Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 36 Entries. Thursday, April 18 View Page LanTerra Update > Seeds began soaking this morning. 1684.5 Delaney 12 + 1778.5 Daletas 12 Friday, April 19 View Page LanTerra Update > Have germination and radicle emergence on the 1684 Delaney. 37 hours since imbibition began. Saturday, April 20 View Page Cabbage Update > Best cabbage is doing well. Bathed in light its just about ready to go into the garden. Doubled in size in the last two weeks. Saturday, April 20 View Page LanTerra Update > Never seen the radicle erupt out of the side before. Hope the 1684.5 is OK. Potted it up at 6:30 am this morning using a new 8" deep 1 gallon pot. Potting mix is an airy mixture containing Worm Castings, RTI Myco, Mykes, watered in with Maple Syrup, Ca, Mg, Mn, Phosphite, Relief & Fulvic Acid. Saturday, April 20 View Page Cabbage # 2 > Not as big as its brother it is however doing very well and just about ready for hardening off. The treatments I talked about at the GVGO seminar appear do be working very well so far. I have two controls growing as seen in the next picture. Saturday, April 20 View Page Cabbage Controls 3 & 4 > not nearly the development seen in the first two which have had after nearly two weeks of treatments. These have just been re-potted this morning. I will stop the standard treatment and switch to the test regime as there appears to my thinking to be a stark difference. Hope others within the club have noticed the same outcome. Saturday, April 20 View Page Sunrise > This morning I was greeted to a dusting of snow on the ground. Needless to say after Thursday's thunderstorms and mid 70's temperatures the huge change to this morning is darn depressing. Spring is here it is just uncertain and very changeable. Hoop houses will be constructed in the next day or so and I should be in the ground by the end of next week. This would be about two weeks ahead of normal for me. The season has barely begun and already I am on pumpkin time. Arise at 5:15 am this checking the lights and timers. Sunrise was 6:27 I had forgotten how much I looked forward to getting out of bed tending to the plants each day. I wonder how many growers are already on pumpkin time! would like to hear from you. Sunday, April 21 View Page LanTerra Update > 5:30 am this morning and the lights are turned on. Cold this morning with a very heavy frost at 24*f. After yesterdays on & off all day heavy snow showers. Today is bright and sunny with a high in the mid 40's, still cool. The 1778.5 Daletas 12 has germinated after approx 56 hours. I will pot it up later this morning. Waiting for the 1684 Delaney to break the surface. Now may be the time to start a few early Maters. Monday, May 6 View Page LanTerra Update > in the ground today with the 1,778 Daletas Plant this afternoon. Was later than I had planned but there was a lot more work getting the patch done than I had anticipated. Did battle with my irrigation well this afternoon took a couple of hours to get a good prime on the pump. Great thing is the water supply is entirely endless and free! The pH is 7.4 not so bad, as I thought it would be over 8... Treated my soil to a broadcast of RTI and Mykes and over-seeded the surface with an annual grass. Fed it all a coated slow release fert and washed it down with a pH adjusted brew at 5.5 with Molasses and several other micros including Ca, Mg, Mn, TKO, Neptunes Seaweed and a hearty supply of worm castings. The 10' x 12' hoop house has an oscillating heater set at 22*C with a remote temperature sensor. This is early for Ontario but would have preferred a week earlier. The weather has be enormously good for a week now. Hard to believe after such a poor spring start we went right to summer. Every thing is now in wide open bud as the season roars back up to a normal or slightly ahead of normal pace. Monday, May 6 View Page LanTerra Update > forgot to mention the supplements also included a drench of Fulvic acid and a high phos starter solution with IAA and NAA. Tuesday, May 7 View Page LanTerra Update > Chilly night time air...and a very brisk morning...... Outside it went all the way down to 2*C at 5am this morning, Inside the hoop house I managed to keep it above 11*. Tonight I might add a heat lamp. Very heavy dew this morning. Then suddenly inside the hoop house temperature at mid morning was 31.8*C Opened it up at both ends and soaked everything down real good. Might be the hottest day of the spring with bright UV laden sun and clear skies. Temperature is already 23* at noon with a projected high of 27*. Nearly calm winds as well will make it much warmer today. The trees are popping out as I am staying ahead of the picking out the dandelions sprouting everywhere. Only, very Minor flagging noticed on the 1778. May have to use the J.V. Relief product on the plants. Way too early on the calendar for an anti desiccant but the thermometer never lies. May also consider installing a fan. Tuesday, May 7 View Page Mater Update > Starting to germinate at 12 noon today the first batch of Maters. 