Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 26 Entries. Tuesday, September 12 View Page Many thanks for the congregations !!! It have been an incredible few days I still can't sleep well haha and it will definitely need some more time to realize that I just grew a 2319 lb pumpkin. Firstly I need to thank all the growers who have helped me to get where I am right now and special thanks go to Matthias Würsching, Robert Jaser, Ruben, the Patons and the Frommelts !!! Without your help I would still be growing 100 lb pumpkins in my backyard. Thank you so much for the support it has been an incredible journey !!!   Tuesday, September 12 View Page How did I manage to do such a huge jump ??? I don't even know it myself haha But what I can tell you is that last fall after damaging both pumpkins I thought: this can't go on like this I either put all efforts into the pumpkin or I'm gonna stop so that's what I did After visiting Ruben and the Patons I did a proper soil analysis for the first time and my Phosphorus is at like 3000 ppm I couldn't change that but the Boron was at 1 ppm and I got it to 6 ppm. For the other amendments I just did compost, Biolit, loads of sand ....   Tuesday, September 12 View Page Next important step was to remove the greenhouse foil over the winter don't till only buckwheat as a cover crop ... and get a new greenhouse foil. Tilling was then only done once and I had a covercrop running till the plants would hit the spot to get good microbiology when the plant gets there. I also started using compost tea but only in May till mid June ... And to start the plants I set up a mini greenhouse with heating cables a heater and a grow light   Tuesday, September 12 View Page To start of the plants I used Algovital, Aminovital, Myc4000, Rhizovital 42, Ammonium nitrate and Borax   Tuesday, September 12 View Page To start of the plants I used Algovital, Aminovital, Myc4000, Rhizovital 42, Ammonium nitrate and Borax   Wednesday, September 13 View Page When vine burying started I added a mixture of algae myc4000 and Rhizovital 42 on every leaf node. Probably the most important step was to get my water pH right but with the broken pH meter I managed to set my pH to 5 over the whole season. Which seems to have worked out quite well ??   Wednesday, September 13 View Page Then it was time for pollination !!! And thanks to Salva and Ron I managed to get Florel to Germany and applied it 48 hrs after pollination.   Wednesday, September 13 View Page And there she is at Dap 10 and at this point I started my fertilizing Programm which is pretty simple and I kept it the same all season long: about 1 kg of citric acid, 10g Borax, 200g Calcium nitrate, 500ml of humic acid, 500 ml of Algovital, 1l of Aminovital So nothing special at all I just finally figured out my soil and keeping it constant all season is very important !!! Also this might work for me but that doesn't say that it works for you it's always a game of trail and error ... and you need to figure out your own soil ...   Wednesday, September 13 View Page Dap 20 was when she really stated to kick in   Wednesday, September 13 View Page Dap 30 she hit 550 lbs and I knew that she could hit a new personal best but 2319 lb what ????   Wednesday, September 13 View Page dap 40 then she hit my personal best with over 1100 lbs   Wednesday, September 13 View Page Dap 50 she was sitting at around 1450 lbs And despite clouds and rain for the next 3 weeks she would still continue growing like a beast   Tuesday, October 17 View Page Sorry for not finishing the diary any earlier. It has been a crazy month with all the pumpkin events while moving to the UK So here we go that was Dap 70 where she was estimating right around 2000lbs   Tuesday, October 17 View Page This was Dap 93 one day prior to harvest taping 480 inches. I kind of regret weighing that early as the plant was still in perfect shape when when pulled the pumpkin.   Tuesday, October 17 View Page This was Dap 93 one day prior to harvest taping 480 inches. I kind of regret weighing that early as the plant was still in perfect shape when when pulled the pumpkin.   Tuesday, October 17 View Page That's a picture with Heinrich who initially got me into pumpkin growing. He's a local farmer who gave me the first seeds and growing advice. I'm very greatful he supported me early on so big thanks to him !!!   Tuesday, October 17 View Page That's a picture with Heinrich who initially got me into pumpkin growing. He's a local farmer who gave me the first seeds and growing advice. I'm very greatful he supported me early on so big thanks to him !!!   Tuesday, October 17 View Page And a picture with my entire family. They all supported me not only this season but ever since I started :))   Tuesday, October 17 View Page And a picture with my entire family. They all supported me not only this season but ever since I started :))   Tuesday, October 17 View Page Well I never expected to win the European championship and at this point huge congrats to Team Petrelli they are our real European champions !!!   Tuesday, October 17 View Page another great picture with the pumpkin   Tuesday, October 17 View Page another great picture with the pumpkin   Tuesday, October 17 View Page As people were requesting there's a picture of the backside of the pumpkin   Tuesday, October 17 View Page As people were requesting there's a picture of the backside of the pumpkin   Tuesday, October 17 View Page I think I've never seen a better shaped pumpkin, perfect ribbs, tall and orange all in one fruit Andy you really created a phenomenal seed big thanks to you. And congrats to all the growers out there what a amazing season it has been :)) See you all in 2024   Wednesday, October 25 View Page As crazy as I am yesterday I flew back home for half a day harvested the seeds put them to dry and flew back to the UK. Unfortunately the seedcount wasn't too good so message me ASAP if you want my seed for your auctions or want to grow it next season !!!