[shack]

Originally Posted by med_breeder

Shack,
Looking great so far.

I have a question.

Would buring portions of the vine, to create more roots enhance the final weight?
I would think so.

peace

med breeder-yes,burying the vines is a good idea.It encourages roots to take hold at the leaf nodes.,plus it keeps the vines from being blown around in the wind.Some growers go as far as to dig a shallow trench to lay the vine in and then its covered with dirt.

[shack]

Originally Posted by LolaGal

I hope you live somewhere up North Shack, that's the only way to get a big un.

they love cool weather.

I have used an IV with a large bore needle, and run it into the main stem near the pumpkin and give it a pail of milk every day through the IV. They love this.

LolaGal- I live in Pa. Gary and Gerry Checkon live about 2 hours west of me and they have a few state and world records under their belt,so I have to excuse not to be able to grow a big one.
Does that milk trick really work? I've had lots of people ask me if I use milk(I haven't yet),I didn't know if it was for real or not.Of the books I read and the two seminars I was too,I've never heard of using milk.Only from some loals who said their grand daddy or great grand daddy used milk with good results. I wonder if the big boys are trying to keep that a secret.

[shack]

Originally Posted by Moldy Dreads

Tell me about it! Mine were covered in Powdery Mildew and then some insect had a lot of fun with it...but the pm was BRUTAL! What do you use as deterrents?

Hey Moldy D-PM can be a real problem.I use neem and a multi purpose fungicide(can't think of the name right now)that I get at LOWES.Use liquid Sevin to take care of the insects.,spray religously,especially after heavy rains.

LolaGal You can grow a big one anywhere if you want to buy a lot of Miracle Grow and give em about 5 gallons a day.

Also if you are rich, build an enclosure and air condition it.

My biggest was 174 pounds, but it was 7 feet wide.

It quit growing at the first sign of temps over 86 in late May or early June.

Air conditoning will get a huge one or living in Canada.

Your right Lola,the further south you are the more challeging it is.
I was at the Pa. State weigh off last year,and a guy with one of the biggest pumpkins said that when the pumpkin was at its peak and really packing on the weight,he was giving it 50 gallons of water a day.,not sure what ferts he was using.

doobieduck Doobie Grows Um
Shack funny you should ask..I grow them..just for something to do I guess..and take up a big space in the corner of my garden. I donate mine to be auctioned off each year for charity! I'll add to your giant P thread as we go along..fruit is just starting here in Cali..yours look great! DD

Thanks Doobie.
They do indeed take up a lot of space.And by all means, keep them pics coming,I love to see what others are growing.

dubwise i could not get my seeds to sprout. guess I'll try again next year.
the guy i bought the seeds from told me to space them in the ground as I would watermelon...i did and nothing came up. I even tried starting the seeds inside...with no luck.....shack & doobie your pumpkins look great!
what are you guys doing to start your plants?

dubwise-don't give up bro.You might have gotten some old or inmature seeds.
I start mine indoors(April26),about two week before I'm, gonna put them outside(first or second week of May).I'll start them the same way I do MJ seeds. First they go into wet/damp paper towels,and kept at 75 to 80 gedrees.When they sprout they go into a 2 gallon container until they are ready to go outdoors.I'll keep them under floresents at 18/6 light cycle.

Mr. Greengenes I'm in SoCal and we got PM like crazy down here. My biggest Atantic Giant was less than a hundred pounds. I'm 'organic' so I only sprayed and dusted the PM with sulfer, I've heard that neem works too. I was thinking about trying a giant watermelon variety next time!

Giant watermelons are gonna be my next venture,probably next year.Does the sulfer work for PM ?

The milk fed pumpkin is an old old trick goes back to 1800s at least.

One version is described in the Laura Ingalls Wilder book about ther husband's youth titled "Farmer Boy'.

A milk fed pumpkin will put on tons of weight. I used an 16 gauge IV needle and IV line and then hooked it up to a bag of milk and drip gravity fed it. I had a milk cow though, so it was easy to give it a gallon of milk a day.

Get an IV set from a pharmacy or hospital.... Just make sure to get the smallest # IV needle as the bigger the number is the smaller the hole is. 16 gauge needle is good for this job. BIG bore.

Feed when it's cool out in early morning and at night, take down IV set and wash in between or it will clog up with buttermilk and sour.

[shack]

Thanks for that info.,Lola.I just might give that a try this year,if not this year,next year for sure.

Put up a shade tarp today.according to the book it should be done when the pumpkin gets to be the size of a basketball.It keeps the pumpkin from over heating and from maturing too early.

I feel obligated to include pics of my helpers,they help with rodent control.

Awww, ain't they cute!

Have you seen the pumpkins and things grown at DisneyWorld?

They use plastic molds to put over the pumpkins to shape them and the pumpkins grow into the mold.

It would be so cool to do and make a face on it.

[DoobieDuck]

Shack it looks like you've got a good one going...mine were late starts but I have August still. I never heard of the milk feeding Lola...interesting. I do bury my vines by digging a small trench by hand, scraping the vine just a little so it roots faster, like some peeps do with clones, I then put a half handful of peat on top burying with top soild 3 to 4 inches. They readily root this way. Grow pumpkin...grow! DD

[sero!]

Originally Posted by LolaGal

Awww, ain't they cute!

Have you seen the pumpkins and things grown at DisneyWorld?

They use plastic molds to put over the pumpkins to shape them and the pumpkins grow into the mold.

It would be so cool to do and make a face on it.

i think i will try with a watermelon or 2 these season

Here's a couple pics of the Disney World Hydroponics Pumpkins. I think they do it to other vegetables as well.

[/url]

[homebrew420]

we are trying to grow some. They really do get huge but ours started so late in the season, June. Well for a first run it's more about the learning than anything else. We love it. Those look great Shack