Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 175 Entries. Monday, February 2 View Page I got a great start on my seed line up for 2015 season, I'm gunna try to grow 5 plants this year, 'got some great unproven seeds', still lookin for at least one proven maybe a 1985 miller, we'll see what i can get my hands on, thought I would post the 2096 meier seed to show what it looks like, as far as variability of the seed I think the seed looks fine and should have no problems germinating   Monday, February 2 View Page After having hail early in the 2014 season, and I dare to say it! ,but bad storms that tore my plants up every season I ever tried growing giant pumpkins, I bit the bullet and am building a green house over my patch, I managed to get the foundation for the greenhouse in the ground before winter, there is a long ways to go on it but I'll do my best to show how I'm building it and the total cost of a 65 x 50 foot greenhouse, I wish everyone the best of luck in 2015 and I hope you enjoy my diary.   Friday, February 27 View Page So today im getting ahead start on the season by drilling holes in the base section of my alluminum film holder, that way I can just screw them down when I'm ready for them.   Friday, February 27 View Page So two sheets of film will lay over the base section then you weave the wire in, like it shows in the photo, I'm going to be doing a double layer green house so the plastic will have to be air tight because it'll be inflated, the purpose of a double layer film is to keep the condensation down on the inside walls, 'condensation will block the sun light'   Saturday, March 21 View Page Weather has been great this week, so I was able to continue work on the greenhouse earlier than expected.   Saturday, March 21 View Page Lee & Dori Stopped by earlier this week with some awesome lifting rings & seeds, it was a pleasure meeting both of them, I wanna give a big thank you to Lee, Dori & Eddy for making my day, THANK YOU!!   Saturday, March 21 View Page Pictures to follow are some of the products I'll be using this year.   Saturday, March 21 View Page I'll be adding a little silica to my water drenches this year.   Saturday, March 21 View Page More silicate   Saturday, March 21 View Page Cant go wrong with companion   Saturday, March 21 View Page 60 lbs of this fertilizer will go over my patch   Saturday, March 21 View Page Progress on the greenhouse.   Thursday, April 2 View Page Greenhouse is coming along nicely, plastic film will be put up sometime next week, just gotta get the rest of the compost in the garden first.   Thursday, April 2 View Page Four more trailer loads of compost left.   Thursday, April 2 View Page Bug screen will be put just under the base section in the picture, that way I can lift the plastic up to allow air flow and keep them bugs out,   Sunday, April 5 View Page Was on my handsome & knees all afternoon attaching the bug screen, but I think it looks nice, now plastic on Wednesday.   Tuesday, April 14 View Page Plastic was put up earlier this week.   Tuesday, April 14 View Page Started the following seeds today, 2323 Meier x 2 2098 Meier x 1 2008 Neptune x 2 1625 Gartner & 1626 Gartner 1103 young x 2 and a couple booth seeds I believe they were 1443? Cant remember off the top of my head will have to check when I get home, at anyrate 6 of them will make it to my garden the rest will be given out to other growers I supply plants with every year.   Tuesday, April 14 View Page My dad & brother helped me put the film up, took us 6 hours working none stop, almost had to call into work but finish just in time, im going to begin laying out the lines for my misting system later this week.   Thursday, April 16 View Page Made my beds & layed out the heating cables today, each bed got one 50 pound bag of peat moss 2 pounds of micros 2 pounds of rainbow mix bloom booster & two pounds of rainbow mix mycrohhiza with humic.   Saturday, April 18 View Page Well everything germinated & is up, but one 2323 & both 2008s, we'll give them a few more days maybe there late boomers.   Monday, April 20 View Page Plants got a taste of the greenhouse today, beginning to harden the plants off, both 2008 Neptunes germinated yesterday after 5 days in the ground.   Monday, April 20 View Page Ground temperature.   Monday, April 20 View Page Was working on the misting system yesterday, I was able to get one line up & do a test on it.   