# 2011 Pumpkin Patch Thread



## Shadowbat (Sep 27, 2009)

Its almost that time again when the pumpkins get planted. Last year was my first year, there were ups and downs, as some of you may remember, but I will not be detered. I ended up with 5 pumpkins last year so it wasnt a failure. lol

Yesterday I went out and tilled 2 sides of the patch. Im only doing 2 mounds this year, 2 sprouts for each mound. The center is going to be covered and mulched, which is why I didnt till it. Ill be putting the scarecrow in there along with my owl and windchimes. 













Anyone else can post their progress too, just like last year. 

So whos in?


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## obsessedjack (Sep 3, 2010)

Bout to plant my seeds. I don't think I planted them early enough last year so I didn't get any pumpkins. I'm also not going to plant as many also. Hopefully it will be better this year.


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## Frankie's Girl (Aug 27, 2007)

I have two volunteer vines right next to my back patio. We carved pumpkins last year out on the patio, and some seeds must have landed in the dirt. I have no idea if they'll make it in our heat, but I'm going to try to keep up with the watering and see where that goes. 

They are only about 3-4 inches tall, but they both have leaves already.


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## TrickRTreater (Mar 24, 2011)

Holy crap.

I thought *I* was the only one who wanted to plant my own pumpkins for Halloween!

*tears up* I...I love you guys.


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## bl00d (Aug 26, 2010)

Got 14 last year and it was my first time doing it, I did lose alot from rats getting in there grrr

going to turn over my dirt and plant memorial day weekend. Osmocote is a awesome product

what is the owl for?


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## Jonathan (Oct 22, 2008)

MY seeds have been planted actually. Each year I have taken old pumpkins w/ the seeds and I smash them about in the planting area I have for my patch. 

Over the last 3 seasons now I have had a good turnout of pumpkins. Not huge but good enough for some fun.

Looking forward to seeing everyone's patch at it develops.


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## Sublime Nightmare (Aug 2, 2009)

I've tilled up my patch, but am waiting impatiently to plant the seeds. Last year, I planted them too early (in May) and the pumpkins were rotting by October.  I saved seeds from last year's pumpkin carvings and bought some giant pumpkin & Luminara seeds so we can have white pumpkins, too. I host a Halloeen party for my kids and their friends every year and like to supply pumpkins for carving. Any other Virginia pumpkin gardeners?


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## jaybird1043 (Mar 7, 2011)

I planted my seeds in mid to late April and already have vines that are 4ft long. Thinking about planting some more seeds the end of the month just in case the other pumpkins are ready too soon. I live in Florida so I'm worried about the heat factor, but I water twice a day.


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## Shadowbat (Sep 27, 2009)

bl00d said:


> what is the owl for?



Just another deterent, like the scarecrow. Every morning Id go out and put the owl in a different location in the patch.


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## Xane (Oct 13, 2010)

jaybird1043 said:


> I planted my seeds in mid to late April and already have vines that are 4ft long. Thinking about planting some more seeds the end of the month just in case the other pumpkins are ready too soon. I live in Florida so I'm worried about the heat factor, but I water twice a day.


Easy on the watering. Keep it _too_ wet and you're going to have mold problems. You're better off with a soaker hose so you don't get the vine or fruit wet, just the ground. It can be difficult to keep fungus away from them. They're actually starting to breed hardier, more heat resistant pumpkins to start a small farming industry down here since they're always so expensive, half of the cost is shipping from up north. My jack-o-lanterns all collapsed in 3 days from mold last year, I've never seen them die _that_ quickly before. I should bleach them or something this year.


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## Guest (May 12, 2011)

I have 3 Atlantic Giant Plants, 3 Jack O Plant and 3 Casper Plants all going strong in the patch this year. I am excited to see all of your pumpkins going this year.


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## UnOrthodOx (Apr 24, 2007)

I'm debating whether to purposely plant or not. The overall plan was to start next year, but don't know if I can wait. We carved over 60 pumpkins last year, and spread out all the guts in the huge sheet composting we're using to create that bed for next year. If any volunteer I will water them. 

The store across the street has cute little starters for $1....so hard to resist...

(Eventually want to be able to grow my own corn, grass, and pumpkins for halloween. Gonna take at least one more year of sheet composting to get a large enough garden, however. The grass is coming along if all the starts I made last year take off this year. )

I was donated a massive patch, however. One of the farms I got corn from is retiring, and said they'd plant pumpkins for me this year and water, we just have to go weed and pick. Will have to get pics once it starts going. Good lessons for the boys.


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## Terra (Sep 23, 2007)

Because I planted so late last year, wanted to get a head start. So, here's how it's looking as of today.


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## bl00d (Aug 26, 2010)

Shadowbat said:


> Just another deterent, like the scarecrow. Every morning Id go out and put the owl in a different location in the patch.


Does it scare off rats?


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## bl00d (Aug 26, 2010)

Ive been holding off planting the weather here has been very wet and cold but, I did start on the corn patch.


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## TrickRTreater (Mar 24, 2011)

I'm not sure if this works on rats, but it's supposed to work on deer and other forest animals.

Pantyhose full of human hair around your patch. Either that and/or some kind of urine on the ground around the patch.

That's supposed to keep quite a few things away.


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## DJ Lantz (Apr 2, 2010)

I will be planting in the first week of June. I lost over half of my crop due to rot last year. This year I plan on setting up a drip line and putting hay under the pumpkins to help absorb any moisture.


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## Shadowbat (Sep 27, 2009)

bl00d said:


> Ive been holding off planting the weather here has been very wet and cold but, I did start on the corn patch.



Wait until after there is no longer any threat of frost. Usual rule of thumb around here is after Memorial Day. 






bl00d said:


> Does it scare off rats?


LOL. Not sure. My critters consist of rabbits, squirrels, birds, and chipmunks.


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## EvilMel (Dec 6, 2007)

Today is the day that I am planting my seeds! I never get any pumpkins though because the squash vine borers kill the vines but I've waited 3 years since having a garden and when I tilled I didn't see any insect larvae so I'm hoping this year might be different.



Xane said:


> I should bleach them or something this year.


People say that soaking them in a bucket with a dilute bleach solution when you're not displaying them sometimes helps them last longer by staying hydrated AND cutting down on mold.



UnOrthodOx said:


> I'm debating whether to purposely plant or not. The overall plan was to start next year, but don't know if I can wait. We carved over 60 pumpkins last year.
> 
> I was donated a massive patch, however. One of the farms I got corn from is retiring, and said they'd plant pumpkins for me this year and water, we just have to go weed and pick. Will have to get pics once it starts going. Good lessons for the boys.


Holy crap! That's awesome...the 60 pumpkins thing and the getting to have your own amazing pumpkin patch thing. Your avatar rules by the way.


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## TrickRTreater (Mar 24, 2011)

I cut a pumpkin last year I think and I used a plain cleaner with bleach spray, just sprayed it straight on inside all the cut areas of the JoL.

There were no bugs, no mold, but there were several cracks inside it. Nothing major, but enough to be noticeable if you looked in there.

It lasted quite a long time!


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## EvilMel (Dec 6, 2007)

There used to be this really cool stuff from Pumpkin Masters (I think) that was called something like Pumpkin Saver. It was a spray that you put on the inside and edges of the pumpkin and it made them last WAY longer than normal. It was AWESOME but I saw it for like 1-2 years and then I never saw it again. For some reason, I think it might have been flammable. hah hah.


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## TrickRTreater (Mar 24, 2011)

EvilMel said:


> There used to be this really cool stuff from Pumpkin Masters (I think) that was called something like Pumpkin Saver. It was a spray that you put on the inside and edges of the pumpkin and it made them last WAY longer than normal. It was AWESOME but I saw it for like 1-2 years and then I never saw it again. For some reason, I think it might have been flammable. hah hah.



Which I guess is why there are now battery powered LED lights for pumpkins that "behave and flicker just like a real candle!" but it's just not the same.

If I ever get the amount of Funkins I want for everlasting props, I'll totally use the LED candlelight pucks, because Funkins are DEFINITELY flammable.

But until then, it's candles for me!


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## bl00d (Aug 26, 2010)

I have tried using coyote urine, and predator urine and my own no such luck. only thing that has been killing a few off is the bait box. but there are a few rats that are just too big! the other night i saw one the size of a chiahuaha dog. So Ive been going out late at night w/ the bb gun to pick a few off no such luck yet.


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## joossa (Sep 4, 2010)

Very, very nice to see others growing for this year!

This is my first attempt at growing pumpkins. So I'm going all out with the fall _Cucurbita_ and decided to plant Jack-O-Lantern pumpkins, medium typical sugar pumpkins, various winter squash, and tons of decorative gourds.












Here are some of the seed. I soak them in warm water for 48 hours before sowing directly int he ground:











It all starts here:











Germination 8 days after direct sow in the ground:











Now, I discovered the mockingbirds in these parts are bullies and think it's funny to peck and tear at the seedlings' cotyledons, leaving damaged plants. However, the seedlings are very resilient and came back strong after the initial attack:





























Not wanting to risk another attack from the mockingbirds, I built temporary wire cages to keep them out of each "pumpkin hill" until the seedlings get big enough:




















Good luck to all and keep posting pictures! I want to see your progress!


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## adam (Aug 1, 2008)

I tried doing it one year, it was hard. I may try again, but I have a question.

I heard that a great way to get LARGE pumpkin is to only let one vine per pumpkin grow? That you can trim off the start of the other pumpkins so that way the nutrients focus on one pumpkin at a time? I read that online somewhere. My pumpkins came out a bit small.


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## obsessedjack (Sep 3, 2010)

Last year I had a ton of vines but once the female part got fertilized and started growing it would just fall off the vine and die. It was really sad. I didn't get any last year that made it.


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## TK421 (Mar 27, 2009)

I've got my starts planted and I see three surviving starts. They haven't really groen much, but I'm hoping they can take off.


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## Shadowbat (Sep 27, 2009)

adam said:


> I tried doing it one year, it was hard. I may try again, but I have a question.
> 
> I heard that a great way to get LARGE pumpkin is to only let one vine per pumpkin grow? That you can trim off the start of the other pumpkins so that way the nutrients focus on one pumpkin at a time? I read that online somewhere. My pumpkins came out a bit small.



Pretty much. Also dont have alot growing in a condensed area. That was my problem, along with all the heat and humidity. Not enough water and nutrients to sustain.


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## joossa (Sep 4, 2010)

adam said:


> I heard that a great way to get LARGE pumpkin is to only let one vine per pumpkin grow? That you can trim off the start of the other pumpkins so that way the nutrients focus on one pumpkin at a time? I read that online somewhere. My pumpkins came out a bit small.



Yes, professionals usually leave one fruit per vine. Sometimes they leave two per vine in case one gets compromised. I have also read that after flowering and fertilization, fertilizers high in phosphorous and potassium should be used while fertilizers low in nitrogen should be avoided.


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## Calloween (Mar 8, 2009)

The rabbits keep eating my pumkin plants I am down to 11 plants in my garden now.


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## Halloweeeiner (Sep 20, 2007)

Glad I found this thread! Just in time!! You guys inspire me to go out and buy some seeds!! Can't wait to start growing


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## bl00d (Aug 26, 2010)

Just finished tilling the patch by hand and planting. Let the patch begin!


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## SweetnScary (Apr 4, 2011)

Instead of using just water for your pumpkins, "water" them with milk. Vine plants love it! (works for cucumbers and such too)


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## halloween71 (Apr 22, 2007)

I am thinking of growing some.I wish I would have saved the seeds from the 30 that were carved at my party. I will have to remember to do that this year.


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## zacharybinx (Apr 28, 2009)

I started mine in a jiffy greenhouse, got them in the ground last weekend, they seem to be doing okay:









Also Tomatoes:


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## Shadowbat (Sep 27, 2009)

Tell you guys what, unless this Ohio rain gives way Ill need to plant mine on the Ark! LOL


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## Julianne (Jun 16, 2009)

Cool! I am so glad I found this thread.  My hubby and I grow giant pumpkins as well as the smaller jack o lantern type. After hauling three truckloads of manure this past weekend we put our first giant pumpkin plant in the ground just the other day. been feeding with Miracle- Gro and also something else the giants love is called Fish Emulsion. It stinks awful but our plants and pumpkins seem to really enjoy it! With any luck I hope to beat last years weight of 377 pounds. 
Will post some pics soon!


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## TK421 (Mar 27, 2009)

I just found another start! Now I just need them to grow beyond the two or three little leaves stage.


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## joossa (Sep 4, 2010)

Good luck to all of you! The weather is getting warmer and things are starting to get on a roll here.



Julianne said:


> been feeding with Miracle- Gro and also something else the giants love is called Fish Emulsion. It stinks awful but our plants and pumpkins seem to really enjoy it!


Quick question, do you normally apply the fish emulsion to the foliage or directly to the ground? Thanks!


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## Julianne (Jun 16, 2009)

We have heard that the giant pumpkins take in alot from their leaves so we do alot of foliar feeding and we also put in directly on the ground. Where I live we get very strong winds so as our vines grow long we keep them covered with dirt so the winds don't twist and break them. At every leaf node the vines will shoot out roots ( both top and bottom of the vine) and when I feed with the fish emulsion I water along this dirt covered vine so those roots will eat it right up! Hope I've made sense and answered your question, any other questions you might have I'll try and answer them the best I can! Happy Growing!


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## joossa (Sep 4, 2010)

Julianne said:


> We have heard that the giant pumpkins take in alot from their leaves so we do alot of foliar feeding and we also put in directly on the ground. Where I live we get very strong winds so as our vines grow long we keep them covered with dirt so the winds don't twist and break them. At every leaf node the vines will shoot out roots ( both top and bottom of the vine) and when I feed with the fish emulsion I water along this dirt covered vine so those roots will eat it right up! Hope I've made sense and answered your question, any other questions you might have I'll try and answer them the best I can! Happy Growing!


Wow.... very helpful. Thanks for elaborating! Good luck!


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## NOWHINING (Jul 25, 2009)

if it stop raining here I might start planting my seeds. BUT IT WONT STOP RAINING!!!
PLUS.... what do i do? this will be my first attempt... HELP?!


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## joossa (Sep 4, 2010)

Read as much as you can starting now. 

Here is great site: http://www.pumpkinnook.com/growing.htm
They are focused heavily on growing giant pumpkins and touch on a lot of detail. For me, it was overwhelming, but try to absorb as much info as possible, learn the basics, and you'll do fine.


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## NOWHINING (Jul 25, 2009)

thanks for the infor.... looking forwarding to see if I have any green thumb which I KNOW I dont. LOL!


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## theworstwitch (Aug 14, 2006)

We have had them in the past, but they can't take too much moisture so we might try them on boards or hay this year. Also, feed them Blood Meal for nitrogen. We are going to try a 3 Sisters mound this time, the beans add nitrogen to the soil.


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## Julianne (Jun 16, 2009)

Perhaps alot of y'all may already know of it but another great site for giant pumpkin growing is www.Bigpumpkins.com
We go there quite frequently to browse the grower diaries, you can definitely find alot of the "heavy hitters" on that website. Enjoy!


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## Frankie's Girl (Aug 27, 2007)

I have 4 volunteer vines as of today. I think I'm going to dig out a small patch near where they are now and try to transplant two of them so they are more evenly spaced. Two of them came up right next to the biggest one and I figured that is not the ideal placement! One has 5 leaves (not counting the seed leaves) and the other three plants have 1 leaf each.

