[Col. Fryght]

Your plants look great SG. I am so excited about my first time pumpkin growing adventure this year. Part of my display this year is going to be a pumpkin patch with a mixture of real, foam and plastic pumpkins. I was going to start working on building the mounds and prepping the soil towards the middle of May and then plant in June.

I am planting giant pumpkins and albino pumpkins. IIRC, the maturity date was 120 for the large and 80 for the smaller. I bought my seeds from Burpee. I have seeds for the Big Max and the Lumina pumpkins. Product pics are below:

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[Col. Fryght]

Seeds went in the ground today. I used some leftover seeds from last year. If nothing pops up in a week or two I'll go buy some newer seeds. I had ordered some seeds through Amazon last month but they never showed up.

Any secrets Matthew to get pumpkins to grow in Georgia soil, I mean Georgia clay? I had planned on building a mound box and filling it soil and fertilizer about 8 feet out. Then letting the vines grow wherever.

 

[Col. Fryght]

Transferring to pots today.
The mystery pumpkin seeds we saved didn't have a very good germination %. Probably close to a hundred seeds, I only got 6 that showed signs of life.

Only two days to see little sprouts, that is pretty cool. I will use your idea of damp paper towels as a starter tonight. At first, I didn't quite understand the benefit, but now I do. If you had planted all of those non-germinating seeds in little peat pots you would have wasted a lot effort. Thanks for the great tip.

 

[Col. Fryght]

Well, I have bagged my giant pumpkin seeds with a damp paper towel. Burpee actually gave me 30 instead of 25. My guess is that they must weigh the seeds instead of actually counting them. Of course, that would be an interesting job title as "lead seed counter."

Additionally, I have inquired about having top soil delivered to my home to help build a suitable pumpkin bed. As with most backyards in Georgia, beyond the first inch or two, our dirt is pure clay. A cubic meter of top soil is $28 and is suppose to cover a 100 sq. ft at a depth of three inches. This certainly more soil than I would get in 28 individual bags at the local stores.

I guess I could order enough cubes to build a nice bed. I am certainly into the pumpkin patch project with both feet.

 

[Col. Fryght]

Exactly one week after planting my seeds have sprouted.

Nice Job!!!!

 

[Col. Fryght]

Ok, I did it. I got some big max seeds today, and I've got them started in a ziploc on a damp paper towel.

I went with Big Max, too. In my area, carving pumpkins get down to $3-$5 each, but the larger ones are like $100 bucks and up. I wanted a larger pumpkin but not so large that it lost its round shape. Plus, a 100lb pumpkin is all that I care to pick up and wheel barrow around the yard.

 

[Col. Fryght]

I've got them started in a ziploc on a damp paper towel. We'll see how this goes.

So how are your ziploc seeds turning out?

 

[Col. Fryght]

They're sprouting! I'm going to give them one more day, then move them into small containers.

Good for you. I was starting to get worried about my little Maxes. After four or five days in the ziplock, I only had about 6 germinate. But after eight days, I had 25 out of 30 germinate. I never used any external heat source, other than heat from the sun, and it was overcast and in the seventies half the time, and sunny 85 the other half.

Today, I put them in a nice size peat pots, maybe quart size or about the size of a coffee can. I have read that pumpkins hate to have their roots disturbed. So I figure that I can grow them to a decent size before putting them in the ground.

 

[Col. Fryght]

I plan on visiting the local landscape material store this week, to get a better idea of how far a small dump truck of top soil will spread. Also, here is a picture of my ziplock seeds that germinated- just proving that a dummy can do it.

 

[Col. Fryght]

Just put my JBL seeds in a baggie with damp paper towels!! Yays! We will see if this works out for me as well as just soaking them did last year. I was kind of depressed that I only got 17 seeds in my packet, when it was supposed to be 25. I hope they all germinate, because with 8 less seeds, I will need nearly every one of them now! I have 3 other people waiting on seedlings from me, besides my own! Wish me germination luck!

Good luck to you WitchyKitty.

 

[Col. Fryght]

This week's progress picture.

Looking good, Matt. It seems that two of the plants are pulling ahead.

 

[Col. Fryght]

Everyone's seeds/ plants are looking great I will have to take a pic of mine now that they have been in ground 2 werks

With your early start on planting, I bet your little guys are growing like gang busters. I am looking forward to seeing your pics.

 

[Col. Fryght]

In the jack-o-lantern is a random gourd seed, and in the cauldron is one of those all-in-one pumpkin pods. The pumpkin plant is much larger than it appears in the picture. I was thinking it would be cool to have a pumpkin growing out of the cauldron, but I'm going to have to move it into the ground.

Your plants are looking healthy and green. You are certainly doing something right.

 

[Col. Fryght]

something that kinda scares me- GIANT EZ Gro Monster according to the pkg by Ferry- Morse

I would be scared also to grow something with that name. I wonder if it is a variation of the giant Atlantic variety. Please post pics of your little guys. We LOVE pictures.

 

[Col. Fryght]

I've got green!

These weren't up yesterday.

Congrats on your guys popping up. I was hoping that mine would pop-up already but no go and, they have been in their peat pots for 5 days. I am really hoping that by Sunday that I can take a picture of a green invasion.

 

[Col. Fryght]

I really need to get the mini-tiller going, because those little sprouts doubled in size overnight and the ones that weren't up yet have made their appearance. Over the weekend, I suspect I have some planting to do. After fighting with the little, useless tiller that is.

Make sure to grab some good pics of your pumpkin patch. I went from 3 sprouts last night to 13 when I got home from work today. I will grab some pics and post at some point over the next couple of days when I have some good growth.

I am planning on on building a raised bed, but I am thinking that I might till the Georgia clay underneath before dumping the soil. But alas, that will be a project for next weekend. I have to finish some deck stair railing this weekend.

 

[Col. Fryght]

You don't have a Home Depot or a Menards? They both carry white big and mini ones...usually by Burpee name brand.

Walmart also carries jack'o lantern seeds and big max pumpkin seeds, but an off brand.

 

[Col. Fryght]

Witchy Kitty, I absolutely love the mini pumpkin patch sign. I will post pics tomorrow of my guys, I would just like to give them one more day to look their best.

 

[Col. Fryght]

Killerhaunts is looking for white varieties...I can't remember if I saw white ones at Walmart or not in the seeds they carry. Do you remember? I only know I saw them at Menards and Home Depot.

Burpee is having a "free shipping" sale. I bought my white (Lumina) variety from them.

 

[Col. Fryght]

My little plants are growing well. I have included two pics. The first one is twenty plants that popped up well with no trouble as they looked on Monday.

The second pic is of four little guys that needed extra help. I noticed that two of the plants were only showing a white stem but no leaves. I carefully brushed back the dirt and saw that the stem had taken a u-turn and was pushing the leaves into the pot.

I carefully undid the u-turn and the next day they were green and growing. So, then I had two duds that still had not emerged at all. And I carefully brushed back the dirt and they had the same u-turn problem which I corrected.

So now, all 24 plants are present and reporting for pumpkin duty.