Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 28 Entries. Tuesday, March 18 View Page Getting the plot ready for my third year of giant pumpkin growing. I will try to beat my last year’s weight of 1161 lbs which was grown from a 665 Cook seed. Working with a 500 sqft urban front yard limits my growth area but I will maximize growth by adding a greenhouse to get an earlier start and to keep the heat units up during our cooler summer nights here on the northern Pacific coast.   Thursday, March 20 View Page That’s not snow in Vancouver - it’s Vermiculite!! It’s the white stuff in potting soil and when tilled into to the soil it makes it light and fluffy and easy for roots to grow.   Sunday, April 6 View Page Thanks to Pumpkin Dave for calculating all the amendments needed according to the Langley formula and also for helping to source all these “ferts”. Added a dusting of Azos and Mycos to the patch to get the all the “bios” inoculated too.   Sunday, April 6 View Page Used a grass seed spreader to spread out all the amendments. Will rototill in everything.   Sunday, April 6 View Page Heating cables being installed close to the transplant area - rows 3 inches apart. On the right shelf is ceramic heater and a rotating fan, on the left shelf is another rotating fan and a dehumidifier as it gets very wet when grow tent is all sealed up and this stops the condensation drips. Soil will be piled back over top of the coils to a depth of 4 inches and a mound created for the transplant site.   Monday, April 7 View Page All 3 seeds germinated and put into 1 gallon pots with mixture of Promix, Mycos, Azos and Miracle Grow. Growing 2 pumpkins this year as I opened up an area on the city boulevard that’s about 300 sqft. I will choose from the Barron 2144, the Chan 2252.5 or the Polay 1161 - have to see what comes up from the pots!   Friday, April 11 View Page Final rototill is done, heating coils are warming soil temperature around transplant site, heater set for 78F to keep nighttime temps decent. Small 10x20 ft greenhouse warms up very fast in the morning with any amount of sunshine. Final step will be to hang grow lights over transplant area to provide extra nighttime heat and a little extra boost. Transplant day is less than a week away - all three seeds are showing their first true leaf now.   Wednesday, April 16 View Page Since snowshoeing season is over now I have been using these modified “garden shoes” when I need to go in the greenhouse. They seem to really keep compaction of the tilled soil to a minimum. I did modify them by removing the metal grips on the bottom to prevent any damage to the irrigation system.   Friday, April 25 View Page Transplanted the Barron 2144 today. Fingers Crossed! 🤞   Sunday, April 27 View Page Pumpkin ICU is keeping the Barron 2144 warm at night and extending its daylight until 10 pm. I’ve started daily soaks with biologicals including liquid kelp, liquid Humic/Fulvic, dissolved aminos and a dash of a solution containing 5 Bacillus species. Seedling was rooted 3 days ago in a planting hole primed with a good dusting Mycorrhizae and Azospirillum. Plant has really enjoyed a very sunny and hot weekend.   Thursday, May 1 View Page The Barron 2144 is vining out nicely and with some new deep green vegetation growing since transplanting. I will have to start thinking about how I’m going to buy roots and start training. I like what the Patton is doing with vermiculite and pots - this seems clean and efficient.   Sunday, May 4 View Page Barron 2144 is vining out well with the new leaves being very green. Seems well rooted and growth has picked up in last 24 hours. I’ve noted some unusual growth near the stump and tips of flowers. Yellow splotches on very new and seemingly “extra” growth and also at tips of male flowers farther along the main. Everything farther out looks pretty normal but also pretty hairy. I am feeding with once daily drench properly diluted as per instructions with Bud Candy (sugars with fulvic/humic/seaweed extract), B52 (B vitamins with small amount of magnesium), liquid kelp, amino acids, affinity, a dash of Azos powder suspended and Bacillus (5 species in liquid microbial pro brand) and liquid Gold (a purified fulvic concentrate). Is there too much of a good thing?? Honestly these flowers are looking like cannabis buds. Maybe I need to stop sourcing my supplies at the cannabis grow shop. Is this normal?   Sunday, May 4 View Page Close up near stump   Sunday, May 4 View Page See the yellow spots and super hairy extra growth and yellow flower buds tips   Sunday, May 4 View Page Yellow tipped buds - very cool. See the two flowers one from each secondary growth node coming off the main near the growing tip. The previous pictures show how these grow into yellow speckled flower bud leaves with yellow tips. Anyone else see this in their Barron 2144?   Sunday, May 4 View Page Yellow tipped buds - very cool. See the two flowers one from each secondary growth node coming off the main near the growing tip. The previous pictures show how these grow into yellow speckled flower bud leaves with yellow tips. Anyone else see this in their Barron 2144?   Tuesday, May 6 View Page Planted the 2183 Mendi in my new plot. I ran out of space in the front yard in my 33 ft wide lot so I am growing this “back up” on the city boulevard. You’re allowed to grow things there other than boring grass. My plan is to run the main vine across the patch and set a pumpkin just beyond the tree where there is shade. Even with the ornamental flowering plum tree there is a decent amount of sun on this patch as it faces south without other shade. It’s about 10 feet wide and 33 ft long. Wish me luck as this could be the first boulevard giant pumpkin!   Tuesday, May 6 View Page Will have to work on this hoop house for the boulevard 2183 Mendi. It will do for now until I can improve the structure before the rain in a couple days. I’ll throw some tarps over at night to keep it warm inside.   Wednesday, May 7 View Page Has anyone seen sepal bud pedals like this before? They are huge compared to the forming buds and are yellow at tips with some splotching. All the flowers are affected. There are on my 2144 Barron. Plant itself seems to be vining out well and is 6 ft and secondaries are heading out now.   Wednesday, May 7 View Page Another view of bud   Wednesday, May 7 View Page Another view   Thursday, May 8 View Page Secondaries popping out all over now on the 2144   Thursday, May 8 View Page Secondary   Thursday, May 8 View Page Planted the 1161 Polay this morning. This was a seed from my winning entry at the British Columbia giant pumpkin weigh off in 2024. It was a beautifully coloured pumpkin and grown from an Howard Dill award winning seed from Ryan Cook in West Virginia. No hoop house or coils for this baby so I let this one grow out quite a bit before transplanting. Ran out of room in my front so I volunteered by gardening services to my wonderful neighbour. They wanted some pretty flowers and greenery in their front flower beds and this 1161 is certainly up to the job!!   Thursday, May 8 View Page 2144 - I think I see a pumpkin at the growing tip   Thursday, May 8 View Page A beautiful male flower, soon this guy will have to prove himself!   Saturday, May 10 View Page 2144 at a good clip now with about 13 secondaries coming, had to extend the grow tent as main vine was hitting the partition.   Saturday, May 10 View Page Buried my first roots today coming off the main vine where secondaries are shooting off. Soon the burying will take off exponentially. I’ve pre-primed the plot this year with a sprinkling of mycos and azos everywhere but will add a dash at each root bundle too.