Posted by Keith Jax Florida on 10/31/2009, 10:45 am
76.18.202.13

Check out these giant pumpkins I saw in Salinas CA. Amazing. http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/album/575323992ufCGWR Zone 9 is better than zone 7 but I'd rather be in Zone 11!

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Posted by WSimpson NC on 10/31/2009, 11:00 am, in reply to "Pumpkins in Salinas CA (I'm on topic because theres a Washie in the photo)"
75.183.81.18

The largest pumpkins are funny looking because gravity distorts their appearance so much.Will

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Posted by Ryan Monroe LA on 10/31/2009, 11:50 am, in reply to "Pumpkins in Salinas CA (I'm on topic because theres a Washie in the photo)"
76.107.66.220 | Message modified by user Ryan Monroe LA 10/31/2009, 11:58 am

When I first got into gardening as a kid it was growing giant pumpkins. Back then the world record was 800-something pounds and everyone was wondering weather 1000 lbs would ever be broken. Hard to believe the new world record set this year in Ohio is now 1725 lbs. Conan O'brian braizenly claimed to have smashed the world record pumpkin on his show last night with a monster trunk, but that one was not the record holder at only 1658 lbs. The best I ever grew was a 564 lbs, but that was pretty good for a kid with no access to irrigation or chemical fertilizers (manure worked better anyways). Today's pumpkins don't appear all that much larger on the outside and I'm guessing the weight has mostly been increased through selectively breeding for thicker walls. Pumpkins are definately not well adapted to the southeast. Not that they can't be grown here, but the climate is far from optimal. I gave it a try this year and the bugs absolutely demolished the plants. The same goes for gourds and squash-- the only cucurbits that really appear well-adapted here are watermelons.

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Posted by Joe Saltspring Island BC on 10/31/2009, 12:09 pm, in reply to "Pumpkins in Salinas CA (I'm on topic because theres a Washie in the photo)"
66.183.64.51

Cool pumpkin pics. Some of those are huge. Cheers, Joe Southern Gulf Islands, zone 8b/9a Dry Springs & Summers months and mild wet winters.Annual precip. approx. 30" inches, Extreme winter min. temps. usually not below 20 F.

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