NEIGHBORHOOD GARDEN FOR NOVEMBER 24, 2012
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ANOTHER WORLD RECORD PUMPKIN--2,009
POUNDS
BY GEORGE EDGAR
Gardeners are
always competing with each other.
They want to have the greenest lawn, be the first to have a new
plant, or the first on the block to have a ripe tomato.
In the fall the competition is for the largest pumpkin. In order
to settle who has the largest pumpkin, the pumpkin growers have formed
The Great Pumpkin Commonwealth (GPC) that overseas and sanctions the results of over
80 weigh offs across the globe. BigPumpkins.com hosts an interactive
website for them that connects the giant pumpkin and squash community
and has a record of the giant winners since 2005.
I started
writing about world record pumpkins in 2006. That year the record was
1,502# set by Ron Wallace
of Rhode Island.
In 2007 Joe Jutras of Scituate, Rhode Island hauled in the winner at 1,689#
and a new world record. In 2009 the orange behemoth tipped the scales at
1,725# and another new world record.
Christy
Harp, a High School math teacher
from Jackson Township, Ohio, grew the pumpkin with her husband, Nick. “For Christy,
growing gargantuan gourds has become a personal challenge since the
eighth grade, and is now a bit of a hobby at the family farm. In 2008
she and her husband decided to have a little contest. That year
Nick
won by 200# but in 2009 she beat him by 400# and set the new world
record. She said that at one point in August of 2009, the pumpkin was
growing 33# a day” (1) In 2010
Chris
Stevens of New Richmond, WI sets
another world record at 1810.5 pounds!! (2)
This year
(2012) the largest pumpkin broke the 2000 pound barrier and weighed in
at 2009 pounds and was 458 inches around. It was a cross between a #1725
Harp and a #1409 Miller, and grown by Ron Wallace
of Greene, Rhode Island. He won in 2006 and also grew
the second largest pumpkin (1,872 pounds) in 2012. (2)
“Atlantic
Giant” (Cucurbita
maxima) seems to be the primary variety of pumpkin that will create an
enormous pumpkin in the ordinary family garden. The original seed was
developed from more standard-sized stock by a man in
Nova Scotia
named Howard
Dill in the early 1970s. Present
day growers of record giant pumpkins usually save their seeds and sell
them at a pretty good price for one seed.
In order to
grow a large pumpkin, fall soil preparation is very important and
includes adding lots of compost and/or composted manure to the bed.
According to Ohio State University “Growing giant pumpkins
requires an early start. Seeds should be sown individually and started
indoors in 12 inch peat pots about the end of
April. Plants are ready for transplanting when the first
true leaf is fully expanded. Granular fertilizers should be applied as a
broadcast application over the soil surface and incorporated into the
soil 4 to 6 inches deep a few days ahead of setting out transplants....A
foliar feeding program should be started after pollination and fruit set
have occurred. Follow label directions and continue application
throughout the growing season.” (3)
Or you can
start seeds outside in the garden in Southeast and South Central
Nebraska when the soil temperature is above 60 degrees F. A row cover
can be used to protect the plants on cold nights. When the pumpkins are
about 30# or the size of a volleyball, one grower selects the one or two
best, removes the rest, and applies 100 gallons of water per day. During
the hot summer he even puts a tent over the pumpkin to keep it from
getting sun scald.
According to
The U.S. Department of Agriculture about 1.5 billion pounds of pumpkins
are produced in this country each year. Estimates also show that the
number of acres planted to pumpkins has been growing over the last
couple of decades. Pumpkins, which are thought to be native to North America, are a warm weather crop, which means they
grow best in the summer months with temperatures in the low to mid-80s Fahrenheit according to George Janowiak,
a past president of the Illinois Pumpkin Growers Association. Illinois, Indiana, Ohio,
Pennsylvania, and
California
are the top pumpkin producing states in the United States.
Pumpkins can
have problems. In 2009 an early frost in August killed off much of the
Wisconsin crop. Also that year unusually high rain amounts
crippled many crops in New England with
Maine
hit particularly hard. An early season heavy rain can soak a field and
rot the seeds. Therefore,
seeds must be replanted which can leave a farmer under pressure to make
the mid-fall harvest. Pumpkins seemed to have faired better in 2010 and
2011 in most areas of the United States.
2012 was a very hot and dry year so only those growers who watered their
crop on a regular basis were able to have a normal crop
One year I grew
“Swan Gourds” for Gladys
and the vines took over the garden. If you grow pumpkins, squash, and/or
gourds make sure you have enough room. Ohio State University Extension
recommends about 2500 square feet per plant for giant Pumpkins.(3) Also,
if you plan on storing your harvest, make sure you have room to store
them. Last year (2011) I harvested and stored 45 Butternut Squash and
had a couple of them keep until Memorial Day in the basement. When I
pick my gourds, squash, and pumpkins I try to wait until the stem is
brown and dry. Some of them always start to spoil before we enjoy them
because they are not mature as indicated by completely dry stems or have
some green stripes on the fruit. I store them at 60 to 65 degrees F.
under a large triple sink in bulb crates I get from my son. This year
because of the warm, dry summer and the insects, I did not get any to
store.
Reference:
1. Lincoln Journal Star October 22, 2010, page A8
2. http://www.bigpumpkins.com.
3. Growing Giant Pumpkins in the Home Garden, Ohio State
University Extension
Fact Sheet HYG-1646-94
(http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1646.html)
Other resources: http://greatpumpkincommonwealth.com
This web site
has a picture of the new record Pumpkin and its grower.
Also on the home page are pictures of the largest Watermelon
(326.7 pounds), longest Gourd (137.75 inches), and the largest Field
Pumpkin (209 pounds), and their growers for 2012.
Copyright 2012
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