I Tried Growing a Giant Pumpkin Using a Chicken

The first hen I ever raised from a baby chick unfortunately passed away, and she loved eating pumpkin, so I tried to grow a giant pumpkin in her honor.
IN THIS VIDEO
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TIMESTAMPS
00:00 - Intro
00:47 - Genetics/Seed
01:40 - Gucci Preparation
02:14 - Pumpkin Spot Overview
02:45 - Pumpkin Anatomy
03:33 - The Dilemma
04:19 - Building The Platform
05:22 - 71 Days Since Planting Update
06:49 - 86 Days Since Planting Update
08:16 - 142 Days Since Planting Update
10:14 - Craig Pucci Johnson Final Weight
10:54 - Carving Prep
11:30 - Chicken Carving
DISCLAIMER
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[@epicgardening]

What giant veg should I try to grow next? Also, here's the link to the giant pumpkin seed if you want to try this next year: growepic.co/3SfvS5y - Kevin

[@me-yn9vw]

Giant watermelon!

[@Salty-lil-Sloth]

Giant eggplant or carrots (watermelon too, if you're trying for giant fruit)

[@trishdavi7049]

Do your seeds ship to Canada?

[@DonPandemoniac]

Super zucchini!

[@superkoopatrooper4879]

Giant cannabis

[@Notable2Nikki]

At the Circleville Pumpkin Show here in Ohio, the biggest pumpkin this year was 2388.5 lbs. "Matilda" gets 85 gallons of well water a day," Bob Liggett said. "Maintaining soil quality and using mycorrhizal fungi have been key to our pumpkin-growing success. The fungus allows the hair roots of the plant to soak up nutrients." It's just crazy to see it!

[@brittsvids]

So crazy to see someone mention something I went to as a kid!! hello from another Ohioan :)

[@scheralgreider5406]

I know Bob Liggett's son. He was a co-worker of mine.

[@epicgardening]

Yeah, the true Masters of Giant pumpkins are honestly quite impressive

[@BuckeyeGirl]

One thing I will be excited to go to again some day when we move back home.

[@katyalupochev9589]

@@Blue-Lotus888I spoke to a dude who grows giant pumpkins once, and he said they’re really no good for eating. Very fibrous and bitter. Maybe it would improve with cooking? Anyways, he donated his giant pumpkin remains to local farms. The pigs, chickens, etc loved eating them! He even had a friend who donated his giant pumpkins to a zoo, for the elephants(they love stomping on giant pumpkins!)

[@Salty-lil-Sloth]

I'm sorry you lost your hen, what a beautiful memorial for her

[@epicgardening]

Thank you

[@ancientaliensarecoming7201]

What happened to her? It wasnt old

[@IjeomaThePlantMama]

​​@@ancientaliensarecoming7201they aren't sure. According to the community note, it was possible she was egg bound or had a heart attack

[@jakemelinko]

​@@IjeomaThePlantMamathank you for that info

[@-opus]

a youtube video is a "beautiful memorial". wow...

[@scottolson6201]

I grew two Atlantic Giant pumpkin vines this year and limited each vine to one fruit. I had one that was 67 lbs and one that was 89 lbs. Shooting for a 100 pounder next year. Thanks for a fun video!

[@epicgardening]

NICE!

[@93Golfcoursemaintenance]

How often do you water

[@scottolson6201]

@@93Golfcoursemaintenance twice a day. I’m in zone 9b.

[@julianspetsplants0309]

I love all your videos, the homestead, main channel, and Jacque's as well. I have been watching for a few years, and you were my inspiration to start my own gardening channel. RIP GUCHI

[@DonPandemoniac]

A loss and grief, new life, education, newfound knowledge and hilarity all in one video. Amazing!

[@MistSoalar]

RIP Gucci. And what a fantastic episode it is. You really put together into one educational storytelling.

