I am very sorry to announce that Ricky the pumpkin formed a crack into the cavity this morning and as a result will not be going to any weigh-offs this year. An internal crack called a Dill Ring formed inside the pumpkin and intersected a deep rib and split the pumpkin open this morning. Nothing could be done about it and it happens to a lot of growers. Ricky, also known as the big pumpkin, was on pace to easily break my personal best weight of 868 pounds. If it stayed on track it probably would have hit about 1,100 pounds. I'll take measurements on it this evening to get an unofficial weight.
This pumpkin was named "Ricky" after Ricky Gervais whom I took a wise crack at while on NBC's The Marriage Ref this summer. The cross of the pumpkin is 1204 Scherber x 1810 Stevens (in other words I crossed my pumpkin with a seed from last year's World Record pumpkin). Seeds will be available in a month at http://seeds.denverpumpkins.com.
As the saying goes, "If you ain't blowin them you ain't growing em." But the saying also goes, "If you are blowin them then you ain't showing em."
The other pumpkin, Jerry, is still growing and the cracks on it are of a different kind and of less concern so we will put our efforts into that pumpkin now. Pictured below is the little split that caused all of the trouble.
8 comments:
RIP Ricky.
The pumpkin. Not Gervais.
#1204 YOU HAVE KEPT US ALL WATCHING IN AMAZEMENT AS YOU GREW FASTER THAN MOST COULD BELIEVE AND NOW YOU LEAVE BEHIND SOME AWSOME SEEDS FOR THE NEXT GENERATION OF GIANT PUMPKINS .
IS IT TIME FOR PUMPKIN PIE NOW?
Ahhh bummer!!
Bummer +1
Somebody ought to invent Bondo compound for pumpkins. Apply the compound, bond the crack and paint to match.
Actually I siliconed the hole yesterday. As long as the pumpkin keeps growing I'll keep it on the vine and if it is still growing come weigh-off time I'll take it with me. The pumpkin would have to be labeled as 'damaged' which means it isn't legal but I could still get an offical weight on it. Slim chance of it making it five weeks but I've seen it done before.
Well, you sound like you have good attitude through the trial. Maybe that Jerry will surprise you!
Oh, poor little punkin. It sounds like you are growing some impressive specimens, though. We are on year #3 of a neighborhood pumpkin growing contest, and everyone is just thrilled when our little babies reach about two feet across. Looks like I've got some studying up to do :)
There are probably about 100 "secrets" to growing a big pumpkin. I probably know about 70 of them. But the biggest secret is to get your soil tested in the fall and know exactly what you have in it and them amend it appropriately. The second secret is to water the plant relatively heavy during the season. The last and most important is to go OCD on pumpkins and spend to much time in the patch maintaining and burying the vines for about an hour per day per plant. You will then go from 2 feet wide to about 4 feet wide when you do that.
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