Great pumpkins
Growers share tips for cultivating giant gourdsBy Ashley Gurbal, agurbal@altoonamirror.com
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Recommended reading
Larry Checkon of Northern Cambria recommends novice giant pumpkin growers read "How-to-Grow World Class Giant Pumpkins The All-Organic Way" (Annedawn Publishing, $19.95). Volumes one through four are available at www.annedawn.com
Extensive pumpkin pedigrees are behind the giant orange orbs that converged in Altoona last weekend for the annual Pennsylvania Giant Pumpkin Growers Association's weigh-off competition.
"Each of the seeds coming from a different pumpkin has different parents," said Dr. Marvin Meisner of Hollidaysburg, who's been growing giant pumpkins for several years. "There's actually a family tree for almost every seed - some date back as far as 15 years."
This year, the biggest pumpkin in the patch belonged to Gerry Checkon of Northern Cambria, whose gourd weighed in at 1,434 pounds. Her husband, Larry Checkon, placed second with a 1,208 1/2-pound pumpkin.
Larry Checkon started growing giant pumpkins for competition in 1998; his wife started a year later.
"It's just something you get into your blood," Larry Checkon said. "You get started into it and become addicted to it. For a lot of people, it's just kind of like an addiction. You do it one year and push yourself to do better next year."
Want to get hooked? Now is the time of year to get started, Meisner and Larry Checkon said, but be warned: It's not a casual hobby.
"It's very time consuming," Larry Checkon said. "You can't be a golfer and a pumpkin grower."
* Start with the seeds: Soon, the giant pumpkins that were grown will be split open, and growers will be exchanging and selling the seeds. The seed variety is Atlantic Giant, and it originated in Nova Scotia.
"You need a seed from another giant pumpkin," Larry Checkon said. "And it helps if it's a seed grown in an area that has a climate similar to yours."
Seeds can cost anywhere from $5 to $50, Meisner said, with top-of-the-line seeds going for as much as $500. Checkon said many growers will send a seed for free if you send them a self-addressed, postage-paid padded mailer. To connect with growers, visit the PGPGA's Web site at www.pgpa.com or the Great Pumpkin Commonwealth at www.bigpumpkins. com.
"Fall is when seed trading happens," Larry Checkon said. "If you wait until springtime, a lot of people are out of seeds. You have to get them right after the seeds are harvested from the pumpkins."
* Test the soil: Larry Checkon recommends getting a soil testing kit from your local Penn State Cooperative Extension to examine your garden's needs. The soil might be lacking in a key nutrient, he said, and a soil test will let you know what imbalances you'll need to correct.
"You need all of the basic nutrients - nitrogen, phosphorus, calcium magnesium - and micronutrients," Larry Checkon said. "And you need a plentiful supply of each and a good balance, because they're competing for uptake into the roots. Too much of one thing is not good."
In Blair County, the Penn State Cooperative Extension Office can be reached at 940-5989.
* Get started inside: Meisner said he starts his seeds indoor in late April.
In about a week, they become pot-bound, so they're transferred outside in early May, when the evenings are still cold.
"It could still frost, so you have to build a temporary greenhouse over them," Meisner said. "Every day you go out, open up the little greenhouse and turn off the light bulb (used for warmth). Then every night, you go out and close up the greenhouse and turn the light on."
* Be ready to work: The growers' efforts don't end when it's warm enough to remove the temporary shelters. At the height of the growth season, from late July into early September, the pumpkins require 90 gallons of water a day.
"You try to water under the leaves, so you're standing there (watering)," Meisner said. "An average nozzle puts out six gallons a minute, so that's 15 minutes a plant."
And then there's the constant pruning, hand pollination and recording the pollination - one plant can easily take up an hour a day or more, Meisner said.
There's also pest control, as a variety of critters like to snack on pumpkins, Meisner said, which is why most growers have a fence around their pumpkins. Many put electric wires along the bottom.
"If you spend all that work on something, you don't want something to come along and eat it," he said.
There are some factors that can't be helped. Last year, Meisner's two pumpkins were on track to be bigger than ever - and then grew so quickly that they split open in the field.
"You need the right seed, right weather, right soil. You have to know what to do take care of it, and you need some luck," Meisner said. "You can't control it when they grow so fast that they just burst."
* Prepare to be amazed: At the height of the growth season, the giant pumpkins can pack on up to 50 pounds a day, seemingly before the grower's eyes. Once a the fruit appears on the vine is "when the fun begins," Larry Checkon said.
"You look out in the garden and see this thing rising above the leaves, rising right of the garden, and it's amazing," Meisner said. "There's no one that comes home from work and doesn't run out and check their pumpkins."
Mirror Staff Writer Ashley Gurbal is at 946-7435.
