October is here WOOHOO

October is here and with that comes excitement. For the northern hemisphere growers it is a time for weigh offs and seeing just how well everyone did this season. From the world record being broken twice in one week three times in three weekends by the same person, a whole bunch of state records broken and just the sheer size of the giant pumpkins out there, I think it has been relatively successful for a lot of people out there.

October for us here in New Zealand is a time when a lot of people get planting and the season is kicked into gear. A lot of people are getting excited and are counting down the days and hours until they can start germinating their seeds.

What will this season bring?

I think this upcoming season for us will bring more people growing and some really good results. 2015 may bring in a new NZ record as a lot of people are really pushing for it. There are also a lot of people starting up their own pumpkin competitions, either part of a school or community group. Thanks to all of those people that have downloaded the free guide to running a giant pumpkin event, I hope you find it useful.

When am I starting?

October seems to be a crazy busy time of the year for me, people seem to have all sorts of things happening and I somehow find myself going to events. In a couple of weeks I’ll be going to a Spark event that they run for their staff, but they are allowed to invite some random people. I’m random enough to be invited and last year I was also there, was pretty cool giving an impromptu talk on growing giant pumpkins to some pretty high up people within the company.

So due to that I will be starting sometime in the week of the 20th. I don’t want to be away from home when I get the seeds started in case something goes wrong, and I am hoping to have a quick germination period and get them into the ground quicker then I previously have.

I got my hands on this

Well I have borrowed it actually.

Which as you can see is a heat pad for fermenting wine etc, I’m hoping it will provide a good amount of warmth and help the seedlings along. It has no thermostat but stays at a good steady temp (which was extremely hard to work out what it is)

But like I put in the newsletter, experiment. So I will have some pots on the pad, and some that aren’t. While I’m actually only planning on growing one plant this season, I do need to get a few started for various people.

Things I still need to do:

Well there is a whole bunch of stuff that I still want to do. For early protection I started building a frame for last season, and never got around to finishing it. I was also going to draw the plans up and do some video on the construction of it. It still needs the lid put on it as well as being wrapped in something suitable.

I still need to sort out the irrigation, I’m getting some of the T Tape stuff that Tim used last year from Tim, so that will be great. I think connecting it to the existing pipes I have won’t be too bad, it’s just getting the right fittings.

Also I better look into getting some fertiliser etc at some point.

It all comes down to money and prioritising what to do first.

So that’s where I am at the moment, just the usual really as most other years. Really can’t wait to get the seedling in the ground and growing and seeing ho heavy I can get this pumpkin.

Whats top of your wishlist?

What is the one thing that you really want to get right now? Would you want a big greenhouse? Fancy irrigation system? Or something else? Let me know what is on your wishlist in the comments below and when I win millions on Lotto, I’ll buy it for you.