Yesterday I thought my pumpkin was lost. Well, the first one was truly lost - I snapped it off trying to reposition it. Anyway, the other 2 pumpkins on the plant looked like they were going to abort. I had even started a new seed to start over. My sister thought she was being funny when she wrote "I'll hold your pumpkin in my thoughts and prayers" but it may have worked because one of them is growing again I think. Those rainy days confused the plant I think.

So the new pumpkin was pollinated Friday 6/24 and is now 6 days old. It's a little behind the growth of the first one and like the first one it's also growing way too close to the vine.

June 23

3 days after pollination












Day 5. The metal plate is an attempt to train the pumpkin away from the vine.

There are a couple of bad spots on the back of the pumpkin, but if it doesn't make it pumpkin #2 is pollinated and starting to grow now.

June 20th - Pollination Day

This doesn't seem to be a recognized holliday. In any case, this is one of the male flowers I'll be using today.







First you remove the petals, leaving just the innards and the pollen.










There's the female. The bricks are set up to help hold in the cool air. I'll be putting out blue ice packs later to keep it cool. It was 92 degrees at 7:30 pm tonight, and that is not pumpkin weather.






The inside of the female bloom. A beautiful if not-quite-perfect six lobe bloom! The honey bees and I had a pretty fierce fight for rights to the flowers this morning.







And pollination is complete. Now just hope the fruit doesn't abort due to the hot weather or for some other reason.

June 17

The plant is starting to spread out now, but not like it would if it really had room.

You sure you got space for this, Mike?

June 12 The first baby pumpkin

What a good looking kid. That long stem is crucial once the fruit starts growing fast. Ok, I'll skip the suspense - this one didn't make it. In about a week another female will bloom.

Here's what a squash vine borer looks like inside the vine. (That's the strap of my camera in the lower right.)








And we'll leave the bugger out on a leaf to dry.

June 10 - The first pests

I'm not sure what kind of eggs these are, cucumber beetles maybe. If they like to hatch on pumpkins, they'll have to find a different garden.




June 10th was also when the first squash vine borers appeared. They've pretty much decimated the mini pumpkin but none in the Atlantic Giant vine.

June 5
Now that's a bad problem. The vine split as it crossed a brick. Even if the main vine doesn't die, can it carry enough nutrients to support a giant pumpkin, or will my pumpkin be smaller? Should I kill the vine and replant?





There's nothing that can't be fixed with duct tape.











Bury the vine and hope for the best. I probably have to start a backup plant anyway, because it is almost vine borer season.

June 3

Ok, I guess we had some rain! The plant grew about a foot a day while I was gone.

May 26

Leaving town for a week... we better get some rain.