Thursday, April 23 View Page The east side of the greenhouse is where the 1625 & 1626 will grow, I transplanted them this morning & I chose the Gartner seeds because they were noticeably more aggressive then my original plan the 2008 Neptune's, so I guess you'll have to watch my diary this year Garry :)   Thursday, April 23 View Page The Meier plants will grow on the west side, I have heat lamps on the plant for the nights, with tempitures in the lower 20s outside, the greenhouse stays about 45 degrees over nite, so I felt the need for the lamps, in the day time so long as the sun is out I can maintain 85-90 degrees.   Wednesday, April 29 View Page 2096 Meier   Wednesday, April 29 View Page 1626 Gartner   Thursday, April 30 View Page Over the past week we ran a power out to the greenhouse, that means no more extension cords :)   Friday, May 1 View Page Thanks for letting me be one of your test subjects matt :) actually over the winter I did alot of research on cell division & expansion/growth & I believe this will be the way of the future to achieve a world record fruit, with matts anithesis I'll be using silicates every time I water to help the cells grow & I hope to achieve 4 new pb   Sunday, May 3 View Page Plants will be laying down shortly so I tilled for the last time around the plants & layed out my walking boards, I plan on making round up my friend this year, thats one of the advantages of a greenhouse I can close everything up so theres no breeze when im spraying.   Tuesday, May 5 View Page Big thanks to john kreb for hooking me up with 7 of the hottest pepper plants in the world.   Thursday, May 7 View Page 1626 Gartner in the front & the 1625 Gartner in the back   Thursday, May 7 View Page 2096 Meier in the front & the 2323 Meier in the back   Thursday, May 7 View Page I've been running the tornado misters 5 minutes a day to keep moisture in the ground, I had winter rye planted earlier in the spring but it was getting out of hand so it was tilled in last week sometime, other than that, I'll till 10 more pounds of wow mycros in later this week then spray the patch with round up & lay down drip tape.   Sunday, May 10 View Page 1625 Gartner is down & running :)   Sunday, May 10 View Page The patch was sprayed with round up a few days ago I put plastic over the plants & sprayed right up next to the stumps, plants lived :)   Monday, May 11 View Page The plants this year seem to be the strongest & healthiest plants I ever had,,,this is the 2096 Meier   Tuesday, May 12 View Page Layed out some driptape today,, & I'm happy with them, dont no why I didn't try them sooner.   Wednesday, May 13 View Page 2323 Meier,, the plants are starting to hit that point where they start growing 12 plus inches a day,,, im continuing to water with a 1/4 diluted drench of silicate and fish emulsion daily...   Friday, May 15 View Page Im sure I said this before and I don't mean to boost, but I have 4 of the best looking plants I ever had, I've spent so much time in the patch during the spring, I feel as long as everything keeps going good there will be something special coming out of my patch this year. During the week I drenched the whole garden with companion biological fungicide to prevent future diseases. Im continuing to do drenches with silicate & fish emulsion, 70 gallons a day right now over the whole patch to keep the ground active, the star in my opinion so far in the patch is the 2323 Meier followed up by garrys 1625.5,,,in this picture thats me by the 1626.5 Gartner.   Sunday, May 17 View Page 1625.5 Gartner, main vine is about 3 1/2 feet long, & secondarys seem to be coming out strong on this plant.   Sunday, May 24 View Page picture of the 1625.5 Gantner, both the 1625.5 & 1626.5 are fast growers both past the Meier plants awhile ago, not saying the Meier plants are not good they're way more stocky then the Gantner plants, but the secondarys are slow to grow on the Meier plants because of that stockyness,,I sprayed the patch with malation also more round up to kill any remaining weeds..   Tuesday, May 26 View Page First female on the 1625.5 Gantner at about 12 feet, probably will cull this one...   Wednesday, May 27 View Page 2323 Meier,,,photo does not.do the plant justice.   Wednesday, May 27 View Page 2096 Meier,again photo doesn't do the plant justice,,the leaves and vines are huge..   