Moving Seeds into Pots After 72 Hours

By Dean Baker

It's great when things work out the way they're supposed to.  I started eight seeds on Christmas Eve and all of them had germinated by today.

I was pleased they all germinated, but wasn't prepared to spend the afternoon preparing to move them into pots.

Part of the problem was I hadn't decided whether to move the seeds into jiffy pots (until the seeds developed a little more), or move them into larger #2-pots.  I thought it would be easier to control the soil temperature in the smaller pots.  However, in the end, I decided to go all in and put them in the larger pots, which will give the roots plenty of room to grow over the next two weeks.

I am concerned about soil temperature, but it should improve over the next day with both the heat mat beneath the pots and the grow light from the top.

I used Miracle-Gro Potting Mix as the medium in the pots.  I took the time to strain the mix to get out the larger wood chips that I though might impact the young pumpkin's root system.  I made sure the mix was damp - not wet - before I put it in the pots.

One problem I had last year occurred when I went to transplant the plants into the soil.   I didn't cut through the whole side of the pot prior to planting the seed.  It was more of a 3/4 way-though; which meant I had to cut the top inch on both sides of the pot in order to get the pumpkin out.  That's not really a time when I want to take scissors to the pot.  The chance of cutting several roots is too great.  This year, I cut the whole pot in half and then taped it together with my orange duct tape.  Now, all I have to do it remove the duct-tape and carefully remove the sides of the pot when I transplant the pumpkin.

The plan is to transplant the pumpkins into the patch sometime between January 7-10.  By then I expect the plants will have at least three true leaves.  Last year I transplanted after the first true leaf.  However, I believe it won't hurt to keep the plant warm for an extra week and let it develop a couple of extra leaves before I put it in the ground.

Starting Your Giant Pumpkin Seed

By Dean Baker

It's Christmas Eve and Arizona Giant Pumpkin Growers thoughts have turned to starting their pumpkins.  If we germinate our pumpkin seeds now, then they will be ready to plant in January.

It's becoming our tradition to start our pumpkins on Christmas Eve in hopes that we have a full season ending with the Spring Harvest Festival - scheduled this season on May 28, 2016.

I took the time to review Matt Debacco's video from March 2014 to ensure I started my seeds correctly.

I hope you will take the time to watch the video.  Let's all get off to a good start and grow some Giant pumpkins this spring.

Time to Get Started ... Again

by Dean Baker

The days of wandering into the kitchen and having a relaxing cup of coffee, while reading the paper, with my wife have pretty much come to an end.

Dean Baker, and friend, at the Carefree Pumpkin Festival

61 more days until Giant Pumpkin season starts again in Arizona.

I just wish my wife wasn't so happy that I'm off at sunrise to turn dirt and dig water lines.  (Something about being out of her hair.)

There's a lot to do, before year-end, to get ready for the new season.

• Early season weather protection needs to be planned, and erected, before we transplant our pumpkins outside.
• I am working on laying new water lines for both patches; and erecting a shade cover over the new patch.  (I traded out my smaller patch for a larger patch at the community garden.)
• New shade cloth needs to be ordered for the larger patch.
• Insect cloth needs to be ordered to provide the pumpkins some protection from the squash bugs, cucumber beetles, and other little creatures that will start driving us nuts in March.
• Mycorrhizal Inoculant and other fertilizers need to be ordered for the season.
• Soil samples need to be sent off to Western Labs so we can have benchmarks to work with. 
• A review of seed inventory needs to be made - and new seeds must be added to help give diversity to our pumpkins.

It's both exciting, and tiring, to think that we're about to start the "serious" part of our hobby as giant pumpkin growers.  And, just to make it more fun, I am going to be growing a "greenie" this year.  I know the giant squash weights tend to be lower than the pumpkins, but I want to see what that means to us in the Southwest Desert.

The AZGPG Spring Harvest Festival, sponsored by Harpers Landscape & Gardening Centre, is scheduled for Saturday, May 28.  We encourage all growers to bring their giant pumpkins, giant squash, giant tomatoes, long gourds, etc. to the event.  The Arizona Giant Pumpkin Growers will once again be a Team-Pumpkin event.

A new giant pumpkin record was set at last year's event.  However, we didn't quite reach 501 pounds, therefore, that is still the base goal.  It's Operation 501 until this spring when we all bring new records to the scale.  Good luck to all.

Have Scale - Will Travel

Growing a giant pumpkin requires an awful lot of work and those efforts need to be rewarded.  However, if you live in Arizona, or anywhere in the Southwest Deserts, there aren't many weigh-offs for growers to attend.   There are a number of weigh-offs in Colorado during September and October. Or,  you can truck your pumpkins over to Northern California.  However, many of us start and end our seasons differently than people in the traditional pumpkin-belt.

