Pumpkins, Pumpkins, and more Pumpkins

[Roxy's Run]

Here are some pictures of the latest pumpkins. A bunch of them are really starting to pop out now. :aktion033: Sorry for all the pictures. I will hold off a little while until they really start showing some orange. :bgrin

Nature and life really amazes me at times. I mean, here I planted a little seed to get this:

which then grew into this:

now producing this:

and this:

all in a matter of a couple of weeks. I will continue this saga as things progress.

Linda

Roxy's Run Miniatures

 

[lyn_j]

I love pics like this! When you havent been able to see for a long time ,,,,this is the stuff that excites you. Fall is my favorite time of the year because I love the colors...... keep the pictures coming. Im going to plant a garden next year.

Lyn

 

[Sterling]

Linda...I kow exactly how amazed and excited you are because I'm in the same boat!!

: My pumkin plants are finally producing flowers all over the place and this morning there was a little bumble bee pollinating them! Now I saw a couple with a bulbus nobby hoping it may be a female pumpkin, and others are just the flowers on the vine with no nobby at all at the end of the flower...so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

I can't get over how HUGE the plants and leaves are tho! They almost look like mutants they're so big!! :bgrin

 

[RainSong]

I grew pumpkins last year, but only had one come out of it... you're making me miss them something fierce! I loved those darn things, and it was really humourous how HUGE those leaves were.

We still had the dead, dried stalks until July or so- LOL I didn't turn them in or anything, my step-dad finally did it. I didn't know what to do with them, since the whole area was in disarry from the fence being blown over. Had to haul posts out of the ground and everything... no chance for planting.

BUT next year, if I have someplace I can do it... I am soooo planting more pumpkins

 

[Dontworrybeappy]

Here's my pumpkins - the vines are growing out of an old muck bucket turned flower pot and going up a pair of wire shelves to keep them off the ground and away from gophers!

Here's the first one, it's starting to get orange speckles on it - it's about 10" across now....

and here's a new baby one I just found today....

next to the pumpkins is a muck bucket full of sunflowers - volunteers from last year's flowers!

As baby flowers - maybe 5" across:

and now - about 20" across - starting to ripen/dry out...

 

[Magic]

Awesome pictures! I've got pumpkins growing this year for the very first time, and it is exciting to see them develop. I have big pumpkins, "Jack-Be-Little" pumpkins, and even cantalopes, which I didn't expect to produce, but there ARE some good-sized cantalope out there too. I'll try to get pics to add if I can. Next year I'm going to make a separate "pumpkin patch" garden because my pumpkin and cantalope plants are trying to take over the whole darn garden.

:

My oldest daughter and her husband have a garden for the first time ever this year, and they didn't have room to plant the "Jack Be Littles" so it will be fun to share mine with them. Sharing what you grow is a big part of the enjoyment, I think.

: That and watching the miracle of nature. :aktion033:

 

[lyn_j]

If you want to foster a few pumpkins to get them as big as possible, Pick a few far apart from each other and pick off all the other flowers.

I know it sounds cruel but then the plants energy will go to those pumpkins istead of making lots of teeny ones or ones that shrivel and fall off. I learned that when we had a boyscout garden with my son.

Lyn

 

[Sterling]

Holy cow...you can grow them in muck buckets???!!! :new_shocked: :aktion033: Awesome!!!! Does that muck bucket have holes at the bottom for drainage?

Magic -- please post some of yor pics!

Lyn--thanks for those tips....as soon as I can identify which are pumpkins and which are just the male flowers I think I'll be on my way.

Rainsong--I know it's so addicting when it gets going is'nt it? I hope you can grow them again next year....it's fun watching as they prosper.

 

[Roxy's Run]

Hey, I have an idea!!!! (I know, this could be scary, huh?) No, but really . . .

It seems that we have a little group of pumpkin lovers on here and some of those lovers have said that they want to grow a pumpkin patch next year. Weeeeeeeeeeeellllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll . . .

How about those of us that will have pumpkins this year, save the seeds and when we do our Christmas Card exchange and/or Secret Santa, we package up some seeds all nice and pretty and send them? Huh? Huh? Huh? Good idea or what????? :bgrin This way Marty will have no excuse next year - she will already have the seeds.

: Lyn will be able to SEE in person and enjoy "hands on" fun and totally take in the fruits of Mother Nature after so many years not being able to. :aktion033:

Now does anyone know if the seeds have to be taken care of a certain way so they sprout next year?

:

Ok, I'm off to do some research. :saludando: In the meantime, anyone growing pumpkins, sunflowers, whatever - POST PICS!!!!!!!!!!!!! :new_multi:

Oh, by the way, I LOVE the muck bucket idea!!!! I especially love the shelves to keep them off the ground. Having something under the pumpkin to keep it away from the ground as it grows eliminates rot spot where it lays. :aktion033:

Sunflowers - they are my absolute FAVORITE!!!!! I can look at them all day long. The pictures posted on here always get me. Next year they will be in my garden for sure.