I'm going to add in compost and some potting soil mix, till up a small area, carefully transplant and then top with mulch - is this okay? I'll have to look into getting fertilizer for them, but I wanted to make sure that getting them set up better was not going to automatically kill them all.

Too bad I have no idea what type of pumpkin it is other than a generic JoL variety.


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## NOWHINING (Jul 25, 2009)

I swear every time I start to read the updates trying to keep in mind what I need to do when I start to plan this, I go blank..... INFORMATION OVERLOAD!


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## creepyhomemaker (May 10, 2008)

I have some voluntary pumpkin vines growing also and they are doing better than the ones I purposefully planted and lovingly tended last year.


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## MikesTooLz (Jul 30, 2007)

I just planted some two weeks ago and they are about 3 or 4 inches will leaves already. I planted some Jack-0-lantern seeds and also some Big Max seeds (huge pumpkins).

However I live in florida so I dont know how it will go, I dont know if they will grow good in florida but the packaging had a time period for florida so I said what the heck ill give it a shot.

I was reading that the vines can get as long as 30 feet or more. Thats super long and I'm not so sure that I have the space if they get that long. also on the package it says that I should only leave one pumpkin on each vine in order to allow the pumpkind to get large. Do all of you pick off pumpkins on the vines and allow only one or two to grow? or do you just let it grow as many as it wants?


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## Shadowbat (Sep 27, 2009)

You can prune your vine to control the length. Also I wouldnt alllow more than 2 pumpkins to grow per vine.


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## ter_ran (Jan 14, 2006)

*I may give this a try this year for the heck of it! Is this a good time to start planting though? I am in an area that's very hot during the summer. It also blows wind gust like crazy too... I don't know if that is a factor either... I will give it an effort though! *


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## kittyvibe (Oct 27, 2008)

MikesTooLz said:


> I just planted some two weeks ago and they are about 3 or 4 inches will leaves already. I planted some Jack-0-lantern seeds and also some Big Max seeds (huge pumpkins).
> 
> However I live in florida so I dont know how it will go, I dont know if they will grow good in florida but the packaging had a time period for florida so I said what the heck ill give it a shot.
> 
> I was reading that the vines can get as long as 30 feet or more. Thats super long and I'm not so sure that I have the space if they get that long. also on the package it says that I should only leave one pumpkin on each vine in order to allow the pumpkind to get large. Do all of you pick off pumpkins on the vines and allow only one or two to grow? or do you just let it grow as many as it wants?


I live around Tampa, FL and planted pumpkins last year. I got some nice shoots going but not anything to mate yet. I worked it every morning doing bug spray and pulling weeds, checkin on everything. 

I go away for a weekend and come back, theres vines from the fence choking off my shoots and I noticed a hole at the end of the patch. Something burrowed below the shoots, probably ate the roots down there. 

The patch was decimated and never recovered  I also had an infestation besides the burrowed critter and vines of stinkbugs. /sigh

If your growin in Fl, the biggest suggestion is to plant away from your house so you wont draw rats to your house, put some critter poison out there or the critter mini fencing, and make sure vines dont sneak up on ya. No idea what to suggest for the stinkbugs as the poison I got for them didnt make them go away.  

It was suggested due to the PH in FLs soil to use this really gross fish fertilizer. Its apparently good for growing veggies here, but it was a little late to use it properly.


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## jaybird1043 (Mar 7, 2011)

I live a few mins from Tampa too... I have vines that are 3 ft long with a whole bunch of flowers but it seems like they are dying all of sudden too. The sun just seems to harsh, I'm contemplating solar blankets to block some of the sun. I water daily and weed often and I use Miracle-Gro as directed but just seems they are on a slippery slope.
I planted some gords and I have 2 on a vine already, I was hoping the pumpkins would be doing the same.


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## TrickRTreater (Mar 24, 2011)

Starting work now on my Garden Guardian Scarecrow. 

Pumpkinheaded of course. Long, purple, tattered up coat, old work gloves, and if I can find my sisters, an old cowboy hat.


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## joossa (Sep 4, 2010)

The problem I see with growing in Florida is the high heat and high humidity will make the pumpkins upset. These two factors combined is the perfect combo to promote bacterial and fungal growth on the plants. Yes, that means that wretched disease that takes most of them out.... Dare I say it? ...Powdery mildew.




ter_ran said:


> *I may give this a try this year for the heck of it! Is this a good time to start planting though? I am in an area that's very hot during the summer. It also blows wind gust like crazy too... I don't know if that is a factor either... I will give it an effort though! *


Go for it! I'm up here in Palmdale and we get hot weather and winds. A neighbor of mine grew some successfully in her backyard last year. I say, if she can do it, why can't I?



Mine are progressing nicely. I gave them their first liquid feeding this last Saturday:

Medium sugar pumpkins:











Gourds:











Jack-O-Lantern Pumpkins:











Good luck to all. Post some pics!


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## theworstwitch (Aug 14, 2006)

TrickRTreater said:


> Starting work now on my Garden Guardian Scarecrow.
> 
> Pumpkinheaded of course. Long, purple, tattered up coat, old work gloves, and if I can find my sisters, an old cowboy hat.


Love to see pics of him!


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## Frankie's Girl (Aug 27, 2007)

Two of my 4 volunteer vines. I just transplanted the other 2 and they're looking kind of wilty now so they may not survive the move. Mulched around all of them and I'll give them a really good drink of water once the sun goes down...


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## joossa (Sep 4, 2010)

theworstwitch said:


> Love to see pics of him!


Oh me too!





Frankie's Girl said:


> Two of my 4 volunteer vines. I just transplanted the other 2 and they're looking kind of wilty now so they may not survive the move. Mulched around all of them and I'll give them a really good drink of water once the sun goes down...


Excellent!  Thanks for sharing!

Do you normally water in the evening? I hear moisture overnight encourages mildew and other nasty stuff. However, in really warm areas, I would guess this is not a problem.


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## Frankie's Girl (Aug 27, 2007)

I water whenever I remember. 

We're in a drought right now, with no rain since January except for maybe 2 sprinkle showers over the last two months. Temps are hitting in the 90s for the last couple of weeks, so I don't think watering any old time will hurt right now. If we ever get back to a normal rainfall, I'll definitely be more careful about when I water.


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## Annea (Aug 14, 2004)

Drought and hose pipe ban, not good news for my pumpkin patch


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## Terra (Sep 23, 2007)

Frankie's Girl said:


> I water whenever I remember.
> 
> We're in a drought right now, with no rain since January except for maybe 2 sprinkle showers over the last two months. Temps are hitting in the 90s for the last couple of weeks, so I don't think watering any old time will hurt right now. If we ever get back to a normal rainfall, I'll definitely be more careful about when I water.


Yikes, we must be getting your rain over here. It's done nothing _*but*_ rain for the last month. 

So, I was a victim of that powdery mildew last year. Is it moisture on the leaves sitting for a long time that's the main cause? Also, is there a spray or something I could use to keep that powdery mildew away?


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## Revned (May 21, 2011)

I would like to try growing some pumpkins this year a relative of mine has suggested that I should let them grow on top of a pallet with hay on top to keep them off the ground, how well this would work I don't know but I will give it a try.

When I cut my JoL's I coat all the cuts and the inside and outside with petroleum jelly, this helps to prevent the JoL's dehydrating and also from rain penetrating too much and causing rot, when it rains I just empty them out and they are good to go again. The petroleum jelly also seems to keep the bug's, slug,s and worms at bay.


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## Johan (Oct 15, 2008)

Due to our small lot sizes in Southern California, I am attempting to grow vertically. I have an area that gets plenty of sun and is protected from our strong winds. 

We do have a rat issue in our Blood Orange tree when I leave the fruit on the tree too long so thanks for the tip on not growing too close to the house. Not sure why I had not thought of that but I guess that would be why I visit this site. 

The community saves my butt once again!


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## Shadowbat (Sep 27, 2009)

UGH. I went out yesterday to try and prep my patch, but its like a mudhole. Its suppose to be dry the next 5 days and hot. Im hoping that I can get them planted in the next few days. This rain has been unbearable.


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## Shadowbat (Sep 27, 2009)

Well, a little update. The 2 days of 91 degree weather has allowed enough dry area to get my seeds in. Once everything is cleaned up Ill post a pic of this years patch.


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## Shadowbat (Sep 27, 2009)

Okay. Start growing. LOL

I only did 2 mounds this year for the patch. I plan on keeping only 2 sprouts per mound. I figure this will leave plenty of water and nutrients. I also planted some sugar pumpkins right behind the garage.


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## boo who? (Feb 28, 2005)

That scare crow looks waaaay too friendly. lol

You sound like we share weather. I thought it was too late to start pumpkins from seed. You've given me hope... but I'm worried about those nasty stink bugs.


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## Shadowbat (Sep 27, 2009)

I didnt plant until June 7th last year and wound up with 5 pumpkins that were decent sized. I have a neighbor who plants every year and she usually doesnt plant until after that and gets big pumpkins.


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## joossa (Sep 4, 2010)

boo who? said:


> That scare crow looks waaaay too friendly. lol


LOL! The ferocious owl makes up for it!

Your set-up looks excellent, Shadowbat. I can't wait to see all the green vines!


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## bl00d (Aug 26, 2010)

Mine are peeking thier heads out daily!


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## Rynnye (Oct 24, 2010)

Wow! I'm so glad I found this thread. It has been so helpful already! This is my first time trying to grow pumpkins. I'm living down by Houston and I really hope the heat and humidity don't take them out.


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## MikesTooLz (Jul 30, 2007)

just went out today and it looks like something is tarting to eat the leaves on mine.


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## TrickRTreater (Mar 24, 2011)

Okay, here he is so far. He's not put together yet, as I'm still working on the logistics and how I'm going to do it. But this will pretty much be how he looks when he's done.


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## TrickRTreater (Mar 24, 2011)

And yes, that IS a bit of red on the gloves, which is just a happy accident. Didn't add the red at all, just found them in the garage like that.

Pretty cool touch.


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## Frankie's Girl (Aug 27, 2007)

Cool scarecrow!

My two transplanted plants wilted a bit and lost some leaves, but they are perking and putting out new shoots for more leaves, so I think they survived!!

The other two are actually three - I just noticed my biggest plant is two really close together but still pretty big by themselves... I'm not messing with it since I'm afraid I'll screw up my two front runners if I try to move one or the other.

I've been watering every day, and they are still wilting during the afternoon since the heat is so intense and dry.

It's hot and no rain here in Houston yet. We have a whopping 30% chance of rain this weekend maybe, tho!!


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## joossa (Sep 4, 2010)

Very cool scarecrow, TrickRTreater!


These things are really growing fast:




















In addition to their weekly liquid feedings, I have now placed many of these (1-2-1) fertilizer spikes per hill. They were really cheap and contain higher phosphorous than nitrogen for flowering and fruit set. Even though they are meant for indoor potted plants, they will do just fine.


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## TrickRTreater (Mar 24, 2011)

Thanks guys! Just stuff I had lying around the house. Can't wait to finish him and put him in the backyard with some wooden wind chimes.


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## Frankie's Girl (Aug 27, 2007)

joossa said:


> Very cool scarecrow, TrickRTreater!
> 
> 
> These things are really growing fast:


WOW! Those are looking pretty darn good! I'll have to check out the fertilizer spikes...


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## blackfog (Oct 9, 2008)

Very nice. I just love the leaves of the pumpkin vine. They do look very healthy and grow fast. I grew them a very long time ago and it was fun. Nothing like a fresh pumpkin from your own backyard and one that has a stem cause alot of them in the market place loose them from being picked up that way.


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## MikesTooLz (Jul 30, 2007)

Something is eating my leaves!!!!


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## Guest (Jun 3, 2011)

Oh they are all looking good. I need to remember to take pictures this weekend of my patch and post them. I currently have 6 plants going. 3 Atlantic Giants and 3 Standard Jack Os


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## Frankie's Girl (Aug 27, 2007)

MikesTooLz said:


> Something is eating my leaves!!!!


I don't have any experience with growing pumpkins (this is my first round), but this is what I found about pests:

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1024710/
http://www.vegedge.umn.edu/vegpest/cucs/scb.htm

http://entowww.tamu.edu/extension/answers/identify/suck/squash_bug.html


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## Julianne (Jun 16, 2009)

Both pumpkin patches are doing great here, the four Atlantic Giant plants are looking fine. I'm hoping to get some pics posted here soon. Also the fence is up and electrified so hopefully this will keep out some of those pesky critters we have roaming around here.


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## Rynnye (Oct 24, 2010)

I went outside this morning to water and I noticed a couple of the vines were starting to turn yellow. Anyone know what might cause this? This is my first year trying to grow pumpkins. The other ones are doing great. I've been watering them daily since were are in a drought.


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## Shadowbat (Sep 27, 2009)

Rynnye said:


> I went outside this morning to water and I noticed a couple of the vines were starting to turn yellow. Anyone know what might cause this? This is my first year trying to grow pumpkins. The other ones are doing great. I've been watering them daily since were are in a drought.



Post pics if you can. Sounds like the vines are dying. Maybe because you are in a drought you have too many fighting for life?


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## joossa (Sep 4, 2010)

Rynnye said:


> I went outside this morning to water and I noticed a couple of the vines were starting to turn yellow. Anyone know what might cause this? This is my first year trying to grow pumpkins. The other ones are doing great. I've been watering them daily since were are in a drought.


Could be over-watering too! Just because you are in a drought doesn't mean you have to water them daily.... unless you have really high daily temps. 

Remember drought usually refers to _lack of rain_ not high temps. I'm in the Mojave and my plants have never experienced a rainfall event since they germinated. Temps are usually in the 80's for now and I deep water once every three days only. Once the full summer heat starts, I'll water daily.

If your temps are not so high, cut back on the water a bit and see how they fair. Beyond that, I'd look for pests too. What kind of soil did you use? Poor soil could also make them unhappy.



Very interesting how most of our growers' progress reflects their locations' latitudes! People in the north start growing later in the season. 

As always, best of luck guys!


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## TrickRTreater (Mar 24, 2011)

Finally got the wood for the garden...trough I guess it's called?

I'll probably be assembling it tomorrow, and then will lay the weed sheet, and the soil, and then plant.

Still need to finish my scarecrow too.


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## savagehaunter (Aug 22, 2009)

I haven't planted this year. Years ago I worked for a dairy farmer and he let me have a large garden space. I pit in pumpkins and harvested thirty of them. That was a great year. I had more pumpkins in my yeard than ever. I sold a bounce also.


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## Guest (Jun 5, 2011)

Here is how my Atlantic Giants are doing. I wanted good manure and top soil 4ft deep for them so I use a barrel to house them. I am big into container gardens so they are right at home with the other vege plants. They drape down the barrel each year and then run along the fence line.


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## Guest (Jun 5, 2011)

Here are my 3 Jack O plants along with some blood bean vines or what I call blood bean they are red.


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## ShaoGhoul (Jun 5, 2011)

Good day, ladies and gents...might as well make this my first post since I am very excited about it.

We just moved to this 2-acre parcel of land, and have been busting our collective rear ends to get it healthy again. The previous owner let everything die (hence the lifeless grey sod surrounding my little garden here). It contains four mounds -- two for common jacks, and two for the smaller sweet cooking variety. Also there is a row of indian corn and the beginnings of my scarecrow, which for now just has chimes. Eventually I'll need to chicken wire everything off due to the monster population of ravenous quail and cottontails.

