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Still Here & What Did I do?

Hey Everyone,

I am still here, I think?

I have had a number of requests from the group & others asking me what I
did to succeed in 1997 with three pumpkins at  977lbs., 815lbs., and
634lbs. 

I wanted to put my thoughts out to the group for those of you interested in
my comments rather than trying to answer many individually. 

Much of what I learned started here in this group, lots of questions,
following the archive list, obtaining references to other growers in my
local geographic area and reading books.

Please remember what I am about to convey to you is what I did and what
worked for me, each grower has their own personal preferences, opinions,
soil, climatic conditions etc.,  and needs to pick and choose what they
feel is best suited for their growing methodology, soil, climate and so on.


Soil:

In my opinion the single most important thing to understand is your soil.
There are books available on the market for under $10 that will give you a
solid fundamental understanding of how soil works, how to balance it &
amend, how nutrients and micro-nutrients react within your soil, how they
can be locked up or readily available to your plants. The key is you need
to become a nutritionist of your soil and plant, make the right decisions
on what your soil needs and what fertilizers should be applied or not
applied based on an understanding of your soils process and nutrition
levels.

The first step is to get a soil test, read up on the subject of soil, from
this point you can begin!

I started working on amending and balancing my soil in late September 1996
after taking my first soil test in early September 96'. I again took
another soil test in late February 96'
and once again adjusted my soil in March 96'. Finally in July 97' I took
yet another soil test. Sounds excessive I know, but it is important. My
last  test for example indicated that all levels in my soil were (VH) or
Very High, below toxicity levels but that if I continued to fertilize I
would slow my fruit growth down and do my plant more harm than good.

Fertilizer: 

The type of fertilizer you use, how much and how frequently relates to the
type of soil you have and the nutrient levels your soil is currently at.
Again back to getting your soil tested. I used very little fertilizer on my
1006 and 697 plants which produced my 977lb. and 815lb. pumpkins. I
fertilized with a foliar feed 2-6-6 and kelp-Maxicrop starting the first
week in June, every 5 days. By July 16
I discontinued fertilizing as a result of the comments in my soil report.
The last 5 weeks I switched to a foliar 0-0-24 as I was starting to run low
on potassium. Total I applied 60 gallons of foliar 2-6-6 and 50 gallons of
0-0-24. Remember these are foliar feeds and are very low dose fertilizers.

My feelings on fertilizer is not enough is better than too much. You can
always fertilize again if you need to, but if you have over fertilized many
of these nutrients can build up in your soil, reach excessively high levels
(toxic to your plant) and you will hurt yourself more than help yourself.
Remember you can always add more but once you have too much it can take as
much as an entire growing season to leach from your soil, depending on the
type of soil you have and how much rain or snow you receive over the winter
months.

Water:

I travel on business frequently so my irrigation system is fully automated.
None of my pumpkins split. The small pinhole (size of two B.B.'s) which
developed in my 815lb Half Moon Bay Pumpkin I attribute to my lack of
common sense. I leaned heavily on the pumpkin in order to get a good
measurement a week before the weigh off. The very next day it had the
beginnings of this small hole at the juncture of a sag line and rib where I
had put much of my weight on top of the pumpkin. So, I attribute this low
rate of mortality to low fertilization but also even and consistent
watering using the same amount of water on a regular basis. No big
increases or reductions in the amount of water I applied. I applied 230
gallons per day using misters, when it became very hot I turned on 4 large
gear driven sprinklers in each corner of my patch. This works out to 1 1/4"
of water per week based on the size of my growing area.

Seeds:

You need to have genetically good seeds. I suggest everyone subscribe to a
news letter which contains a Family Tree, weights and pumpkin measurements.
Usually this information is published in the January edition of these
various news letters for the preceding years results. Personally I enjoy
The Ottawa St. Lawrence news letter. However I have recently been given an
honorary membership in the New England Growers News letter and I am looking
forward to their next edition. 

Study the genetics and weights of these pumpkins published in these news
letters. Look for pumpkins that are genetically over the charts, weigh more
than they should, typically this indicates the genetic trait of thick
walls! 

Take the time over the winter to write to some of these growers who's seeds
you are interested in obtaining. I always call them first to find out how
they would like to handle sending me seeds. 

How do you get in touch with these growers, network, talk to your local
heavy hitters first and always ask for a reference for seeds! Ask other
people in this group for references.

Some of these growers have numbers and addresses posted on the various
pumpkin pages.

Luck:

While genetically good seed is important, remember every pumpkin seed even
from the same pumpkin is somewhat genetically different. Getting that
"Silver Bullet" seed is luck of the draw. However, in order to fully
maximize that "Silver Bullet" you need to have your soil and growing plan
in place. 

Weather, disease, bugs, splits, stem cracks, rot, etc., or lack there of
are also "Luck Factors".

Time:

If you have 3 or more plants next year and want to go for it, plan on
giving up your summer. I was up at 4:30 a.m. and in the patch by 5:00 a.m.
every morning. From 5:00 p.m. until about 8:00 or 9:00 p.m. I was back in
my patch working the plants. I took no summer vacation! Due to my need to
travel for work I had to play catch up on the weekends. Typically I put in
18 to 22 hrs. on Sat. & Sun. just catching up during the height of growing
season. Pinching, pruning and burying vines can become very time consuming!

I hope some of this information is helpful to everyone and 
we all have BIGGER PUMPKINS next season. If you have more questions please
feel free to ask but lets share in this information with everyone! And
again, I am no expert, this is my first year growing, some of the more
experienced growers in the group may have insightful information which I
may have not conveyed or missed!

Best Regards 
Chris Andersen
Moraga, CA.- And I am not going anywhere!
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