MY 2005 WINNING PUMPKIN - How I did it.

What did I do different from past years? This is the most commonly asked question I get. There are a few changes I made but all in all it was ultimate gardening at it's best. I guess I certainly spent more hours in the patch than ever. Timely applications of needed fungicides, pesticides and most importantly fertilizing were very key.

I choose the 500 Beauchemin seed during the winter months of 2004. It made all cuts throughout the Winter including the final cut in April 2005. I believed in the genetics of the 500 seed and no one was going to work at growing it any harder than myself. The 500 was germinated on April 26th and went into my garden on May 8th. My soil was warmed to 63 degrees with heat tape and I had cold frames erected. I hand watered almost daily with weak solutions of miracle grow. The vines were very healthy but I still elected to shade the main vine and several secondary vines through the month of July. The 500 plant suffered no burnt leaves at all. It slowly gained pace ahead of the other plants through May, June, and July. The 500 was then pollinated with the 898 Knauss about 14' out on the main vine on July 13th. This became the fourth generation of 898 Knauss parentage.

My spray program was acquired from my friend Ron Wallace from Rhode Island. It consisted of Clearys, Subdue liquid, Daconil, Kocide, Aliette, and Warrior-t.

A strict calendar of spray applications was followed throughout the summer. All sprays were applied with a Sthil Spray applicator (an excellent investment). Neptunes Fish and Seaweed was applied weekly with a Garden hose applicator. Weak solutions of miracle Grow were released into my overhead watering system daily.

I also applied 250lbs of Heart and Soil Wood Ash and 200lbs of pelitized lime when my PH dropped to 5.0. I believe long steady rains leached my soil over time.

The pollinated 500 grew very steady for the days to follow and was soon way ahead of the rest. A green tarp shade tent was erected over the pumpkin, and conveyer belt tarp material placed beneath it.. At 30 days old it had a circumference of 132" It would maintain 25lbs.- 35lbs per day for the first few weeks of August. It slowly dropped down but stayed steady until the end on September 30th. It's final measurements were cir.183.5, ee.103", ss104.5" = 391" - Estimated weight 1249lbs. It's official weight was 1,314.8lbs. which was 5% over the chart.