Giant pumpkins are in the ground!!!!

[pickeringchris]

Hey guys!
This is my 3 year growing giant pumpkins for competition. Just thought I'd share some pic of my patches.
I have expanded a little this year to allow for a couple more plants. In previous years I grew 4 plants, 900sq' each. This year I am doing 6 on 750sq' each. I have 2 patches. 30x110' and 30x70'. These monster fruit have a high failure rate so growing 6 will give me a better shot at getting a few to the scale.
I'm also doing longs gourds this year. That's what the huge trellis is for. They are like a zucchini. Only longer, much longer. The world record is 136".

Cheers.

 

[sixdogs]

This should be a great thread.

 

[pickeringchris]

So let me give you guys a quick tutorial.

We need about 5 months from seed to harvest so I plant out around may 5th in heated mini greenhouses. Seeds are started indoors 9-10 days earlier.
By the end of may, the plants will have out grown the greenhouses and really start to take off. By the end of june the plants will be around 500sq'. This is the ideal pollination time. We pollinate 1 fruit per plant on the main vine and pinch all other females off. By August the plant will completely fill out the plot and we terminate the vines. All we do at this point is keep the plant healthy and fed.

 

[teg]

Great thread... How about insect or disease problems? Do you have to worry about them?


.

 

[randy41]

where do you grow these chris? is there prize money?

 

[pickeringchris]

I grow these at our house just outside of Toronto. Got sucked in by the vortex a couple years ago and it's been a crazy hobby. I have spent a small fortune. People thought I was a little nuts for buying my Kioti CK27 for such a small property (1/2 acre) but we bring in a crazy amount or material each year and the tractor has been a huge time saver.
There are weighoffs in Canada and the US and first place prize money ranges anywhere from 1000 to 10000. My best placing is a 4th so far. Not big money but it is a learning experience and each year my soil and technique gets better. My weights get better. I have done pretty well so far. Over 1000lbs in my first 2 years and last year a lost a monster to a split in August. It had the potential for 1400-1500 lbs.
Insects and other organisms (fungus) are a major problem. So are mice and raccoons. We stick to a spray program to combat insects and disease.
Each pumpkin gets a half dozen mouse traps around it and I reload daily. Caught 13 mice last year and suffered major racoon damage. The racoons won't be a problem this year.

 

[TCJatko]

Doe you use just regular Dill's Atlantic Giant seeds or do you go all-in and buy seeds from recordholders? I think last year's world record came from a schoolteacher in Ohio with a weight of 1750 or so pounds.:thumbsup:

 

[pickeringchris]

Doe you use just regular Dill's Atlantic Giant seeds or do you go all-in and buy seeds from recordholders? I think last year's world record came from a schoolteacher in Ohio with a weight of 1750 or so pounds.:thumbsup:

You are a couple years behind.
Kristy Harp grew the 2009 world record 1725 lbs which was broken by Chris Stevens from WI with a 1810 in 2010. In 2011 we got the world record back in Canada. 1818 from Jim Bryson in Quebec. We now hold the squash and pumpkin world records.
The pumpkin growing community is a close one. We all know eachother either by email or in person by the various events and seminars. So we trade seeds, or buy seeds at auction. Auctions are done to raise money for weigh offs. I am growing my own seed line as well as 5 of the worlds top seeds. I have seeds from the 07, 09 and 11 world record pumpkin in the ground now.

 

[k0ua]

Um Chris you are going to need to swap the CK27 off for a DK40 to lift that 1800 pounder

James K0UA

 

[Thomas]

Interesting,hope you'll share monthly.