Wednesday, May 27 View Page I don't know what kind of "steroids" the Gartner plants are on but they love em...1625,,,   Wednesday, May 27 View Page 1626.5 Gantner   Wednesday, May 27 View Page I got a new 4 gallon backpack sprayer,,works great..   Monday, June 1 View Page Me spraying the 1625.5 Gantner with silicates,,I foiler feed with silicates 3 times a week.   Friday, June 5 View Page 1625.5 Gantner on the left & 1626.5 Gantner on the right, all four plants have females at that 12-16 foot range, I wanted no less then 16 secondaries behind the fruit, I would say I'm 10 days out before my first pollination of the 2015 season..   Friday, June 5 View Page 2096 Meier is on the left & the 2323 is on the right side,, both the Meier plants have shade clothe over the mains because they both seem to burn easily on sunny days, so the shade clothe really is helping. I've terminated a couple secondaries on the Gantner plants all ready, I would like to have most of the secondaries terminated behind the fruit before pollinations, really want to push the fruit this year, I believe thats why I never seen 50 plus pounds a day since I grew my 1288 in 2010, that plant was mostly filled out at day 10 after pollination,,where as in recent years it seems im still cutting secondaries after day 25-30 of pollination.   Thursday, June 11 View Page 1625.5 Gartner I'll have the first pollination of the year tomorrow on the plant,,9 secondaries on both sides behind the fruit, out of the 18 secondaries 6 are terminated, plant size is roughly 400 square feet right now.   Thursday, June 11 View Page 1626.5 Gartner, pollination is 2 days out yet, almost the same size as the 1625.5, out of the 18 secondaries behind the fruit 3 are terminated, I'll have 9 terminated at the day of pollination.   Thursday, June 11 View Page 2323 Meier, both Meier plants will be pollinated around the 15th, these plant are a lot more stocky then the Gartner plants which makes them a pain to work with, I accidentally snaped a secondary on the 2096 when I was burying vines, first time that has happened in a long time...so the 2323 has 17 secondaries behind the fruit, 3 of which are terminated   Thursday, June 11 View Page 2096 Meier, 16 secondaries behind the fruit, none are terminated yet.   Thursday, June 11 View Page 2096 Meier, 16 secondaries behind the fruit, none are terminated yet.   Thursday, June 11 View Page Stocking up on male flowers from the 2323 for the 1625.5 tomorrow, these flower will be put to use two hours after the fresh flowers are used.   Friday, June 12 View Page When ever it rains I try to collect the water for the plants, I pump it in from a hole I made along side the greenhouse, the water that runs off the greenhouse pools up in that one spot so I ether use it for the plants or pump it into our pond.   Friday, June 12 View Page Six lobes on the 1625.5 pollination this morning, 1625.5 x 2323,, I used 3 fresh flowers at 6:30 & 3 one day old flowers @ 9:00   Sunday, June 14 View Page Crosses so far are,, 1625.5 x 2323. 2323 x 2096. 1626.5 x 2323. And tomorrows pollination will be 2096 x 1625.5. There were seeds in the blossom of the 1626.5 so I might take the next pollination down. I also applied anthesis to the 1625.5 exactly 48 hours after pollination...plus I'm continuing to water with silicates, even though I'm in the process of pollinations.   Tuesday, June 16 View Page 2323 Meier, okay so I believe all pollinations are going to take, it was exceptionally cool during the last couple days,,I believe I'm going to cull the pumpkin on the 2096, and go with one a little further down, the spot it's in now would pose a problem when it comes time to lift the pumpkins, plus It"ll give that plant a little more time to grow some foliage.   Monday, June 22 View Page 1625.5 Gantner is at day ten today, all but one secondary is terminated behind the fruit, I want to have everything terminated by day 20. Also started drenching with 8 percent silicate I was using 3 percent, that 8 percent should get things rolling pretty quick.   Monday, June 22 View Page 1626.5 Gartner day 8,,this should be a very orange fruit.   Monday, June 22 View Page Daily dose of round up,,, I've become accustomed to apply round up on a weekly basis, I have no fear with the stuff anymore...   Thursday, June 25 View Page Day 10 for the 1626.5 Gantner.   