4 - 5.50 Johnston/Butler 12.Placed in Incandescent BS Light 8 - 5.41 Landry 11 seeds. Placed in Incandescent FR Light. - 5.41's are two seeds per pot. Will be interesting to see the germination rate. - Both sets of seeds are under the lights on the same timer with an on setting of approx, 16 hours. The starting mix is a good 1/3 blend of peat, vermiculite & perlite, with RTI and Mykes added to both. added a very small portion of the Phosphite TKO and Mn to both mixes in plain water at approx 7.5 pH. Thursday, May 9 View Page LanTerra Update > Hoop house temperatures are rising as again today the first heat wave of 2013 continues. A slight bit of rain this morning followed by clearing skies provided a great morning for what is becoming my regular early morning jog. The 1778 is baked but holding up well in the hoop house. I have added some shading to the structure and now have a fan blowing cooling winds 24/7. The weather is surely a challenge to hold at bay the early morning chill and at the same time protect the plants from roasting in the steaming sunshine. I will welcome tomorrows cooling trend and cloudy skies. Heating the hoop house is now supplemented by a thermostate controlled heater and a 150 FR warming lamp. The only thing I need to put in place is a timer for the lamp. Thursday, May 9 View Page Kahuna Update & Blog > GOOD News on a personal Note: I have just received confirmation that my first article is slated to be published in a USA edition of a Major Magazine. My first attempt to author a professional article was greeted with great enthusiasm by the editors. Could not be happier about this, I will be sure to mention my good friends from the GPC and the GVGO in my Bio and introduction. These two groups have played a huge roll for me and without the fantastic support of the commonwealth the GVGO and all of you wonderful folks within the community. I simply say thank you to all with both of my plump, dark green thumbs held up high. Watch for it in July 13 issue of MAXIMUM YEILD. Friday, May 24 View Page Lanterra Update > My 1778 Daletas has been in the ground since early May and it certainly likes the warmer weather. I have found the warm days to be a constant battle. The sun can really bake the plants fast. I have shaded them for awhile each afternoon in the heat of the day. Supplemented my hoop house with a Red heat lamp and a 1500 watt thermostatic controlled heater and a fan running 24/7. I have a remote sensed thermometer on my window sill that I can check often. This allows me to add about 6*C to the ambient night time air temperature. Next week starting with Tuesday's long range is for another wave of even hotter temps. This could challenge the plants more. Hoping for much welcomed warmer nights though. Last nights low was 3*C. Now as I write this at 7:15am it is beginning to snow. Frig....arghhh....Makes a grower cry. Only in Canada can you go from sunburn to frostbite in the same day. Tuesday, May 28 View Page LanTerra Update > all things moving not as well as first planned. Growth is slowed as two night time frosts with several coolish and chilly days have hindered growth somewhat. Bad news is I've lost a 1684 Delaney which failed to thrive and a 209 Werner that failed to germinate. The first batch of Tomatoes 4 - 5.50 Johnston/Butler 12 and numerous 5.41 Landry 11's are now starting to harden off outdoors along with a single 181 Mckinnion field pumpkin. I am left with a single AGP the 1778 Daletas in the hoop house. Sounds like a meager start left with only one plant but it is really all I can handle this year anyways. 4 - Cabbages are in and seem to be doing ok. Thanks to The Johnston/Butler team and Bryan M. in supplying two plants each. Tuesday, May 28 View Page LanTerra Blog. Resourcefulness > you often hear of this phrase. "God bless all creatures great and small". Well I wondered how this saying came to be. Turns out the saying was derived from a poem written in the 1800's. titled, "Maker of Heaven and Earth" (All Things Bright and Beautiful)by Cecil Frances Alexander. Early this morning I witnessed just this, an amazing display of the nature that Gods creation has set forth. Glancing from my kitchen window I saw a Sparrow exit my loan solitary hoop house then another and the still another entered from the same area. It appeared they had found a tiny crevice near the ground. I thought why would these birds be in there? Remarkably they were after the trapped black-flies that seek warmth in the hoop house. They had somehow found a live and constant steady food source and a way to harvest it. I watched as they flew off to a distant evergreen tree in the front yard. Awaiting