The Pumpkin is Coming Down the Stretch!

Pumpkin Gordo Gato

Five weeks from today will be the first giant pumpkin weigh-off of the year.  My pumpkin is currently 77 days old.  So I've probably got 14 to 20 days of growing left in her.  Weather has been hot lately, but that isn't bad for me.  The cold of night from this point on is my greatest potential issue.  Nighttime lows have stuck around the low 50s and high 40s, which is not close to ideal, but not bad this time of year for me.  If we can keep it from getting into the low 40s over the next 20 days, we may be able to get to get 20 days of growth or more.  She is slowing down however right now.

Anything less than 1,000 pounds is unacceptable to me.  That should be the minimum.  This pumpkin still has a descent shot at 1,000, but it will be close.  Low 900's is what I would estimate if she slows down quickly and only goes the 14 days.  Over 1,000 would be the estimate if it grows the full 34 remaining days, but I don't see that happening.  This pumpkin looks meaty like last year's so the hope is still that it can go heavy to the charts.

1325 Johnson (aka Gordo Gato) Pumpkin Pic

About two weeks ago I came to the conclusion that if this pumpkin was going to get into the acceptable range it would have to meet a certain level of growth over the next two weeks.  In two days we will hit that 14 day mark.  The target was an average growth of 18 pounds a day.  As of Saturday it was at 17.6 pounds per day, so close.  This pumpkin is going to need to grow for 99 days in order to meet that final goal and there is a lot of time left, so we will just have to see what happens.

This pumpkin is looking just about as meaty as the 2005 Haist from last year (pictured below).  The 1325 is a seed from the 2005.  Some notes.  2005 Haist had much taller leaves and was pollinated two weeks later, so the pics are a little deceptive in terms of the size of the pumpkin.  The 2005 had beautiful leaves at the end of July.  This plant's leaves are looking pretty old already on the first half of the plant. The 2005 stopped growing mid-September because of cold.  If this 1325 can be a long grower and the weather is a little kind in September it has a chance to get to descent size, but I would be really surprised if it could match last years.  Maybe if it goes 30% heavy.  I don't plan on that, but I would give it a descent chance of going heavy.

1325 Johnson on 8/3/20

2005 Haist 2019 on 8/26/19