How to grow world class giant pumpkins the all organic way book

Resources for the giant pumpkin grower

Giant Pumpkin growing resources

I could easily tell you that this website right here is the only resource you will ever need for growing giant pumpkins, especially in NZ, and yes that may be the goal I am always trying to achieve, but this is not the only resource, and you should check out other ones and see what is out there.

What types of resources are out there for the giant pumpkin grower?

There are a few, I will list them and then discuss them individually

  • Websites
  • Books
  • Growers

Websites for giant pumpkin growing

There is a lot of websites out there with information on them, and a lot of them are based in the US, this is not a bad thing at all, as they are the people who know what works and what doesn’t and are constantly producing world record pumpkins.

But one of the problems I see, is that a lot of them aren’t updated that often, and the information could be old, or possibly outdated.  So if you do see something and and want to give it a go, it might be a good idea to see if it has been mentioned somewhere else.

Here is a list of websites to check out:

www.bigpumpkins.com

This is the mother of all websites, and has been one of the biggest information sources for giant pumpkins growers out there.  Everyone growing giant pumpkins knows about this site.  It has a  ton of different things to check out.

  • Chat room – where you can talk to growers from all over the world, depending on the time you check it out
  • Message board – Leave a message for other growers, or check out past conversations
  • Growers diary – A place to upload your own pics and information (check out this post I did on making your own growers diary)

All of this is free, and you only have to sign up to take part in the community

Google is your friend for finding other websites to check out, or check out this post on the top ten giant pumpkin websites to check out.

Books

I always find the lack of publications on giant pumpkin growing a bit of an mystery.  Having lived with someone who was heavily involved in Bonsai, and seeing other peoples interests having a huge amount of written literature about the topic I always wonder why there is such a small amount of items available, especially for a hobby/sport that has been around for a while, and seems to have a lot of participants.  There might be a few factors that come into it like:

  • There isn’t enough unique different information to justify more books
  • The internet has taken away the need for printed material
  • No one can be bothered or has the skills to put together a book

But whatever the reason, it is good to know what is out there, and here is my list of books to check out.

The main books, and there is 4 of them in total, are all written Don Langevin, here are 3 of them, you will need to google to see the cover of book number one, was hard for me to find a picture to use for it.

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These are all great books to check out.  If you don’t want to pay for shipping on these, but still want to read the information, check out the Amazon Kindle app, it is free and you can then get the book to read at a fraction of the physical book price, either on your computer, phone, iPad etc.

Another great book to check out is Teaming with Microbes: The Organic Gardener’s Guide to the Soil Food Web, Revised Edition which really opens your eyes to how soil works, and how easy it is to stuff it up.


Growers

One of the best resources is to talk to the people that are actually growing the pumpkins.  This is sometimes easier said then done, but if you can track down a grower, they are almost always more then happy to share their information with you.  Due to the internet and email and the easy way to communicate with people around the world, contacting other growers does not even have to be limited to people in your area or even country.

If there is a bunch of growers in your area, why not form a club.  It allows you to share all your information with everyone, and you may even be able to share resources.

If you are dealing with growers via long distance, here are a couple of things you should keep in mind:

  • Be courteous, growers like helping out other growers, and it is always nice to use your manners when corresponding
  • Be patient, not everyone checks their email all the time, they will reply when they are ready
  • Offer to send self addressed stamped envelopes to them if you are asking for seeds etc

A lot of the time growers will help you out for free, whatever the question or query you have, which is great and can really help you go in the right direction and have a great time growing the best pumpkin you can.

So there we have it, a lot of information out there, and a couple of things for you to check out, and get ready for the upcoming season.  If you have any more resources that you would like to share with the giant pumpkin growers out there, please email me or leave a comment below.

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