Planted today, as our spring has been an extended winter thus far.










This will be my first foray into pumpkins, but I have been a successful Grower of Gourds in the past...so. Fingers crosseth.


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## Rynnye (Oct 24, 2010)

I planted the pumpkins in a raised bed with garden soil. I also enriched and have used the plant food from Miracle Gro. Unfortunately I think it might be heat. We have been mid to upper 90s everyday. Even though I've been watering daily, they still look wilted.


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## Rynnye (Oct 24, 2010)

Woww ShaoGhoul, you have a nice setup. I'm jealous of the area you have to grow...hmm.. maybe someday. Congrats on your first post and welcome to the forum!



ShaoGhoul said:


> Good day, ladies and gents...might as well make this my first post since I am very excited about it.
> 
> We just moved to this 2-acre parcel of land, and have been busting our collective rear ends to get it healthy again. The previous owner let everything die (hence the lifeless grey sod surrounding my little garden here). It contains four mounds -- two for common jacks, and two for the smaller sweet cooking variety. Also there is a row of indian corn and the beginnings of my scarecrow, which for now just has chimes. Eventually I'll need to chicken wire everything off due to the monster population of ravenous quail and cottontails.
> 
> ...


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## ShaoGhoul (Jun 5, 2011)

Rynnye -- many thanks.  Space is one of the perks of living in the middle of nowhere, I guess. 

A quick Q: when it comes to things like fertilizer sticks and liquid food, how old/big do the plants need to be before I can begin using it? And are such things suitable for pumpkins which may be eaten? (Such as the sugar pumpkins) Or will I just need to stick with manure?


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## Frankie's Girl (Aug 27, 2007)

ShaoGhoul said:


> Good day, ladies and gents...might as well make this my first post since I am very excited about it.
> 
> We just moved to this 2-acre parcel of land, and have been busting our collective rear ends to get it healthy again. The previous owner let everything die (hence the lifeless grey sod surrounding my little garden here). It contains four mounds -- two for common jacks, and two for the smaller sweet cooking variety. Also there is a row of indian corn and the beginnings of my scarecrow, which for now just has chimes. Eventually I'll need to chicken wire everything off due to the monster population of ravenous quail and cottontails.
> 
> ...


Very nice garden setup! I'm jealous of the stone border. 

Lots of us are doing pumpkins for the first time this year, so hopefully we'll all be successful!


AND I just saw my first bloom today!! It hasn't opened yet, and I read that the first blooms are all male, so I'm trying not to get too excited. BUT that's a great sign. My hubby came out to look and he asked me I was SURE these weren't weeds... um, yes dear! 


RYNNE - I'm in Houston, and dealing with the same weather as you. I've got my plants where they are shaded until about 1 in the afternoon and then they get full sun till it sets (they sprang up next to my back porch where there is a roof shading the area). I'm only watering every other day and I've got them mulched (pine bark shreds) really well to help hold moisture. My plants looked wilty during the afternoon for the first few weeks that they popped up, but now that they are about a foot high with at least 6-10 leaves, they are not doing that at all any more. 

I didn't do any soil prep since these were all volunteers. Didn't even know they would grow!

I'm watering either at night or in the morning (haven't been consistent) and I do the hose on the ground area beneath the leaves for around 15 minutes every other day with a sprayer for all 5 of mine. 

Maybe yours are still getting established and just keep an eye on the watering and mulch if you can? Rigging up a sun shade that will shade them for a few hours a day might help. I always laugh at the plant instructions that suggest "full sun" down here... they apparently have never BEEN to this area since it's like the surface of the sun most summers.  (sure it is fine after the plants are established with a good root system, but trying to get them to grow well right out of a pot or from seed with full sun usually results in dead plants for me)


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## Frankie's Girl (Aug 27, 2007)

Mr. Gris said:


> Here are my 3 Jack O plants along with some blood bean vines or what I call blood bean they are red.


Nice little patch there! I love the owl.


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## Shadowbat (Sep 27, 2009)

Just finished watering. I counted 7 sprouts.


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## joossa (Sep 4, 2010)

Great to see and hear about everyone's progress.

I've got to get myself one of those unfriendly owls!


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## joossa (Sep 4, 2010)

First vines are growing with tendrils and flower buds!!!!












For those that may know.... Does this look like powdery mildew? This "discoloration" is only appearing on my medium sugar pumpkins.




















The rest are looking normal:


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## TrickRTreater (Mar 24, 2011)

Built the raised garden box today. Measured out the weed block sheet, AND finished the Scarecrow.

Gonna lay the soil either tomorrow or wednesday, and then finally plant.

Can't wait.


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## kittyvibe (Oct 27, 2008)

The owl is a great idea, why didnt I think of that?


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## Shadowbat (Sep 27, 2009)

joossa said:


> For those that may know.... Does this look like powdery mildew? This "discoloration" is only appearing on my medium sugar pumpkins.



Usually the mildew will be blotchy. Also the mildew will be powdery, touch it to feel for the texture. Watch it because the mildew will spread quickly on the leaf. If it does, contact your local garden center for a recommendation for a spray, or if you have enough planted, you can just cut that one out.


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## Frankie's Girl (Aug 27, 2007)

A coworker is also growing pumpkins! He's got the vine variety and they are already going all over his yard. 

I must be growing a semi-shrub variety; my plants are staying really compact with NO vines. Still really healthy looking and I've got my first *BLOOM* that opened this morning!! Pics once I get home. 

Oh, and we got RAIN. Maybe a quarter of an inch, but that's something, anyway!


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## xrockonx911 (Jul 28, 2010)

I've never actually tried planting pumpkins... we always throw our pumpkins out in my Grandparent's horse corral and they usually grow the following year... so my question is...
Isn't it kinda early to be seeing them grow?? Ours never start this early... they also never get very big so maybe that's why?! (we do absolutely nothing to them... they just get dumped at the end of the season... and usually every fall we get gourds and small pumpkins)

Also. Did I miss the opportunity to actually try a small planting that I take care of? I live in Central PA. If I'd plant tomorrow would I have a shred of hope??


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## Frankie's Girl (Aug 27, 2007)

*joossa* - That doesn't look like mildew to me. It looks like a patterning that may be part of that variety's general look... but I'm a noob, so what do I know? 

Found an site that has some good tips on what to watch out for and isn't too difficult to understand:

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/hil/hil-24.html

I did google searches for each type of disease they listed and the images that came up were good to check against.


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## Rynnye (Oct 24, 2010)

Thanks Frankie's Girl, I think you may have been right about them needed to just get established. Yesterday and today they just seem to have sprung back to life and are looking healthy again. I was starting to get a little discouraged, especially since we are somewhat new to the area. I'm glad to here of other people down here having success growing them. Congrats on your first bloom too!


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## joossa (Sep 4, 2010)

Thanks for the help guys! After looking into it some more, it doesn't seem to be powdery mildew. The leaves just look transparent in certain areas. I guess it's nothing to worry over.

Congrats, Frankie's Girl on your first bloom!


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## Frankie's Girl (Aug 27, 2007)

xrockonx911 said:


> I've never actually tried planting pumpkins... we always throw our pumpkins out in my Grandparent's horse corral and they usually grow the following year... so my question is...
> Isn't it kinda early to be seeing them grow?? Ours never start this early... they also never get very big so maybe that's why?! (we do absolutely nothing to them... they just get dumped at the end of the season... and usually every fall we get gourds and small pumpkins)
> 
> Also. Did I miss the opportunity to actually try a small planting that I take care of? I live in Central PA. If I'd plant tomorrow would I have a shred of hope??


My growing season technically started in February when you probably were still seeing snow and freezing weather.  

The growing season starts later the further north you are, so I'd say if you got started NOW there's a chance you'd get some pumpkins by Halloween (depending on when your weather starts getting cold in the fall of course). Hopefully some of the other haunters from up in your area will chime in with some insight! You can also check out the seeds available for the ones that have a shorter time to grow/harvest pumpkins - there are all sorts of cultivars out there...


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## Shadowbat (Sep 27, 2009)

xrockonx911 said:


> I've never actually tried planting pumpkins... we always throw our pumpkins out in my Grandparent's horse corral and they usually grow the following year... so my question is...
> Isn't it kinda early to be seeing them grow?? Ours never start this early... they also never get very big so maybe that's why?! (we do absolutely nothing to them... they just get dumped at the end of the season... and usually every fall we get gourds and small pumpkins)
> 
> Also. Did I miss the opportunity to actually try a small planting that I take care of? I live in Central PA. If I'd plant tomorrow would I have a shred of hope??


I live in NE Ohio. You have time to get them in and they should be just right for Halloween.


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## TrickRTreater (Mar 24, 2011)

Laid the top soil yesterday, unfortunately, I'll need about 5 more bags.

Then I'll finally be able to plant.

Is there anything I should do to the seeds before I plant them?


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## RCIAG (Jul 19, 2010)

Just plant 'em is all I've ever done.

I just learned yesterday that we have pumpkins in the garden! Hubby tilled, bought & planted it all this year with no help from me, so I had no idea he got pumpkins.


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## bl00d (Aug 26, 2010)

TrickRTreater said:


> Laid the top soil yesterday, unfortunately, I'll need about 5 more bags.
> 
> Then I'll finally be able to plant.
> 
> Is there anything I should do to the seeds before I plant them?


 I let some of mine soak 24 hours before I planted them as a test. I read about doing this on various sites. they were the first ones to show there heads in the garden.


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## Frankie's Girl (Aug 27, 2007)

Progress pics:









Three of the biggest are on the left. Two that I transplanted are towards the right (they only have about 2 leaves each).










This is my front-runner plant. You can see one spent bloom on the right, and one getting ready to bloom on the left.










It's already dropped one bloom, two others are just about ready to go...

They are definitely semi-bush plants and no signs of vines at all. 

Just for comparison, here is the plants on the left from May 29th... I am amazed at how fast these are growing!


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## joossa (Sep 4, 2010)

Amazing progress! Very nice shots!

Thanks for sharing!


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## Shadowbat (Sep 27, 2009)

Ha! I walked out this morning and found 2 of my sugar pumpkins have sprouted!


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## Rynnye (Oct 24, 2010)

I thought I would post some pics of my pumpkin patch. I'm loving this thread too! It's so much fun hearing about everyone's experiences and watching their progress. Congrats Shadowbat on them sprouting!


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## Frankie's Girl (Aug 27, 2007)

Rynnye said:


> I thought I would post some pics of my pumpkin patch. I'm loving this thread too! It's so much fun hearing about everyone's experiences and watching their progress. Congrats Shadowbat on them sprouting!


Nice raised bed there! I'm so glad you plants perked up - they look great! What variety are you growing? I have no idea what I've got other than some sort of carving size pumpkins, and some of yours look like the same semi-shrub/bush type I seem to have...


Shadowbat - awesome on the sproutlings!


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## Rynnye (Oct 24, 2010)

The ones smaller ones towards the back of the photo are the lumina (white ones) variety and the larger ones are just a regular jack-o-lantern type I guess. Here is a photo of the packet:









This may be kind of a silly question, but I've read some places you have to manually pollinate the flowers? Does anyone know any more about this?


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## Shadowbat (Sep 27, 2009)

Usually you will only have worry about self pollinating if there are no bees.


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## tamster (Jul 27, 2009)

TrickRTreater said:


> Laid the top soil yesterday, unfortunately, I'll need about 5 more bags.
> 
> Then I'll finally be able to plant.
> 
> Is there anything I should do to the seeds before I plant them?



I usually like to put in manure ( cow, sheep ) they love growing in it, same with cucumbers, hubby swears it makes them sweeter.


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## joossa (Sep 4, 2010)

Rynnye, I too am growing the Burpee Jack-o-Lantern variety. Mine have started producing vines, so expect yours to do so too!

Your raised bed looks very nice! Do you plan on thinning out some of the plants once they all get bigger? I've had to thin my hills already and it pains me every time I cut one at the base!


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## Rynnye (Oct 24, 2010)

joossa said:


> Rynnye, I too am growing the Burpee Jack-o-Lantern variety. Mine have started producing vines, so expect yours to do so too!
> 
> Your raised bed looks very nice! Do you plan on thinning out some of the plants once they all get bigger? I've had to thin my hills already and it pains me every time I cut one at the base!


Yeah, I plan on it. Its going to break my heart to do so  so I've been putting it off. I know I really shouldn't be putting it off too much longer though.


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## Shadowbat (Sep 27, 2009)

Yeah. Dont wait too long. Pick your most healthiest and be sure to cut the plants that you plan on removing at the base. Dont pull them out. You could shock the remaining roots.

Everyone is looking real good. Lets hope for a great growing season.


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## ShaoGhoul (Jun 5, 2011)

LOOK what appeared, seemingly overnight! I believe it is a jacko. Pretty good size too.










Also, there are corns!
And now everything is nice and cozy underneath layers of chicken wire...


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## Shadowbat (Sep 27, 2009)

ShaoGhoul said:


> LOOK what appeared, seemingly overnight! I believe it is a jacko. Pretty good size too.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Alright! Glad things are working out.

They do seem to pop up overnight, dont they? lol


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## Rynnye (Oct 24, 2010)

ShaoGhoul said:


> LOOK what appeared, seemingly overnight! I believe it is a jacko. Pretty good size too.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


They really do grow fast don't they! Congratulations!

I did cull out my plants today, it was kind of sad.  I know its for the best though.


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## Frankie's Girl (Aug 27, 2007)

Saw my first pest today. A red and black spotted cucumber beetle... how the heck it even found my tiny little pumpkin patch is beyond me, but I sprayed the heck out of it. I was using an organic spray, but it burned one of the leaves! 

So now I'm going to get some systemic pesticide and be checking those things every.single.day.


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## TrickRTreater (Mar 24, 2011)

Frankie's Girl said:


> Saw my first pest today. A red and black spotted cucumber beetle... how the heck it even found my tiny little pumpkin patch is beyond me, but I sprayed the heck out of it. I was using an organic spray, but it burned one of the leaves!
> 
> So now I'm going to get some systemic pesticide and be checking those things every.single.day.



Yeah never use organic. It's actually way, way worse.


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## Frankie's Girl (Aug 27, 2007)

TrickRTreater said:


> Yeah never use organic. It's actually way, way worse.


Yeah, it was mostly nitrogen, so that burns the leaves BAD. I panicked and grabbed the can before checking the ingredients. 

The stuff I should have used still needs to be mixed up, but it's happening today.


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## zacharybinx (Apr 28, 2009)

Weeded the patch today & found the first little baby Pumpkin! It's no bigger than the tip of my finger. Now I'm going to be checking on it every day.


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## joossa (Sep 4, 2010)

zacharybinx, excellent work and congrats! I grew up in La Crescenta.... very close to Sunland. The weather there is excellent for growing pumpkins!

Did you hand pollinate or let the bees do the job?

Best of luck!


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## obsessedjack (Sep 3, 2010)

aww what a cute little pumpkin. I'm planting mine tomorrow.


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## TK421 (Mar 27, 2009)

We have had terrible pumpkin weather and I think I need to just start over. It's June and I think if I plant new mounds now, the weather might be warm enough t encourage growth.

My starts from April are still just tiny little starts of leaves. No real growth in a month. It's weird, because they haven't died or withered, they're still green, but they haven't grown at all.


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## Wolfman (Apr 15, 2004)

TK421, you can "jump start" the seedlings by covering them with clear polythene sheeting. Create a mini-greenhouse. Be advised that the weeds will also get a jump start.


