Allotments 4 All

I've got one Atlantic Giant growing from a smallmanure/compost heap. I've been taking the fruit and flowers off it till now, as at 10 feet with secondary roots formed it's about ready to try for a monster. Hopefully the next fruit will be at the right angle on the stem.

hope this is recieved as it's sent!! (FUN)
click image to enlarge (if you want)

Keviiiiiin!!!  You are going to put everybody off!!  ;D ;D busy_lizzie

Quote from: busy_lizzie on June 25, 2006, 12:28:07
Keviiiiiin!!!  You are going to put everybody off!!  ;D ;D busy_lizzie

Liz , did I mention it's the wife LOL (Don't tell)

;D ;D ;D

Hi, I've got two Dils Atlantic that have been out for the last 3 weeks, they've started having small fruit in the vine but they are very close to the plant, how far away from the plant should I let one grow?

Is it too late to join in the competition? 

I planted the seed on the first week week of may in the greenhouse and transplanted to the allotment on the 3rd June. :-*

  Let me know  ;D

PS, I also planted a baby boo pumpkin seed last week and it's just ready to go out, may enter this as well, if thats OK?

The more the merrier Jokerman.  :) busy_lizzie

:D

I've just put my details on the the other link.   ;D

Thanks.

How is everyone's pumpkins coming along? Mine has finally found it's roots and starting to grow away, it took a while to get started. It's had a couple of flowers and one aborted fruit. The other squashes and pumpkins are looking much healthier than the giant one, typical hey! ;D

Hi Jesse I have one pumpkin on the plant which I planted on top of a bag of well rotted horse manure. It is growing larger each week but can't see it getting to any "winning" size. As it is my first pumpkin ever grown I am as pleased as punch.
Lorna

Mine seem to be doing well.  I have got 12 squash at my plot with 3 different varieties all flowering at the moment.  Have two in my garden, my competition ones, "mammoth" and both have little fruits on them, so, so far so good at the moment!   :) busy_lizzie

Mine are looking ok, but only getting male flowers at the moment. I expect big changes over the next month.

Time to pop my head above the parapet here...

I'm a first time grower for giant pumpkins... always thought it was a bit of fun long before I was a kitchen gardener. I love seeing reports in the paper of young lads who grew a seed and they had to get a tractor in to shift the resulting fruit - it's just so silly it's actually fun.

So, January time here and I was grabbing a basketfull of seed packets at my local LIDL (all â,¬0.29 a pack!) and they had on the rack a variety named 'BIG MAX' and it comes with the promise of 50kg-60kg fruits. I'm assuming it's similar/the same as Atlantic Giant which seems to be the variety that spawns other comedy-size fruits.

So, in late February they went into little pots, popped up early and have been in the ground from April... and nothing much seemed to happen other than some recent vigourous growth with some smashing looking dinner-plate size leaves.

A couple of weeks ago we had the first flush of pretty yellow flowers and then.. I turned my back for a week and now... fruit!

Ping-pong ball sized? NO.
Tennis ball sized? NO.
Volley ball Sized? NO.
Football Sized? NO.

I'm delighted to spot full-on BASKET BALL sized jobbies!

I was delighted... and burst out laughing. It is really rather splendid to see them doing so well. I've not really paid much attention to them.. they get watered automatically (drip hose irrigation for most of my potager) so other than a little bit of weeding I've not really been that attentive. I shall feed them with a little splash of nettle-soup that I've got fermenting in a big bin and see how they get on over the next few days.

I'll go and take a few snaps to share... anyone got any tips for care and maintenance of these things... it's struck me that if I do get some big fruits from them I should support them/ stop other flowering/mulch and protect I guess... it's all happening rather quickly! Any hints and tips from seasoned pumpkin growers?

- Adrian

Your experience perhaps sums up the fun of growing pumpkins, an absurd crop for so little effort. I am hoping for similar, but smaller fruit would make handling less of an embarrassment ...

Plant doing well and I have picked off about 35 pimpkins so far as I am letting the vine grow big before I let one grow.  Think I will stick to the one fruit this year unless a hidden one sneaks up on me.

Maintenance.... Keep weed free if possible and water well
Greedy plant likes a feed too.

Will get picture next time I go to plot.

I hang my head in shame, nothing on mine at all........................ :'(  maybe it is a late developer!  I blame the lack of rain in our parts, and am sticking to that excuse! ;)

Tis my baby at the moment.....very slow, but oooooooooooooooodles of time....she tries to convince herself!

Tis plenty of time I hope, A monster doesn`t take THAT long to grow.
Hope this summer doesn`t end too soon! :-X

Will start growing a fruit soon................

Snap EJ, just like mine at the mo, do not worry they will soon start to put on plenty of weight.....I hope

For the first time I have interfered with the natural growth pattern and have been pinching  some out on my competition pumpkins.  I am hoping this will help give me the monster I want.  Hope I am doing the right thing!   :-\ busy_lizzie