Sunday, June 28 View Page 2096 Meier x 2323 Meier....day 7   Sunday, June 28 View Page 1626.5 Gantner x 2323 Meier,, day 14   Sunday, June 28 View Page 1625.5 Gantner x 2323 Meier,, day 16   Sunday, June 28 View Page 2323 Meier x 2096 Meier,,,day 8, Once the fruits hit day 20 I'll post the ott of each fruit every 5 days,,because to be honest I love looking at big pumpkin pictures but if you're hideing the est. Weight it's no fun to watch the fruit grow, so I'm going to try to make my diary enjoyable, plus I can use it as knowledge for next year... all my fruit were sprayed with matts anethesis,,"hope I spelt it right" plant look really healthy I hope this is my year, only time will tell.   Thursday, July 2 View Page 1625.5 Gantner day 20 CC 70 EE 49 SS 49 OTT = 168   Saturday, July 4 View Page 1626.5 Gantner day 20 CC 54 SS 48 EE 44 OTT =146   Tuesday, July 7 View Page 1625.5 day 25 CC 93 SS 65 EE 65 OTT = 224 EST weight = 246# 5 day average of 27 pounds a day.   Thursday, July 9 View Page Heres my wheel the 1626.5 Gantner day 25 CC 77 SS 67 EE 61 OTT = 205 est. weight 192# daily est. gain of 23.2 pounds   Friday, July 10 View Page 2323 Meier day 20 CC 74 SS 47 EE 51 OTT = 172   Saturday, July 11 View Page 2096 Meier day 20 CC 82 SS 56 EE 57 OTT = 195   Saturday, July 11 View Page Greenhouse is now completely full,, all thats left are the main vines which have a little room left to grow, So each plant is about 800 sq feet.   Saturday, July 11 View Page Also I apologize to anyone thats been trying to e-mail me through bp.com, that e-mail adress is no longer being used by me & bp.com wont except my current e-mail address when I try to update it, it shows an error, at any rate if you'd like to get in touch with me my e-mail address is brandt.josiah@yahoo.com   Sunday, July 12 View Page 1625.5 Gantner day 30 CC 113 SS 77 EE 76 OTT =266 est.weight 403 daily gain of 31.4 a day   Tuesday, July 14 View Page 1626.5 Gantner day 30 CC 102 SS 85 EE 78 OTT = 265 est. Weight is 398, daily gain of 41.2   Wednesday, July 15 View Page 2323 Meier day 25 CC 102 SS 65 EE 61 OTT 228 est weight 259# daily gain of 28.4 pounds   Thursday, July 16 View Page 2096 Meier day 25 CC 108 SS 70 EE 72 OTT = 250 Est. Weight 337 daily gain 34 pounds   Sunday, July 19 View Page 1626.5 Gantner day 35   Sunday, July 19 View Page Main vine on the 2096 Meier.   Sunday, July 19 View Page Greenhouse is all filled in, also I wont be updateing my diary for awhile....   Tuesday, July 21 View Page The est. Weights that is ;) Picture shows the SS on the 1626.5 on day 37   Tuesday, July 21 View Page Heres the 2323 on day 31, both the Meier plants have blossom end rot that I have been fighting since day 20, the 2096 seems to be fine, however this morning I noticed the 2323 has started rotting again, so more surgery for that pumpkin this morning... I dont believe the rot will be a big deal, I've dealt with it before and am not to worried, just got to keep it dry..   Tuesday, July 21 View Page Here's the after math of the surgery, blossom was cut out at day 20 or so, and today I cut out a little more that had begun to rot..the rots just on the surface, scraped it away and aplyed more captain.   Tuesday, July 21 View Page Now enough of the bad news, time for some good news, 2096 Meier day 30, by far the largest pumpkin I've had at day 30,, well over 300 inches.   Tuesday, July 21 View Page Another angle on the 2096   Friday, July 24 View Page Measured fruit this morning and I'm happy to same everyone is over 300 inches.   Sunday, July 26 View Page Lost the 1626.5 today to a BES... Final ott CC 151 SS 109 EE 96 OTT = 356 est weight. 994.... I weighed the pieces and it came up to 1071 so about 10 percent heavy,,, 1071 Brandt uow 15, 1626.5 Gantner x 2323 Meier   Sunday, July 26 View Page Cut down the middle,,,   Sunday, July 26 View Page Last picture of the 1071 Brandt uow in pieces, it was alot of work getting it out of the greenhouse by myself. Hopefully next time they blow when they're smaller.   