london road annual pumpkin comp

[johhnyco15]

this sunday its london road allotments annual biggest pumpkin comp starts at 10:30 sunday the 2nd oct all welcome free refreshments come on down and join in the fun and see if bertha can be the biggest

[johhnyco15]

[playground]

this sunday its london road allotments annual biggest pumpkin comp starts at 10:30 sunday the 2nd oct all welcome free refreshments come on down and join in the fun and see if bertha can be the biggest

how big is Bertha ?

[johhnyco15]

i hope 150lb plus however will tell you tomorrow if she made it really aint got a clue

[Tee Gee]

I like the bent shelves.......are you telling us something?

Best of luck for tomorrow......hope you a have a heavy day........in the best possible way of course....Tg

[johhnyco15]

 

I like the bent shelves.......are you telling us something?

Best of luck for tomorrow......hope you a have a heavy day........in the best possible way of course....Tg

hehe tg they are for my sons wedding in a couple of weeks they are going to spray them gold and use them to decorate the barn they are getting married in got another 10 to harvest yet  so they should have enough  just back from the plot gave her a last feed for today ill get over there at 7 in the morning and give her another load

[rowbow]

Is that London road Leicester   

[johhnyco15]

Is that London road Leicester   

im sorry no its clacton-on-sea in essex so i guess you wont be coming lol

[galina]

Good luck you and Bertha!   

[johhnyco15]

well it was a third 186 pounds bertha was still growing but i dont think she would have got the winning weight which was 230lb and the same chap had another 199  so well done richard ill have to up my game next year already making plans  the green hulk won it second was the big orange and the yellow bertha was 3rd

[galina]

Bronze medal is still on the podium!  Well done and here's to monsters for next year. 

[johhnyco15]

Bronze medal is still on the podium!  Well done and here's to monsters for next year. 

thanks galina  tomorrow ill start to get the pit ready for next years entry i love this growing thing always something to do

[Tee Gee]

Well done Johnny 186 lbs is still pretty good growing as was the 230 pounder but both of you will have to go a bit to beat those grown up here in the wide and woolly and very often wet North.....where they weigh in at around 307lbs 10oz.

It must be in the water!

[pumkinlover]

You should still be proud

[playground]

well it was a third 186 pounds bertha was still growing but i dont think she would have got the winning weight which was 230lb and the same chap had another 199  so well done richard ill have to up my game next year already making plans  the green hulk won it second was the big orange and the yellow bertha was 3rd

Do you have to inject them with anabolic steroids to get them that big ?
(Or the plant growth hormone, or equivalent) ?

Could I get the same results with a trusty spade and pile of horse manure ? 
Or would i need to know the special secret tips and tricks ?

[johhnyco15]

thanks everyone for your kind words i think tg water has a lot to do  or rather the lack of it here on the sunshine coast having to pump by hand they dont get as much as they should the fellow who won it  is right by the pump lol        playground thats all i use a pile of horse manure and some liquid feed and thats about it oh yes as mentioned lots and lots of water again thanks for everones kind words bring on nextyear

[Tee Gee]

i think tg water has a lot to do  or rather the lack

Thought for the day!

A bl**dy big sump hole (an old bath comes to mind) a solar pump (Sunshine Coast and all that) and a trickle feed pipe  might be an answer!

and yes there was an ulterior motive with my  should you ever be caught short....nuff said!

So once again "Well Done"

BTW will you be saving seeds from Bertha?

Perhaps some of the A4A clan might want to give you a run for your money but not me I am afraid....as I mentioned before my competing days are long over....well apart from using my camera on our photo competitions!...Tg

[johhnyco15]

i think tg water has a lot to do  or rather the lack

Thought for the day!

A bl**dy big sump hole (an old bath comes to mind) a solar pump (Sunshine Coast and all that) and a trickle feed pipe  might be an answer!

and yes there was an ulterior motive with my  should you ever be caught short....nuff said!

So once again "Well Done"

BTW will you be saving seeds from Bertha?

Perhaps some of the A4A clan might want to give you a run for your money but not me I am afraid....as I mentioned before my competing days are long over....well apart from using my camera on our photo competitions!...Tg

Bertha seeds will not be saved as she was not ripe at the time of cutting my timing was a little off however the seeds of the green hulk will be saved and yes it might be fun for a a4a giant pumpkin contest I'm sure one of the  moderators could sort it out if there was enough intrest well my friend so its 308lbs needed from the south to unsettle the northen crown ill see what i can do next season 

[Tee Gee]

horse manure and some liquid feed and thats about it oh yes as mentioned lots and lots of water

Hi Johnny

I have been thinking about your water problem i.e. you work off an artesian system rather than say me who works off mains surface water i.e. reservoirs.

