From

Location

Message

Date Posted

Ct

Hello from the Southern New England state of Connecticut. I am a new grower of Giant Pumpkins in my first year attempting to grow these. I have been interested in them for several years now and my boyfriend actually retrieved seeds from a local grower for me, for Christmas. We had had a busy spring this year. Due to the late snowfall, very cold and wet spring; we didn't start patch prep until mid april. The patch is located in an old farm field with great soil. I live on a farm with horses and cattle so I have a great supply of well-composted manure. We've spent two weeks tilling in compost and getting everything ready to go. I have been collecting large bags of coffee grounds from my workplace all winter and those were added directly into the field while tilling. Should give an extra boost of nitrogen and attract plenty of worms. We also spent one weekend making hoop houses for the plants. We still have cold nights here and are under the threat of killing frost so I need the protection at night. I Started my seeds on the 1st of May after I was sure that the patch was ready to go. I realize that I am pretty far behind everyone in my area at this point; but I am a first time grower and I'm not going to get up in arms about it. I'll be happy if I get a pumpking out of this! I made my patch plenty big enough for 2 plants so I started 3 seeds in hopes that at least 2 would survive. I got lucky and successfully germinated all 3 seeds. The seed from the best genetics is the most rigourous so far. They been in the house for the past 7 days with exposure to the outdoors for a few hours everyday. The most rigourous plant already has a well established true leaf while the other 2 are just starting to show true leafs. I am hoping to put the plants in the patch this coming weekend. I have made room in the patch and I am going to attempt to grow all 3 of them. If one dies;

5/13/2013 12:23:28 PM

Little-TON, Colorado

Good luck and welcome to the craZiness....

5/13/2013 1:16:55 PM

Williamsburg,KY

Great! Welcome. Sounds like you are on your way. Do the best you can, be patient and look at all the posts by Pap.

5/13/2013 2:24:24 PM

Germany

Welcome to the mad world of mad berries :-)

Your description of your start sounds like my first year (no patch prep the year before, I started with plowing the meadow in April, added a load of fresh cow manure, started seeds April 22nd, roto-tilled the patch April 30th, got plants into the patch first week of May)...had about 270 sqft available per plant and grew a 500-pounder my first year). With your seeds started on May 1st you are only one week later than I had been, but I suspect your summer won´t bring about such cold nights as my pumpkins had to deal with every summer...hence, you started your seeds just about the right time. An earlier start is tricky, most people need to use hoop houses and heaters to protect the seedlings from the late frosty nights.
Even in your first year and with the prep you mentioned you can grow something you can´t carry off your patch, LOL. You just need to spend alot of time on the patch.
- Plant growth (how do you want to let the plants grow? X-mas tree style? Bury every leaf node? Make sure you remove all tertiaries before you bury the leaf nodes)
- Watering (1 inch of water per week for an average summer, you need to water the entire plant area, not just around the plant spot, the main roots can easily reach 15 ft into each direction, and every leaf node will push one or two additional tap roots into the patch)
- Fertilizing (too much is the worst you can do, especially in case of nitrogen. If you don´t know your soil right now, it´s not too late to get a soil test done...for pH, N, P, K, Mg, Ca, B...maybe Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn...and then you will know what you need to add)
- Protection (of stump and fruit...and maybe the leaves, if they need some shade)

5/13/2013 2:49:03 PM

Germany

That´s just a little set of key words, and you should read alot here on the message board and make your own list of key words and develop your strategies as to how you want to implement the new knowledge into your patch activities of the next weeks...your boyfried will curse himself for having given you some pumpkin seeds, you will probably spend much more time with the pumpkins than with your boyfriend, LOL (unless the two of you have a little competition on the same patch).

Have fun, and you will see that your list of key words will contain some bits and pieces of things for the next season even before the current season is over (bubbles? new soil test? etc. etc.).

5/13/2013 2:49:07 PM

Bristol R.I. USA

Farmgirl. It sounds like your doing pretty good keep it up.

5/13/2013 7:33:31 PM

Connecticut

hello farmgirl I am roger from fairfield,ct.you seem to be on your way to grow a good pumpkin.what town do you live in?good luck.

5/13/2013 8:23:53 PM

Bethlehem CT

Welcome to this site, It sounds like you have a good situation for growing these giants. Don't worry about your start date of May 1st. The CT state record grown by Ken D and it was started on the same date!
It is like running a marathon. I have been off to many good starts, but have had very few good finishes! LOL.