[@dirkjanrulez23]

a big part of growing giant veggies is daylight hours. there is a reason alot of record veggies are grown in alaska. i love the content, cant wait for the next giant thing!

[@epicgardening]

Agreed! We do our best here in San Diego

[@pilsplease7561]

We have short days, we are a short day zone so 10-12 hours of light is quite common we dont have very long daylight hours even into the summer its still pretty short.

[@UrbanChickens123]

I am so sorry for your loss Kevin😢 Well done on the pumpkin! Gucci would be so proud💕🥰🐔

[@mmmpotstickers8684]

Years ago, PBS aired a show about the competitive world of pumpkin growing. Fascinating!!

[@wellersonoliveira5334]

I love pumpkin/squash, It may sound strange, but I think they are one the most majestic plants around, looking at their leafs and flowers make me relaxed for some reason haha ❤love your videos ❤

[@epicgardening]

They're truly impressive plants!

[@scout72430]

First year growing pumpkins for me too, and I also started late plus the TX heat was not on my side this year. Still I got a couple decent pumpkins, unfortunately a frost is coming today so I won't be able to ripen them on the vine. Hoping for better results next year. What a wonderful way to memorize your hen!

[@epicgardening]

Hoping next season is better for you and us as well!

[@cookingwiththefamily__]

Need to give it more water while it is growing and plant earlier to get max growth. It quit growing because the daylight hours changed.

[@mzlimitless]

Sorry for your loss of Gucci. What a beautiful way to rest in peace. Awesome grow #PumpkinDaddy 🎃🧡😂👍🏽😁

[@christinecoleman8130]

I was so sad at the end of harvest season for my pumpkins. I did Halloween pumpkins for my kids. We got around 8. We have a shorter season where I am, so I planted in May. We got average size pumpkins, not massive, but not small either, though I did have one small that I carved yesterday. I actually had pumpkins turning orange in August. They held up fine for jack-o-lanterns. I will do this again next growing season using some of your method to get at least one massive size pumpkin. I started in my front bed retainer wall area. I had two plants I started on the end closest to my driveway. By the end of it, the vines had grown way down to the other end of this planter where my roses grow. Yikes! All in all, it was a good turnout. Can't wait till next growing season!

[@epicgardening]

Sounds like you've got some good adjustments for next season!

[@BeckyValkyrie]

I've always wanted to grow our own jack o lantern pumpkins! Definitely planning on doing it next year. 🎃 Glad you were successful!

[@NorthToSouthChannel]

Rest in peace Gucci. This video was fascinating, bittersweet, and just wholesome. Thank you Kevin and crew.

[@ImGlyn]

First, let's take a moment to remember Gucci ❤️ The pumpkin was awesome, i learned no end, so thank you. Also, the pumpkin shade just cracked me up - only you would call it a Cabana 🤣 Here's to many more videos 👍

[@epicgardening]

Appreciate you!

[@michaelc9311]

I planted 4 giant pumpkins(in February) and one kind of survived the slugs. Then, The plant got disappeared in an over crowded spot. I had a volunteer gourd that I fed to my chickens all summer. After watching this, it turns out that gourd was the pumpkin the whole time. One of the offshoot vines grew under a tomato, and I found one large pumpkin. It is now huge. The secret is probably chicken poo.

[@chrisfarley6662]

"It's a very hot day, 85 degrees" hilarious. I live in Northern California. 85 degrees for us, in summer, is a cold day! I wonder how much more produce you would have if you let your giant pumping grow a bunch of pumpkins, smaller sure, but overall more produce? Also, that young pumpkin you kicked away is really tasty, similar to zucchini.

[@christophergetchell6490]

What a beautiful way to honor your chicken by completing the cycle of life! I routinely get those vine node roots with all of my pumpkins without even trying! Sometimes it's annoying when I haven't quite placed them where I want them and the just grow them like crazy around late June!

