Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 57 Entries. Tuesday, April 11 View Page Good luck to everyone in the world for this 2023 season ! Une grande pensée à toi Sohan   Wednesday, April 12 View Page Green manure from november looking nice.   Monday, May 1 View Page March 26, green manure has been mowed. Nice thick layer of OM. There were 4 different seeds.   Monday, May 1 View Page The roots went down to over a foot which is another advantage for the structure of the soil. The average width of the Seigle leaves was 3cm.   Monday, May 1 View Page Then I used my favorite tool, the rotative harrow to bury it. There were a lot of lobworms which is pretty rare under polytunnel.   Monday, May 1 View Page We spent about half winter to make an extension of the pumpkin tunnel. A Lot of work for such a small area but it allows me to grow 3 plants now instead of 2.   Monday, May 1 View Page Soil analysis came back and, as usual, manganese and copper defiencies. We always bring wormcasting, blood pellets for nitrogen, top quality basalt for micronutrients and paramagnetisme ( 9000 cgs), biochar, chabasit, kelp meal, fish hydrolysât and a couple of peat and perlite bags. In november, sulfur was added to get down the PH.   Monday, May 1 View Page Thanks a lot to my sponsor " Terralba" for the support. They keep providing me all those great organic products for many years now.   Monday, May 1 View Page I love all these stuffs ! Make a soil alive and healthy.   Monday, May 1 View Page Job done, ready to plant !   Monday, May 1 View Page Soil temp is around 16/17C and soil EC near 1.0 So far, the beginning of the season is wet and cool, very similar to 2021 spring but it s warmer and warmer everyday now.   Monday, May 1 View Page Soil Ph is still too high despite my efforts to get it down.   Monday, May 1 View Page Soil moisture is fine, it holds water but not too much.   Saturday, June 10 View Page 2365 Wolf is an awesome plant ! Very healthy, strong, aggressive, beautiful etc...   Monday, June 12 View Page The second plant is a 2144 Barron which also a great one. The inter nodes are shorter than 2365 and the leaves tend to burn easily despite the shading net and misting system. I spread spidermites predators to prevent the attacks. Weather has been sunny, warm and very dry so they may arrive soon...   Monday, June 12 View Page The second plant is a 2144 Barron which is also a great one. The inter nodes are shorter than 2365 and the leaves tend to burn easily despite the shading net and misting system. I spread spidermites predators to prevent the attacks. Weather has been sunny, warm and very dry so they may arrive soon...   Monday, July 3 View Page Healthy leaves. As usual, just need a bit of manganèse to be spot on. All the new improvements are making a big difference. Both fruits are set and growing. Fingers crossed   Monday, July 3 View Page Dap 15 for the 2365 Wolf x 2144 Barron and looking good. Plant is just AWESOME !   Friday, July 7 View Page This is the 2144 Barron pumpkin.   Monday, July 10 View Page 2365 Wolf x 2144 Barron day 20 : 198" That s by far the biggest day 20 I ve ever taped since I m growing (2008). My 2169 was 139" and 2045 was 145". Last night , I worked from 23h to 4h A.M on that plant. ( day time way too hot ). Everyday, 4h to 5h of cares per plant. That s not counting the rest of the day to look after the 800 tomatoes plants, cucumbers, aubergines etc...   Monday, July 10 View Page Got a nice megabloom on a 6.82 Brown.   Saturday, July 15 View Page 2365 Wolf day 25 : 264.5" OTT, again a new Pb. It grew over 48lb per day during the last 5 days. I m getting nervous now... Plant is absolutely amazing and there are still plenty of laterals growing. Very powerful Plant !   Monday, July 17 View Page 2365 Wolf day 25 : 264.5" , that s another pb. Plant is very healthy and aggressive. About 9/10 laterals still growing before the pumpkin. Packing over 48lb a day. I m starting to get nervous...   