Pumpkin questions

I've only been a subscriber to this list for a month or two, but wish I'd
found out about it earlier!  This was my first year growing giant pumpkins,
and could have used all the great advice a lot sooner!  I've grown my own
pumpkins for Halloween for years, but for some reason this spring couldn't
get anything to germinate, indoors or out, so when I saw the packet of AG
seeds at the feed store decided to go for it.  Getting desperate for ANY
kinds of pumpkins, I stuck all 10 of the seeds in the ground (about a 5'x5'
raised mound of 5-way mix, former home of a small maple) and hoped for the
best. Well, these things took off (as did all my other pumpkins finally) and
I thinned them down to 3 plants.  One seed of Big Moon (which I had given up
on) finally sprouted, so I stuck that one in my perennial bed.  Even though
it was mid to late June when all this happened, the giant pumpkins just
exploded and virtually took over my front yard - never thought they'd need
so much space!  Any way, I watered regularly, hosed 'em down with Miracle
Grow a few times, thinned the AG's to one fruit per plant (Big Moon produced
2 and I left both on), and that was it. By the time I discovered this list
it was mid-September, so I missed lots of opportunities to do things to
enhance size. But I ended up with 3 AGs ranging (according to the tape
measure) from around 300 lbs to almost 370 lbs, and a Big Moon that masured
at almost 400 lbs.

Now that I'm kind of hooked, I'd like to start right next spring, but have a
few questions after reading the list and the various websites.

-I've seen a couple of references to store-bought seed not being as good as
getting them from other growers.  Why is this?
-People refer to their pumpkins as or descendants of "Anderson 815" and
other names.  Are these all AG's, or hybrids of some sort? Just wondering
about the naming conventions.
-What does OTT mean?
-Where do you Puget Sound growers get your soil tested now that WSU quit
doing it?
-Do any of you decorate your giants for Halloween, and if so how (paint vs
carve)? I've got these 5 giants in my front yard, and think I'd better do
something with them decoration-wise! Any good websites with decorating ideas
or pics for these pumpkins?

Thanks for all the good advice - maybe next year I'll do even better instead
of relying on luck!

Alice in WA



---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@mallorn.com with the
message text UNSUBSCRIBE PUMPKINS
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index