[@roguered706]

Im so sorry to hear about Gucci. 😢 Two years ago I planted a Big Max pumpkin on a whim and didnt have any idea what to expect. Just sheer beginners luck, I ended up with a 54.5 lb big boy, and a 30 lb secondary that I didnt have the heart to kick off the vine. Lol Thats not huge for the variety, but I was thrilled with my first attempt and almost no knowledge of how to grow them. Giant pumpkins are so cool!

[@epicgardening]

Those are huge! Congrats!!!

[@CartersGardens]

I was told that most of the issue people have with giant pumpkins is under watering apparently the ratio for them is twice the water you would think it needs. We will be trying this season ourselves.

[@SoupMagoosh]

Beautiful pumpkin! Interesting thing is my pumpkins always ripen first where the sun doesn't touch them, and then i usually have to ripen them off after they've been harvested. Anyways, I grew 45kg of pumpkin this year, the biggest being 10kg!

[@epicgardening]

Congrats on the harvest!

[@SoupMagoosh]

@@epicgardening Thank you!

[@desertedenblooms]

IM SO IMPRESSED BY YOUR CHICKENS ARTISTRY! WOW, shows intelligence too. Congrats on growing your first giant! always wanted to do it but the giant seed stock runs out ever. I know the winners of the giant pumpkin contest make their giant seed available and thats what I WOULD LIKE TO GET.

[@epicgardening]

Hoping you can get some!

[@desertedenblooms]

@@epicgardening SO i FOUND A WEBSITE where they post award giante winning pumpkin seeds , its not cheap but I am posting te link for you , so you may get some giant seed, i know you have your own seed company that I have and still do buy great seed from but thought you might want to check this site out ! very expensive!

Iloved it when you said "I pretty much always fail". That is so comforting...

[@purrr4kitty]

We’re holding a friends and family pumpkin competition in New Zealand right now, so thanks for the video!!😊

[@karenreaves3650]

We lost ours to a bobcat raid pushed through the upper screen on the door. My great grandson closed the door on our Duck house, I did not know our red hen was inside I opened the door 3-4 days later and found our only survivors she hatched 5 chicks. We have them in a secure coop by the house near the patio. We are renovating our big coop have already secured the door.

[@epicgardening]

So sorry to hear this!

[@karenreaves3650]

@@epicgardening Thank you, so grateful we have our red hen and our babies look like our rooster Banana.

[@wildkev1010]

Kev over here looking orange like a pumpkin himself

[@epicgardening]

That epic tan

[@brucearthur5108]

Great video. I got into gardening 2 years ago because I was helping my kid carve pumpkins and felt bad about wasting the seeds so I decided to save and plant them. Never grew a single plant before then. I don't have the space to grow big ones but this year I grew over a dozen Jack Be Littles in a 72 inch wood barrel and feel incredibly accomplished. Hoping to replicate that next year and grow some interesting gourds too.

[@epicgardening]

Good luck w/ your gourds next year!

[@steev927]

Man, what a way to honor a fellow life. Kevin, you are a class act and I appreciate all your content. Keep up the fantastic work.

[@epicgardening]

I appreciate that!

[@jayb8056]

Amazing commemoration - very special. And pumpkin daddy may just be my new life goal.

[@ThatOpalGuy]

I grew tomatoes this year in a spot that was a chicken run two years ago, when i moved in. they did spectacularly well with almost no work(though I definitely could have kept up the pruning). end of the season: I have a freezer (just a refrigerator freezer) FULL of homemade tomato sauce! probably enough to last until next september.

[@beckypetersen2680]

Good job for your first try! Your pumpkin ended up being one of the nicest looking Atlantic Giants I have ever seen! Good color and nice shape!

[@epicgardening]

Thank you!