Monday, July 27 View Page 1625.5 Gantner day 45, 3 day avg weight gain of 40.3 pounds, one of the slower fruit, but I'd like to think it's doing about 50 a day, after all it is a gantner seed "heavy"   Tuesday, July 28 View Page 2096 Meier day 38 right around 900 pounds should break 1000 by day 40.. We shall see, hopefully the growth curve tappers down slowly, I believe it will the plant looks super young and healthy, but anything can happen, the average daily gains have been right around 40 pounds a day maybe a bit more,, I honestly lol when I hear people are getting 60 plus pounds a day, if they truely are thats awesome, but if you do the math if your fruit doing 60 a day at day 30 unless you had really bad numbers at day 30 you should have a 13-14 hundred pound pumpkin at day 40 and from my experience day 45-50 is my half way point,,so 3000 pounds could fall this year? Maybe more than 3000?,,,just thought I'd rant a bit..gl everyone may your 60 pound days continue and you grow a Wr,,,   Tuesday, July 28 View Page Weeded the jungle today,,,   Thursday, July 30 View Page Day 40 on the 2323 Meier, this is my smallest fruit its est. right around 850 pounds, the plant is super healthy, I just wish the fruit would correlate with the plant ehh.. Maybe this one will be a steady gainer and catch up, it's just to early to tell yet. also on my last post that was day 37 for the 2096 not 38   Friday, July 31 View Page My 1364 Brandt from 2014 had a 316 Ott on day 40,, today is day 40 for the 2096 Ott is 360,, the next 60 day will be the key to get this fruit over 2000 pounds, the plant needs to stay young and healthy to keep a steady growth curve.   Saturday, August 1 View Page Eh.   Saturday, August 1 View Page Ott was 351 on day 42 est. 956 pounds, I didn't even try to weigh it. It's all so depressing   Saturday, August 1 View Page 2323 Meier day 42, the growth splits on the inside walls were insane. all I have left now is the 1625.5 & 2096 both are my best fruit out of the original 4, which one will blow next? This is why I laugh at 60 pound a days... I never would have thought that blossom was that thin..   Sunday, August 2 View Page Every year with out fail, mother nature you're so predictable.   Tuesday, August 4 View Page Today is day 44 for the 2096 Meier, the Ott is 375 which est. right around 1150 pounds, every morning I have to get down on my knees to check for a BES, that's the worst part of my day, one of these days my heart is going to be broken I just no it,,,,   Tuesday, August 4 View Page 1625.5 gantner??this fruit is big... will be a contender at any weigh off if it holds together.   Thursday, August 6 View Page I was tearing out a portion of the 2323 today and I wanted to show the size of the leaf stalks, I 100% believe the size it because of the silicates.   Tuesday, August 11 View Page 1625.5 gantner. Tapes over 1250. I really really like the look of this pumpkin, if I can get it to tape over 1600 I think it'll have a shot at the state record.   Tuesday, August 11 View Page 2096 Meier day 51.   Tuesday, August 11 View Page I'll let this picture speak for itself. I'm not sure what the next 50 days will bring, but if I can keep the steady gains this fruit will have a shot at 500 Ott. There's a long road ahead let's hope this fruit stays on course.   Monday, August 17 View Page About every week I've been pulling the 2096 to reduce stress on the vine, I don't want to cut tape roots,,,so this is what I do....   Monday, August 17 View Page Getting the strap around the pumpkin, we have a winch on the outside of the greenhouse to pull the pumpkin.   Monday, August 17 View Page Ready to pull.   Monday, August 17 View Page Got a little more slack in the vine now.   Monday, August 17 View Page 2096 day 57, CC 201 SS 113 EE 107 Ott 421 est weight 1536#   Monday, August 17 View Page 1625.5 est weight is around 1350 pounds Ott is 398   Friday, August 21 View Page The next two pictures will show an over view of my last two plants, just to show what the general health of the plants look like. Here is the 2096, only lost 6 leaves so far on this plant, other then that there is no signs of age on the leaves.   Friday, August 21 View Page Here is the 1625.5, leaves look great, but the back leaves are showing signs of age, I think it's because those leaves get the most sun during the hottest parts of the day, but over all still in great shape,,,I'm keeping her rolling for Garry now tapes over 400 inches   Friday, August 21 View Page 1625.5 Gantner?? CC 180 SS 115 EE 108 OTT 403 EST Weight 1381 I'm really liking my chances to get this fruit over 1600 pounds est.   Friday, August 21 View Page If the skin is cracking she's growing,, still putting on a solid 15 pounds a day at day 71.   Tuesday, August 25 View Page 2096 Meier continues to grow. Might take this one to stillwater, it has to tape 2000 then it'll go.   Tuesday, August 25 View Page 2096,,, Beni you better have something big up your sleaves this year, I think 2323 will fall, to a fruit that will go over 2500 pounds.   