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## zacharybinx (Apr 28, 2009)

*Pumpkin Patch*



joossa said:


> zacharybinx, excellent work and congrats! I grew up in La Crescenta.... very close to Sunland. The weather there is excellent for growing pumpkins!
> 
> Did you hand pollinate or let the bees do the job?
> 
> Best of luck!


Thanks! I guess the Bees did it. I noticed it while I was pulling out the weeds & grass. I hope it makes it to the big day. There might be more I just Haven't really looked that closely.
-Z


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## Catatonic (Sep 10, 2006)

Am I too late here in California?? Been so busy with work I'd (hangs head in shame) all but forgotten about Halloween... Pumpkins...Fall.... Happinessss....WWaaahhh!! Damn summer! Please please master gardens, say its not too late!? I promise I'll get started this weekend!


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## ShaoGhoul (Jun 5, 2011)

Catatonic, I don't think it's too late. I'm in northern Nevada and just planted my seeds a little over a week ago, and they've all (yep, the rest of them have appeared!) sprouted. So I think you've got a chance.


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## Shadowbat (Sep 27, 2009)

Agreed. You still have time.


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## walk7856 (Mar 21, 2011)

*2011 Pumpkin Patch*

Here are some pictures of my patch this year. I live in Southern Ohio and this is my first attempt to grow pumpkins, so I hope I'm doing this right! I'm hoping to have enough to sell at the local flea market. The varieties include munchkin, magic lantern, sorcorer, lumina, and howden. The seeds came from Harris seeds, a company I found on the internet. Very surprised to see how fast they sprouted! Only took 6 days to see the first seedling. I have 5 rows for the 5 varieties, and I planted them serveral feet apart to allow for space for the vines. I hope to have enough to sell and for my cornfield themed haunt! I want real pumpkins of the heads of many scarecrows and lightorama sequencing for the illumination of the heads. I have many ideas, but if they actually get done is a totally dfferent story .


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## Shadowbat (Sep 27, 2009)

walk7856 said:


> Here are some pictures of my patch this year. I live in Southern Ohio and this is my first attempt to grow pumpkins, so I hope I'm doing this right! I'm hoping to have enough to sell at the local flea market. The varieties include munchkin, magic lantern, sorcorer, lumina, and howden. The seeds came from Harris seeds, a company I found on the internet. Very surprised to see how fast they sprouted! Only took 6 days to see the first seedling. I have 5 rows for the 5 varieties, and I planted them serveral feet apart to allow for space for the vines. I hope to have enough to sell and for my cornfield themed haunt! I want real pumpkins of the heads of many scarecrows and lightorama sequencing for the illumination of the heads. I have many ideas, but if they actually get done is a totally dfferent story .



Cant wait to see how your patch progresses.


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## Rynnye (Oct 24, 2010)

walk7856 said:


> Here are some pictures of my patch this year. I live in Southern Ohio and this is my first attempt to grow pumpkins, so I hope I'm doing this right! I'm hoping to have enough to sell at the local flea market. The varieties include munchkin, magic lantern, sorcorer, lumina, and howden. The seeds came from Harris seeds, a company I found on the internet. Very surprised to see how fast they sprouted! Only took 6 days to see the first seedling. I have 5 rows for the 5 varieties, and I planted them serveral feet apart to allow for space for the vines. I hope to have enough to sell and for my cornfield themed haunt! I want real pumpkins of the heads of many scarecrows and lightorama sequencing for the illumination of the heads. I have many ideas, but if they actually get done is a totally dfferent story .


Very impressive patch!! I really hope you plan does work out because I would love to see it!


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## joossa (Sep 4, 2010)

Ditto what Shadowbat and Rynnye said!

Looks like your growing on a nice piece of land!


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## Vai (Sep 26, 2006)

Anyone know how this works in Australia?

Haha, I'd really like to give this a go, but since our seasons are reversed, how do we get pumpkins ready in time for Halloween? Our growing season would start at the beginning of October....although every year supermarkets still get the orange pumpkins in near Halloween (for a ridiculous price I might add) as well as for Fright Nights at Movie World which start Oct 1st, pumpkins everywhere. Are they just stored for several months? Didn't think they'd last that long.


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## Shadowbat (Sep 27, 2009)

Well, I went out this evening and cut out the sprouts that didnt make the cut. Necessary, but still sad none the less. 

Vai, sorry, dont have an answer for ya. Maybe someone else has some info for ya.


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## joossa (Sep 4, 2010)

More pictures..........

Jack-O, ~41 days after germination. I thinned them to two per hill. As you can see the hill (not really a hill) is surrounded by the hard desert clay. In winter the clay was somewhat moist, but seeing it now I am very, very happy that I followed suggestions and dug a huge hole, lost all the clay, and filled it with aged manure and compost.










One of the Jack-O's many first flower buds.













Here are the small decorative gourds ~41 days after germination. Because the fruit are much smaller there are more individuals in this hill than in the pumpkin hills.










This gourd likes to vine and already has a large yellow flower there:










This one seems to be more on the bush side and less of a vine:













And finally, the medium sugar pumpkins:


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## TrickRTreater (Mar 24, 2011)

Planted the seeds on Sunday, so hoping to see some sprouting around next tuesday. It's been pretty hot and dry so I'm watering about twice a day. Once at noon, and then again at around 4ish.

God I hope they turn out. I really want some.


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## digbugsgirl (Aug 15, 2007)

I have a few pumpkins planted, and a couple that are volunteers.  I plan to plant a few more plants this weekend. For 100 days, this would be the cut-off for me. Hopefully I have some luck. In years past, if it wasn't the stupid ground hogs and deer, the plants would just die on me. I did the three-sisters planting this year so I'm hoping the three plants work together and I have a nice crop.


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## walk7856 (Mar 21, 2011)

joossa said:


> More pictures..........
> 
> Jack-O, ~41 days after germination. I thinned them to two per hill. As you can see the hill (not really a hill) is surrounded by the hard desert clay. In winter the clay was somewhat moist, but seeing it now I am very, very happy that I followed suggestions and dug a huge hole, lost all the clay, and filled it with aged manure and compost.
> 
> ...


Looks Great Joel!


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## TrickRTreater (Mar 24, 2011)

They're coming throooouuuugh!!

I've got three hills with about 6 seeds each in them, and almost every single seed is sprouting! On the furthest hill from my house, I've got TWO nearly couple inch tall saplings standing already! And I JUST planted on Sunday! I'm already going to have to prune them down soon!

Damn I'm excited!

Gotta put the chicken wire on the box soon, as well as put my Scarecrow up at around the same time.

Ohhhh boy!


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## Rynnye (Oct 24, 2010)

TrickRTreater said:


> They're coming throooouuuugh!!
> 
> I've got three hills with about 6 seeds each in them, and almost every single seed is sprouting! On the furthest hill from my house, I've got TWO nearly couple inch tall saplings standing already! And I JUST planted on Sunday! I'm already going to have to prune them down soon!
> 
> ...


Congrats!! Wow! They sure came up fast! Its amazing how fast they grow!!!


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## TrickRTreater (Mar 24, 2011)

Rynnye said:


> Congrats!! Wow! They sure came up fast! Its amazing how fast they grow!!!



Thanks! And I know, I was shocked when I saw the little green seedlings poking through the top of the little plateau I made!

I hope I can keep this success up until they come full term!


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## Johan (Oct 15, 2008)

5 sprouts are popping out of my mound this morning. My 9 year old daughter has been out there watering them every day since we planted them. She was twice as excited as I which was quite a bit.


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## TrickRTreater (Mar 24, 2011)

Here he is, in all his garden guarding glory









My little seedlings, only 5 days old!


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## Shadowbat (Sep 27, 2009)

lookin good trickrtreater! On both the sprouts and the scarecrow.


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## Vai (Sep 26, 2006)

This is the space I have to work with...


























It obviously needs a bit of prep work and there's a good chance things wont happen due to the weather but Id like to give it a shot when I receive the seeds early next week (hopefully!) anyway. I'll probably build a small pvc greenhouse to help things along.
First month I'll probably keep it inside at nights in a container because July is the coldest month...Spring begins in September...so by the final month of growing in October things should start warming up and daylight hours also reach there annual high during the month of Oct.

Loving everyones success so far, very jealous!


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## EvilMel (Dec 6, 2007)

Mine have also started forming vines. I'm excited but aware that I'll probably lose them to squash vine borers.
*crossing fingers*


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## ShaoGhoul (Jun 5, 2011)

Well I did a bad thing and transplanted a few of mine a day ago, seeing as how the soil was not allowing much water to come through. Probably should have left them alone but...too late now. Most of the transplants are wilted this morning...I'll just keep up the water and cross my fingers. They were beginning to grow proper pumpkin plant leaves too...

The corn is doing exceptionally well though!


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## TrickRTreater (Mar 24, 2011)

Okay, so I'm going to thin the hills down to three plants today.

When I do this, do I just cut the plant that I want to take out at the base? I don't remove the root right?


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## Shadowbat (Sep 27, 2009)

Just cut at the base, down in the dirt a bit.


I am soo angry right now. I always check on my patch before work in the morning. I noticed that one of my sugar pumpkins was smashed into the ground as if it had been stepped on! I knew my son was out late last night goofing around with his friends. When I questioned if anyone was tramping around the garden he went white as a ghost. Im ready to kill him.


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## TrickRTreater (Mar 24, 2011)

Oh man, that's really rough. I'm sorry to hear that.


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## Shadowbat (Sep 27, 2009)

Well, I went out and checked on the little guy, and I dont know how, but hes back to life. I guess my emergency care this morning did the trick. I even have a new sprout coming through. These sugar pumpkins are planted right behind the garage along with the wifes tomatoes and strawberries.











Here is my one mound, trimmed to 3 sprouts. This is the littler of the 2 mounds.











This is my bigger trio. Its funny. Same seeds, same soil, but these are much heartier so far.











Still debating on trimming to 2 or leaving the 3.


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## tamster (Jul 27, 2009)

Finally in Ontario Canada the weather has been warming up just enough to see great progress with my lil' pumpkin patch.....







[/IMG]


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## UnOrthodOx (Apr 24, 2007)

UnOrthodOx said:


> I'm debating whether to purposely plant or not. The overall plan was to start next year, but don't know if I can wait. We carved over 60 pumpkins last year, and spread out all the guts in the huge sheet composting we're using to create that bed for next year. If any volunteer I will water them.
> 
> The store across the street has cute little starters for $1....so hard to resist...


Well, I do believe we have a couple of volunteers...but not from the huge sheet composting, they're out in ANOTHER flower bed that I recall no pumpkins getting near at all.  

I'll try to get pics later. 

I did buy a couple starters this week as well, and tried to plant them amongst all that composting going on, but they're not looking so great...


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## joossa (Sep 4, 2010)

As always, very nice to see everyone's progress! 
Good catch on saving the seedling, Shadowbat!




EvilMel said:


> Mine have also started forming vines. I'm excited but aware that I'll probably lose them to squash vine borers.
> *crossing fingers*


^You can take preemptive measures. If you will not use the pumpkins for cooking/eating you can use a systemic insecticide. I'm using one every two weeks on the plants that will bear fruit only for carving in case the borers decide to show up in my neck of the woods.... errr.... desert.



I know a lot of you guys barely have seedlings or young plants, but for those that are fertilizing already..... Have any of you begun increasing the amount of fertilizer used or frequency of application? I'm considering applying liquid fertilizer twice a week rather than once now that temperatures are rather high and now that female flowers are popping up all over the place.


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## TrickRTreater (Mar 24, 2011)

The middle bud is coming in! After only a week! Man this is exciting!


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## Vai (Sep 26, 2006)

What kind of temps are you guys getting? Day & night?


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## Shadowbat (Sep 27, 2009)

Vai said:


> What kind of temps are you guys getting? Day & night?




It's about 75 - 80 during the day and keeping around 60 at night.




I keep forgetting to post a pic of this. Sorry for the crap cell phone image. This is growing out of our compost bin. lol


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## joossa (Sep 4, 2010)

The Jack-Os are the first to flower.

The first male flower bloomed on the morning of June 20. I cut it and stored it in the fridge because I saw a female flower that would bloom the following morning. Here is the male flower before I cut it:











Here is that female flower that afternoon (about ready to bloom):











Here is the female flower early the next morning (this morning). I took the male flower that was stored in the fridge and used its pollen to pollinate this flower. Hopefully the baby pumpkin starts growing:


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## adam (Aug 1, 2008)

Never heard of such a thing! Very cute. Making pumpkins mate. Kind of like dogs but better


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## Frankie's Girl (Aug 27, 2007)

My vines (and there are definitely vines going now!) are going crazy and I've had lots of blooms, but no females!  I've been seeing blooms for 2 weeks and no baby pumpkins... darn it!


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## obsessedjack (Sep 3, 2010)

Yay finally got around to planting today. Hope they grow enough in time for the big day. I got some seeds from Lowe's that are a mixture of regular jacks and white ones. Keeping my fingers crossed.....


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## Rynnye (Oct 24, 2010)

Yeah!! I went outside to check on my patch and the first flowers have finally bloomed! They are all males, but hopefully there will be some females joining them shortly!


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## TrickRTreater (Mar 24, 2011)

My middle seedling is now lying on its side. Is that a bad thing?


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## bl00d (Aug 26, 2010)

Mine are not looking too good the cold weather and lots of rain have been real hard on them. Some of the seed mounds nothing has came up. Getting yellow leaves on some of the plants, no vines yet just short 4" tops sprouts.


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## Shadowbat (Sep 27, 2009)

bl00d said:


> Mine are not looking too good the cold weather and lots of rain have been real hard on them. Some of the seed mounds nothing has came up. Getting yellow leaves on some of the plants, no vines yet just short 4" tops sprouts.



Ive had seeds not come up. It happens. For the yellowing vines, thats usually a sign of overwatering. How often are you watering?


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## UnOrthodOx (Apr 24, 2007)

I *THINK* these are some volunteer pumpkins...But I don't remember any pumpkins or seeds near this garden....but we had so many I could be mistaken.










Some $1 storebought starts, going a bit yellow, possibly from shock of transplant?











More volunteers over where we are composting everything from the yard last year.


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## TrickRTreater (Mar 24, 2011)

Ah so it's okay if they start to lean a bit. That's good.


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## bl00d (Aug 26, 2010)

Shadowbat said:


> Ive had seeds not come up. It happens. For the yellowing vines, thats usually a sign of overwatering. How often are you watering?


Hardly need to water at all it has been raining almost every other day here


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## Frankie's Girl (Aug 27, 2007)

FINALLY a female bloom is developing... with baby pumpkin!! I'm going to keep a close eye on it the next few days since there are no bees and I'll have to help out the pollination. 

I've got 4 plants now - 3 that are roughly 10 feet and growing, (and dropping new roots down from the vines) and one that was transferred late so it's still in shrubby form.


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## joossa (Sep 4, 2010)

I'm upset.  It seems that the heat is killing off the developing female flowers with the baby fruit at the base. The male flowers and vines don't seem to mind and are quite vigorous, but the female flowers just wither away before they get a chance to bloom.

We are currently getting highs between 95 and 100F.


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## Vai (Sep 26, 2006)

Is this powdery mildew already?


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## Frankie's Girl (Aug 27, 2007)

joossa - I'm having 100˚ temps too, and I've had most of my blooms actually bloom, but my females aren't "taking" so far. 

