Everybody is Chasing the Leader

1622 Young 2009 - 32 DAP

Dave Smith's 1622 Young is now 32 DAP and has an OTT of 176 - with an estimated weight of 126 pounds.  The plant is now protected by a 70% shade cloth that Dave erected over his plot yesterday.

Shade cloth is necessary for any grower wanting to keep a pumpkin growing in the Southwest Desert.  The sun moves overhead early and the long days (12 hours, 38 minutes today) beats down on the plants and sunburn is a constant threat.

Today's temperature reached 87.  Slightly higher than normal for this time of year.  April's average temperature is expected to be 86 degrees (low 60).  May temperatures will average 95 (low 69).

The AZGPG Memorial Day Weigh-Off is being held on May 30 because the average temperature in June is 104 degrees.  Without a temperature controlled environment, our pumpkins historically give up in June.  I expect that we'll all be hanging on in May, hoping to nurse our Giants to the weigh-off on the last Saturday of May.

Be sure to get some shade cloth over your plants.  It will help protect the leaves and fruit of your plant from our intense sun.  Also, be sure to give your plants enough water.  Evaporation is a concern in our Desert.  Consider how quickly you can become dehydrated during this season.  There is a reason we all walk around with a water bottle.  Your plants need you to remember they too can suffer from dehydration.  We don't want your plant to shut down before we get it to the scale.

Half Way to the Prize

1622 Young 2009

Arizona Giant Pumpkin Growers have started on the back half of the 2015 Spring growing season.  The easy days of maintaining a small plant are behind us, and now we're spending more time in the patch, each day, preparing for the weigh-off  in 58 days.

It's hard to believe we actually have pumpkins growing in April.  While the rest of the country is still dealing with snow and still frozen soil; we have started and have burgeoning pumpkins.  The January start seems to be a good choice for transplanting plants into the ground.

923 Gerhardt 2009

Dave Smith's two pumpkins are the early leaders to set a new Arizona record.  He was able to pollinate his 1622 Young and 923 Gerhardt about two weeks before everyone else.  Hopefully, Dave will continue to have great success in Arizona's Spring season.  A new record would be a great reward for all his work.

1513 Sherwood 2014

Dean Baker was able to pollinate a pumpkin on his 1513 Sherwood at about the same time; but it aborted within the first two weeks.  His second pollination on the Sherwood occurred 12 days after Smith's pumpkins started.  In addition to the 1513 Sherwood, Dean is growing a 1666 Holland and 1754 Daletas.  It appears all seem to be growing nicely and should produce a new personal best.

1666 Holland 2014

Scott Culp is growing an 1821 Checkon and 2058 Hawkley this year.  The main on the Checkon snapped at three feet during one of our March windstorms.  Scott reports he is trying to make the plant grow with a new main vine.  The Hawkley plant is growing slowly, but it's hoped he will be able to have a giant pumpkin for the weigh-off.

Mark Maffney is growing a 1370 Bobier this spring.  Mark was able to transplant the plant early in February, but has been dealing with a double vine situation - which has slowed the overall growth.  Dave Smith has been trying to help him through the double vine situation in order to get the plant moving toward a Nevada record.  (Dave has had experience with double vines.  His 923 Gerhardt started that way, but is now growing quite nicely.)

The AZGPG Memorial Day Weigh-Off has been officially sanctioned as an International Competition site.  This will ensure all of our growers receive the credit for their work.  The plans for the weigh-off are coming along.  We have arranged for a digital scale and for ribbon awards for all entrants.

The next two months are going to be busy.  The maintenance of the plants is an on-going affair.  It's amazing how big the plants get - and how many tendrils, tertiary vines, flowers, etc must be cleaned up each day.  The plants are now starting to ramp up to grow big in April.  We should see substantial weekly (daily) growth this month.  Then, in May, it will be hang on time as temperatures move ever closer to 100 degrees.  We'll all be praying we can keep the plants going until Memorial Day.

Best of luck to all growers for the rest of the season.