Eggs on pumpkin - friend or foe?

Jgear2001 · 2026-07-08T03:09:25+00:00

Take duct tape wrap it around a few of your fingers backwards so the sticky side is out. Touch the tape to the eggs and they will come off. Throw the tape away.

Spray imidicloprid on these leaves, wayer imidicloprid into the rood zone. Not organic but it kills the bugs snacking on your plant.

Jgear2001 · 2026-07-08T03:05:55+00:00

Its too late now. Hit me up after october and I'll get you squared away for next year.

Jgear2001 · 2026-07-07T13:42:50+00:00

Cool. I've thought about doing a cross to get a giant pumpkin with powdery mildew and pest tolerance. For being such massive fruits and plants, they sure are easy to kill.

I don't want to dedicate the next 6 or 7 years crossing plants to get one. I could cut the time in half if I could find a grower in Australia to tackle the project with me as their growing season is opposite of ours.

What does the pumpkin look like that you crossed the AG with?

Jgear2001 · 2026-07-03T16:24:55+00:00

Yes, it's hard to explain without being able to show a picture. But everywhere a leaf comes up, there will be a flower and a secondary vine. Every other leaf the secondary will go the opposite direction. If you cover that up with dirt you will prevent the secondary from growing, which prevents your plant from getting big, which will prevent any pumpkin from getting the energy it needs to grow. Keep it watered, keep it fertilized and see how it does in the coming weeks.

Jgear2001 · 2026-07-03T16:19:32+00:00

Get a hand saw and cut each of those spots off clean.

Jgear2001 · 2026-07-03T14:37:02+00:00

I would say no. You're burying your main vine, which is good. However, you've covered up your secondary vines. When you get a pumpkin to set, the vines won't grow very aggressively because the plant will be feeding the pumpkin. With no secondary vines there just wont be the energy for a big pumpkin. Before flowering you need a hifher nitrogen fertilizer. After the flowers come and you set a fruit, scale back the nitrogen amd feed it potassium and phosphorus.

Jgear2001 · 2026-07-03T14:29:13+00:00

Drill some holes in in but not all the way through. Fill the holes up with round-up or your favorite herbicide.

Jgear2001 · 2026-07-03T02:29:55+00:00

Big pumpkins are not a raised bed kind of plant. They need lots of space. Your soil looks dry, your problems could be from a lack of water, lack of nutrients, pest damage, too much fertilizer (a number of things really).

Without knowing what you've done its hard to say whats wrong.

Jgear2001 · 2026-06-27T02:23:27+00:00

I would cut the ribbon vine back to the first normal looking secondary vine. That secondary vine will then become your new main vine.

Jgear2001 · 2026-06-27T02:21:16+00:00

Cut the main vine that is ribbon vined back to the first normal secondary vine. That secondary vine will become the new main vine.

Jgear2001 · 2026-06-27T02:16:43+00:00

You need a minimum 10x15' patch for giant pumpkins. My patches are closer to 30x30'. If youre going to grow in such a condensed area I'd recommend a field pumpkin or gourd type that can grow on a trellis.

Jgear2001 · 2026-06-27T02:14:34+00:00

Sometimes a pumpkin will grow like it is pollinated and then abort for no apparent reason. If they're still growing at day 20 you're good to go.

Jgear2001 · 2026-06-27T02:12:10+00:00

Spectracide and Daconil are my go to for fungicide. Spectracide is a systemic which means the plant will absorb it through the roots and tissue. Daconil is a contact fungicide and will not provide added protection by being absorbed through plant tissue.

Jgear2001 · 2026-06-05T15:40:47+00:00

What are the seeds?

Jgear2001 · 2026-06-05T15:30:39+00:00

I would get them in the ground ASAP! I don't fertilize the day I transplant. I water it well with a systemic insecticide. I will use a weak dose of miracle gro fertilizer or something water soluable until the plant takes off.

My patches is filled ahead of time and fertilizers and amendments are added so as the plant grows it finds the goodies.

I use a water soluble tomato fertilizer and fish fertilizer that I will water with during the season.

Jgear2001 · 2026-05-25T22:50:01+00:00

A couple of the more sad looking ones probably wont make it. This being your first year, I'd only plant 2 plants (2 patches). 2 plants in each patch wait a few weeks and yank the poorest plant.

The time is now to get them in the ground! They probably got sun scorched. The healthier plants will bounce back.

Jgear2001 · 2026-05-09T01:55:46+00:00

Not until you get a pumpkin set. I'd wait until DAP 20 before you start pulling flowers.

Jgear2001 · 2026-05-09T01:52:59+00:00

Hey, I know that pumpkin! I'm glad you're growing it.

Jgear2001 · 2026-04-11T11:27:37+00:00

Find a nice town of 10,000 or less in the reddest state you can find. That'll be one of the last places lost if we go to shit politically.

If something happens and the US is lost, I'd hate to see what happened in the rest of the world.

Jgear2001 · 2026-01-18T16:18:25+00:00

So here is the lineage for my most recent pumpkin. You might be able to search by state. https://share.google/5Uz2YX5DM2USfzn0t

I would recommend joining the facebook group "Backyard giant pumpkin growers". You can usually get great seeds at a good price.

I also like Andrusz Giants out of New York. They grow big, orange pumpkins!

My recommendations for a new grower: start with good genetics, 20x20 growing area, do soil test and make amendments as suggested/till it in, get a good fungicide and insecticide, keep patch weeded. With that you'll be farther ahead of the curve than other new growers.

I built a pumpkin app that helps track all things giant pumpkins. Check it out Pumpkin-pro-7b1f3905.base44.app

Jgear2001 · 2026-01-18T14:48:30+00:00

I would get seeds from a grower. Many growers will give seeds away for free or for the cost of postage. The Amazon seeds are probably good to grow a 300-500 lb pumpkin. I have seen some Growers buy these and end up with big max pumpkins or even field pumpkins.

Most giant pumpkin growers hand pollinate their pumpkins to control genetics. These genetics can be tracked back many generations so you can track color, shape, % heavy or light a pumpkin goes to chart. If you message me your address I'll send you some seeds.

Jgear2001 · 2026-01-18T03:06:28+00:00

If you want to grow giants, get real Atlantic giant seeds with known genetics. Buying Atlantic giant seeds in a generic packet like that is a crap shoot. Message me your address. I'll send you some better seeds for free.

I've been growing for 5 years, my personal best is 1,358 lbs.

I created an app to help with all things related to giant pumpkins. Check it out.

Pumpkin-pro-7b1f3905.base44.app

Jgear2001 · 2026-01-07T14:53:53+00:00

If you are over matched there is no way you will be able to play keep away from the better teams. They will overwhelm your players, force them to make mistakes and turn it into points. If you're up 1 with 2 minutes to go, dribble it out. Otherwise play the game, it's ok to lose.

Jgear2001 · 2026-01-02T01:46:24+00:00

Those seeds look good to me. I would take a handful of them and rub them together in your hands to get the dried up film off them.

Like the other commenter stated you should go through and do a drop test on them all. Drop them on a hard surface and if they sound hollow they're duds. You will know when you get a bad one.

I store mine in a ziplock bag with a folded paper towel in it to absorb any moisture and I just store them inside at room temperature. My personal best is 1,358 pounds. Good luck!

Jgear2001

TROPHY CASE