Looking forward to 2003

Hello Fellow Pumpkin Growers!

Well, with only about 2 more weeks to go before the season gets started, I
wanted to wish everyone the best of luck this year.  As well as ask for any
timely advice before the season kicks off.

I am a second year grower of AG's.  The off season was a very busy time.  I
expanded my 500 sq. ft. patch into two patches at over 2000 sq. ft. total.
Had a soil test done.  Added about 4 yards of compost and 6 yards of manure
as well as 16 bales of peat moss to attempt to raise my pH.  I have built 3
more cold frames and tilled the patch to a depth of least 12 inches.  I
presently have the cold frames up trying to warm the soil a bit before
planting time.  Under the cold frames I have water filled, black solar
tubing.  It warms up during the day, retains the heat into the night, and
keeps the cold frames warm into the evening.  This is something very new for
me,  I will be testing the temperatures over the next 2 weeks to see how
much of a difference it makes.  I also installed 2 more water barrels to
collect rain water.  I will now have 1200 liters of rain water to start off
the season.

Germination tests almost turned into an obsession this winter as well.  I
tried everything from taking the seed coat off and putting the seed into a
wet paper towel and then into a plastic bag, filing the seeds, soaking in 3%
H2O2 for about 6-10 hours and then into the starter soil.  After about a
half dozen tests, my best results were the simplest.  I filed the seeds, put
them in starter soil at a temperature of 75-80 degrees and had 100%
germination success in everything from 72-110 hours.  This is the method I
will be going with this year.

The weather has been really good this spring in Central Europe and I expect
to get my seedlings into the ground around 3 May.  I am shooting for
pollination dates of between 28 June and 5 July which will get me anywhere
from 95-100 days for pumpkin growth before our 5 Oct weigh-off in Germany.

On to my seeds!  This year I have truly been blessed with the generosity of
our Pumpkin Growing Community.  Thank you all very much!   Here is what I
will be growing this year:

996.5 Handy - 790 Daletas x 730 Stellpflug
821 Garrell - 845 Bobier x Sib
805 Pukos - 1092 Burke x 723 Bobier
716 Daletas - 879 Holland x 801.5 Stelts
707 Toftness - 846 Calai x 723 Bobier
537 Hildebrand - 455.5 Andrews

My plans at this time have me selfing all of these seeds except for the
996.5 Handy. I am going to cross it with the 716.  The reason for this is
that the 716 is the same cross and same plant as the 790.  I am trying to
purify the 790 genes here.  If anyone has other ideas of crosses I should be
doing with the 6 seeds I listed, please respond, all help is greatly
appreciated.

Thanks again to all of the great people that have helped me get through the
long winter months, given me seeds, ideas and friendship.  I wish each and
every one of you all of the best of luck for 2003!

Grow em big.

owen olsen
aka German Pumpkin

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