Vai - crap. That does look like powdery mildew pics I've seen... if it's really small areas, I'd try to treat but if you've got other plants going too, I'd pull it. 

~~~

My first female with a pumpkin bloomed, I did the pollination thang, and just checked it today and the darn think has blossom end rot. 
So I'm treating all of them so they have enough calcium and keeping my fingers crossed that it keeps this from happening to the others. 

I also untangled the vines and stretched them out and put soil and mulch down so the vines can do the secondary roots off of the leaf sections. That was a pain! My vines are over 12 feet each and they had already put down roots at most of the leaf junctions so we had to be REALLY careful shifting the vines and my arms are scratched up bad.


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## EvilMel (Dec 6, 2007)

Temps here have been around 90 during the day and 70s at night. 



joossa said:


> You can take preemptive measures. If you will not use the pumpkins for cooking/eating you can use a systemic insecticide. I'm using one every two weeks on the plants that will bear fruit only for carving in case the borers decide to show up in my neck of the woods.... errr.... desert.


What would you suggest?


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## joossa (Sep 4, 2010)

EvilMel said:


> Temps here have been around 90 during the day and 70s at night.
> 
> 
> 
> What would you suggest?


There are many systemic insecticides. Some come in prepared sprays and some in concentrates. Bayer is a good brand for insect control. If you go ahead with it, make sure to apply as directed and only in the late evening once the sun is almost gone. Also, do a test spray on a small portion of one plant to see if the plant has any negative reaction. If within a day or so, you don't see a negative reaction in the test area, then go ahead and fully treat that plant and the rest.

Again, make sure you only treat those plants which will yield fruit that you will not consume. Some sprays are nasty and may cause cancer!


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## Frankie's Girl (Aug 27, 2007)

I am using a Bayer fertilizer/systemic insecticide that is in granule form. It's supposed to protect/feed for 2 weeks... I don't plan on eating the seeds or pumpkins. 

So three more of my female blooms/baby pumpkins started yellowing/rotting, and I cut them off. I'm worried that I've got too hot temps or not enough of something and my plants are too stressed to grow pumpkins. 

Deep water tonight (usually every 3 days, but I'll step it up now) and I'll have to keep an eye on them.


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## Shadowbat (Sep 27, 2009)

The key to pumpkins is water and sunlight. Heat, humidity, dampness, all bad things. Growing pumpkins isnt as easy as people think. Last year was a real learning experience for me. Dont give up. Keep going out there and doing what you can to take care of your plants.


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## Shadowbat (Sep 27, 2009)

While cutting the grass I noticed these:




















These are from the compost bin. LOL I cant believe how these are taking off and I didnt even do anything.


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## joossa (Sep 4, 2010)

Frankie's Girl said:


> joossa - I'm having 100˚ temps too, and I've had most of my blooms actually bloom, but my females aren't "taking" so far.
> 
> My first female with a pumpkin bloomed, I did the pollination thang, and just checked it today and the darn think has blossom end rot.
> So I'm treating all of them so they have enough calcium and keeping my fingers crossed that it keeps this from happening to the others.


Yeah PumpkinNook says that high heat will make the female flowers abort. I know for sure my soil and vines are healthy.... it's just that the heat is making the female flowers upset. I'm not too worried though. My area has a very long growing season, so hopefully they'll start a little later once the worst of summer is over.




Score, Shadowbat!! And in the compost bin!?  Just curious... I know your in Ohio. What are your daily high temperatures like over there?


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## EvilMel (Dec 6, 2007)

I'm thinking of doing something like burying the main part of the vine to hide it from the borers. Anyone want to weigh in on the positives or negatives of doing this?


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## Frankie's Girl (Aug 27, 2007)

Same here in regards to the growing season... we don't get cold temps until maybe November or December...

BUT I'm freaking out that the varieties I've seen need anywhere from 100-120 days to fully mature to carveable pumpkins. We're getting close to the cut off for Halloween JoLs. 



I'm so jealous of your baby pumpkins Shadowbat! Those look so healthy!!


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## Shadowbat (Sep 27, 2009)

joossa said:


> Score, Shadowbat!! And in the compost bin!?  Just curious... I know your in Ohio. What are your daily high temperatures like over there?



So far we've had a pretty cool summer. The highest weve had has been, i believe, 87. We're supposed to have a couple 90 degree days this week though. Last year was horrible. 90's and humid through most of summer. Had a terrible crop.


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## tamster (Jul 27, 2009)

Shadowbat said:


> While cutting the grass I noticed these:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Pumpkins love composted soil and manure, mine are taking off with lots of baby pumpkins, seeing lots of female flowers now, temperature here has gotten higher this week, lots of watering. My only problem is I have been noticing cucumber bugs more than ever this year so I have to dust my plants


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## EvilMel (Dec 6, 2007)

Ok, so here's about half of my "patch", which is rapidly overtaking my entire garden.










Here's the first female flowers I've seen. Took all these photos today so it's been a few days since I've been outside and I've got several big female flowers.










Check this out!!! It's a pumpkin...not a flower that hasn't been pollinated. It's an actual pumpkin!!! I'm so super stoked.










This the furthest I've gotten with them in YEARS. Wish me luck! I'm going to need it. It isn't nearly as yellow as it appears in this photo. It's rather green in fact. Man, I'm so super excited.


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## Shadowbat (Sep 27, 2009)

Now the fun of watching it grow.


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## EvilMel (Dec 6, 2007)

Yes, assuming I can keep the squash vine borers away. I'm going to be extra vigilant looking out for pests and I guess I need to get some fertilizer now. I can't stop smiling about it though. SO excited.


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## UnOrthodOx (Apr 24, 2007)

EvilMel said:


> Yes, assuming I can keep the squash vine borers away. I'm going to be extra vigilant looking out for pests and I guess I need to get some fertilizer now. I can't stop smiling about it though. SO excited.


You could go get some beneficial nematodes and practice biological warfare on those borers, Alien style.... :muahahahaha: I'm sure your local nursery will have more info.


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## EvilMel (Dec 6, 2007)

The beneficial nematodes won't survive unless they have a host, will they? I will go out immediately and get those if you think they'll survive without a host. I just don't want to spread them around and have them all die b/c there's no borers around. I'll do some Internet research about it today. Thanks!


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## UnOrthodOx (Apr 24, 2007)

How long they will live without a host, I'm not entirely sure. But, I think there's a good chance they'll find SOME hosts in your ground. They aren't typically too picky about what host they choose. 

Meanwhile, I got major slug problems.  (The one area near our shed we cleaned out earlier in the year looked like it came from Slither. Seriously, it was amazingly bad)

Fortunately it's tied to the one bed. All that composting I'm doing is just a perfect environment for them, something had been snacking on some of the plants, I caught them this morning. Time to break out the assault tactics...

Anyone tried the vinegar/water method on them? And how safe is the vinegar to the plants?


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## Xane (Oct 13, 2010)

Make a slug beer trap. You can find fancy designs online or just fill a bowl with beer and make a way for the slugs to easily get into it. They drown happy.


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## EvilMel (Dec 6, 2007)

Are you sure that the nematodes infect squash vine borer larvae? or the moths? I can't seem to find out if that's actually true or not.

Edit: looks like it IS true. Where do you guys buy them? Locally or online?


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## GhostTown (Jul 6, 2011)

What a fun thread to read. Makes me wish I would have found this forum earlier. I would have joined in the fun!


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## Frankie's Girl (Aug 27, 2007)

UnOrthodOx said:


> How long they will live without a host, I'm not entirely sure. But, I think there's a good chance they'll find SOME hosts in your ground. They aren't typically too picky about what host they choose.
> 
> Meanwhile, I got major slug problems.  (The one area near our shed we cleaned out earlier in the year looked like it came from Slither. Seriously, it was amazingly bad)
> 
> ...


Not sure about the vinegar/water, but I've read that sand seems to stop them in their tracks too. They won't go in it, so it's a totally environmentally friendly way of protecting your plants. Something about putting a thick ring of it around the plant vines?? 

Oh, and ditto on Xane's beer trap suggestion... it works.  
Just use a crappy beer and hope you don't end up with a bunch of drunk squirrels. 



***

I need to take pics tonight... my vines are crazy and at least 15 feet long. We had a good rain a day or so ago, and I also deepwatered them (left the hose trickling for about 3 hours!) and fertilized/pesticided them and I think I may have a baby pumpkin/female flower that isn't going to rot or wither away. ~fingers crossed~


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## tamster (Jul 27, 2009)

looking good so far.....considering we've been having a dry spell









In this pic the pumpkin looks more yellow than it is, it is more green


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## tamster (Jul 27, 2009)

UnOrthodOx said:


> How long they will live without a host, I'm not entirely sure. But, I think there's a good chance they'll find SOME hosts in your ground. They aren't typically too picky about what host they choose.
> 
> Meanwhile, I got major slug problems.  (The one area near our shed we cleaned out earlier in the year looked like it came from Slither. Seriously, it was amazingly bad)
> 
> ...



Sometimes I had used Slug Bait, they're like little pellets, if you don't have pets that would chew them.


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## UnOrthodOx (Apr 24, 2007)

EvilMel said:


> Are you sure that the nematodes infect squash vine borer larvae? or the moths? I can't seem to find out if that's actually true or not.
> 
> Edit: looks like it IS true. Where do you guys buy them? Locally or online?


I buy local, but also get a lot of stuff from over here: http://www.thebeneficialinsectco.com/

They also sell them. (I have a huge lacewing population now, thanks to them...I also highly recommend the mosquito dunks.)

It's hard for me to tell if my Nematode population is good or not, them being microscopic and all...


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## joossa (Sep 4, 2010)

Great discussion guys!

I'm going to try increasing the amount of water I give mine. We'll see if it makes them happier. Here are some more shots:


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## UnOrthodOx (Apr 24, 2007)

Well, we set out fresh cut grass and lettuce in an attempt to lure the slugs away from the pumpkins adn watered the area just after dusk.

up before dawn today, I can confirm vinegar/water as an effective means of killing slugs. Works just like salt: bubbly death. I tested some on one of the pumpkins and will let you know if it's safe for them. Got THOUSANDS today, mostly juvenile, hopefully we get ahead of the breeding. 

On a strange tangent, I was pleased to see horsehair worms today. Hadn't seen them before, ever, in Utah. Curious, but if they keep the hoppers down, I won't complain at all. (they seem to have been in the bark we covered our flower beds with)


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## joossa (Sep 4, 2010)

Finally got some healthy looking female flowers this morning...

A nice baby gourd:











Some pumpkin female flowers. I used multiple male flowers to pollinate, but it seems like the bees and ants wanted in on the action too!


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## Shadowbat (Sep 27, 2009)

Heres a new shot of my sugar pumpkins:












The 2 sides of my patch that feature my jack o lanterns:




















Heres what I have from the compost bin. LOL:


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## Kristoffer (Jul 14, 2011)

Ours are growing pretty well, we have some at the front of the house which we leave on the vine during the season as natural decor, then loads more round the side and back which we harvest. I cant wait!


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## Frankie's Girl (Aug 27, 2007)

Okay, I've got 4 vines probably 20 feet long each, tons of blooms and even quite a few immature females. I do the pollination thing, and then the female blooms rot, drop off and the whole pumpkin bump rots and dies. Tried treatments for blossom end rot, but nothing is working.

I've also had a nasty attack of aphids, and had to cut out several leaves near the main root base. 

I'm thinking of just mowing the whole thing over. The heat, drought, and the non-beneficial bugs aren't letting it do what's it's supposed to do.


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## halloween_sucks_in_the_uk (Sep 28, 2008)

This is my first year of pumpkin growing, the vines are growing and I've had a flower. I'm surprised it's doing so well seeing as the sparrows like using my patch as a dust bath

I'm a bit dumb when it comes to gardening, how long after it flowering do you usually see a baby pumpkin?


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## Vai (Sep 26, 2006)

halloween_sucks_in_the_uk said:


> This is my first year of pumpkin growing, the vines are growing and I've had a flower. I'm surprised it's doing so well seeing as the sparrows like using my patch as a dust bath
> 
> I'm a bit dumb when it comes to gardening, how long after it flowering do you usually see a baby pumpkin?


I guess when you start getting female flowers (which I believe appear up to a couple of weeks after male flowers) and one gets pollinated, the bulb underneath should start growing rather quickly.

Can anyone tell me how fast/slow the true leaves grow? Mine seem very slow and at the end of the week will be around the 4 week mark. So far my plants only have one true leaf with a second only just starting to grow. From what I've seen of others, alot of people have a pretty established plant after a month. I'm getting about 0.5 cm of true leaf growth in around 3 days.


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## Kristoffer (Jul 14, 2011)

Some of my flowers have yielded little baby pumpkins, but they haven's all done it. I am not well up on pollination and stuff, I just plant them and hope for the best. 

I do give them extra Nitrgoen feed though. We are having a very wet, windy and cool weekend here in the UK - I am hoping this is not gonna kill them.


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## Shadowbat (Sep 27, 2009)

Just keep watering guys. I do nothing outside of watreing and trimming. If you have bees, they will do the pollinating for you. If you all can, get some pics and post them. This way we can see exactly how your plants are doing.


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## Vai (Sep 26, 2006)

Here's where they're at. Thought they'd be further along by now. (Sorry if the pic is huge, using mobile.)


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## Shadowbat (Sep 27, 2009)

those look healthy vai. You may want to get them in the ground though or in bigger planters.


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## MHooch (Jun 15, 2007)

Just wanted you all to know that Hooch's family is following this thread with interest and we are all cheering the pumpkins (and the gardners) on!!!

Looking good everybody!!!


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## Vai (Sep 26, 2006)

Shadowbat said:


> those look healthy vai. You may want to get them in the ground though or in bigger planters.


I'm trying to wait a little longer, maybe toward the end of July before they go in the ground. It's still very much winter here and its been getting down to about 4-5 degrees celcius some nights. 
I've transplanted a few (origionally they were all in the newspaper pots), most recently the green one, and I don't think they'll have much trouble as far as root developement room goes. Can't say the same for the one in the milk carton on the right though, that thing is suprisingly large compared to the others and not neccesarily further along either...the roots are hyoooge!


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## Guest (Jul 18, 2011)

Rats! I can't post pics!

Here is my FLICKR link with pics of my pumpkins. The heat and bugs are really messing with us!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/


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## Shadowbat (Sep 27, 2009)

Little guys starting to get some orange


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## joossa (Sep 4, 2010)

Excellent, Shadowbat!!

I've finally got some pumpkins, squash and even gourds coming along! I can't wait for the cooler weather!


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## Vai (Sep 26, 2006)

Mine aren't doing to well...



This is the only healthy one, let's hope it stays that way.










The others are pale/ yellow and wilting.


































I don't think any of those will make it. Kinda depressing haha.


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## orecoin (Jul 17, 2011)

Have grown several myself, theyre looking good and many more females are blooming befor the males. Crossing my fingers


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## Shadowbat (Sep 27, 2009)

Welcome to the forum orecoin! Looking good.


Heres todays pics of my 3 "big" pumpkins.


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## TrickRTreater (Mar 24, 2011)