5/14/2013 7:24:43 AM

Ct

Hi all; I live right near UConn, Storrs campus. My plants are starting to look a little sad in the house. One of them is wilting but the truel eaf still looks good. I need to get them in the ground this week. Mine seem to be very sensitive to the outdoors. I've been slowly introducing them to the outdoors for an hour or two (started in the shade, then moved to sun) and by the time i bring them in; theyre pretty wilty looking and theyve been in the house for the past 2 days due to the cold. I knew they needed to be hardened off slowly but mine seem to very very sensitive to any time spent outdoors. After tonight Im going to stick them in the garage for the nights to start getting them used to a colder temp. By the end of the week I'm hoping they can successfully survive living on the back porch for the day and they can go in the patch this weekend!

When the seedlings go in the patch should they be kept shaded from the sun or is it ok to let them have extended exposure at that point? I dont want to kill them

My boyfriend has already stated that he is starting to learn the value of jewelery after the start of this adventure ;)

5/14/2013 9:27:59 AM

Preston CT

http://www.team-pumpkin.org/

5/14/2013 11:59:35 AM

Ct

i lost 2 of my seedlings to seed corn maggots. UGH! very frustrated but I know this is a learning experience. My third, most rigourous plant out of the three is still holding on. It has lost both of it's seedling leaves to wilt but it's true leaves look very good. No yellowing or wilt to them. It has not grown much but it is still alive. I don't know if it will ever improve but if it's alive; that is all I care about at this point :). It's now late May and I started 2 new seeds at the first sign that I knew I was going to lose most of my seedlings. I have now invested in some insecticide and I am fully prepared for battle. I disposed of the infested seedlings and went to town on the areas where the new seedlings will eventually go. I also started the new seedlings on insecticide to hopefully avoid any early infestation of these bad critters. I'm now over a month behind but if i can get these new seeds to thrive and grow after a battle with corn maggots; i'll be thrilled.

5/24/2013 10:41:32 AM

Menomonie, WI (mail@gr8pumpkin.net)

The cots do dry out eventually

5/24/2013 1:52:09 PM

Massachusetts

where is matt?

5/24/2013 3:25:55 PM

Connecticut

farmgirl88 and I have been in contact and after hearing the description of the problem I sent some pictures of corn seed maggots yesterday. As of 9:22am today I got confirmation that these are the likely cause of the problem.

It seems there is always something coming across Team-Pumpkins forensic diagnosis center, some stay classified and others make prime time;-)

5/24/2013 9:59:00 PM

Ct

:) it's been great fun. My last plant is still alive in the patch, but still not growing. It's been 3 weeks since the initial maggot infestation of them and it still looks the same. Stem looks good, true leaves look good still. I am considering just pulling it up. My 2 new seedlings have popped up in the last 2 days. I treated the seeds and the started soil with Sevin prior to starting them. First seedling looked great, 3 hours later: tiny holes in the leaves and "sawdust" in appearance on the leaves. I went to work with the insecticide and watered the plant down with it. No further damage so far and it still looks really good. Fingers are crossed. The other seedling just popped up today and was treated immediately with Sevin. I hope both continue to look good in the coming days. The battle with these insects is raging :) If these two seedlings do not make it; I am going to cease my giant pumpkin attempt for this year and plant a regular garden and some regular pumpkins...and then start over next year.

5/28/2013 9:55:26 AM

Germany

It isn´t too late to start, even if you have to start a seed next week, it can still grow a big pumpkin for you (from a pollination around let´s say last week July, first week August), because the pumpkins add about half their final weight within the first 40-45 days after pollination. Also, this plant will teach you many many things, and then you will be prepared for the 2014 season. If you just skip the 2013 season, you force yourself to wait for the 2014 season to perform some of the initial mistakes which might be so essential in the process of learning. Stay positive!

5/28/2013 10:19:52 AM

Centennial, Co.

Welcome farmgirl....this is only my 3rd season, and I can tell you that if you continue talking with these experienced folks, you will gain such knowledge and learn to be your own teacher by your own experiences. Also remember that different parts of the country have different challenges, so if you can "partner-up" with a grower in your area, all the better. Good luck, and keep up informed!

6/6/2013 2:55:51 PM

Ct

thanks everyone. Im still trying! 2 plants looks very good but still small for this time of year. If they're still alive; I'm happy :). Third plant is very small but looks good otherwise. I think that one is lacking sunlight exposure.

6/18/2013 9:06:58 AM