My giant pumpkin for the village competition at the end of October, is growing very well (probably weighs now about 40 lbs),
and now almost as big as the one last year which came 2nd, it has a long time to grow yet !
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Lincolnshire Born and Bred
Kathy
do you employ any 'interesting' techniques to grow these? I know of strange practices in the north to get leeks to grow to enormous sizes but they aren't suitable for publication on this Family Forum!!
Also, have you any fears of saboteurs? I know how lawless your village is!
I once paid my 50p to join in such a competition in Ash (near Canterbury...there are others as I understand it)
I came nowhere near the top, but I did get two tasty if a little green Pumpkins out of it. The soil was wonderful if thin.
Ignorance is bliss, bliss is happiness, I am happy...to draw your attention to the possible connectivity in the foregoing.
I looked on an American website - they said you have to allow 400-sq. feet for one plant !! Let all the shoots grow and creep all over - they will all root into the soil and feed one pumpkin !
Nevertheless, it manages with about 3-ft x 3-ft !
Well dug soil, well rotted manure, and it has two plastic bottles sunk into ground so that water gets straight to roots. Watering every day is important.
I think what is important - is some raw fish trimmings (heads etc) - I got a load from the Deal fishmonger - to put in the planting hole, and that does seem to work well.
It just takes off.
Once a good small pumpkin is growing take off all the new pumpkins which appear and all the food goes into one - that's the theory anyway. This one is grown from seed from the one I grew last year.
Yes - you never know what strange practices they have in the 'north' for growing giant veges !! 'Recycled' beer perhaps ??
Saboteurs - it's well hidden !!
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Lincolnshire Born and Bred