My vines 3 main vines are incredibly long, my male flowers haven't bloomed(yet) and my female flowers are now starting to bud with very seemingly large pumpkins right under them.

I am excited.


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## Terra (Sep 23, 2007)

Frankie's Girl said:


> Okay, I've got 4 vines probably 20 feet long each, tons of blooms and even quite a few immature females. I do the pollination thing, and then the female blooms rot, drop off and the whole pumpkin bump rots and dies. Tried treatments for blossom end rot, but nothing is working.


Same thing here FG though haven't done the blossom end rot treatment. The vines and male flowers are aplenty, just need some pumpkin production! Get so excited seeing a female flower and then the next day sad to see it rotted


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## UnOrthodOx (Apr 24, 2007)

Only a couple blooms so far on my end, all male. My uncle has dozens of plants, but I haven't had time to get over there to check and my kids don't know what to look for. (this is all new to them)


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## EvilMel (Dec 6, 2007)

Your pumpkins are looking great, guys! Keep showing pictures!!


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## sweetdiggity (Jul 19, 2011)

I'm loving this thread! I haven't taken any pics of my pumpkin patches yet (I have two going in different locations, lol) but will soon. You all have some nice pumpkins growing! Keep the pics coming. 

I've been super vigilant in looking for those damn squash vine borers this year and I've finally seen them around. I found a ton of eggs on my plants but scraped them all off. A few years ago they got into my plants (before I even knew of them) and wreaked havoc. I had to slit the vines open, dig them out and hope for the best. I got 3 pumpkins that year, surprisingly but I wanted to avoid that happening a second time so it's WAR this summer. LOL

I'm growing 5 types of pumpkins - Long Island Cheese, Sugar Pie, Jack-O-Lantern, Jack-Be-Little and Big Max. I'm sure I won't get a record setter, but whatever, just wanted to try it. lol

So far, all of the vines are about 5-7 feet long and have started flowering. No females yet but probably soon.


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## EvilMel (Dec 6, 2007)

If you see those eggs again, will you take a picture so I can see what they look like? I am dying to see them so I can eradicate them.


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## sweetdiggity (Jul 19, 2011)

EvilMel said:


> If you see those eggs again, will you take a picture so I can see what they look like? I am dying to see them so I can eradicate them.


Sure! I actually meant to take a pic if I found them this year but forgot because I was so mad at how many there were on my plants. LOL Ugh. 

In the mean time, *here is a link* that has a few pics of the eggs on the vines. The last photo is the best and easiest to see! (scroll down a bit)

They're quite small (like the size of the tip of a pen) and are a reddish-brown color. If you see anything like that on your vines, it's probably it.


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## digbugsgirl (Aug 15, 2007)

My volunteer pumpkin patch is now dying (thanks squash bugs!!!), but my pumpkins in my three-sisters area of the garden or doing well! I have at least one nice-size orange pumpkin and yesterday I realized I have a white pumpkin! I'm excited about that since I've been wanting to grow them for a long time. Hopefully they'll hold off for the next couple of months. I'm going to try to save a few of the pumpkins from the dying patch by putting them in the basement. Hopefully it'll work!


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## orecoin (Jul 17, 2011)

I’m not sure what these are but they’re either mini pumpkins or shenot crowns














The majority of flowers have begun to bloom which has called the pollen brigade














Our watch bug















Now that’s a pollinator (Bumble)















Thing of beauty 














Taking a break....














Conjoined buds
















Perrtyyyy


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## Terra (Sep 23, 2007)

Beautiful photography _orecoin!_


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## Vai (Sep 26, 2006)

Terra said:


> Beautiful photography _orecoin!_


Agreed, terrific!


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## Shadowbat (Sep 27, 2009)

I need a new camera. LOL


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## joossa (Sep 4, 2010)

Very beautiful shots! Your plants look very healthy!


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## bl00d (Aug 26, 2010)

Just got my first flower, stupid question I feel like a kid asking this but... How can you tell the difference between the male and females?


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## sweetdiggity (Jul 19, 2011)

bl00d said:


> Just got my first flower, stupid question I feel like a kid asking this but... How can you tell the difference between the male and females?


Congrats on your first flower! Not a stupid question - at one point, I didn't know either. lol

You can tell a female apart from a male very easily. Male flowers have a long stem ( like the flower you have now) and the actual flower is far away from the vine. Female flowers are close to the vine and they have a small pumpkin attached to them like in this picture:










See how close it is to the vine and the little pumpkin? That's a female flower.


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## bl00d (Aug 26, 2010)

sweetdiggity said:


> Congrats on your first flower! Not a stupid question - at one point, I didn't know either. lol
> 
> You can tell a female apart from a male very easily. Male flowers have a long stem ( like the flower you have now) and the actual flower is far away from the vine. Female flowers are close to the vine and they have a small pumpkin attached to them like in this picture:
> 
> ...


Awesome THANK YOU! soo much!


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## Julianne (Jun 16, 2009)

http://i744.photobucket.com/albums/xx87/Pumpkinbabe/2011/P7311269.jpg

Unfortunately, due to the recent passing of my brother I haven't been able to get into the pumpkin patch much this season, my other half has been handling the load and doing most of the hand pollinating. We have high hopes for this guy here, so far he is taping at 60 inches in circumference and according to the chart an estimated weight so far of 73 pounds. Growing at about 3 inches per day. Hopefully the picture came through okay. Happy growing everyone!


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## UnOrthodOx (Apr 24, 2007)

Whoa, that's a big'n!


Well, we are finally getting some female blooms. Was showing my son what to look for on Saturday. There's 2 on the storebought ones so far, and the Mystery volunteer has 2....

However, my mystery volunteer is maybe not a pumpkin? I didn't remember any seeds getting over there, and I did carve all kinds of odd melons and squash over the summer last year. The plant LOOKS pumpkin, but the little things on the female flowers are yellow, not the expected green. Anyone have any ideas? Some odd variety of pumpkin that mysteriously got into my yard?


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## joossa (Sep 4, 2010)

Julianne said:


> http://i744.photobucket.com/albums/xx87/Pumpkinbabe/2011/P7311269.jpg
> 
> Unfortunately, due to the recent passing of my brother I haven't been able to get into the pumpkin patch much this season, my other half has been handling the load and doing most of the hand pollinating. We have high hopes for this guy here, so far he is taping at 60 inches in circumference and according to the chart an estimated weight so far of 73 pounds. Growing at about 3 inches per day. Hopefully the picture came through okay. Happy growing everyone!


Oh my, that is huge! Congrats and good luck! 

Make sure to show us how it ends up!


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## TrickRTreater (Mar 24, 2011)

My leaves are dying. Turning yellow, sagging, rotting. The vines are fine, and I'm getting very healthy looking male and female buds, but the leaves are dying.

Don't know why.


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## tamster (Jul 27, 2009)

Julianne said:


> http://i744.photobucket.com/albums/xx87/Pumpkinbabe/2011/P7311269.jpg
> 
> Unfortunately, due to the recent passing of my brother I haven't been able to get into the pumpkin patch much this season, my other half has been handling the load and doing most of the hand pollinating. We have high hopes for this guy here, so far he is taping at 60 inches in circumference and according to the chart an estimated weight so far of 73 pounds. Growing at about 3 inches per day. Hopefully the picture came through okay. Happy growing everyone!



so tell us how you feed it..


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## Shadowbat (Sep 27, 2009)

TrickRTreater said:


> My leaves are dying. Turning yellow, sagging, rotting. The vines are fine, and I'm getting very healthy looking male and female buds, but the leaves are dying.
> 
> Don't know why.



So are some of mine. Im trimming off the dead.


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## TrickRTreater (Mar 24, 2011)

Shadowbat said:


> So are some of mine. Im trimming off the dead.



Hmm, you think I should? Or should I just let them die off into the ground? Would it hurt the healthier leaves?


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## printersdevil (Sep 7, 2009)

Hey all you pumpklin growers and lovers. Check out this site and this delightful little story of The Christmas Pumpkin. It was written by a friend of mine. It is such a cool and motivational story.

http://www.facebook.com/TheChristmasPumpkin


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## Julianne (Jun 16, 2009)

joosa- Thank you! I am hoping to drop by this thread more often now and post more pics on the pumpkin progress.

tamster- We feed our pumpkins alot of Miracle- Gro, also Neptunes Harvest Fish Fertilizer. We mix it up by the gallons and do a foliar spray as well as watering the ground. This spring we also put several truckloads of manure into the patch. We do alot of reading up on growing giant pumpkins and also visit a nice website called Bigpumpkins.com where you can browse through the grower diaries there.


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## Frankie's Girl (Aug 27, 2007)

I'm debating about giving up and ripping out the vines. 

It's under 100 days until Halloween now, plenty of female flowers with impressive baby pumpkins have formed over the last several weeks, but NONE of them take. I do the hand pollination and they just rot off. Lately the even the female stamens are looking rotted just as the flower opens. I've treated for calcium deficiency, but it doesn't seem to matter.

I've been battling aphids and lost quite a bit of leaves at the base of the original vine growth, sprayed and mulched and watered, and while the main vine lengths look great - probably 30 feet worth - I'm thinking I'm not going to get this figured out in time to get actual pumpkins this year.

Any suggestions? Should I give up and try again next year?


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## joossa (Sep 4, 2010)

Frankie's Girl said:


> I'm debating about giving up and ripping out the vines.
> 
> It's under 100 days until Halloween now, plenty of female flowers with impressive baby pumpkins have formed over the last several weeks, but NONE of them take. I do the hand pollination and they just rot off. Lately the even the female stamens are looking rotted just as the flower opens. I've treated for calcium deficiency, but it doesn't seem to matter.
> 
> ...


So sorry to hear! I'm not sure if my situation is similar to yours, but my female flowers were dying off too as the heat was always around 100F. We got a very nice cold-spell and the daily high temps dropped into the 80's for several days. During this time I hand pollinated every flower I could and each one of those produced fruit. 

Now that the high temps are near 100F again the female flowers are dying again. However, the fruits that took during the cold spell are healthy and continuing to grow.

Best of luck!


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## EvilMel (Dec 6, 2007)

Anybody got any orange ones yet? I think I have two pie pumpkins that have gone orange and it makes me very happy! I accidentally ran over one of the pumpkins that was going to be a Jack-O-Lantern size with my lawn mower and broke the stem off the vine. Man, I was SO mad. But three's a bunch of smaller ones on there so I'm trying to be ok about it.

edit:


Julianne said:


> http://i744.photobucket.com/albums/xx87/Pumpkinbabe/2011/P7311269.jpg
> 
> Unfortunately, due to the recent passing of my brother I haven't been able to get into the pumpkin patch much this season, my other half has been handling the load and doing most of the hand pollinating. We have high hopes for this guy here, so far he is taping at 60 inches in circumference and according to the chart an estimated weight so far of 73 pounds. Growing at about 3 inches per day. Hopefully the picture came through okay. Happy growing everyone!


HOLY crud. That's awesome. Sorry to hear about your brother though. I think you could teach us all a thing or two about pumpkin growing.


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## Julianne (Jun 16, 2009)

Last year at this time our jack o lantern pumpkins had turned orange, not this year though. We were given some Lumina pumpkin seeds from a neighbor this spring, had a bit of space to spare so we stuck them in the ground, haven't seen many pumpkins on the plant yet. 
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that our big guy keeps on growing with no problems, last year we had to deal with some stem split issues. Keeping my fingers crossed we'll beat last years weight of 377 pounds.


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## Hoopah1972 (Jul 4, 2011)

I planted my first patch this year, I did them in mid June I believe, maybe a tad late. They have been growing pretty well, but I still havent seen one female flower yet, its kinda irritating me. Ill take some pics today and maybe someone with more knowledge can help. 8)

--Tony


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## Guest (Aug 2, 2011)

I have 2 orange pumpkins. I have a few "Lumina" white ones, and they are doing ok.

I truthfully think temps of over 100 degrees every day is hurting alot of people.

Last night at 11 pm, it was still 85 degrees here. Over 100 everyday. 

Marigolds, flowers I believe are very hardy in heat, are doing horrible too!

I'll take what I can get at this point. Maybe next summer we won't feel as if we are living on the surface of the Sun! Thank goodness Fall is on its way!

I put tons of crushed eggshells around my pumpkin hills, and it seemed to help them pollinate and live and not rot. They say the calcium leaches into the soil and it is good for pumpkins.


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## UnOrthodOx (Apr 24, 2007)

Frankie's Girl said:


> I'm debating about giving up and ripping out the vines.
> 
> It's under 100 days until Halloween now, plenty of female flowers with impressive baby pumpkins have formed over the last several weeks, but NONE of them take. I do the hand pollination and they just rot off. Lately the even the female stamens are looking rotted just as the flower opens. I've treated for calcium deficiency, but it doesn't seem to matter.
> 
> ...


Well, I don't have a pumpkin yet, either, but am still going to give it a try. If I carve green pumpkins, I carve green pumpkins...


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## Shadowbat (Sep 27, 2009)

Dont give up. Believe me, even after what I went through last year I never gave up and still ended up with 5 small/medium pumpkins. Theres still 3 months till Halloween.


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## RCIAG (Jul 19, 2010)

I am afraid the stink bugs may have gotten mine. But I've got a boatload of watermelons, honeydew & kiwano horned melons.


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## sweetdiggity (Jul 19, 2011)

As annoying and frustrating as it can be, I also say do not give up. Last year my pumpkins kept rotting off the vine or were torn off by animals. Grr. 
The year before they were infested with Squash Vine borers and I had to slit every stem open, dig them out, tie the stem shut and bury them, hoping the plant would live. 

Amazingly, they did and I got some pumpkins! 

My plants were essentially ravaged and I had no hope but I just cannot quit (it's not in my blood, LOL) so I tried and it was worth it. 

Keep taking care of your plants. Even if you end up with a pumpkin or two, it'll be worth it. 
Good luck!


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## ShaoGhoul (Jun 5, 2011)

Sorry in advance, I can only seem to access this site with the ipad

An update...

I have two jacko plants that are quite large and two sugar pumpkin plants. The only.jacko I did not transplant or replant is the largest...lol I was worried about our soil...it doesnt absorb water well at all...but the plants are making due

I have one green pumpkin that is several inches around and four smaller fruits on the jacko plant. Ive not been pollinating by hand as the bees seem to be xoing their jobs and are all over the flowers. Thus far I was wTering every other day and have just begun miraclegrow. Will probably up the water now

Fingers crossed no invaders...i think the resident ant population is guarding them quite well

No female sugar pumpkin blooms yet

The indian corn is doing well also

To e ve ryone experiencing trouble...NO GIVING UP


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## RCIAG (Jul 19, 2010)

Meh, I don't care if the pumpkins live or die. I don't carve real ones anymore, they end up being squirrel food anyway, the kind we planted weren't the eating kind, & when it's 100° for weeks on end there's very little hope for anything in our garden no matter how much you water or don't water, so I'm not too upset.

If the watermelons mature enough to be eaten, I'll be happy, the rest of everything can rot til next year.

I'm sorta over the whole garden thing for a while. We've been doing it 7 years straight & the last 3 have been bummers with the drought & heat. I was hoping to skip this year & plant a cover crop to till under for nutrients, but the hubby went ahead & got plants anyway so really, it's his baby this year. Since it is HIS baby & he's not as diligent about taking care of it as I was, we've gotten 6 tomatos & 2 green peppers.

Thank goodness we don't have children cause if it were up to just him they'd shrivel on the vine, so to speak!!


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## Shadowbat (Sep 27, 2009)

EvilMel said:


> Anybody got any orange ones yet? .




Yep.


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## tamster (Jul 27, 2009)

here are some of mine so far, the heat the past few weeks were a killer to the plants. I have no idea how I got a white pumpkin the only one surviving, the other one rotted.