[@jwrightgardening]

My kids and I accidentally grew a few giant pumpkins. I transplanted my pumpkin starts into my irrigated row garden and I had one leftover so i randomly stuck it by my fence in some gravely dirt away from my irrigated garden. Well the plants that were irrigated were stunted for some unknown reason and didn't grow at all. They just stayed as they were will a few leaves and no vines. But my neglected ignored unwatered leftover pumpkin plant took off, covered a 15'x15' gravel area with tons of vines and humongous leaves. It grew 3 giant pumpkins. We didn't have a scale big enough to weigh them but we couldn't lift them. We had to roll them. They were about 2' high and wider than they were tall because they looked like they were sinking from the weight. They weren't record breaking but i was pretty impressed for something that grew with no work on my part in an area of my land that nothing but a few scraggly weeds were growing.

[@leonatati]

In August, I lost my rabbit, Tinkerbell. I’ve been watching your Gucci pumpkin journey on Instagram for a while, and I was inspired to put some of his ashes into an ornamental dragonfruit. I named it Tink’s Dragon. Thank you for sharing, you’ve helped me through a lot!

[@veggiepatchideas]

Always fun to do giant "Perfect" Carrots. I've had some insanely large marrows this year🤣

[@joannsudderth664]

We are doing giant carrots this year 🎉

[@NaomiGigi]

Came for the giant pumpkin, stayed for the heartwarming chicken memorial

[@sweetcaramelsmile]

Whenever I need a pick me up I come here to hear you say Gucci and Pucci. 😂 It makes me crack up every time!💜

[@adairsulhoff5405]

The chicken's artistry made this your funniest post yet!

[@darylefleming1191]

4:00 strange statement for resume, "pumpkin daddy."

[@myswedishcottagegarden]

I also grew an Atlantic Giant this year. Mine got slightly larger than yours I believe, but yours has a far nicer color!

[@MarigoldsintheGarden]

What an amazing experiment/project! You did a great job, growing your chicken pumpkin to such a big size. Good on you, and bye bye from Australia.🐨🌴

[@epicgardening]

Thanks so much! 😊

[@carlfr2977]

Good job on your first giant pumpkin!

[@lindaluersen9810]

What a fun video to watch! Good job on all your efforts to put it together and to make it .

[@heatherhowellstaff4392]

I let my horticulture therapy students choose which seeds they wanted to grow last summer. One of my students decided on Sicilian Saucer tomatoes...they were as large as pie pumpkins practically.

[@Cocopancake528]

I’m sorry you lost your hen❤ animals are helpless sentient beings they deserve our kindness !

[@shadyman6346]

Chicken art is a rare accomplishment. Superb video!

[@richardbicycle5262]

the working out seems to be paying off, looking good!

[@MsWDWFAN1]

Well done Gucci! You did well providing nutrients to Craig Pucci Johnson. It's a beautiful pumpkin. 🧡 Very impressive Kevin! I know you'll grow another one next year with the knowledge you gained growing Craig Pucci Johnson. The chickens looked like they've enjoyed their gift from sweet Gucci. 🐔🫶 Could you have eaten the blossoms? Especially since it's in the squash family. Just curious. I've never eaten squash blossoms but I've heard they're delicious and will definitely try them when given the opportunity.

[@epicgardening]

We actually did eat a few of them!

[@krittle222]

How cool! and an awesome way to honor Gucci

[@blossomwithgrace]

This is so thoughtful ❤ wow

[@blaylockr1]

I don't know, but I think energy flows from the root to the tip and not the other way. If I'm correct, it seems like you should pick a pumpkin that has set near the end of the vine, pick off all the rest and terminate the vine shortly beyond the pumpkin. You would also need to spray the vines well with a fungicide every two weeks until harvest.

[@epicgardening]

Ideally we would have chosen a pumpkin about 10 ft out on the main vine, but we only had so much time in the season

[@ryderalley4853]

Wait, so technically the chickens are cannibals??

[@uncledick9445]

Chickens are cannibals. They will eat their own eggs.

[@thepipingbagbakery4399]

No threat of vine borer? That’s great!

[@starr_ship]

Yes, but by that same logic you technically cry dinosaur pee too.

