Newbie
I just found out about this list a couple of weeks ago and find it very
interesting. I have been a Gardner for many years and always wanted to try
growing a giant pumpkin but never had much room. My other gardening
interest is growing dahlias and showing them in competition (I am also a
senior judge for the American Dahlia Society). Every piece of available
yard was used by my 400+ dahlia plants. Last year we bought some land and
built a new home on it. I now have 1 1/4 acres to work with. I set aside
an area approx. 30' x 50' to try growing pumpkins (I can easily expand this
area to be much larger).
I tried buying some AG seeds last year from a local garden center. I
planted the seeds and did not give them any special care and still ended up
with Some pumpkins that I would guess were 200+ lbs. This got me excited
and this year I plan to put a little more care into the plants. I almost
forgot to mention that I found out after we moved in that out land was a
dairy farm for many areas. It has not been used for a dairy for many years
now. I knew the soil was good when we bought the land but didn't realize
how good until they excavated for the foundation. We have at least 2' of
sandy loam top soil! My dahlias proved how good the soil is with many high
level awards at competitions, including one best in show bloom.
I see some of you trading seeds and talking about different ones you are
going to grow. I am unclear how everyone gets these various seeds. I did
see Brett Hester featured on a local gardening show last fall and wrote to
him. He sent me 2 each of several of his seeds that I am anxious to try
this year. This will give me seeds for this year but then how do I get
seeds for future years? What if I don't get a giant from these to use as
trading stock? Should I try to get some seeds from another grower or two to
cross with these? One last question, I see that many of you frequently know
both parents of the pumpkins. Does this mean that you hand pollinate and
brotect the blooms from insects? I have lots more questions and will spend
more time searching the Internet for more info. I also look forward to the
info I know I will get from this list.
Thanks,
Eric Toedtli
Vancouver, Wa (NOT Vancouver Canada)
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