Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 34 Entries. Sunday, August 2 View Page 2 days after pollination. On a secondary that splits off from the main vine about 5 feet from the stump. The secondary travels about 8 more feet until the fruit. Monday, August 3 View Page Not much growth today from what I can tell, but i'm trying to train the vine so the fruit is at 90 degrees to it Monday, August 3 View Page Not much growth today from what I can tell, but i'm trying to train the vine so the fruit is at 90 degrees to it Tuesday, August 4 View Page Definitely some growth today, continuing to train the vine Wednesday, August 5 View Page fruit is starting to fall down naturally under it's own weight. I presume this is fine, but it wants to lay on top of the leaf. Thursday, August 6 View Page It is now fully on the ground. I'm still not sure if I should keep this fruit or not. This is definitely the healthiest plant I've had. Friday, August 7 View Page Now 7 days after pollination. Trying to pull the pumpkin away from things with a rubberband. It's very gentle so I'm pretty confident it won't damage things. Saturday, August 8 View Page 8 days after pollination and I'm starting to see some real growth. Vine training seems to be going well. Sunday, August 9 View Page 3 inches of extra circumference in a day! This is exciting Monday, August 10 View Page Another 2 inches today. I cracked the leaf yesterday while moving it :( I hope this is okay, but the leaf is still connected and providing shade and nutrients. Tuesday, August 11 View Page now 11 days after polination. Growth seems to be accelerating. It gained almost 4 inches today. I've learned that the circumference i'm measuring is not the way to go, and soon I won't be able to lift the fruit to get the tape measure underneath. Tuesday, August 11 View Page When I first planted her there was some initial crosshatch damage tot he main vine. Maybe about 1/4 of the way through the vine. However, she recovered great. She continued to grow until I was ready to start the fruit when I damaged her again. This time about 1/2 of the way through the vine. Again she recovered. However, because of where the damage is, I'm scared to grow my fruit on the main vine. Here is a diagram of what I currently have Tuesday, August 11 View Page Here's the location of the DAP11 fruit. I know, i know... I need to make room somehow.... Tuesday, August 11 View Page Another picture of the fruit location looking down the entire plant. Tuesday, August 11 View Page A picture of the first plant. In this one you can see some early leaf damage from cucumber beetles that I've been constantly fighting off. Tuesday, August 11 View Page Here's a backup fruit on another secondary that's in a more established position then my current DAP11 fruit. This fruit is at DAP3 Tuesday, August 11 View Page Here is the DAP3 fruit that's on the main vine right now. I'm not sure if I should keep either of my DAP3s... Wednesday, August 12 View Page I guess i'm not paying attention because there was a surprise hidden pumpkin in all the foliage! It was in a bad position though so I decided to cut it. It would have crushed the stump. Wednesday, August 12 View Page DAP12 - still looking good Wednesday, August 12 View Page Main vine DAP4 - I might end up growing 2 pumpkins since my goal is just 500 lbs. Wednesday, August 12 View Page Main vine DAP4 - I might end up growing 2 pumpkins since my goal is just 500 lbs. Wednesday, August 12 View Page DAP4 - this is my second option for my second 500lb pumpkin. Thursday, August 13 View Page DAP13: Prepped an area for her to grow Thursday, August 13 View Page Those B***A$* SQUIRRELS! WTF. Idk if my backups will suvive :( Doing what I can to protect the big one. Friday, August 14 View Page DAP14: another 4 inches in circumfrence! Sunday, August 16 View Page DAP16 Tuesday, August 18 View Page DAP18 - OOT 127" Thursday, August 20 View Page DAP20 - OOT 144.5" Monday, August 24 View Page DAP24 - OOT 172 Continuing steady growth, averaging about 10lbs per day for the last 3 days. I know this isn't enough so I'm really hoping for an acceleration here in the next couple of days. I was dumb and broke off the blossom end. I sterilized her with some hydrogen peroxide then let her dry out. Hopefully there are no issues here. She's now propped up on sand instead of styrofoam and I'm about to measure all the soil to make sure she's getting enough water. Monday, August 24 View Page Worried about this Vine damage... Not sure what to do... Monday, August 24 View Page Another picture of the possible vine damage Monday, August 24 View Page DAP24 a picture of the full plant. Bonnie is on the middle right of this picture. Monday, August 24 View Page DAP24... Wondering if the damage to the blossom end is healing okay.... Monday, August 24 View Page DAP24... Wondering if the damage to the blossom end is healing okay....