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## TrickRTreater (Mar 24, 2011)

Talked to a nursery owner today about my yellowing, dying leaves and he said that all they need is water in the morning and some new plant food/fertilizer.

Here's hoping eh?


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## Hoopah1972 (Jul 4, 2011)

*My first shot at pumpkins, need advice*

Hello all, as I mentioned in the other thread, this is my first year at growing pumpkins. I knew little about growing anything when I took this task on and have learned a bit about it by reading. Anyways, I have 6 plants, I posted these pictures of three of them that were planted in mid June I think. They look pretty good and healthy to me I think, but I still havent seen 1 female flower at all yet. Should I be expecting them soon? Thanks.

--Tony


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## RCIAG (Jul 19, 2010)

There's a whole thread of pumpkin growers here:

http://www.halloweenforum.com/general-halloween/103662-2011-pumpkin-patch-thread.html

And when all else fails, call your local garden center or extension agent in your area, they're more than happy to share their years of experience.


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## EvilMel (Dec 6, 2007)

Awesome, guys!

TrickRTreater: I water mine every morning. I set it up with a sprinkler so that I just turn on the faucet while I'm getting ready for work and turn it off before I leave. It makes it really easy.


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## RCIAG (Jul 19, 2010)

EvilMel said:


> TrickRTreater: I water mine every morning. I set it up with a sprinkler so that I just turn on the faucet while I'm getting ready for work and turn it off before I leave. It makes it really easy.[/COLOR]


And that's how I've left the water on all day! 

I've also left it on overnight or most of the night. I'll wake up at 2AM & think "OHSH**!! I LEFT THE HOSE/SPRINKLER ON!!" 

Then I gotta get up & go turn it off.

If I don't take my cooking timer & set it I totally forget the water is on. Although with the heat we've been having lately, even leaving the water on overnight isn't always enough.


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## EvilMel (Dec 6, 2007)

RCIAG said:


> And that's how I've left the water on all day!
> 
> I've also left it on overnight or most of the night. I'll wake up at 2AM & think "OHSH**!! I LEFT THE HOSE/SPRINKLER ON!!"


Oh yeah...me too. I haven't done it this year because I made a large note that I put someplace I'll see it before I leave or go to bed (like I put it on my pillow or by my keys) that says TURN OFF WATER! However, I came home Sunday evening and my roommate was taking care of the plants for the first time...he was no where to be found and the sprinkler was on. He didn't even come home that night! I had a hard time being mad at him about it though since I did that about 4 times the last time I had a garden, before I started using this note.


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## Frankie's Girl (Aug 27, 2007)

So the plants are getting a temporary reprieve from the compost bin, but I still think I'm never going to see any of these mythical pumpkins... 

According to my research, if the temps stay in the upper 80s or above, the pumpkins will abort and never mature since the vines are in survival mode. My temps have been 100˚ and up. Even if I brought them ice water every hour, those suckers are never going to get into the low 80s. 

Makes me wonder how the heck our local pumpkin patch manages to grow their pumpkins. Doubt they'd tell me, since they like me buying lots of pumpkins from THEM.


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## UnOrthodOx (Apr 24, 2007)

Might be surprised, go ask a nursery.

IIRC it's soil temp that's important more than air temp. Maybe some kind of light shade?


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## Frankie's Girl (Aug 27, 2007)

Hoopah1972 said:


> Hello all, as I mentioned in the other thread, this is my first year at growing pumpkins. I knew little about growing anything when I took this task on and have learned a bit about it by reading. Anyways, I have 6 plants, I posted these pictures of three of them that were planted in mid June I think. They look pretty good and healthy to me I think, but I still havent seen 1 female flower at all yet. Should I be expecting them soon? Thanks.
> 
> --Tony


It took over a month for the female flowers to show up on my plants... usually they aren't too far behind the male flowers. The plants put out a whole lot of the males for a while to attract bees so they'll get established flight paths to the plants, so that by the time the female flowers start showing up, the bees will be making a "bee line" to them.


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## Shadowbat (Sep 27, 2009)

:::lifts head up from sobbing::

I went out today to check my pumpkins. The largest one has about 5 little holes in it where some critter decided to stop and have lunch. Plus, with all the 85 degree plus weather weve been having has finally started to take its toll.


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## sweetdiggity (Jul 19, 2011)

Sorry you guys are having issues with heat and critters. I had the same problems last year. Freaking critters ate almost every one of my pumpkins - didn't get one! And the few I thought were going to make it aborted. 

This year, I'm hoping for a better outcome. I *finally* have spotted some little pumpkins! 3 of them! 1 Big Max, 1 Jack-O and 1 Jack Be Little!
The flowers haven't even opened up yet but I can't wait until they do. I'm hoping they take and don't abort like last year. 

I have tight "security" around them and hope the animals leave them alone. I have demented squirrels around here that will steal jalapeno and bell peppers and chew them up, unfortunately they do the same to pumpkins. Grr!


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## Frankie's Girl (Aug 27, 2007)

Shadowbat said:


> :::lifts head up from sobbing::
> 
> I went out today to check my pumpkins. The largest one has about 5 little holes in it where some critter decided to stop and have lunch. Plus, with all the 85 degree plus weather weve been having has finally started to take its toll.




I am so sorry! Yours were doing soooo good, too.


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## halloween_sucks_in_the_uk (Sep 28, 2008)

Mine isn't doing so well, I found a baby pumpkin on the floor all shrivelled up. I think the birds had a party with it.


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## Shadowbat (Sep 27, 2009)

Frankie's Girl said:


> I am so sorry! Yours were doing soooo good, too.



Its this friggin heat and humidity. Last year we were hit with it early on. This year it was about a month later. Oh well, I still have fun with this so Ill take what I get.


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## EvilMel (Dec 6, 2007)

Thank you magic black cat wishing box for my small harvest. I'm am completely satisfied even if all of my other pumpkins get killed by the borers. Looks like it's pie time.


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## tamster (Jul 27, 2009)

nice pumpkin EvilMel


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## orecoin (Jul 17, 2011)

Pumpkins have emerge and are starting to grow quite well













This is the Jack-O-Lantern variety












3 Jacks growing on 1 plant

http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/7292/sam0456f.jpg





Connecticut Field variety














Grounds but I’m not sure what specific name its called















A Connecticut both long and round















You’ve met conjoined buds, well now meet siamese pumpkins















Jack-be-Little pumpkins growing an astonishing 10+ per plant
















Below is the fertilizer and insecticide I used which can purchased at Lowes
Both cost me a total of $11(4f+7i) which will last you for the entire growing season. Im about half way through and the only problem I’ve encountered were gophers eating the roots and stalk of my pumpkins. Luckily they can be revived if replanted during a 24hr time frame. A Mink/Ferret would come in handy but shame it’s outlawed in Cali.















And also my secret ingredient, take a guess what animal it comes from















Weightless, Odorless, Plentiful, and Easily Portable. Llama fertilizer!


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## TrickRTreater (Mar 24, 2011)

Well, it's official, my first foray into Pumpkin growing is nearly over. 

Now, not only are my leaves yellowing, rotting, and dying, but the base stems coming from the mounds are as well. Turning brown, drying out, and dying.

The vines, which looked super healthy, are turning yellow. Male and female buds are burning up, shriveling, and falling off.

***** this heat.


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## Hoopah1972 (Jul 4, 2011)

Im starting to think the store sold me gay pumpkin seeds. Plants been in the ground like 2.5 months and are growing fine, but still not ONE female flower.


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## Julianne (Jun 16, 2009)

Here is a shot of our biggest atlantic giant, circumference measurement on the 7th was 79 inches for an estimated weight of 140 pounds. We have been keeping a record of this big guys growth for a few weeks now. According to my hubbys calculations last night it seems to be putting on around 10 pounds a day, small potatoes compared to the competition growers whose pumpkins pack on 25-30 pounds per day!


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## sweetdiggity (Jul 19, 2011)

Wow that is one big beauty of a pumpkin! Love it!
I checked my plants today and have 3 cute little pumpkins emerging. The other one I had is already shriveling up so I plucked it off the vine. I hope the others don't do that. I'm not too mad about this one as it wasn't even as big as an M&M. lol


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## RCIAG (Jul 19, 2010)

The stink bugs won. They got the squash & pumpkins.


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## RCIAG (Jul 19, 2010)

But, on the bright side, we've got a ton of sugar baby watermelons, honeydews & kiwano horned melons, none of which are ripe.

For those that don't know, this is a horned melon. Our neighbor gave us the plants & they're taking over! Never had one so I'll let you know what they're like. They are very green pointy right now.


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## EvilMel (Dec 6, 2007)

tamster said:


> nice pumpkin EvilMel


Thanks! I've got a smallish Jack-o-lantern out there and a bunch of babies too. I'm wicked excited.


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## sweetdiggity (Jul 19, 2011)

Checked my pumpkin patches this morning (I have a few in different spots, lol) and for the most part, they're doing great! I had to cut a vine of one open and dig out 2 squash vine borers that snuck past me and got in there. Ugh. It's looking a little weak now but still alive. The rest are growing like crazy and I've spotted a few more pumpkins. Still waiting on one to open its flower. 

After a disgustingly humid and hot summer, it's cooling down for the week. Sunny and in the 70s for at least the next 7 days. That should be good for the pumpkins!


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## UnOrthodOx (Apr 24, 2007)

RCIAG said:


> But, on the bright side, we've got a ton of sugar baby watermelons, honeydews & kiwano horned melons, none of which are ripe.
> 
> For those that don't know, this is a horned melon. Our neighbor gave us the plants & they're taking over! Never had one so I'll let you know what they're like. They are very green pointy right now.


I think I'm swelling up just looking at the pic. (highly allergic to melons..)

Those are pretty cool, however. Bet they'd be fun to carve as well. 

My wife tells me we now have 2 pumpkins, but I won't be home for another week. Hope they don't rot in the heat.


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## Catatonic (Sep 10, 2006)

*Got the "Patch" but no pumpkins....*

Well, I waited FAR TOO LONG to get my plants in the ground and sadly I doubt that I'll have pumpkins in time for Halloween this year. But wait!! Theres a silver lining. My husband and I have made it offical... I will be an repeat offender as of next year. No more waiting until the last minute and then trying to find a spot. I'm the very very happy owner of my very own "pumpkin patch". Hubby helped me build a really cute (and interesting) fence....... Sooo... here she is. Comments are welcome.  Thanks for lookin and keep your fingers crossed for me that those little plants (photo is from a week or so ago) will produce some Halloween Pumpkins for me.


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## Julianne (Jun 16, 2009)

I'll keep my fingers crossed that you'll have pumpkins Catatonic, also I think your fence is very unique and cool looking!  
Good Luck!


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## RCIAG (Jul 19, 2010)

UnOrthodOx said:


> I think I'm swelling up just looking at the pic. (highly allergic to melons..)
> 
> Those are pretty cool, however. Bet they'd be fun to carve as well.


Wow, I don't know what I'd do with a melon allergy since I really love 'em!! 

Unfortunately I don't think they're carvable (is that a real word?). They're sorta orange-like inside. They are cactus-like in their points too. I wanna get by the international market & see if they have them ripe to see what I've gotten into.

I had to google to learn how to eat them!



> When picked green and allowed to ripen, the fruit tastes like a mix of cucumber and kiwifruit. When it's picked fully ripe, it has a banana-like taste.


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## Frankie's Girl (Aug 27, 2007)

Catatonic - that fence is sooo cute!


My plants are living on borrowed time now. Was going to rip them out this past weekend, but didn't get around to it. There is NO way I'll get a pumpkin at this point. Temps are above 100˚ and still in drought conditions (about to go mandatory water conservation, right now it's voluntary). So this year was a bust. 

But I think I learned from this, so NEXT year might be the year.


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## Shadowbat (Sep 27, 2009)

I have 3 sugar pumpkin growing on the one vine. 1 medium sized carving pumpkin that I pulled from the compost bin and 2 little ones growing in the patch itself. The 2 weeks of hot, humid weather just killed my patch.


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## UnOrthodOx (Apr 24, 2007)

Well, returned from 5 weeks away to find at LEAST 10 on my own vines. Hoping my uncles field is doing well. 

We'll see if they get ripe in time, or I carve green...

It's dark or I'd post pics. Hopefully tomorrow.


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## UnOrthodOx (Apr 24, 2007)

RCIAG said:


> Wow, I don't know what I'd do with a melon allergy since I really love 'em!!
> 
> Unfortunately I don't think they're carvable (is that a real word?). They're sorta orange-like inside. They are cactus-like in their points too. I wanna get by the international market & see if they have them ripe to see what I've gotten into.
> 
> I had to google to learn how to eat them!



I've carved lots of odd things. 

I swelled up to a watermelon at age 8 or so. They weren't SURE it was a melon allergy or not at the time, since I also came down with Rhumatic fever shortly after. But, we avoided it to be safe. 

I confirmed it last year when I carved a Santa Claus melon and my hands turned into balloons...

Cantelopes and watermelons just make me itch a bit, though. (touching...never eating..)
I was old enough to recall Watermelons were my favorite fruit...


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## joossa (Sep 4, 2010)

Gourd that I had to harvest prematurely off the vine since the vine was dead:











A nice pumpkin coming along:


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## halloweeny78 (Aug 15, 2011)

Greetings all! Last year was my first foray into growing my own pumpkins. I have a small yard, thus I have a small, perhaps even tiny, pumpkin patch measuring only 6' x 8'. The good part is that the vines tend to grow across the lawn (and the fence, and the neighbours, and ...) which greatly reduces the amount of lawn I have to mow!

Last year we basically just plunked some seeds in the ground just to see what would happen. Things grew and we got a total of 6-8 pumpkins. We felt this wasn't bad for a couple of newbies (we being my wife and I) just learning about how to grow these glorious orange beasts. This year we started our seedlings indoors and planted them out late May/early June. Living in Ontario, Canada does restrict our growing season! Now that I think about it, we probably should have started our Atlantic Giants earlier than what was recommended to account for our season. Oh well, there's always next year!

Right now we have only 2 good sized pumpkins growing and 4-6 little "starters". It's been a crappy season with high heat and the accompanying water restrictions. I lost track of the number of days over 32 C (90 F), over 40+ C (100+ F)! For us, and our water-loving pumpkins, that's pretty darn hot! Rain through July and Aug has been minimal at best. Now if only I could remember how to do that rain dance ..........


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## sweetdiggity (Jul 19, 2011)

Keep tending to those beauties, halloweeny78! That's a good amount of pumpkins considering how unbearably hot this summer has been. Hope you have a great harvest! 

I've been checking my pumpkins like a crazy person every day (because I got screwed last year, didn't get any and am determined to get some this time, lol).

They're coming along nicely and I hope this continues. I have over 6 pumpkins on different plants with only 3 having been pollinated so far. 2 of the growing pumpkins are on one vine just 6 inches apart and I think one may be aborted soon. 
It's not growing lie the other one, it's kind of getting yellowish and I bet soon it'll shrivel. 

I know it happens but I hate that. lol

I have a Big Max that is doing great though. About the size of a baseball and doing well. 

Other than that, I have a lot of pumpkins almost ready to be pollinated. Hopefully the majority of them work out!


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## Shadowbat (Sep 27, 2009)

I have a total of 5 sugar pumpkins that are all doing very well. I have 3 triple treat pumpkins that will probably be small to medium sized.


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## tamster (Jul 27, 2009)

halloweeny78 said:


> Greetings all! Last year was my first foray into growing my own pumpkins. I have a small yard, thus I have a small, perhaps even tiny, pumpkin patch measuring only 6' x 8'. The good part is that the vines tend to grow across the lawn (and the fence, and the neighbours, and ...) which greatly reduces the amount of lawn I have to mow!
> 