Monday, July 17 View Page 2144 Barron is doing well at 233" day 25. Both pumpkins are white this season. Spread on both plants spidermites predators again just to prevent any attacks. So far , so good ! Worked from 18h to 1h on both plants yesterday.   Wednesday, July 19 View Page 2365 Wolf has grown 60lb/day in the last 5 days. Day 30 : 315" OTT From my notes, the max gains come between day 30 and 40. Very first PM signs as every mid july. Skin is soft like a baby.   Thursday, July 20 View Page There are lobworms absolutely everywhere I dig ! They are doing such a good job in the soil life. Organic power !   Sunday, July 23 View Page DAP 35 for the 2365 Wolf. Estimated weight is exactly 1000lb. It grew 55lb per day for the last 5 days. Unfortunately, weather has changed, it s grey, wet and windy next week...   Tuesday, July 25 View Page 2144 Barron is doing 50lb/day. It sounds solid. Plant is great and healthy.   Tuesday, July 25 View Page Considering the bad weather : grey, cold and wet, it grew really well. Many showers, almost no sun in the last 5 days. 14C today.   Thursday, July 27 View Page Just spread on top of the leaves 2 x 2000 phytoseiuous between the 2 plants. I d need 2 x 2000 to cover the whole canopy for each fully grown plant in the futur.   Friday, July 28 View Page 2365 Wolf is still plodding along ! Dap 40 and still doing 57lb/day despite the cold, wet and grey weather. OTT is over 385" Still a couple of laterals growing before the fruit. What a magic pumpkin ! Really enjoying time with him.   Friday, July 28 View Page 2365 Wolf is still plodding along ! Dap 40 and still doing 57lb/day despite the cold, wet and grey weather. OTT is over 385" Still a couple of laterals growing before the fruit. What a magic pumpkin ! Really enjoying time with him.   Monday, July 31 View Page Day 40 : 2144 Barron is over 354" doing 49lb/ day. Almost no sun for a week and same grey /wet and cold weather for the next 7 days... :-( That s very unlucky to reach the pic of growth while it s cold and gloomy.   Wednesday, August 2 View Page DAP45 the 2365 Wolf is 1501lb and has averaged 44lb a day for the last 5 days. Last 5 days were grey , very wet and windy. Unfortunately, no sun at all and 19C max.   Monday, August 7 View Page 2365 canopy is still looking nice. Finally, after 10 days of cold and grey weather with temperatures down to 8C last night, the sun is back ! Should be better now for the next 7 days with temperatures up to 30C.   Tuesday, August 8 View Page Look at this fantastic megabloom on a 9.06 Brown. Really love it ! It looks like it's 4 or 5 fused flowers. I selfed it 2 days ago.   Tuesday, August 8 View Page Another shot to get a better idea of the size.   Tuesday, August 8 View Page 2365 Wolf is enjoying the sun.   Tuesday, August 8 View Page DAP 50 for the 2365 Wolf Cc is over 206" now.   Saturday, August 12 View Page 2365 Wolf X 2144 Barron Day 55 OTT : 444" Stem still looks good.   Wednesday, August 16 View Page 2144 Barron Stem is perfect. Day 55 : CC is 200"   Wednesday, August 16 View Page 2144 Barron Stem is perfect. Day 55 : CC is 200"   Thursday, August 17 View Page I m devasted, gutted, sad and feel so bad... This passion can be so heartbreaking. You feel fantastic and a second later , you are Ko. When you lift the towel of your best pumpkin and discover a split, it s like , well, no no it can't happen to this one and you lift one more time the towel to recheck and yes it's true, you are right , it splits ! Tears come to your eyes and nothing can stop that. That feeling is so awful , so brutal. I m down, down , down.   Sunday, August 20 View Page Well, after 3 days of sadness, here the drama... The 2365 Wolf splits in the baby bath. Dap 60 : estimated weight 2000lb still growing 30lb a day. With 1.5 month to go , it was on track for a huge pumpkin, with the potential of a WR. The plant is still in great conditions and ready to push up to october but this dream is gone.... " if you don't blow'em, you don't grow 'em" Tough time but now , I know a bit more how to grow them. The major changes done this season seem effective so will apply them next year and will add a few more.   