Tag Archives: growing giant pumpkins

GIANT PUMPKIN/WINTER SQUASH-How to Tell Which Direction a Vining Squash Will Grow

Have you ever planted winter squash and it grew in a direction you didn’t want? Here is a good tip for how to tell which direction a vining winter squash (versus a bush variety) will grow. I will use my giant pumpkin as an example but any winter squash that is a vining squash will act the same.

Let’s say you plant some vining winter squash next to a wall or on the edge of a garden bed and you need it grow away from the wall not into it or into your squash bed not out of it (good luck on that one!) When the plant puts out the first two leaves as I have described in previous posts, these are called the cotyledon leaves (baby leaves) and don’t look like any of the other leaves it will grow afterward. All leaves after the cotyledon leaves are called true leaves.

put mark on side of pot opposite of first true leaf

Sooo pay attention to that FIRST TRUE LEAF.  The plant will GROW IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION FROM THE FIRST TRUE LEAF. If I’m growing them inside for a head start, it is easy to mark the container as you will not remember which one was the first leaf (trust me!) when the second one appears. I just take a marker and mark the opposite side of the pot so I know when I transplant it into the ground which direction I orientate it. If I grow directly into the soil, after the first true leaf appears, I gently dig up a big amount around it and gently lift it and the dirt so as not to disturb the new roots and rotate it in the direction I want it to grow. For those who are growing their winter or summer squash seed in the ground, it is too early. Wait till May 15th (our first frost free date) to plant directly into the ground when the soil and weather are hopefully warmer.

Giant Pumpkin Cotyledon Leaves Compared to Tomato Cotyldon Leaves

Here’s a comparison of the giant pumpkin cotyledon leaves (the first 2 leaves to pop out) along with it’s first true leaf compared to a tomato cotyledon leaves along with it’s first true leaf. Notice the size difference! Giant pumpkin cotyledon leaves are the biggest baby leaves I’ve ever seen.

cotyledon leaves on giant pumpkin and tomato

Giant Pumpkins and Greenie are up!

Giant pumpkins and greenie are up! The giant marrow is the small one popping up

The giant pumpkins and greenie squash germinated and are looking GOOOD! I planted the seeds on April 7. The first one up was the greenie on April 12, then the pumpkins followed by April 14. The cotyledon leaves (very first leaves to appear or baby leaves) are huge. My all star lineup so far is:

Giant Pumpkins: 1046 Grande 10, and another  895 Grande 08  (which became my New Mexico State Record for giant pumpkin last year)

Giant greenie squash: 903 Noel 07

They are in 4 inch peat pots on a plant heating mat in a light box and I just see the beginning of the first true leaf on the pumpkins and greenie. Looking good so far! Grow naguas, grow!

Growing Giant Pumpkins From Seed (Or What Did I Get Myself Into)

Article first published by me as Growing Giant Pumpkins From Seed (Or What Did I Get Myself Into) on Blogcritics.

growing giant pumpkins

Giant Pumpkin growing season is once again upon us. Why grow giant pumpkins? Why not? Hey if every veggie gardener grew a giant pumpkin, the world would not be hungry! World famine banished!

For all those nuts who grow giant pumpkins, now is the time to start your engines (I mean seedlings) indoors, that is unless you live in Hawaii in which case you probably already have a new one started several months ago!

To start seedlings you must first get your hands on some giant pumpkin seeds- the usual variety being Atlantic Giant Pumpkin. You can buy some from Amazon or you might get some from someone who grows these monsters. Many of us are willing to give away our seeds. Did I say us? Yes it’s true I am one of these nuts. When I first saw the film, “Lord of the Gourds”, there were giant pumpkin growers in the film who babied their giant pumpkins by playing them music, naming them, feeding them high octane food, hugging them, and even putting blankets on them when the weather turned cold. I saw this and I said, “What a bunch of nuts” and the next year I became one of them. Well almost. I don’t play them music.

So after you score some seeds, you need to dedicate the next 6 months to growing these monsters. They become your mistress. So if you have a family, better put them in therapy now for their abandonment issues they will develop and resentment issues over vacations they won’t be able to go on. Who wants to go on vacation anyways? Gas is too high this year. Still interested? Ok, then the next step is to plant them inside your house, pointy side down in seed starting soil in a four-inch peat pot. Then place them on a plant-heating mat (the one you need to buy) under that grow light box you just built and wait for them to germinate. What grow light box you say? The one you’re going to build for these monsters. Are you with me so far? Good. Welcome to giant pumpkin mania…

Kong reaches 396 lbs…

Kong has reached 396 lbs! I am trying to get it past the state record of 404 lbs by pushing it a little with fish emulsion and seaweed every day. I have to be careful not to blow it up! It will be touch and go until the end when we take it on Saturday up to Colorado Springs, CO for the weigh-off. Every pound is critical now. I won’t know if it beats the record until they officially weigh Kong as I could be wrong on my measurements (wishful thinking?) or it could weigh light (or heavy).  I need at the minimum 10 lbs in 4 days and that is if the measurements are correct. The weatherman is predicting warm days in the 80’s which bodes well for Kong. Grow Kong, grow.. Stay tuned!

‘Kong’ grows to 360 lbs!

‘Kong’ has grown to 360 lbs. It is now my PB (personal best), still putting on weight and looking good. I wonder what it will end up at.  I’m going to the Oct 2 Giant Pumpkin Commonwealth (GPC) weigh-off in Colorado Springs, CO. The New Mexico State Record is 404 and with this warm weather I have a chance to break it. A long shot but still a chance. So put a word out to the universe asking for Kong to break the state record! GROW KONG GROW!!!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

‘Kong’ hits 278 lbs..

‘Kong’, my only giant pumpkin left, hit 278 lbs tonight. (I’m putting ‘Harpie’ in the NM State Fair tomorrow-it was much smaller at around 100 lbs). If ‘Kong’ can put on 6 lbs a day till the weigh-off, I can beat the current New Mexico State Record. It’s been putting on 8-12 lbs daily for awhile but I know it will slow down to a crawl this month. Hopefully I still have 2 or more weeks of good weight gain before the crawl. Grow nagua, grow…

N. Harp and Grande pumpkins

949 N. Harp flower

949 Harp pumpkin/20 lbs on 8-14

As Christy Harp, the new giant pumpkin world record holder (1725 lbs) once said, “Growing giant pumpkins-it’s not a hobby, it’s an obsession!” I have to agree because once you get some growing, it is so much fun to watch and I mean literally! The first photos are of my biggest on the N.Harp plant. Look how round it is.

895 Grande female flower

The other pictures are of my biggest pumpkin from the Grande 895 plant. Look how oval it is. I’ve shown the beginning pic and current pic-they are pretty much the same shape as when I first pollinated them. When I went out the other evening and measured those pumpkins, the 895 Grande had put on 3.5 inches in girth from the evening before. That’s in 12 hours. I have more pumpkins coming on but those 2 are my biggest and are now 20 and 25 lbs-small for giant pumpkins but they are only babies and will grow extremely fast in August and September. I haven’t named them yet but will this week. (yes I name them. Any veggie you grow for 5-6 months and grows this fast deserves a name) It has begun..

895 Grande/25 lbs on 08-14