them was the many eager to fill hungry mouths of the next generation. Their shrill cries beckoned each adult with a piercing sounds of feed me more. While raising a hungry brood maybe a considerable challenge for most of us its nothing when compared to these creatures. The reality in the modern world of mankind is the obstacles these tiny little birds must face each and every day is mind boggling . My morning had become much more bright and beautiful. Never thought of myself as contributor to the local bird population. Maybe just maybe its gonna be "A Big Year"* in the pumpkin patch. *Having A Big Year > from the movie featuring Jack Black and Steve Martin Tuesday, June 11 View Page LanTerra Blog > part 1, Unable to sleep or reset my clock from weeks of getting up at 4am, I arise this morning as the Robins begins to sing his daily song of life. The brisk morning air settles in as the clear skies radiate any of the nights leftover lingering temperatures. The frost has all but left us for another season as the plants happily commence to spreading their wings. The chores are mounting now with each passing day as the yard and garden slowly transform into the annual Eden of wonder. There is still so much to do and there never seams to be enough ticks left to tock on the daily clock. Feathered friends never finish their tiresome daily rounds. Broodingly they arise each day to feed the hungry mouths of the unrelenting hatchlings. Obsessed by nature�s procreative instinct, the grower resembles Robin and his cousins. The determination and efforts deemed necessary to proceed up the ladder to pumpkinville require relentless energy . Tuesday, June 11 View Page LanTerra Blog > part 2, Time is the limiting factor that most growers often overlook. Too, little results in unattended growth and inattentive plants. The balance of time versus chore is often found as the gardener rests his tiresome back in the solace on the fresh late spring air. Driven by desire to sire the most prevalent of fruit the surly grower emerges each morning from his den refreshed and rejuvenated by the wonderful sites and smells that only Mother Nature can provide. Inspired by the chore of propagation this Gardner awaits the results of his early morning encounters, hopefully ending in a progeny of such size and girth that few are able to fathom. The efforts of laborious chores mount as each day passes as the grower is assured his early bird will assuredly garner the worm. Singing from the highest branch The Robin proclaims it has been a worthwhile effort. Wednesday, June 26 View Page LanTerra Update > Pollination day at last. June 25th right on time. Four lober on the Daletas plant x Self. Welcome TO: LanTerra Logan1 > 1778 Datletas x self. 4 Lobe. 8' on the main. Hope you thrive. Wednesday, June 26 View Page LanTerra Blog > With an early morning wake up call and a very vibrant red sun rise I headed out to an already sun baked and warm patch this morning. Then it was off to the golf course for a game. The weather was warm bright and fresh. The course was extremely green, well manicured and the rolling greens were smooth as glass. After a very solid straight first drive of about 240 yards, I promptly three putted the first hole and settled in for what I thought would be a long day. I was wrong. The opportunity to play was just what I needed after another disappointing day at the doctors office. Health concerns often become a drudge due to all the worrying involved. The golf course always has a way of setting me back down on the ground. Playing a couple of times a week I make some putts and loose some balls but after years of toil with work, baseball and pumpkins it is all good in the grand scheme of things. The pilgrimage to the 19th hole is a nice break. I was an avid golfer at one time many, many years ago. We used to play Sundays and Wednesdays. Many a good time was had as we hacked about on our field of dreams . Every Sunday we would head out to that golf patch know as Lakewood Golf and Country Club. On the shores of Lake St. Clair. At 6:32 sharply we would arrive. With crystal clear dew on our feet we trudged away the week�s labors. Occasionally one of us would play extremely well and sometimes poorly too. The break from the daily grind was refreshing, no double or triple bogey could wash away its effect. The mornings with my friends were special moments. Always bright and sunny, filled with hope driven down a shimmering brightly colored green fairway that never ended. Taking time to appreciate free leisure time is what a good hobby is all about. The greatest gift we have is standing back on the first tee reflecting and soaking it all in. No badly sliced drive or split pumpkin can ever take that away. Friday, July 5 View Page LanTerra Update > First pollination on the 1,778 Daletas plant. June 25th Logan 1 was Day 10 = 20" was culled. Very