Friday, August 25 View Page Here the 2365 Wolf X 2144 Barron Day 67, despite the split , it keeps on growing well. Final dimensions are : Cc 577cm Ee 317cm Ss 300cm Ott 1194cm which is 470" The pumpkin itself was 1.80m long, 1.95m wide and 1m high. Really heartbreaking... plant still very good for end of august and ready to grow up to october. The blossom end was nice and no risk of splitting judging by the thickness. We weighed it in pieces , no way to get it out without damaging the next plant. For the moment, I can't mention the real weight cos we are organising a "guess the weight game".   Friday, September 1 View Page This is the inside of the 2365 Stem. Very thick , dense and heavy. It was perfect and clean.   Friday, September 1 View Page This is the inside of the 2365 Stem. Very thick , dense and heavy. It was perfect and clean.   Friday, September 1 View Page Will have to weigh that nice tomato very soon. Weather is cold, grey and wet. Sun and better temps are coming back on sunday. 9C last night.   Friday, September 1 View Page This is a 9.06 Brown. Still a young one and growing well. Another 23 days to go before the National GPC weigh off. Fingers crossed !   Friday, September 1 View Page Meet our new lake record called " The Long Common" weighing 79lb10oz ! That s a true beast, it s long mâle measuring almost 4 feet long. The paddle is 35cm wide. Ian and Stuart, I hope that photo will put a smile on your face   Sunday, September 17 View Page I m amazed by this great tomato! Still green and growing. It tapes exactly 30" CC today. Fingers crossed !   Friday, September 22 View Page I had to break the hamac to let it grow freely cos it was touching the frame. Cc is 30"3/4.   Monday, September 25 View Page I m over the moon !!! Beat the French and European record tomato yesterday at the GPC weigh off with the great specimen. It was still growing but decided to cut it for the show. Hard décision cos I would have reach 4kg probably by today. So happy to beat my previous 2018 8.07lb PB. Previous European record was 3.795kg by my very good friend Fabrice Boudyo. Fabrice, now, you will have to come back to the community to grow again some monsters !   Monday, October 2 View Page 8.80lb Daho 2023 I d like to thank all growers who gave me tips , specially Jack Larue, Chris Brown and Rick J. Since 2018 when I grew the 8.07lb and I kept growing Big Zac for market but didn't try to produce another big one. This season, I planted 12 plants and grew them seriously. A few small megablooms did 4.91lb and 5.06lb but finally, early august , a very nice shaped megabloom appears , something like 4/5 fused blossoms. 49 days later it weighed 8.80lb. It was still growing when picked up. 100% organic 3 dimensions are : 78cm 74cm 54cm   Wednesday, November 1 View Page The big 2365 fruit lost mid august is still in my head... When it splits at day 61, we cut it in pieces to get a real weight but kept it secret up to now cos we did a " guess the weight" game. So the final real weight was 2114.6lb. Plant was still in good shape and the pumpkin was still growing well. I never had a such aggressive plant , so strong from the beginning to the end , just amazing ! I did a germination test with a few seeds and met 100% success. The seedlings are beautiful and very fast.   Wednesday, November 1 View Page Here the babies 2114.6 Daho 2023 DMG at 7 days old. I m running differents products tests. In each pot (A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I A being the "témoin" with nothing), I added myc, azos, another type of Myc and another bacillus. Same light, same seed, same temperature, same compost same watering ,all conditions are strictly the same. Will wait 4 weeks to check the roots and foliage evolution. ( symbiose time)   Wednesday, December 27 View Page Forgot to add a picture of the 1914.6 Daho 2023 (2144 Barron X 2365 Wolf) Won first place at French weigh off