Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 58 Entries. Tuesday, January 17 View Page My first time seeing this. The two main cots are fused together from the base to about 1/3 of the way down the cot and there is one more small cot.   Saturday, January 21 View Page Been getting seeds in from auctions for a while now. I should make the final decision on what to grow pretty soon.   Sunday, January 22 View Page Some good Mathiowetz and Vander Weilen seeds   Friday, January 27 View Page A couple nice Wallace seeds. I really like that 2009 x 2145 cross.   Monday, January 30 View Page 2 1985 Miller’s and a 1409 Miller. I think I might grow these for seeds this year since they are getting old and the viability is decreasing every year.   Tuesday, January 31 View Page Finally went through and sorted all of my seeds. It took an hour or two but I got all of my seeds plugged into a spreadsheet so I don’t have to dig through my freezer if I want to look for a seed. I also sorted them into labeled containers so I can find seeds quicker.   Friday, February 3 View Page My soil test came back. Looks like I’m going to need to do some amending to my soil before the plants go in.   Friday, February 3 View Page Other page of the soil test.   Monday, February 6 View Page Some awesome Urena genetics. I have 3 1911’s that I think I will grow this year. I also think the 1910 has some potential. I’m considering crossing it with something like the 2356 Mendi or 1989 Conway, leaning towards the 1989 Conway because it is half 2356 and has the 1747 Handy as the pollinator. I also will be growing two others, mostly for orange pumpkins. Thinking about the 1952 Kogut and the 1552 Young. Final decision should be made in early March.   Thursday, February 23 View Page Got my tomato seeds in.   Monday, February 27 View Page My Exotic Seed Exchange bubble came in today! A ton of seeds from a bunch of great growers. The seeds are not listed in any particular order other than a couple of the seeds that I was the most excited about are on the right side. Thanks Andrew for hosting this exchange!   Monday, March 20 View Page Started a seed germination test today. ~50 seeds and many different methods for starting. I will start checking for signs of life in a day and will record the results in my diary. I am testing for germination speed, root growth, and plant vigor.   Friday, March 24 View Page The results of the experiment are here. I started seeds in many different ways, all of which were supposed to do something to help with seed starting. After 72 hours, I didn’t notice a major difference between the soaked seeds, seeds soaked in water, and seeds soaked in kelp and humic acid. I did however notice a significant number of the sanded seeds having larger roots and being more developed than the I sanded ones. I also noted that the ones with cinnamon sprinkled on them had significantly less mold on them compared to the ones without cinnamon.   Friday, March 24 View Page One thing I found impressive was the fact that all of these damaged seeds germinated. I started 8 damaged seeds and 4 of them germinated. One of which was cut almost completely in half. Pretty interesting.   Saturday, March 25 View Page I forgot to post this but I transferred two of each seeds into the some pots. I tried to get seeds that are as similar as possible in size and root growth for best results. One of each has a WOW super starter pak about 2/3 of the way down to the bottom. By the time I start my competition seeds I should know what I will use.   Monday, March 27 View Page Seedlings are up. I probably need to leave the light on a little longer with my real plants because one got a little leggy(back right)   Saturday, April 15 View Page Seed Starting Day. I plan on having 3 main pumpkin plants. I have 2 1911’s, 2 1989’s, and a 2517/2102 pair. If neither go, I have the 1421 Wallace as a backup. I also have 3 good orange seeds to choose from for a HD pumpkin and I have the 1794 Cotterman for a 150 plant that I am using for a cross. Along with an assortment of Tomatoes for the 5 gallon challenge and team challenge, I have a squash, 3 melons, and a Bushel Gourd that may or may not go in the garden depending on available space and health of plants.   Saturday, April 15 View Page Seeds have soaked for an hour and are now in the germination stage. We should have roots in a couple days and they will go into pots from there.   Monday, April 17 View Page After 36 hours, both 1989.5 Conways, the 400est Kibbie, the 784.5 Radach, and the 998 Grubbs have germinated and are now in pots.   Tuesday, April 18 View Page After 48 hours, both 1144 Mace squash, one 1421 Wallace, the 1794 Cotterman, and one 1911 Urena germinated.   Tuesday, April 18 View Page Also had all 3 of my 7.95 Young and both of my 6.48 Young tomatoes germ today. At least one of the 7.95’s will go in the 5 gallon challenge.   Saturday, April 29 View Page First time seeing this. Two seedlings in one seed, both with one cot each, even more interesting is that they both have a first true leaf. I started two 1421’s and one germinated just a couple days after soaking but this one took a week to germinate. It then came up with one weak cot but I let it grow and today, two weeks after soaking, the second one started to poke up through the soil. I removed the seed coat and noticed that it was a new plant. Pretty interesting and I will definitely let it grow and see what it does.   Monday, May 15 View Page I have a lot of catching up to do on my diary so I’ll start here. This is most of the amendments laid out.   Monday, May 15 View Page Amendments tilled in and temporary shade cloth added   Monday, May 15 View Page 1911 Urena n the ground   Monday, May 15 View Page 1989.5 Conway double planted   Monday, May 15 View Page 1421est. Wallace. Backup plant for the 2517 Haist that broke off. It was a chilly morning while hardening them off and a wind gust came through, breaking off the 2517. I’m trying to save it and I’ll post pics of it next.   Monday, May 15 View Page 2517 broken stump. It was almost completely broken so I cut it and am attempting to root it as a last ditch effort to save it.   Monday, May 15 View Page I don’t have high hopes but this is my only hope. If anyone else has any ideas or has done this before, feel free to email me.   Monday, May 15 View Page 1144 Mace squash double planted   Monday, May 15 View Page 400est. Kibbie/Discount Ruby (2350 x self) should produce a nice orange   Monday, May 15 View Page 784.5 Radach. My other orange plant.   