As I see it Pumpkins want a little water often rather than a blast once a day, particularly during high summer.

Now I seem to recall you have lots of water butts around the plot and I thought you might be able to use one of those as an irrigation system.

How does this idea grab you?

Fit a stop tap to one of your butts then connect it to a plain hose (as opposed to  leaky) and lead it to your pumpkin bed, for protection you could possibly run it through a conduit e.g a fall pipe or piece of scaffold pole.

Then connect this to a small reservoir e.g. a bucket with a lid ( this will also double as a 'feed' chamber) then lead a leaky hose out of the reservoir and lace that around your punpkins.

To control it all you need to do is switch on/off at the water butt as an when you consider the pumpkins need watering.

Subject to the ammount and volume of water required you could adjust your trickle hose to give you the desired effect you want.

Then subject to the rainfall you get you can keep topping up the water butt which I think will be simpler than watering your plants from a can.

In terms of feeding you can use the reservoir like a hose end feeder and add your fertiliser, or any other concoction you brew into it  e.g. Nettle/Comfrey/Fowl/Animal tea. This will mix with the incoming flow of water and discharge as a liquid fertiliser.

To ensure that the water is agitated enough to mix with the brew have the inlet pipe a bit higher that the discharge pipe and the falling water will agitate/mix the brew.

I have seen a similar system work on Dahlia beds where each bed fed off a ring main that entered the feeding reservoirs (one per bed) then the leaky hose was fed out of these.

The beauty of this system was certain varieties of Dahlias required a different watering/feeding regime so each bed could be controlled from the reservoirs. If you adopted a similar system your regime would not be quite as complicated, that is assuming that you don't start irrigating other parts of your plot from the same irrigation system.

I will leave you to think about it and if thereI faild to dot any eyes or crossed any T's give me a shout....Tg

[johhnyco15]

horse manure and some liquid feed and thats about it oh yes as mentioned lots and lots of water

Hi Johnny

I have been thinking about your water problem i.e. you work off an artesian system rather than say me who works off mains surface water i.e. reservoirs.

As I see it Pumpkins want a little water often rather than a blast once a day, particularly during high summer.

Now I seem to recall you have lots of water butts around the plot and I thought you might be able to use one of those as an irrigation system.

How does this idea grab you?

Fit a stop tap to one of your butts then connect it to a plain hose (as opposed to  leaky) and lead it to your pumpkin bed, for protection you could possibly run it through a conduit e.g a fall pipe or piece of scaffold pole.

Then connect this to a small reservoir e.g. a bucket with a lid ( this will also double as a 'feed' chamber) then lead a leaky hose out of the reservoir and lace that around your punpkins.

To control it all you need to do is switch on/off at the water butt as an when you consider the pumpkins need watering.

Subject to the ammount and volume of water required you could adjust your trickle hose to give you the desired effect you want.

Then subject to the rainfall you get you can keep topping up the water butt which I think will be simpler than watering your plants from a can.

In terms of feeding you can use the reservoir like a hose end feeder and add your fertiliser, or any other concoction you brew into it  e.g. Nettle/Comfrey/Fowl/Animal tea. This will mix with the incoming flow of water and discharge as a liquid fertiliser.

To ensure that the water is agitated enough to mix with the brew have the inlet pipe a bit higher that the discharge pipe and the falling water will agitate/mix the brew.

I have seen a similar system work on Dahlia beds where each bed fed off a ring main that entered the feeding reservoirs (one per bed) then the leaky hose was fed out of these.

The beauty of this system was certain varieties of Dahlias required a different watering/feeding regime so each bed could be controlled from the reservoirs. If you adopted a similar system your regime would not be quite as complicated, that is assuming that you don't start irrigating other parts of your plot from the same irrigation system.

I will leave you to think about it and if thereI faild to dot any eyes or crossed any T's give me a shout....Tg

tg you have hit the nail on the head i was in the process of  putting together a watering system i was going to put one butt per plant connected to a feed holding tank then a  soaker hose from that which is exactly what you have described turn the butt on in the morning turn it off when i leave  bingo I'm glad we are thinking along the same lines and your help ideas and input  are always welcome thanks again