You hold a pumpkin seed in your hand and hope that it is the "magic" seed
that is going to sprout, grow, and turn into a champion. You imagine
your reaction when the digital scale settles on that number which will
make you the Pumpkin King. It's all about the seed ... and the soil ...
and the water ... and the time you've spent growing your Calabaza
Gigante.
Weather is a factor that certainly works against Arizona growers wishing
to grow Giant Pumpkins. We've been told for years that we shouldn't
grow pumpkins. This year, the one weigh-in, which is held each fall in Gilbert
(Mother Nature's Farm) only had two pumpkins. While they
certainly were larger than the field pumpkins also displayed at the
farm, they didn't begin to rival the Arizona record.
A review of Arizona's average daily high and low temperatures leads me
to believe that growing pumpkins is best done in the first half of the
calendar year. Sadly, there is limited interest in growing pumpkins for
Memorial Day, or for the Fourth of July. Still, if we believe that
size is everything, then we, as gardeners/growers, must change our
thinking and plant our pumpkins as soon after New Year's Day as
possible. Arizona's temperatures are more like the weather in
traditional pumpkin states when we compare our January through May to
their May to September. We do our starts in December. They do their
starts in April.
I recognize that our last frost day is the end of February, but in order
to get a full 120-150 days for the pumpkin, we need to start finding
ways to keep the early plants warm - just like everybody else must do in
the traditional pumpkin belt (think hoop houses). We're already on the
best side of that deal. We don't have to shovel our way to our plots. Our challenge at the end of the season is to keep our plants cool (think shade cloth). The northern pumpkin states are worried - again -
about the cold.
Growing giant pumpkins is a time consuming, and sometimes frustrating
hobby. Gordon Thomson, the 1989 World Record holder from Hemmingford,
QC, once said, "All you need is good seed, good soil, good weather, and
good luck." Yes, and you better be willing to spend your free time
building shelters, improving irrigation systems, and reading about soil
agronomy, water management, and seed genetics. You also better have a
spouse with a sense of humor because they have to tolerate all of your
babble about this stuff for which you aren't getting paid. (That's why
they call it a hobby.)
Growing giant pumpkins has been a hobby for more than 160 years. The
first recorded case of an American giant pumpkin hobbiest is Henry David
Thoreau, who grew a 123.5 pound pumpkin back in 1857. From there, the
hobby muddled along until 1900 when William Warnock displayed a 400
pound pumpkin at the Paris World's Fair. Then things went dormant while
the world overcame the Great Depression - sandwiched between the
fighting of a couple of World Wars.
It wasn't until 1976, when Howard Dill (Windsor, NS) developed the Dill
Atlantic Giant Pumpkin seed, that things began to get interesting. The
Dill seed is credited with creating the modern version of our giant
pumpkin obsession. The pumpkins awesome growth increases for the past
38 years stems from the genetics found by Dill.
Many of the growing techniques, that we take for granted, were developed
by championship growers in the 1980's and have been adopted by every
successful grower since. As a result, record weights continue to be
obtained, each year, by part-time gardeners/growers who are pleased when
a truck with 20 yards of finished compost arrives and they know they're
going to be spreading all that material onto their plots - a lot of it
with a shovel.
Today, Beni Meier of Pfungen, Switzerland is the World Record holder for growing pumpkins. Meier's
pumpkin weighed in at 2,323.7 pounds. In addition to his World Record monster at the European Giant Pumpkin
Weigh-Off held in Germany, Meier brought a 2102.0 and a 2096.6 pounder
at two other weigh-ins in 2014. All of those beat last years World
Record of 2,032 pounds grown by Tim Mathison of Napa, CA.
John Hawkley, of Napa, CA, set a new North American record, this fall,
by beating Mathison's record with a 2,058 pounder at the Safeway World
Championships in Half Moon Bay, CA. However, Hawkley, will have to
settle for the North American Champion title until he, or somebody,
figures out how to out-Beni Meier.
Ben Bushieb grew his pumpkin in 2007. Scott Culp grew a 454 pounder in
2003. There may be a couple of 300 pounders somewhere - but they're
unrecorded.
The reason we've created the Arizona Giant Pumpkin Growers is to
introduce individual pumpkin growers to others interested in cultivating
giant pumpkins. We believe there is a small group of gardeners/growers
ready to take the next step and grow BIG Pumpkins in Arizona. We also
believe by creating a resource for new pumpkin growers - as well as
experienced pumpkin growers - that collectively we will all be more
successful. The AZGPG can serve to provide a means of sharing
information which can benefit all gardeners/growers interested in our
hobby.
Bushieb and Culp both had to go it alone. They got help from a number
of interested hobbiest from other states via BigPumpkin.com; but there
wasn't any local help that could assist them build a shelter, inspect
plants for diseases or insects, or identify other unrecognized
problems. They couldn't even call a grower with whom to have a cup of
coffee.
Hopefully, we can change that environment. We're a small group - right
now. We want to grow BIG Pumpkins in Arizona. We're not ready to join
the "real" big hitters (Boy! That target moved over the last 10 years.)
But we do believe we can clear 500 pounds. Thus 2015 is being declared
"Operation 501". We want a new record for Arizona.
Originally posted on the AZGPG website by:
Dean Baker, November 18, 2014
Monday, March 30, 2015
Sunday, March 29, 2015
Getting Ready to Run
February 8, 2015
The early-bird planters are five weeks into this years growing season. Dave Smith and Dean Baker's first plants have outgrown their hot boxes and now are dependent on the continued good weather in the Phoenix area.