[@FruitofSilence]

Great video - many interesting points and takeaways- thank you!!!

[@epicgardening]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@Gardeningchristine]

The squash vine borer, squash bugs, and the ladybug that only eats squash really take out almost every squash I’ve tried growing. I hate to dust unless I have to and the only kinds I can get to produce so far in my area is a pie pumpkin that gives pretty large pumpkins and the plain Jane carving pumpkins. Even zucchini and summer squash get killed before they can produce so I just don’t bother growing them.

[@IjeomaThePlantMama]

This past season was my first and last attempt at zucchini. Waking up early to hand pollinate the open flowers just to have squash vine borers destroy all 4 plants. I'll just stick with the farmers market.

[@euphoniahale5181]

I check for bugs and eggs everyday. Spray with soapy water occasionally and powder with diatomaceous earth. Eggs I put in soapy water. A lot of work for squash in my yard

[@Gardeningchristine]

@@euphoniahale5181 well at $1 or less for a squash or zucchini at my farmers market it’s just not worth the effort for me. I’m learning what I can grow in my area at what times to avoid the worst pest damage. Like the brassicas have to be out before mid June or the harlequin beetles get them. And my corn needs to tassel before the summer storms come through and knock them down, or I can plant after them. Everyone has different growing environments and I’m slowly learning mine.

[@katelveis]

I'm wondering if burying the vine will help deter the vine borer. I've been growing the blue hubbard squash because they REALLY seem to like that one and will focus on that plant while I get the others to survive a little bit longer. I think I'm going to experiment this year and bury one and not the other and see how that goes. Vine borer are the bane of my gardening existence every year.

[@ShahriarXTahmid]

Pumpkin leaves are edible. We fry this with some chicken skin and consume it with rice. It has a lot of fiber in it. So don't throw the pumpkin leaves and stems.

[@Nirrrina]

Collect those seeds & save some for next year & save some in case you fail again. I usually fail the second &/or third time i try something. You might also consider donating some of the seeds to a seed library. Or maybe several since its a giant one. Tulsa library has one. You check out seeds & then after growing you return the new seeds you produced. Your chicken should feel very honored.

[@NazTahir-by5jd]

An informative channel for gardening lovers@artandgardening5646

[@reneebrown2968]

I grew a huge watermelon. It was a cross of a moon and stars and an Oklahoma striper. It was huge. Problem I had with it was a government came up under it and hollowed it out and filled it with dirt. I was sooo pissed off. The biggest one I actually got to sell was the same size as my floor board of my truck. It took me and my dad to lift it.

[@kpr0ck]

Kevin lost the weight....lookin good papi

[@epicgardening]

Always working on myself my friend

[@genkisudo]

My gf: what are you watching? Me: how to grow a giant pumpkin 😂

[@anitahernandez1207]

Great video! It took time, but I appreciate all the planning involved and the sentiment. 🐓 🌱

[@epicgardening]

Thanks so much!

[@nildaotero2933]

Great video, thanks for sharing

[@nathansubbiah7564]

Congrats on your winter pumpkin or squash

[@gryphonrampant1]

Oh man, when you kicked the unripe pumpkin I winced. They can be cooked into so many yummy things!

[@epicgardening]

Who says we didn't?!

[@Pickles6115]

Kevin you're such a great pumpkin daddy.

[@TrophyWifey]

The back of the pumpkin o-o 😂

[@juliebelvazquez8981]

"PUMKIN DADDY"

[@jaymeelk9380]

Nice pumpkin, but it is best to cut your squash stem like a T. Stem plus a inch from each side, it lets the stem dry and store better.

[@vickibarana7635]

That was really cool!

[@shanbotable]

Good looking pumpkin. I grew giant ones as well but didn’t do any of the tricks. They were about the same as yours, maybe only a little smaller. So who knows right? But I also live in Canada and we had a really bad drought this summer.