slow grower and poor positioning led to its demise. Sprayed all plants by foliar to both top of the leaf and bottom this afternoon with a mixture of TKO, IBA, Cytokinin, Seaweed, Ca, Mg, Mn, Molasses, Fulvic acid and Ascorbic acid. Sprayed all vine nodes before burying with two auxins CG 361, IBA and Cytokinin. Since the patch is brand new there is no evidence of disease at all. Pests have also not been a problem. No Cucs, squash bugs or bores have been seen. Tuesday, July 9 View Page LanTerra Update > Dodged a bullet yesterday. Toronto had more than 5" of rain in a couple of hours yesterday. Although we are only a 45 minutes from the city the storm cells stayed just to the north west travelling south east. Missed my area by only a few miles. Still they dumped more than 1.5" on my patch by the evening. 209 Werner 12, FP is growing faster than the AGP, 1778 Daletas. This plant looks very healthy and should produce a big pumpkin next month. Maters. Now have 5 mega blooms on the first 7 plants. Not a bad ratio so far. Did the cooler temperatures have something to do with this? My research says it does. The other two plants will need to wait for the second cluster truss to set mega blooms. A total of 18 mater plants made it into the garden in 5 phases so I will have maters coming well into September. all are 5.41 Landry 11 except for 4 - 5.50 Johnston/Butlers 12. Interesting note 3 - 5.4's and 4 - 5.50's went into the ground on the same day in late May. The 5.41' were planted in pots and set into the ground. They are surprisingly about 20% bigger at this time. Unsure why but I think it might have something to do with moisture retention in the pots. Also note that these 5.41 plants had a longer duration of Far Red light indoors than the 5.50's. Starting out they grew faster than the simple exposed incandescent light 5.50's. There indeed appears to be a discernible difference in Far Red treated plants. But the jury is still out on this. Tuesday, July 23 View Page LanTerra Update > No surprize what can go wrong will go wrong. I culled the early pollination on the 1778 and went with a second fruit on July 2nd that aborted. Stuck with a very late July 12 fruit set on the main about 20'out that was 30" on day. It is a good shape and terrific positioning on the vine. However a rabbit took a chunk out of the top on day 5. Logan 3 has survived the attack and is putting on 3.5 to 4" per day. Growth will ramp up as terminations are almost completed but this is a very late fruit and it will need to grow extremely fast. Root growth on all plants is simply amazing as the hormone treatments seam to be working very well. The fruit growth needs to speed up if I have any hope at all. 6's & 7's are coming every day very soon. Yesterday gain was 3.5". Cabbages are doing OK after an attack from moths last week. Maters are progressing well with on set on an early 4.51 Landry 11 that is a 5 or 6 bud. really excited about this one. 209 Werner 12. Great plant at about 800 sq. ft. pollinated the first one yesterday on the main about 16' out. Vine burying is taking about an hour per plant every third day. I am juicing the soil with a broadcast applications of myco, humic acid and a 5-15-15 granular. Also hand digging one spade depth ahead of each vine spreading this mixture as I go. Sprays are mostly once per week and consist of phosphites and other supplements including maple bud syrup and relief the ethylene blocker product that is thought to delay senescence. This along with the IBA, Cytokinins and anti-oxidant treatments should keep these plants chugging along well into September. Thursday, July 25 View Page LanTerra Update > Attached by caterpillars. My maters are finding the that hornworms have settled in for dinner at kahunas dine and dash. I have picked off about dozen good sized larvae in the past three days. There has only been some minor defoliation to date. 1778 the fruit #3 growth rate is ramping and has reached 4"CC per day this morning. 4.51 Landry 11 x self, have one really good mater set on an early plant. It is a very gnarly looking beast of a mater. Tied and trimmed up all plants this morning. Sprayed with Maple Bud Syrup, Kelp, Root Booster with Naphthalene Acetic Acid(NAA), Kinetin, IBA, Ca, Mn & Fulvic Acid. Drenched with fungicide and everything else as above but not the kitchen sink. Friday, August 9 View Page LanTerra Update : Wild top growth on AGP and field pumpkins is hindering increases. I was away for seven days from the patch resulting in a very difficult chore of cleanup. 1778 Daletas 12 > 101'CC the late set AGP now has a serious stem split all thee way to the main vine. I may have very limited size on the fruit. Better luck next year but still hope to keep it growing to 200" or so. 209 Werner 12. 