Jun 26, 2026 - Things to Do
My giant pumpkins for the Iowa State Fair are late bloomers
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A measuring tape stretched to the end of Hope #2 on June 25. The main vine is over 10 feet long. Photo: Linh ta/Axios
Linh here. Last summer, I won second place in the husband-calling contest at the Iowa State Fair.
- With way too much confidence, I decided to enter another contest and chose to grow a giant pumpkin, despite my lack of a green thumb.
State of play: With less than two months to go, I'm not going to lie, I'm a little stressed.
- When you grow a giant pumpkin, you think you're going to quickly have a beautiful, bulbous orange marinating in the sun.
- Months later, we still haven't even reached that point!
How it works: I planted Hope #1 and Hope #2 on Easter. They've grown vines and leaves, which will later help pump energy into a gourd after I pollinate a flower.
- According to this timeline, pollination should occur around 60-70 days old. They're 83 days old.
- Recently, I've upped their fertilizer and chicken manure (sorry, neighbors), in hopes of getting some female flowers to pop up that I can pollinate. After you hand-pollinate, the gourd should appear.
The bottom vine: My little late bloomers.
Countdown: 48 days until judgment day.