Baker 461.5 on AZGPG's floor scale

The AZGPG wants to ensure that all growers have a chance to get their pumpkins, squashes, watermelons, or other giant vegetables onto a certified scale.  Often, the fruit doesn't make the scale because there isn't a scale readily available to use.  We've fixed that.  The AZGPG now owns it's own certified scale and we're willing to drive it to wherever to ensure your pumpkin gets properly weighed.

To make it even more fun, the AZGPG has established a Virtual Weigh-Off so that your pumpkins can earn a ribbon.  If you have more than one entry per category, then we will weigh them all.  However, you can only have one entry earn a ribbon; the rest will be considered "Exhibition" fruit or vegetables.

Entry forms can be found on the AZGPG webpage, or contact them at INFO at AZGPG.COM for an entry form.

The Virtual Weigh-Off will end on October 31.  Ribbons will be awarded for First, Second, and Third Place.  Personal Best ribbons will be awarded to those earning the ribbon.  Any state records (Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada) will receive a separate ribbon for their accomplishment.

Dean Baker entered his last giant pumpkin in the Virtual Weigh-Off.  The fruit weighed 461.5 pounds when it hit the scale on June 10 at Harper's Landscape & Garden Centre.

We're looking forward to seeing everyone else's pumpkins during this summer.  We're always up for a road trip.

It's a Science Project

The bar has been raised!

It's time to celebrate.  We've set a new record for growing giant pumpkins.

Dean celebrates new Arizona record

We all have learned a lot during the first five months of 2015. The AZGPG, as a group, set as its 2015 goals to 1) Beat the existing Arizona State record for growing giant pumpkins, and 2) Break the 500-pound plateau with our pumpkins.

So far, we have successfully grown two pumpkins that weighed-in larger than the long-held Arizona record; and we grew a third pumpkin that was within four pounds of the old record. We have accomplished our most important goal for 2015. We beat the existing record. As the former record holder, Ben Buchsieb, said at the AZGPG Spring Harvest Festival, "It's time for somebody to break that record."

I think setting the new record is far more important than weighing-in at over 500 pounds. That being said, there are still seven months left in 2015 to accomplish the second goal -- and I know we have three more pumpkins still in the ground to be weighed over the next few months.

Last fall I suggested the growing season for Arizona, and the Southwest Desert, should be moved all the way into January. It was an idea without any proof to back it up; but our results seem to show we have the right idea. It just seems logical that Arizona growers need to consider the conditions other parts of the country enjoy during their season.

Weather is a major consideration for Southwestern growers when they're cultivating giant pumpkins. Central Arizona's temperatures, during January through May, are similar to the weather found in traditional pumpkin-belt states during May to September. That being true, then we should start our seeds in December (They usually start their seeds in April).

I recognize there is limited commercial (or consumer) interest in growing pumpkins for Memorial Day. Still, if we believe that size is everything, then we must change our thinking and plant our pumpkins as soon after New Year's Day as possible.

The Phoenix area typically has its last frost day at the end of February. In order to get a full 120-150 days for the giant pumpkin, we need to start before the accepted start dates for our region. This means that we must find a way to keep the plants warm early in the season - just like everybody else must do in the traditional pumpkin corridor.

I do believe our climate helps us later in the growth cycle because our warm weather will carry our plants to the finish line. Our challenge, at the end of the season, is to keep our plants cool (shade cloth and misters). The Northern pumpkin states start worrying in September because their temperatures drop and the cold slows their pumpkin growth (Sort of like what we see in late May - and especially in June).

We control the things we can. We know it starts with good seed genetics and properly amended soil. We also pay attention to the weather and take steps to modify it when necessary. Too much, or not enough, sun, shade, wind, fertilizer, water, etcetera can derail our season. It's our experimenting with all these variables that brings the element of luck into the growing season. If something bad happens to our plants, then we have to remind ourselves that this is a "hobby" and not our livelihood.

AZGPG Spring Harvest Festival entries

Many of the growing techniques, that we take for granted, were developed by championship growers in the 1980's and have been adopted by successful grower since. As a result, record weights continue to be obtained, each year, by part-time gardeners/growers who work hard to grow a plant that is essentially a static display. I prefer to think of it as a science project. We need to be willing to try new techniques, which will help us discover ways to improve our chances for a giant plant.

Ben Bushieb grew his 469-pound pumpkin in 2007. Scott Culp grew a 454 pounder in 2002. We have already established a new Arizona record (486 pounds) and added three pumpkins over 460 pounds to Arizona's top giant pumpkin list in 2015.

