Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 39 Entries. Saturday, April 24 View Page This year I am going to be growing the 1161 Rodonis and 1566 Rodonis. Thank you Bill for the seeds! Saturday, April 24 View Page Last Fall I planted a cover crop of rye. It got about a foot tall before I cut and tilled it this Spring. No major changes to the patch this year. The only thing different will be that I am going to use Actively Aerated Compost Tea. I built a brewer this Winter and already applied the first application. Sunday, May 2 View Page Seeds were filed and soaked on April 24th and I just planted them into the patch today. This is the 1161. Sunday, May 2 View Page This is the 1566. Saturday, May 15 View Page We’ve had great weather so far this May compared to last year. So far everything’s going great. Here’s the 1566 this evening. This week I transplanted my backups into the patch. I put them in the opposite ends of the patch from my main plants so they can be growing in case I need them. I decided to go with the 1272 Brunst and 1279.5 Barlow. If I don’t need to use them I might use them as pollinators. Saturday, May 15 View Page Here’s the 1161. It’s a little bigger than the 1566. They should start vining this week. Friday, May 21 View Page The 1161 ribbon vined this week. I can’t believe it! Everything I’ve read says to pull the plant but it’s tough to pull an 1161 Rodonis. Tonight, I did some surgery to try to salvage it. If it doesn’t work I have the 1272 Brunst on the other end of the patch that can take over it’s spot. Friday, May 21 View Page Here’s the 1272 Brunst on the opposite end of the patch growing towards the 1161. Friday, May 21 View Page The 1566 tonight. Looks good so far! Friday, May 21 View Page The 1279.5 Barlow on the opposite end of the patch from the 1566. Just in case something goes wrong with the 1566. Friday, May 21 View Page Here’s a view of the whole patch. From closest to furthest: 1161 Rodonis, 1272 Brunst, 1566 Rodonis, 1279.5 Barlow. Tuesday, June 1 View Page The 1161 seems to have grown out of the ribbon vine! Last Thursday I decided to brew a batch of compost tea. I keep my brewer outside because the one time I brewed it in the garage the smell of fish and seaweed lingered for days. In the middle of the night we had a downpour and I had to unplug it for fear the pump would get ruined or something would catch fire. The next day I had to discard that batch and it smells awful. It had definitely gone anaerobic. Last week we also had a day in the mid 90’s. It fried the new growth on my plants so over the weekend I built two shade structures. I went with a 30% shade cloth so we’ll see if it works. Here's the 1566 today Tuesday, June 1 View Page I went out to check the patch this morning and if found a cucumber beetle on the 1161 so I will be spraying tonight. Here's the 1161 Tuesday, June 1 View Page Overall, my plants this year are by far the biggest I have ever had at this time of year. The 1161 is doing great except for a few leaves that got burnt last week. The 1566 is missing a few side vines. It also has some burnt leaves. Backups are still in place just in case. Sunday, June 6 View Page Here is the 1161 today. Temps have been very hot this week and I think the shade structures have helped prevent more leaf burn. Both plants are way ahead of schedule. Both plants have females on the main. I should be pollinating the keepers in the next week or two. Sunday, June 6 View Page Here’s the 1566. It’s still a little behind the 1161 but way ahead of schedule as well. Friday, June 11 View Page Here’s a picture of my compost tea brewer. I’m brewing a batch for tomorrow. Let’s hope it doesn’t rain tonight! Friday, June 11 View Page Here’s the 1566. It has had two females on the main vine that have gotten no larger than a pea and then shriveled up. Not sure why. The main vine is about 15 ft long and I’m running out of room fast. I need to get a viable female pollinated soon. Friday, June 11 View Page Here’s the 1161. Both plants seem to be growing faster than their roots can support. Every day the leaves on both plants are severely wilted. Once the weather cools down at night the leaves come back great. The first SVB was spotted today. Friday, June 18 View Page Here’s the 1566 tonight. I sprayed my first application of fungicide last night. I suited up in the tyvek suit and put on the gas mask and sprayed after dark. I sprayed both Eagle and Daconil and that is some bad smelling stuff. No females have opened yet. Friday, June 18 View Page So far I’ve pollinated two females on the 1161 and both have aborted. The 7 day forecast shows every day in the upper 90’s so getting a pumpkin to set is going to be difficult. Thursday, July 8 View Page Here is my keeper on the 1161. I culled all of the other pumpkins yesterday. Thursday, July 8 View Page I have the 1566 narrowed down to two pumpkins. With the hottest June on record I’ve had a very difficult time getting any pollinations to take. This one is on a side vine so I’m hesitant to keep it. Thursday, July 8 View Page This is the very end of the main vine on the 1566. It is close to 30 feet from the stump but it is on the main vine. It was pollinated yesterday and if it takes I will keep it. Thursday, July 8 View Page Every year I seem to have a different problem that takes my leaves out. Two years ago I had fusarium in my soil that rotted the stalks off where they were buried with soil. This is my problem this year. The picture below is of a fairly newly affected leaf. It seems to be affecting the oldest growth. I can’t tell if it’s a disease or just the extreme heat we’ve had that’s frying the leaves. It’s been in the 100’s for the past two weeks. Thursday, July 8 View Page This is what eventually happens to the affected leaves. They dry out and die. Saturday, July 17 View Page Here’s the keeper on the 1566. Saturday, July 17 View Page Here’s the keeper on the 1161. It looks like it’s going to be a white pumpkin. About a week ago we had some critter try to eat the sides. You can see the scratches on the sides. I’m guessing it was a raccoon. It hasn’t been back since. Saturday, July 31 View Page Here’s the pumpkin on my 1566 plant today. Saturday, July 31 View Page Here’s the pumpkin on my 1161 plant today. The button where the blossom was rotted off but everything else seems solid. Sunday, August 22 View Page There she blows! The pumpkin on the 1566 split this week. Sunday, August 22 View Page This year, as well as my first year, my leaf stalks would turn brown near the soil line, turn to mush and rot. This would cause the leaf to fall over and die. I sent a sample to a plant pathologist at Virginia Tech and the diagnosis is Rhizoctonia Solani. Below is a picture of what happens. Sunday, August 22 View Page Here’s a larger scale picture of what happens to the plant, all of the leaf stalks collapse and die. Sunday, August 22 View Page Eventually you’re left with this, no plant left! The best news is that there is no way to get rid of Rhizoctonia Solani in your soil so it will be with me every year! Saturday, September 25 View Page I tore my plants out about a month ago. I had this pumpkin estimated at 550lbs. I was hoping it would make it to the weighoff on September 25th. I hooked up the tripod last weekend to make sure the bottom wasn’t rotten and everything looked okay… Saturday, September 25 View Page Two days before the weigh off this happened Saturday, September 25 View Page The stem rotted and went into the pumpkin. Saturday, September 25 View Page I cut it open today to get rid of it. Several of the seeds had sprouted inside. The blossom end was very thin. Saturday, September 25 View Page Here's one of the sprouts