: After all, yellow IS my favorite color!! :aktion033:

Linda

Roxy's Run Miniatures

 

[Dontworrybeappy]

Yep, I drill several big holes in the bottom of the muck buckets - then fill them with composted horse (or better yet, sheep or alpaca) poo.... you can grow all kinds of things in them including roses, tomatoes, cukes, and more!

I've been growing things in muck buckets for more than a dozen years. In SoCal they need watering every day, but it's better than planting a whole packet of seeds, getting jazzed about the baby plants, and then having the whole patch mowed down by gophers overnight!

Linda - I have no idea what variety of pumpkins OR sunflowers I'm growing here... but if you tell me how to save seeds so they'll grow, I'll give it a try!

 

[Sterling]

Linda that's a GREAT idea!!! When you find out how to process the pumpkin seeds and save them let me know and I will save some for anyone who wants them. I would LOVE some sunflower seeds!!! I could'nt find any this year when I was looking to do my pumpkins. Why do the stores get rid of seasonal items so quickly? I'll bet they already have winter parkas out on the store racks and it's the middle of August!

:

I'll have to post pics of my pumpins this morning. They are looking so beautiful...the flowers have just popped out overnight!

 

[Sterling]

Here are some pumpkin flower pictures I took this morning. I just uploaded them. Lookie all the FLOWERS!!! Bet I know all those flowers are'nt gonna produce pumpkins tho. Question --When the pumpkins start forming when and on what do you put them on so they won't grow that mold?

 

[Marty]

You all made me SMILE!!!!!! So thank you for that!

You know, autumn, fall, harvest, is my most favorite time of year where I start getting all geared up for........you know!

I so admire your talent and so ashamed of myself I have no garden! I must stop procrastinating~

 

[Magic]

Marty, you can start getting ready now for your garden for next year, and many of us can send you seeds to get you going.

: My "Jack-Be-Little" pumpkins are popping up all over the place out there and I can definitely send you some of those seeds.

Those pumpkins are fun to paint faces on and put out all over the house, and they last longer than the big pumpkins do. I'm growing a little bit of corn too, and so this year I'll be able to decorate for Halloween with corn stalks too--- just haven't been able to bring myself to BUY them at the store, too overpriced.

Has anyone here ever grown your own "Indian corn" for decorating?

 

[Sterling]

I've never grown my own Indian corn, but one year I tried just plain corn. The stalks were small...did'nt take off like how they should, but still made cute cornstalk decorations. Just perfect for the deck and the mailbox, and our Fall Harvest/Halloween party was great!!!

 

[Russ]

Magic, I've grown indian corn before......it's pretty easy...you just need to plant it in several rows so it can properly pollinate. We have a local wholesale menonite/amish produce auction and they sell the bundles of 3 ears big and mini size indian corn by the bushel box full.

 

[Roxy's Run]

Hi everyone! :saludando: Ok, I did some research on how to save the pumpkin seeds from this year's crop to plant for next year. Here is what I found:

"you can remove the seeds, wash them, and then place them on a paper towel for 3-5 days until they are completely dry. You should then place them in a ziplock bag, which will then be placed in a small sealed tupperware container in the back of your refrigerator until next spring. Seeds need cool and dry conditions to simulate the dormant period necessary for germination next year.

Be aware, however, that seeds taken from hybrid plants often do not reproduce identical to the parent plant. Most vegetables grown now are hybrids that are bred for disease resistance and specific growth habits. Only heirloom plants reproduce exactly. This is especially noticeable when trying to sow seeds from annuals or perennial flowers since you definitely want the color and growth habit you expected. But it is not as important with vegetables, especially gourds since they are often grown strictly for decoration and carving.

Despite these factors, I would still encourage you to save and propagate these seeds next year. Every fall I place my spent pumpkins in the garden to decompose over the winter. The next spring, I always get several volunteer plants that produce beautiful pumpkins. The size and shape may vary, but they are still excellent for carving or cooking."

So that's the good news. Now for the bad. I've been noticing some white spots on my pumpkin leaves and did some research on that. It seems the plants have a fungus. So I sprayed them with a fungicide and today they looked much better. But the one "big" pumpkin that was starting to grow that is pictured above, didn't make it. I looked at it yesterday to see if it grew any and it was a weird color. I touched it and it was all soft and mushy and fell off the vine. So I tossed it into the woods. Oh well, so much for that one.

Hopefully, I caught the fungus before it takes over the whole patch. Time will tell. (((SIGH)))

Linda

Roxy's Run Miniatures

 

[Sterling]

Oh no!!! You've got to be kidding?

Your new little pumpkin is no more? Geez then it seems like fungus can really take them by storm quickly can't it? I need to check on mine. Do you water yours at night? I've heard that watering overnight or at night can lead to some fungus because it does'nt get a chance to dry well like it would during the day. But somehow that does'nt make sense to me because it does rain at night too...so what would be the difference? I hope the fungus spray you used takes care of the problem. Keep me posted! Maybe I need to buy me a bottle just in case and to have it on hand.