The Arizona Giant Pumpkin Growers want to be a resource for giant pumpkin growers, and growers of other giant vegetables. We believe there is a group of gardeners/growers ready to take the next step and grow BIG pumpkins, and giant vegetables, in Arizona and the Southwest Deserts. We believe by creating a resource for new growers - as well as experienced growers - that collectively we will all be more successful. The AZGPG mission is to provide a means of sharing information, which can benefit all gardeners/growers interested in our hobby.

We're probably not ready to be growing 1,000, or 1,500-pound pumpkins quite yet. But I do believe we can clear 500 pounds within the next year. The AZGPG declared 2015 as "Operation 501". We beat the old record. Now we need to raise the bar - again; and grow them big.

The AZGPG will continue to support the efforts of all giant pumpkin and vegetable growers; and will celebrate all of their successes. Be it a state record or a Personal Best.

Volunteers Make the Festival a Success

Taking the 465 Smith out of the patch

Moving 486 Baker from the scale

The weigh-off couldn't have happened if there weren't volunteers to move the pumpkins (via tarps) from the pallets to the scale - then back to the pallets. We're so thankful for all those who pitched in to help with the weigh-off.

The volunteers put in three hours on Friday moving four pumpkins from their patches to the staging area at Harper's Landscape & Garden Centre.  No one in attendance had ever moved a giant pumpkin before, so there was a lot of learning going as as we went.  Fortunately, the chore became easier with time ... however, that was offset by the weights of the pumpkins.  Why we decided to carry the heaviest pumpkins out last -- well, I don't know.  But we were relieved when everything was in place.

Saturday morning was supposed to be about coffee, donuts, and watching giant pumpkins being weighed.  We had planned to use a tractor with a pumpkin ring and harness.  However, we found out we needed to practice with the harness in order to make it work for us.  As a result, we once again asked for volunteer to help us move the pumpkins -- again -- with a tarp.  We got lucky and people stepped up to help.

We're so thankful to all the guys who stepped up and helped on both Friday and Saturday.  Growing giant pumpkins is fun to do and to watch.  Moving giant pumpkins is a problem unless you have some help.  The volunteers made the ASGPG Spring Harvest Festival a success.

Thanks to the Festival Judges

Bart Toftness, Wendy Woodward, Scott Culp

Getting the official measurements for the Festival entries

Thank you to Bart Toftness and AZGPG members, Scott Culp and Wendy Woodward, for serving as the judges at the AZGPG Spring Harvest Festival. They did a great job of ensuring the event went off without a hitch.

The mission of the AZGPG is to help growers develop friendships, and create goodwill, through our shared hobby of growing giant pumpkins, and vegetables, in the Southwest Deserts.

An important part of the mission is ensuring that an even playing field is created for all entries, and that the events be fun for all contestants and community members.

Judging the event is both a responsibility and a chance to learn more about the characteristics of a giant pumpkin.

Better Late Than Never

Dean Baker awards Ben Buchsieb the Arizona State Record ribbon for his 2007 pumpkin weighing 469 pounds.

The AZGPG may be a young organization, but Arizona does have some history growing giant pumpkins. Ben Buchsieb (469 pounds in 2007) was awarded an Arizona State Record and Personal Best ribbon for his pumpkin. His record stood for 8 years before it was broken at this year's Festival.

Ben Buchsieb started his pumpkin seed on January 18, 2007 and cared for it until it weighed-in at 469 pounds on June 2.  He grew the pumpkin in his backyard when he lived in Ahwatukee.  He sought to overcome the same problems current growers are having -- but did so without a support organization like AZGPG to help.  He did receive some assistance from growers via BigPumpkin.com

His diary is used by current growers to help them understand how to grow bigger pumpkins in the Southwest Desert.

His efforts predated the AZGPG, but they are remembered as an important part of the group's legacy.

Culp's Personal Best -- 454 Culp 2002

Scott Culp received a Personal Best ribbon for his 454 pound pumpkin in 2002.

The Fat Boys Were Thirsty

Wow!  Look how much they consumed in 14 hours.  I should have stuck the vines deeper in the bottles.

All entries arrived at the weigh-off site at about 6 pm the night before the event. All pumpkins had gallon water bottles attached to their vines. When we arrived on Saturday morning (at about 7:30 am) the pumpkins had inhaled about one gallon of water each. It probably would have been more, but they stopped when the vines couldn't reach the water in the bottom of the bottles.

Temperatures in Scottsdale were 105 on Friday and 107 on Saturday.  Humidity was between 5 to 7 percent.