The Swamp Great Pumpkin Challenge

[farmertrappe]

I'm planting some pumpkins this weekend, whether you have some field space like me or just a corner in the yard anyone can grow some pumpkins.

The Challenge: lets see pics of the process of planting, caring for and your harvest.
Largest, smallest, weirdest, lets see your pumpkins (that sounded weird)

with Brads Blessing we will figure out a winner and I will provide a prize.Attachment Deleted


My keys to big pumpkins: good seed stock, compost, water and sun. Cull down to three or four blooms, then to one or two pumpkins.

[nytrapper23]

I'm in

[tkfurs]

Dang, guess I should plant a couple pumpkins. Never had much luck with them.

[Brad H.]

Heck yea you have my blessing. Let's grow some pumpkins!

[put'n the dog on]

Sounds fun. I broke the tiller on the tractor. Patch is too big to do with the walk behind. I have two plants in the greenhouse with 8 ft vines already. I need to get them in the ground. My 5 other Giant varieties are starting to shoot vines as well. I need to hurry. I also did 45 normal Jack-O-Lantern plants as well. Hopefully I should get a ton of pumpkins this year.

[farmertrappe]

karma to ya for planting pumpkins, I'm way behind myself. My ground is ready for seeds, beginning of the week I'll plant.

[put'n the dog on]

Well I managed to get all my plants in the ground the other day. It was a lot of work. I thought I'd share some pics of my plants before they left the greenhouse. I planted 40 jack-o-lantern pumpkins 7 giant pumkins 16 assorted gourds for the wife 8 cantaloupe 2 watermelon and 15 acorn squash. It was one busy day.

Normal Jack-O-lanterns

My Giants

[nytrapper23]

Boy those look nice , way ahead of mine.

[put'n the dog on]

Thanks,

 The two plants on the left of the last picture aren't looking too hot after transplanting.. But they were started on April 15 from some old seeds just to see if they would grow. I was starting to think they were going to grow pumpkins inside my greenhouse. This heat sure was rough on everything yesterday. I'm sure today will be the same. Hopefully the storms this afternoon aren't too hard on them either.

[farmertrappe]

Jun 26, 2016 5:27:24 GMT -5 put'n the dog on said:

Thanks,

 The two plants on the left of the last picture aren't looking too hot after transplanting.. But they were started on April 15 from some old seeds just to see if they would grow. I was starting to think they were going to grow pumpkins inside my greenhouse. This heat sure was rough on everything yesterday. I'm sure today will be the same. Hopefully the storms this afternoon aren't too hard on them either.

Looks like your greenhouse/cold frame is made from fence panels, please show some more pics of it.

[put'n the dog on]

I will try to get some more pictures. If you would like to see the basic structure check out the guys youtube page I got the idea from. I believe it's texasprepper2. I liked his ideas but I made solid end walls and raised it up 20 inches for more height. It was actually pretty cheap to build. I might have $150 into it. It's 8x8 and about 8 ft tall

[Gomer746]

Darn, that the only vine plant I don't have. Look forward to the progress.

[put'n the dog on]

I got a few pics of the green house the other day. Iknow it's messy. Yes they are fence panels it was super fast and easy to get the basic structure this way. They were only $17 bucks so that was good too.

It isn't finished yet. I am going to redo the plastic I just got it good enough in a hurry.

There was a window here with Harbor Freight automatic greenhouse vents but the wind took it and broke the plexiglass and bent the opener

[Gomer746]

Looks good. Glad to see some refreshments for you in that last pic after all that work.

[put'n the dog on]

I tell my wife they are good for storing fertilizer in since they are dark glass. HAHA I store a lot of fertilizer in there.

[farmertrappe]

Nice work, way to do a lot with a little.

[put'n the dog on]

Is anyone having any luck with a big one?

This heat we've been having is wreaking havoc on my plants. The Jack-O-Lanterns look good but the giants seem to be slowing down.

[put'n the dog on]

Hey guys is anybody having any luck? I've got one that turned orange already.

My bigger one I'm guessing it to be 200-300 lbs .

I've got four or five more I'd say are a little over a 100 lbs
Good luck to you all

[Brad H.]

Holy Moly. That's a big one!

[John Gusmano]

Whoa!!!!!

[farmertrappe]

Nice work put'n the dog on, I believe you are leading this competition. I'm not too proud to admit my pumpkins and even worst strawberries all burned up this summer before I could get water on them. I RE-learned a hard lesson this year, I just can't do all that I want too. Not enough hours in the day or gas in the tank anymore.

Anyone else got some Pumpkin pic to share?

[farmertrappe]

Any other Pumpkin Pics???

[Gomer746]

Had to buy mine, but a pumpkin is a pumpkin. Got to clean up the jigsaw though after "carving" this one.

[Brad H.]

That's a goofy looking stem Gomer.

[put'n the dog on]

Well the plants died with the first frost so I pulled the biggens.

This one was just shy of 200Lbs.

The bigger one was just over 300.It looks like its close to the same size as the orange one, but it is more round. The orange one grew flat on the back.

We ended up with around 300 normal pumpkins of varying sizes. My daughter wanted to sell the ones that were left after we gave them away to friends and family. Along with gourds and the leftover acorn squash.

She has sold 14 in two days. Shes loving it.

[farmertrappe]

INCREDIBLE, I pronounce you the 2016 Swamp Pumpkin King!!! And the Father of a real Cute Pumpkin sales Gal.

[nytrapper23]

Great job!

[Gomer746]

That is absolutely awesome!!!

[put'n the dog on]

Thank you guys. I had fun growing them this season. the sales girl and I went out almost everyday and checked progress. They were definitely the highlight of the pumpkin patch. We cant wait til next year. Thinkin about making the pumpkin patch a little bigger next year. I'm thinking a 1/4 acre. It would be a little more than double what it is now.