24" CC today and a few others in smaller stages. Plant is the best I have ever had. 4.51 Landry 11. I now have several mega blooms started and or growing on several plants. The best is a 5 cluster on an early plant. It is sitting at 20" CC today and growing 3/4" per day. The fruit is young and very ugly, just the way I like to see them. Have not recently seen hormworms so the attack of them is over for now. Cabbage are going ok and seamed to have recovered from the caterpillar attack a couple of weeks ago. Very pesticide use in the patch this year. In fact I have only sprayed the cabbages three times. The AGP Field pumpkins and maters have not seen insecticides at all. No fungicide use at all either. No signs of any issues either. Instead I am relying heavily on bacteria, fungi and phosphites as my controls. It sure is good to grow in a new patch. Sunday, August 11 View Page LanTerra Update > Returned to the patch this morning after three days away. The tomato has gained more and now sits at about 22". AGP is behind the bench marks but the field PK's and the cabbage are doing extremely well. I have been ordered to bed and Shannon is now the patch tender for the next few weeks. I will miss the GVGO patch tour as well on Aug 24th. The patch is on auto pilot and really only the sprinklers need to be turned on and off until later in the week. Tuesday, August 13 View Page LanTerra Update > 209 Primary Fruit Sink (PFS) 209 Werner x self, July 23. Day 21, 61 + 45 + 44 = 149 OTT. I have no idea what pace this is.....Good or Bad? The plant is about 800 sq. ft. in size. Currently it has two sets on the main and two on different side vines all growing slower than the PFS. This pictured fruit is the largest and was a backend bleeder until very recently. Found a tiny bit of PM yesterday on some older leaves that I may have missed during Phosphite sprays. Attacked it with a popular fungicide this morning. Will concentrate a bit more on PM control measures in the next few days & weeks. Plant appears to be young and healthy and growing well. Using IAA, IBA, NAA and kinetin 1/2 the labelled application rates with and 3oz kelp mixed with 2oz Fa, 1oz Ca and other mycro's by foliar every fourth day. Tuesday, August 13 View Page Mater Update > 4.51 Landry 11 x self pollination date is unknown. 5 segments on this one the patch leader already over 22". This is an early plant set in a 2 gallon pail. Drenching 5-15-15 with hormones IBA, NAA and Kinetin at half labelled rate. Added in 2 gallons of acid treated water at 5.5 pH is 3oz Kelp, Fructose type sugars, 2oz Humic acid and 1oz ca along with other micros. Often the drench mix includes Mg, Mn, Zn and maple bud syrup with SOD and or ascorbic acid. Wednesday, August 21 View Page Mater Stats Actual CC Day Date 22 28 Aug. 17 22-3/8 29 Aug. 18 22-3/4 30 Aug. 19 23 31 Aug. 20 23-1/8 32 Aug. 21 Wednesday, August 21 View Page Lanterra Update > Having lost my biggest FP fruit and splitting the main on the 1778 Daletas, I now have reverted back to what I do best and that is grow a back up fruit. I hate those three words (Back Up Fruit). Never do I seam to ever get any luck in the patch. The maters thankfully are mostly doing well as the 5.41 Landry's are populated with numerous mega blooms. The best of the first sets have now reached day 30. Delaying senescence is really a huge concern for me. Being able to squeeze in a few more growing days may boost the numbers for me. To early to tell if anything will be worth bringing to weigh-off. One thing that strikes me in the quest for every larger fruit is wounding injury's and the plants responses to such events. I have a mater that got a bit to heavy and kinked the peduncle. Naturally I thought it was finished. However I tied it up and left alone for awhile. I was amazed at how it had healed. After several days the fruit was still increasing in size! Well I went out and squeezed a couple more peduncles and they too seam to respond as if stimulated. This response is not unlike what I saw a couple of years in growing a large AGP ribbon vine fruit that had severe peduncle damage. Thursday, August 22 View Page Tomato Update > 5.41 Landry 11. The tape is stretching a bit longer each day. Thursday, August 22 View Page 5.41 Mater Continued > The same 5.41 with its pollinator. Thursday, August 22 View Page Again another shot of the 5.41 Mater. 5.41 Landry 11 x self. Still green and growing. Gained 3/8" in the past 24 hours. Thursday, August 22 View Page The current 5.41 is much the same shape as its mother pictured here at the Prince Edward County Pumpkinfest, Weigh-off, in Wellington Ontario. Tuesday, August 27 View Page LanTerra Update > Mater is still growing but getting older and now is ever closer to ripening. I Need to hold it off for another couple of weeks yet to have anything GPC scale worthy. Is it time to start switching ferts. to finish up my fruit. I need to find this product that a friend of mine put me onto yesterday.