Thursday, August 27 View Page CC on the 2096 is now over 210 inches.   Thursday, August 27 View Page These were tap roots on the 1626 before I pulled the plant, I have tap roots on the 2096 and 1625 that would Dorf these. Interesting picture though.   Sunday, August 30 View Page 1625.5 gantner 411 inches,,,right around 1450 pounds est. If it gets to 1600 est watch out,, this fruit is solid...might go close to 1900 pounds   Wednesday, September 2 View Page Update on the 2096 Meier, Ott is 447 inches, I have about 40 days left to go before stillwater if that is where it'll go, not sure yet, um still growing about 10-15 pounds a day, plant looks healthy no signs of rot, and the pumpkin is rock solid, will be excited to weigh this fruit if it makes it, the picture shows the blossom which rotted off around day 20.   Thursday, September 3 View Page 1625 Gantner   Thursday, September 3 View Page I think the 1625 grew a solid inch over the top today when this sucker cracked.   Thursday, September 3 View Page 2096 Meier, closeing in on the state record.   Sunday, September 6 View Page This is the stump side of the 2096, I'm very proud of the leaves they look great, should help with my September gains.   Sunday, September 13 View Page 1625 gantner est. At about 1550 pounds, this pumpkin is going to the lodge, I believe it could go over 1800 pounds, it's pretty solid.   Sunday, September 13 View Page 2096 Meier, this pumpkin will go to stillwater to complete with the big boys, about 30 growing days left.   Monday, September 14 View Page Another product that I'm using on my plants, this is in the beta stage so to speak and will be available for purchase next season, Tanner conway formulated this product, it will be available for purchase next year through him, what it basically does is slows down the ageing process of the plant, it's foliar sprayed to the stem of the pumpkin and leaves to keep them young, this will help a great deal with the late gains people have a hard time getting. Tanner hasn't named his product yet, but go add him on Facebook and pick his brain about it if you'd like any questions. Cheers to the next in achieveing a 3000 pound fruit.   Tuesday, September 15 View Page Clocks counting down on the 2096, weigh off could not come fast enough.   Friday, September 18 View Page All advice is welcome, my E-mail Brandt.josiah@yahoo.com. I have 7 days before this fruit gets weighed, I've been fighting rot on the growth splits for awhile, recently the rot has really took off, I've cut out the rot and applied sulfur also had 2 fans on it, rot continues...I can't get it to stop...   Friday, September 18 View Page This evening I cut out more rot,,,just mushy flesh...this is the worst spot over 5 inches in, so now I have 4 fans on the splits and also applied proxcide, So I'm going to watch it carefully if I see even a little bit more I'm going to pull the fruit from the greenhouse and store it in the garage for the last few days..   Saturday, September 19 View Page Thanks to everyone that emailed me with there advice I appreciate it. After a day of thinking I took Tom beachys advice which was cut out all the rot, apply bleach at 10% mixed with water for 10 minutes, afterwards wash with rubbing alcohol, then paint on daconil then put a mirror under the wound to allow sun to hit it, also put a fan on the wound. Again thanks everyone, lets hope she holds together for another week.   Monday, September 21 View Page Last pictures of the 2096 until it gets weighed, will Gene's north american record last? Will the world record last?   Monday, September 21 View Page 2096! Never,, did I imagine I'd grow a fruit this big!   Friday, September 25 View Page My set up.....   Friday, September 25 View Page Lee's lifting ring made everything so much easier.. Thanks for the rings Lee   Friday, September 25 View Page Ready for sturgeon bay tomorrow. I believe this fruit will be a site record.   Friday, September 25 View Page Or close to it,, ;)   Saturday, September 26 View Page Thanks to everyone that helped get this fruit to the scale, 1965 Brandt 2015. 1625 Gantner x 2323 Meier. Theres one more record I'd like to get this year, and Beni Meier it's coming off your seed.   Saturday, September 26 View Page Me and Tanner Conway had a bet leading up to the weigh off,,if the 1625 went under 27% I'd buy ferts for him next year, but if it went over 27% heavy he'd have to jump in lake michigan... This is Tanner just before he gets soaked.   