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1,000-POUND PUMPKIN IN '96? IT'S POSSIBLE...
My brother won the bet...he grew a bigger pumpkin. Officially, his behemoth weighed in at 94.9 pounds. While not a world record, he believes it is the largest pumpkin grown this year in Section 7 of San Francisco Township.
My best efforts produced a nicely shaped beauty that weighed...well, let's just say it's a good thing our bet wasn't $1/pound on the weight differential!
A friend told me he heard a report on public radio last week that this year's heaviest pumpkin weighed more than 900 pounds. This report conflicts, however, with a Minnesota Department of Agriculture news release stating that the world's largest pumpkin grown in 1995 was 789 pounds at Port Elgin, Ontario.
Closer to home, Fred Muermann of Chetek, Wisc. won first place among pumpkin growers at the World Pumpkin Confederation Regional Weigh-Off in Byron, Minn. with a 515.5 pound pumpkin. Muermann was awarded $200 and a plaque for his efforts. Second place at the Byron competition went to Wayne Peters of Rochester, Minn. for a 336 pounder, and third place went to George Heyne of Rochester, with a 313 pounder.
Paul Hugunin, a marketing specialist with the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, believes this year's heat and high humidity may have put a lid on world-class weights from our region.
The biggest Chaska-area pumpkin I've heard about was grown by Laurie Anderson of Jonathon. A first-time pumpkin grower, Laurie says she planted Burpee Giant seed and had three gorgeous vines that produced three good-sized pumpkins.
Her largest, weighing 119.7 pounds, almost didn't survive because her 6-year-old son rolled it down the hill! She plans to use seeds from this pumpkin to grow next year's crop, which she hopes will produce at least four mega-pumpkins.
Keys to growing big pumpkins, she says, include lots of watering and frequent words of encouragement. "I tried to pat each of them every day while weeding and give them lots of verbal support to keep packing on pounds."
Another Jonathon grower, Sue Sipper, used Atlantic Giant seed to grow a half dozen pumpkins over 50 pounds. As her pumpkins grew, a path developed next to her small garden plot as neighbors came by to visit and observe the garden's growth.
Sue says she reads everything she can find about growing pumpkins and next year hopes to produce at least one that exceeds 100 pounds.
If growing big pumpkins sounds like a challenge you'd like to take on next year, here are several tips to get you started. Plant seed outdoors about May 20, or start seed indoors in late April or early May. Set the plants out in late May in a sunny spot in well-tilled soil. Manure or compost added to the soil will stimulate growth. A complete fertilizer like 10-10-10 can be added to the soil before planting (2 pounds/100 sq. ft.).
As the vines grow, stake them down so they can't blow in the wind. Pumpkin vines will grow additional roots from the nodes on the vines, and these new roots will help deliver water and nutrients to the fruit (yes, pumpkins are a fruit).
Pumpkins need at least 1 inch of water from rain or irrigation per week. A mid-season application of a balanced fertilizer side-dressed at the rate of 1 pound for each 25 feed of row will provide additional nutrition.
This is a perfect time of year to dream about big pumpkins. Start dreaming now, and - who knows? - a year from now you might be pictured on the front page of the Chaska Herald with your arms lovingly wrapped around the world's first 1,000-pound pumpkin!
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PUTTING DOWN ROOTS:
A Delightful Blend of
Gardening Wisdom, Wit
and Whimsy
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