[@michelleinthemeadow]

Rest Well, Gucci. I would not have guessed that pumpkin's weight. I'm excited to try pumpkins again next year. Fingers crossed.

[@pascalxus]

Kevin is the most epic plant daddy!

[@insecurecow4419]

The field spot is actually kinda beautiful, almost looks like a portrait of an open field

[@jimriley9697]

That's awesome! Love it. I will say though giant pumpkin grower will never water the stump. In fact the opposite, usually they put a permanent fan on it to keep it dry. The roots will stretch out as far as the vines so it's not important to water there. And I know it's your own seed company and all, but those giant pumpkin growers that you talked too, most of that community will happily give you seeds from a 1500, 2000lb pumpkin. Those are the genetics you want. And if you ever go again in the future usually we bury each node just enough to get the roots going and then we unbury the top because those fully buried vines will rot. The fact that yours didn't leads me to believe it was underwatered in those areas away from the stump. Remember if you want your pumpkin to grow 60lbs a day, it at least needs to uptake 60lbs of water to make it happen. I'm sorry man, I probably should have said congratulations and moved along.

[@epicgardening]

Totally agree. It's hard to offer the true world record Giants at a national seed company, so we do our best with the Atlantic Giant which can still get to about a thousand pounds! Good tip on the stem

[@retheisen]

Just a little social observation. The deceased bird on the ground was more jarring than the deceased bird at the bottom of the hole.

[@MikeGarden]

I live in LA county and still have pumpkins growing now in November. Why would Craig Jr have stopped growing so early?

[@jakeburri649]

Great video, powdery mildew is the name of my existence! Good on you for treating it early.

[@jakeburri649]

bane*

[@epicgardening]

Yeah it is one of the most annoying squash diseases out there

[@JenniferD.-wt4uj]

So ,sorry about your beautiful hen😢! Great video to watch!!!

[@sekhmet9808]

What a beauty!

[@Santino808-]

I’m sorry you lost your hen what a beautiful

[@karenyhogan5196]

Great job, for your giant

[@r1s1nggodz1lla]

Craig Johnson lives on!!!!

[@hazelmartin7911]

Dang, not a video I expected to make me cry. What a beautiful way for Gucci to be celebrated.

[@silent_soliliquy]

I can now say that a GARDENING video made me want to cry. If I thought about it longer, I would cry.

[@smugnote5216]

When I gave my chickens two pumpkins three days later it was gone 😂

[@TomsBackyardWorkshop]

Um that looks like a normal sized pumpkin to me.

[@emcsquare62]

I tried growing 8 different varieties of pumpkin this year. Only one bloomed. The others had tons of runners but did nothing. Same with the tomatoes. None bloomed.

[@abbigailrob560]

Woah! That's huge! And heavy

[@shanesimpson8213]

can i do this to Calabaza i wan to bury the stem to keep it one place and support the amount of pumpkin it can grow

[@travisbenefield7087]

Are you not going to spread the p/m by touching infected leaves then touching the healthy parts?

[@carolfaberpeake857]

This was a lot of fun!!! Thanks 🎉

[@epicgardening]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@texas2645]

Please grow an giant african gourd. My plant just died in utah and i started in march. I was so sad

[@whiskerfishermantv]

Eyes looking Glassy bro.

[@Toffnm]

The prompt of this video is just perfection and genius. Sorry about your pet, but what a great way to celebrate her life and memory.

[@barbsoddznendz1896]

Very fun experiment. RIP Gucci. 😥🐔

[@VICARI0S]

Pumpkin Daddy lol

[@cortneynichols8537]

Can you prune a pumpkin plant? Like if you removed the other stems or at least flowers would it give Craig more energy?

[@gristlegrinder]

Great vid!!

[@greengrassjelly]

YEET 🤣🤣 4:39

[@rja62b]

lol bro grew a pumpkin with a chicken and fed the chicken-pumpkin to his chickens