't forget to look on the underside of the leaves. I did which is why it almost got out of control and I ended up having to spray every few days. They're pretty bad now cuz I just haven't had time to get out there last few weeks.

I'm currently clearing room in my living room, which I'm using just for storage. It's the only place with enough space that will be cool enough for the pumpkins. I'll just have to put off my remodeling for a few more months.

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Re: Anyone Growing Your Own Pkins?

Post by witchy » Sat Aug 25, 2012 2:19 pm

You did an awesome job on your pumpkins, NeverMore. I can't ever seem to get mine to grow, I guess I need to water them!!! :lol: :wink:
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Re: Anyone Growing Your Own Pkins?

Post by Tee » Sat Aug 25, 2012 3:43 pm

Thanks for the link, Nevermore! I'll definitely read up on your homemade mildew fighter. =)
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