> Last year we basically just plunked some seeds in the ground just to see what would happen. Things grew and we got a total of 6-8 pumpkins. We felt this wasn't bad for a couple of newbies (we being my wife and I) just learning about how to grow these glorious orange beasts. This year we started our seedlings indoors and planted them out late May/early June. Living in Ontario, Canada does restrict our growing season! Now that I think about it, we probably should have started our Atlantic Giants earlier than what was recommended to account for our season. Oh well, there's always next year!
> 
> Right now we have only 2 good sized pumpkins growing and 4-6 little "starters". It's been a crappy season with high heat and the accompanying water restrictions. I lost track of the number of days over 32 C (90 F), over 40+ C (100+ F)! For us, and our water-loving pumpkins, that's pretty darn hot! Rain through July and Aug has been minimal at best. Now if only I could remember how to do that rain dance ..........



ha haha I try to do that rain dance over here too, maybe it will rain more like it did in spring. I have a total of 14 pumpkins, lost a few due to those cucumber bugs earlier in growing stage....but I perserveered!!!


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## halloweeny78 (Aug 15, 2011)

I might have danced a wee bit too hard! We started off with a MASSIVE downpour this evening and have had a nice steady rain since. At one point I thought I was going to have to run out there and strap those little floaty kid's water wings to my pumpkins! Problem is I would have needed a canoe to get to them! A small canoe, yes, but still! Thank god (or?) for good drainage!


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## ShaoGhoul (Jun 5, 2011)

Out of the dozen or so plants I started out with, I now have four.  At tonight's check there are 4-5 sugar pumpkins plumping up, and about 4 of the standard jacko-lantern variety with three small babies (not counted as I may cut them off). An attack of mildew had me mighty concerned (I didn't know you're not supposed to get the leaves wet!)
So some parts of the biggest plant are not looking too good, but I have faith I'll get at least two to maturation. My largest pumpkin (bit bigger than a basket ball) is beginning to turn orange!

Things I will do differently next year...raised beds and a drip system!

I took some shots this evening.  Forgive my attempt at artistique, lmao





































A hint of orange...


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## UnOrthodOx (Apr 24, 2007)

So, what I come home to after 5 weeks.

First off, not pumpkins, and not really something most folks even consider...my Raven Grass...I'm getting a decent crop of it this year, which will help cut down how many loads of reed grass I need to bring in. 











All down the fence line.










My pumpkins, meanwhile have taken over the other side of the yard.










The largest so far, still just a little guy. 










Bunch of wee ones.










I'm not sure what kind of pumpkins these are, they are the volunteers from last year. Not used to yellow pumpkinlings...










I've taken a pin and marked the kids names in a couple, so they scar up with their name.


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## halloweeny78 (Aug 15, 2011)

That's a great idea UnOrthodOx. Don't know why I didn't think about the name carving. A whole flood of ideas just invaded my addled mind! I really like the Raven Grass. Nice touch.


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## UnOrthodOx (Apr 24, 2007)

The Raven grass was a real find. I harvest it for decoration. (in the background on the left) It's tall, nearly as sturdy as bamboo, and just has that look...










Last year was a terrible crop as I split everything. This year is going to be pretty good as the originals are back to full size, but the starts I made are still getting going. In a few years, hopefully I will be self-sufficient and not require going out for the reed grass.


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## UnOrthodOx (Apr 24, 2007)

The big one is getting warts! Hope it carries through to the seeds for next year....


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## Terra (Sep 23, 2007)

Was wiped out by vine borers._ <weeping...> 
_
I will rebuild next year... they will survive! There will be an armory of defenses for next year _(sprays, laser fences, Predator drones, XM-25 grenade launcher...)._


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## Hoopah1972 (Jul 4, 2011)

Maybe someone can help me. I got a bunch of vines that look really good, nice and green and long. Tons of male flowers blooming big and bright, just recently started female flowers three weeks ago. Heres my issue. The female flowers show up with the little baby pumpkin behind then, but, the flower never opens at all. They all just end up drying up and falling off. I dont know what the problem is.

--Tony


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## halloweeny78 (Aug 15, 2011)

Oh no! That's so sad! I'm so sorry to hear that Terra! I do, however, like your upcoming line of defense. Just need to find a way to incorporate sharks with frickin' laser beams on their heads ....


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## Terra (Sep 23, 2007)

halloweeny78 said:


> Oh no! That's so sad! I'm so sorry to hear that Terra! I do, however, like your upcoming line of defense. Just need to find a way to incorporate sharks with frickin' laser beams on their heads ....


heheh... yeah, those are way better than mutated sea bass


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## sweetdiggity (Jul 19, 2011)

Hoopah1972 said:


> Maybe someone can help me. I got a bunch of vines that look really good, nice and green and long. Tons of male flowers blooming big and bright, just recently started female flowers three weeks ago. Heres my issue. The female flowers show up with the little baby pumpkin behind then, but, the flower never opens at all. They all just end up drying up and falling off. I dont know what the problem is.
> 
> --Tony


Sorry to hear that. Several of mine have done that as well. It's natural that not every pumpkin that shows up on a vine will live. What's your weather like? If it's super hot, that could be why. Make sure your plant is well watered. Or it could just be a natural selection type of thing. Sometimes a plant will "kill" off several pumpkins so others can live. Hopefully the ones that died will now make for a healthy pumpkin next time.


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## Hoopah1972 (Jul 4, 2011)

Weather here has been 70-80s for the most part. If something doesnt happen soon Im not gonna have any pumpkins at all, only two months until Halloween.


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## halloweeny78 (Aug 15, 2011)

The female flowers only open for a day, and in our neck of the woods, only a few hours at that! I usually check my pumpkins around 7:00 am - 8:00 am every day before work to get a good idea of what's going on. If the flowers don't get fertilized they will quickly close up and die off. You can increase your yield by manually pollinating the flowers using a q-tip to bring pollen from the male flower to the female. This will increase your yield, but you run the risk of not only having smaller pumpkins (only so much food to go around on a vine) but of weakening the vine all together. Allowing nature to take it's course helps with the natural selection and often makes for stronger vines, much as sweetdiggity suggested. There are numerous philosophies out there about how to grow the perfect pumpkin, but it really depends on what you're going (growing?) for, size, high yield, etc. Try to make sure you water well, preferably in the morning when they can soak up the most to help them with the day's coming heat. Really hot weather is rough on our delightful pumpkins so it takes extra care to make sure they get enough water to grow well. Think of them as big sponges, able to soak up surprising amounts of water, kind of like me when I've been working in the yard in a billion degree heat!

Me, I'm not too concerned with any particular quality (i.e. size, number), I'm just happy to have them growing at all! Having my own pumpkin patch with my own little (or big) beauties is enough to put a smile on my face. Maybe that's because this is only my second year at this, and down the road I may focus on some aspect, but for now .....
I've got one vine that grows over and through my fence and runs back and forth along the fence line, leaving a growing pumpkin hanging over the fence in my neighbour's yard. It's getting big enough to start pulling the vine down little by little, inching ever closer to the ground. In about a week/ week-and-a-half's time it's grown to about 3+ inches! At this rate I'm going to have to sneak into the neighbour's yard to build a platform to support the thing! I've noticed a plethora of female flowers these last two weeks, a little later than last year's. Hopefully they will produce in time!


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## Hoopah1972 (Jul 4, 2011)

Yes I understand the hand pollinating, but the problem is the female flowers dont ever open, they stay sealed up, so there is no way to pollinate them.


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## UnOrthodOx (Apr 24, 2007)

That's from the heat, mine are doing that now as well. 

Anyhow. 

From my earlier pin scarring.



















This is the one that started yellow...I'm baffled on this variety...  










Those are really the 3 worth speaking about. They are growing, and will definitely be carvable. A nice surprise for my kids, since all the scarring is hidden from normal sight. 

I'm hoping THIS little conjoined sucker gets big enough, however.


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## halloweeny78 (Aug 15, 2011)

I learn something new everyday! That's why I like this site, lots of helpful people! I don't really recall mine having the same problem with the heat, but it's probably just my sometimer's kicking in!

I love the idea of the pin scarring. It think your kids will be thrilled UnOrthodOx.


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## Shadowbat (Sep 27, 2009)

Found this little guy this evening while checking my one vine. I have 3 more on the opposite vine. One this size and 2 that are almost soccer ball sized.









These 3 I had to pull from the patch as their vines dried out and died.


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## UnOrthodOx (Apr 24, 2007)

AFAIK, it's GROUND TEMPERATURE that matters for the pumpkin plants, not ambient temperature. This is a fact for germination, and I'm guessing it is probably true for the whole growing season. They don't germinate till the ground hits 60 degrees, I'm guessing they stop the female flowers at somewhere around 80 degrees or so. That's why it's key to plant early. 

Might be lack of water too, though. They can guzzle ludicrous amounts of water.


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## RCIAG (Jul 19, 2010)

Well, we got our first kiwano melon & it was actually pretty good!

The insides are sorta cucumber-like, it has that same texture with the edible seeds & all but it had a much fresher, almost lemony flavour. Different but enjoyable.


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## zacharybinx (Apr 28, 2009)

*Pumpkin Tree*

Kins are doing fine, one of them is bugger than a beach ball. It's huge then a bunch of little ones...
























but then I realized there was something in the tree by the patch. Upon closer inspection I realized one of the vines grew up into the tree and a pumpkin sprouted up there (it's the tree in the pic above and the tree on the left frame:


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## ShaoGhoul (Jun 5, 2011)

I harvested one of the pumpkins today...my third largest but actually the eldest and most mature. It hasn't been growing any and there were ants all over it this afternoon, so I chopped 'er off. Heavy though! Gotta find a place to keep it until October rolls around.
Figured this way the plant can concentrate on the rest of the fruit, some of which are quite large but haven't coloured up yet. At this stage I've been diligently amputating newly arrived baby gourds and female flowers as well.










It's kind of a freak in that is absorbed most of the vine it grew upon but still possesses said vine's foliage, haha.


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## joossa (Sep 4, 2010)

Excellent, guys! 

The vines that were supposed to yield my larger pumpkins didn't make it because of the heat, unfortunately. However, I go have some sugar pumpkins, squash, and tons of decorative gourds still coming along!


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## Shadowbat (Sep 27, 2009)

great crop guys. I already pulled 4 from the vine and still have one on.


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## Trinity1 (Sep 5, 2009)

Lookin good everyone!! We had a couple of vines pop up this year. I'm guessing from seeds that the squirrels dropped. At the end of the season we always sit our pumpkins along the fence in the side yard and the squirrels go to town! 

So I wasn't suprised to see the vines...but unfortunately we haven't gotten any pumpkins  I am the proud owner of a vine that is overtaking my yard though


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## Julianne (Jun 16, 2009)

Been a while since I've posted a pic so I hope it comes through okay.
This is one of our giant pumpkins grown from our own seed from last year out of our 377 pound pumpkin 'Brutus'.  This one is taping at 109 inches in circumference for an estimated weight of 314 pounds, I'm hoping it will go heavier but we shall see come weighoff day on the 25th. Unfortunately it developed several stem splits as you see and it has begun pulling from the vine, if it breaks off entirely we will move up the weighing date sooner. Will post another pic with the correct weights. It hasn't been a real great growing year, and we had alot of damage done to our gardens and patch from Hurricane Irene, thankfully the pumpkins were unharmed.


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## halloweeny78 (Aug 15, 2011)

ShaoGhoul: That is one freaky pumpkin! I love it! I've never seen one do that before!

Julianne: That's an enormous pumpkin! Can't wait for the final weigh in. Hope it grows well for you!
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Had to pick a couple of small pumpkins the other day, the vine started to wither away. They're small but oh so pretty little pumpkins. I'd post some pics if I could get my camera working. I've got 4 or 5 others still growing, but it looks like many of the vines are starting to fade. None of them are too large, but they're all still green. There is one odd ball though. I'll try and post a pic of it as well. It started life more spherical than anything, and it started out yellow! I'm curious to see how it turns out!


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## halloween_sucks_in_the_uk (Sep 28, 2008)

I don't think mines doing well..lol it's about the size of a small melon and green. It's my first attempt at growing one, we had a really crappy summer too. Oh well maybe next years will be better.


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## Vai (Sep 26, 2006)

Finally got my first baby pumpkin starting to grow, talk about cutting it close! There are many more female flowers on the way too. How long does it normally take for a baby pumpkin to grow to a fully mature size? Spring has just started over here so things are definately taking off. I hope I get at least one pumpkin in time.


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## UnOrthodOx (Apr 24, 2007)

Ah crap, we got mildew...


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## UnOrthodOx (Apr 24, 2007)

Vai said:


> Finally got my first baby pumpkin starting to grow, talk about cutting it close! There are many more female flowers on the way too. How long does it normally take for a baby pumpkin to grow to a fully mature size? Spring has just started over here so things are definately taking off. I hope I get at least one pumpkin in time.


90-120 days is normal, but can be dependent on species.


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## Vai (Sep 26, 2006)

Yikes I thought it took that long from seed, about 110 days. Looks like I'm going to have to fork over $25 a pumpkin again, ugh. Mine got powdery mildew also, I hit it with a fungicide and it doesn't seem to have spread.


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## Muffy (Sep 25, 2006)

I'm so sad....the heat killed all my pumpkins & ghourds! Boo Hoo!


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## UnOrthodOx (Apr 24, 2007)

Well, I have 3 confirmed carvers, 2 small ones, and 10 possible might get ripe, or get carved green. 

Also got a call from my uncle today. He's got 60+ for me. We'll try to get a pic of the field.


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## Shadowbat (Sep 27, 2009)

Ours are pretty much done. I have one more sugar pumpkin that still needs to ripen.


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## Vai (Sep 26, 2006)

All mine keep dying, plenty of new ones, but they never make it. Can't figure out why, temps are perfect.


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## EvilMel (Dec 6, 2007)

I have one that is carve-able and three that are pie-able (had 5 but I cooked two of them and made pies already! Yum!).


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## UnOrthodOx (Apr 24, 2007)

time to go pick up from my Uncle's place...


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## joossa (Sep 4, 2010)

Amazing, UnOrthodOx!!!! Unfortunately, I did not get any large pumpkins. =(

I finished harvesting the last of the gourds today. Here is the entire harvest:










And here are some of mine along with others that I got at our local pumpkin patch. I have definitely gained a great appreciation for gourds!


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## GhostTown (Jul 6, 2011)

I'm so jealous of you all. I'm going to jump into this one way or another next year.


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## Vai (Sep 26, 2006)

To harvest or not to harvest!
Unfortunately I didn't realize my pumpkins werent getting pollinated and so I ended up hand pollinating...a bit too late in the game. So now I have 4 pumpkins growing but none of them are orange yet. I'm not sure weather to cut them off at the end of today or leave them growing. Obviously I dont really have much use for them after Halloween since thats what I grew them for but it would be nice to see them turn orange and maybe carve them for some post Halloween fun....on the other hand... the more pumpkins on Halloween the better right?

Here they are as of yesterday.


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## suzika (Jul 26, 2010)

Carve them! They must fulfill their Halloween Destiny! (there are some thanksgiving patterns out there, though, as well.)
)


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