Saturday, September 26 View Page I wasn't going to let him do it alone,,,The Lodge in Sturgeon bay is a great weigh off site, this will be a top site soon..   Thursday, October 1 View Page So I got an E- mail from Andy wolf this morning,the judges at the lodge weigh off made the decision my 1965 was a sound fruit"and it is in my opinion" Andy wolf head of the gpc has taken it apon himself to DQ my fruit even though he didn't see the fruit, he was going off pictures I posted 9 days before the weigh off, So this pictures for you andy, the rot spot on the 1965 cut right down the middle, now everyone knows what a DQ fruit looks like.   Thursday, October 1 View Page Another picture.   Thursday, October 1 View Page 14inch walls, 100% healthy on the inside   Thursday, October 1 View Page Close up look of the healed over wound,, I took about 100 pictures for you Andy wolf.. This will be the last year I make a diary on Bigpumpkin.com You all can go thank the head of the gpc.   Thursday, October 1 View Page I got about 100 good seeds from the 1965. So the people that guessed in the weight contest congratulations, I'm so happy I got a few from the 1965 I though for sure I'd get none,,,seems thats my luck most of the time on fruit that go heavy.   Thursday, October 1 View Page Monthly dose of hormones for the 2096, thanks Tanner.   Thursday, October 1 View Page Spray it on the stump to keep the juices flowing.   Thursday, October 1 View Page Most important part the stem,,look how young it looks still...and the fruit is still growing   Thursday, October 1 View Page Whatever is leftover spray on your leaves.   Saturday, October 3 View Page Chris,Chad & Tanner came by for a visit today, pre-weigh off tour.   Saturday, October 3 View Page Always a good sign if this happens   Thursday, October 8 View Page I had one more application of bigstem, so I applyed that tonight, If only I had two more weeks this fruit would be absolutely amazing, in the last week this fruit has continued to grow and I believe if I had the time I could get 100-200 more pounds out of her.. For that reason next year I'll shoot for late may to early june pollination, If we want to break the 3000 pound barrier that will be the target pollination time.   Friday, October 9 View Page 2096,,,all exposed getting ready for the lift.   Monday, October 12 View Page We had to lift the 2185 on to this pallet to move it to the center of the greenhouse so we could lift it up high enough to back our trailer under it..   Monday, October 12 View Page Me cutting the 2185 from the vine..   Thursday, October 15 View Page The 2185 under wraps....   Thursday, October 15 View Page Getting ready for the lift   Thursday, October 15 View Page Stillwaters top 3.. From left to right 1912 Carter, 2185 Brandt & 2109 Zywiec   Thursday, October 15 View Page Tanner Conway and I infront of my 2185, Holding the product big stem..   Thursday, October 15 View Page Awards being presented.   Thursday, October 15 View Page The moment the 2185 weight was revealed...   Tuesday, October 27 View Page Matt Debacco poses next to the amazing 17 inch walls of the 2185 Brandt   Tuesday, October 27 View Page The big 3 that the botanical gardens..   Tuesday, October 27 View Page 2185 on display in the botanical gardens   Tuesday, October 27 View Page Matt Dabacco & Tanner Conway got pretty dirty crawling inside the fruit top three fruit..   Tuesday, October 27 View Page Display Sign   Thursday, November 5 View Page I'm packaging seeds this weekend, I'll send all the seeds out to the growers of the guess the weight contests by this time next week, I'll email everyone individually to let you no when they're heading your way.   Friday, November 6 View Page Seed packaging station.   Monday, November 9 View Page Post office will have a blast with postage.   Monday, November 9 View Page Thank you,, eveyone for reading my diary this year, all the kind emails mean a lot, I've continued working on my patch for next year, I truly believe I can do it next year, with the support of everyone I'll spend every waken hour I can in the patch and give it one more dedicated shot.. With that I say good bye, it's time to dedicate the rest of the year to my second passion power lifting/bodybuilding.. Best of luck to everyone in the years to come.