Monday, May 15 View Page 1794 Cotterman. 150 plant (roughly 8’x18’) also using this for a cross that I will talk about later.   Thursday, May 18 View Page Both of my 1989.5 Conway’s are my fastest plants so far.   Tuesday, May 30 View Page Haven’t updated for a while. Here are the 1989’s. By far growing the fastest out of all of the plants in the patch. Only problem is that secondaries are a little slow and the main is a little thin near the stump. I watered in a fertilizer mix with some nitrogen and some micros to encourage secondary growth as well as beneficial microbes.   Tuesday, May 30 View Page Only other problem in the patch is the 1911 Urena. I’m not exactly sure what is wrong but the leaves are a little discolored towards the tip but the bigger concern is the secondaries. The vine doesn’t look like it has any doubling but the secondaries are very large and the main seems to be bending more than normal at each node. I am holding the main in my hand in this picture and the last secondary is actually outgrowing it.   Tuesday, May 30 View Page The Merit I sprayed must still be working because this was on a leaf. I also found plenty of dead squash bugs on the ground.   Tuesday, May 30 View Page Full pic of the 1911   Tuesday, May 30 View Page 1421est Wallace. Plant looks alright and there is a pumpkin towards the tip that won’t get pollinated because the plant is way too small.   Tuesday, May 30 View Page 784.5 Radach. One of my plants without shade and it has some leaf damage on some earlier leaves but looks alright now.   Tuesday, May 30 View Page 400est Kibbie (Discount Ruby) Like most 2350 progeny, it has been very intolerant to the heat and the leaves have burnt easily. I think I might put some shade over this plant to help with it. Other than that, it’s a good plant.   Tuesday, May 30 View Page 2 x 1144 Mace squash. I was originally going to go with the right plant but it has a stump split so I’m leaning towards the one on the left which also happens to be the faster growing plant now.   Tuesday, May 30 View Page 1794 Cotterman (150 plant)   Saturday, June 17 View Page Pollenated my first female on my 150 plant today. I have one more female a few days down the vine that I might pollinate but as of now, this is the keeper. 1794 Cotterman x 1421est Wallace. I made this cross because of the genetic history of it having genetics from all of the top seeds from the past decade (2145 and 2009 in the 1794, 1885 and 2183 in the 1421) it probably won’t end up being all that great but it’s an interesting cross and I might grow it next year.   Saturday, June 17 View Page 784.5 Radach. Pretty decent plant for my standards. Finally got secondaries going on my plants so I should be pollinating the rest of my plants in the coming weeks.   Friday, July 21 View Page I haven’t updated my diary in a while so I’ve got a lot to cover. After a big hailstorm that destroyed all of my plant outside of my shade cloth and a vacation that ended up leaving me with more weeds than plant, we have a few nice fruit set. This is the 150 pumpkin that has a little hail damage and some weeds but otherwise is alright. It’s 233 pounds dap 34 and doing about 10-15 pounds per day. Pretty good by my standards.   Friday, July 21 View Page Some hailstones from the storm   Friday, July 21 View Page 1421est. Wallace, looks nice and the 1885 orange with white speckles is really coming through on this one. I did have a problem with the stem where it kinked and rotted out and I had to cut about half of the thickness of the main out. It did slow down but is still doing 8-10 pounds per day and I will at least get seeds out of it. I do like this cross because it has all of the best seeds from the past decade in its lineage. It has 1885 Werner, 2183 Mendi, 2145 McMullen, and 2009 Wallace in it. The 150 pumpkin is the reverse cross of this pumpkin.   Friday, July 21 View Page Picture of the stem and vine on the 1421. Pretty rough but it should hopefully have a bunch of good seeds at least.   Wednesday, August 23 View Page Well, it’s been one of those years. My 150 pumpkin and 1421 both blew their stems out with all the rain we had a couple weeks ago and just rotted out from the inside. I never could get a fruit set on the 1911, plant looks like it got diseased. 1989 has a couple volunteer porch pumpkins on it now and I have a couple descent tomatoes going but no record breakers. I did make some crosses I like this year, crossing the 1421 and 1794 but neither ended up being over 300 pounds. The 1421 was taping 250 and the 150 pumpkin (1794) was 280 taping 280. I got the plenty of seeds from each and might try one of them in the 150 patch next year but other than that, the year is about over for me. I’m still going to try to cross the 1989 and 2469 but it won’t get very big.   Wednesday, August 23 View Page BER has killed every single one of my bigger tomatoes this year. Hasn’t been a good year. I do have a monster mega going on my own 1.3 though which hasn’t had problems yet so fingers crossed it makes it to the scale.   Wednesday, August 23 View Page BER has killed every single one of my bigger tomatoes this year. Hasn’t been a good year. I do have a monster mega going on my own 1.3 though which hasn’t had problems yet so fingers crossed it makes it to the scale.   Wednesday, August 23 View Page The 5 gallon plants aren’t been great this year either. My dog ran into this one and accidentally harvested it. About 9 ounces on a single. Off the 8.48 Sutherland seed   Wednesday, August 23 View Page Bottom   Friday, September 1 View Page With how rough of a year it’s been, I decided to just let the tomatoes grow wild and picked this single off the 7.28 Young today only about 1.2 pounds but I’ll take it after this year.   Friday, September 1 View Page Bottom   Friday, September 1 View Page No PB’s this year but this one easily had a shot at it. This one is off a monster mega bloom that was looking like it could have smashed my biggest but I didn’t put a hammock on it in time and it broke itself off almost completely. I managed to prop it up and straighten it out enough that it grew a little but not much at all. The second I saw it blush, I picked it just to get seeds. It finished at about a pound unfortunately but definitely had the potential to be much bigger.   Friday, September 1 View Page Bottom