Daytime temps have reached the 80s and the temporary greenhouses have reached 91. Heat is already a consideration. Overnight temperatures drop to the mid-40s, but the solar heat trapped during the day, in conjunction with the candle heat trapped by the hot boxes, have kept the air around the plant above 60 degrees.
The early plants have outgrown their boxes, therefore they are subject to the overnight cooling in the garden. The soil temperature near the base of the plant, as measured by a soil temperature probe at 9 am, was at 64 degrees on February 8. The overnight low (outside) had been 44 degrees.
The Arizona Giant Pumpkin Growers has been created to help growers develop friendships with people sharing a similar interest in growing giant pumpkins, and vegetables, in the Southwest Deserts (Arizona, Nevada, Southern California, and New Mexico.) By sharing information growers can help each other find success within our hobby.
There are currently four people growing giant pumpkins - that AZGPG is aware of. Dave Smith, Dean Baker, and Scott Culp in Arizona; and Mark Maffney in Nevada. (Wendy Woodward of Northern Arizona is expected to grow pumpkins during the traditional growing season - once it stops snowing up there.) Scott and Mark actually transplanted their pumpkins around February 1. It's hoped that all participants grow Giant Pumpkins this year and that new state records can be set for Arizona and Nevada during the AZGPG Memorial Day Weigh-Off on May 30.
Daytime temps have reached the 80s and the temporary greenhouses have reached 91. Heat is already a consideration. Overnight temperatures drop to the mid-40s, but the solar heat trapped during the day, in conjunction with the candle heat trapped by the hot boxes, have kept the air around the plant above 60 degrees.
The early plants have outgrown their boxes, therefore they are subject to the overnight cooling in the garden. The soil temperature near the base of the plant, as measured by a soil temperature probe at 9 am, was at 64 degrees on February 8. The overnight low (outside) had been 44 degrees.
The Arizona Giant Pumpkin Growers has been created to help growers develop friendships with people sharing a similar interest in growing giant pumpkins, and vegetables, in the Southwest Deserts (Arizona, Nevada, Southern California, and New Mexico.) By sharing information growers can help each other find success within our hobby.
There are currently four people growing giant pumpkins - that AZGPG is aware of. Dave Smith, Dean Baker, and Scott Culp in Arizona; and Mark Maffney in Nevada. (Wendy Woodward of Northern Arizona is expected to grow pumpkins during the traditional growing season - once it stops snowing up there.) Scott and Mark actually transplanted their pumpkins around February 1. It's hoped that all participants grow Giant Pumpkins this year and that new state records can be set for Arizona and Nevada during the AZGPG Memorial Day Weigh-Off on May 30.
Fire in the Hole!
January 5, 2015
David Smith opened Arizona's 2015 giant pumpkin season on January 4 by planting four different pumpkins in his two greenhouse huts. David hopes to grow his Atlantic Giants big enough to break the Arizona record for AGs of 469 pounds set in 2007.
Because of the high temperatures that effect a growers ability to produce the giant pumpkins through the summer months, several enthusiasts have agreed to start the season early in hopes of growing larger pumpkins. The Scottsdale Community Garden Club has agreed to sponsor a Memorial Day Weigh-Off, on May 30, to give growers a chance to have their pumpkins officially weighed in competition.
David planted a variety of pumpkins, to include a 1,622 Young, 823 Gerhardt, 993 Vincent McGill, and a 968 (est) Shaw - grown from a 2032x2009 cross. The mounds were built-up, and amended, this past week in anticipation of planting on January 1. However, a severe cold front passed through the Phoenix area delaying the planting until temperatures were a bit more cooperative.
Greenhouse huts, made from PVC pipe and greenhouse plastic, were constructed on both of Davids garden plots. The huts are designed to keep the wind from rolling the plants and help produce higher growing temperatures during the early months of the season. To further protect the plants, 4x4 styrofoam insulation boxes were built to house the plants during the cold evenings. Because the garden does not have electricity, the hot boxes will be heated by one or two candles - depending upon the overnight temperatures.
Here's hoping David, and all the other growers, have great success in this first year of the Arizona Giant Pumpkin Growers spring season.
David Smith opened Arizona's 2015 giant pumpkin season on January 4 by planting four different pumpkins in his two greenhouse huts. David hopes to grow his Atlantic Giants big enough to break the Arizona record for AGs of 469 pounds set in 2007.
Because of the high temperatures that effect a growers ability to produce the giant pumpkins through the summer months, several enthusiasts have agreed to start the season early in hopes of growing larger pumpkins. The Scottsdale Community Garden Club has agreed to sponsor a Memorial Day Weigh-Off, on May 30, to give growers a chance to have their pumpkins officially weighed in competition.
David planted a variety of pumpkins, to include a 1,622 Young, 823 Gerhardt, 993 Vincent McGill, and a 968 (est) Shaw - grown from a 2032x2009 cross. The mounds were built-up, and amended, this past week in anticipation of planting on January 1. However, a severe cold front passed through the Phoenix area delaying the planting until temperatures were a bit more cooperative.
Greenhouse huts, made from PVC pipe and greenhouse plastic, were constructed on both of Davids garden plots. The huts are designed to keep the wind from rolling the plants and help produce higher growing temperatures during the early months of the season. To further protect the plants, 4x4 styrofoam insulation boxes were built to house the plants during the cold evenings. Because the garden does not have electricity, the hot boxes will be heated by one or two candles - depending upon the overnight temperatures.
Here's hoping David, and all the other growers, have great success in this first year of the Arizona Giant Pumpkin Growers spring season.
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