Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 37 Entries. Monday, February 4 View Page Making progress on getting set up for the 2013 growing season. Sent off my first soil sample to Western Labs in ID over the weekend; anxious to see what the results are. Also ordered a 22% white shade cloth/canopy as last season's hot temps really did stiffle growth. Hoping for a milder summer this year for sure. 50 lb bags of Neptunes Kelp Meal and Crab Shell are sitting at the ready along with a couple gallons of Neptunes Fish and Seeweed Formula. I've been making worm tea for months and have will have a decent quantity of castings waiting to go into the patch. And the seeds.....snatched up some good ones at the auction, many with 1725 Harp bloodlines. Which one to grow? Still have LOTS of soil work to do. Expanding my 375 square feet of garden as far as possible but there really isn't much more to grow. Probably can carve out another 30 square feet but that's the end of it. My wife says I can't take out the back patio. Thursday, April 18 View Page The new shade canopy went up today....getting closer! Saturday, April 27 View Page And here we go! After agonizing over what to plant, I started 3 seeds today. 1140 Finders - almost didn't plant this for fear I would screw it up. This hot weather kin should do well in Socal 1775 Starr- Some darn good genes here! Thanks Thad for sending it! 980 Fredericks - Big, Orange and proven to grow a grander in heat tough conditions. Thanks Jim for sending it! I only have room for one plant so..... Tuesday, April 30 View Page Today is day 3 of the seeds sitting in the cooler. I followed Professor Matt's Youtube video instructions. To think a year ago I cooked 3 seeds in the oven before dropping 3 more in regular dirt! What a difference a year makes. The 1140 Finder is peaking out of the seed casing...sometime between 56 hours and 64 hours to germ... Tuesday, April 30 View Page More good news - the 1775 Starr has joined the 1140 Finders and sprouted. Dropped them both into the starter mix, seasoned with a pinch of Azos and Myko... Now we wait for the 980 Fredericks to join the party! Wednesday, May 1 View Page Two of the three plants have broken through the surface The 1140 Finders was first up - looking good. It was a little yellow the first few hours but greened up nice by the end of the day The 1775 Starr is about a half-day behind. Its greener than the other plant and the cots are curled. It is otherwise healthy looking. No sign of life from the 980 Fredericks yet... Only room for one primary plant; a little space on the side for a pollinator. Thursday, May 2 View Page Its 96 Degrees here today!!! WHAT IS HAPPENING!?? I'm really glad the babies aren't in the patch yet. Its one thing when the plant is established but quite another when they are so small. They got burnt bad last year with mid 80's after transplant. Friday, May 3 View Page It was 103 degrees in Orange County today when I got off work. Wow. Sunday, May 5 View Page 980 Fredericks never germed. Sometimes the selection gets made for us. I've moved the two survivors to the 1 gallon pots. They will probably stay there a week or so. Monday, May 6 View Page 1775 Starr Monday, May 6 View Page 1140 Finders.... Saturday, May 11 View Page Plants at two weeks. Growth is slower than I remembered from last year but its likely just my impatience. I've moved the plants outside more often during the warm days and back in at night. Sunday, May 12 View Page The 1775 Starr is beginning to outgrow the 1140 Finders. Its growing at a faster rate and has a thicker stem. The cots were darker green from the beginning and very curled. It was in the mid 90's here today. Babies spent the night outside. Monday, May 20 View Page I switched some things up this weekend, installing a second shade cloth. I've got a 'hot spot' near where the stump will be that gets the brunt of the heat. I've got a 30% shade cloth overlapping the 22%. The balance of the patch is shaded only with 22%. The fogger misters are also installed now; I used the blue fogger misters from Dig and put them on bamboo about 3' above ground. The timer is all set up to water in 8 minute increments 30 minutes apart from 12:30pm to 5pm. Plants will go in the ground in the next couple days! Looks like the 1775 Starr will get the nod... Monday, May 20 View Page Got the last soil ingredient today and added 12 oz of manganese using the sprayer. Gave it a good till, dug the hole, added some nice worm castings and top shelf potting soil and into the patch it goes! Weather is supposed to be very mild, mid 70's for the next week or so so the climate is perfect for the 1775 Starr to get off and running. Tuesday, May 21 View Page 1775 Starr on May 21 Thursday, May 23 View Page View of the Patch; you can clearly tell the difference between shading zones. Thursday, May 23 View Page Here's a close up view of the way I mounted the fogger misters... Friday, May 24 View Page The 1140 Finders is a fighter. I screwed it up when transplanting it; heard the main stem snap. It was still connected and I went ahead and finished planting it making sure that I buried the damaged portion well underground. It pretty much limped to one side and laid down on the soil. The next morning it perked up some. Today, more so. I fully expected it to die and I'll be darned if it isn't still alive and growing! Just the same, I started a couple new seeds. A 980 Fredericks and a 972.5 Finders were put into play.... This plant is really just a pollinator. Its in a long skinny planter area 2.5 feet wide by 15 feet long. There's not much chance I could get a fruit here unless a female pops in just the right spot.... Wednesday, May 29 View Page A short heat wave is headed our way. 90's by Saturday. Monday, June 10 View Page Looks like the double vine has hit my 1775 Starr, and has split into two mains. Is it as simple as just choosing one and cutting the other? Advise appreciated. Email would be great and thanks! Monday, June 10 View Page 980 Fredericks is getting along fine, for being just a little guy still. Monday, June 10 View Page This is patch 2, where the 980 Fredericks is growing. Hope to get a nice main and several secondaries in this area. Should be interesting to try and keep it off the wall and the patio! Monday, June 10 View Page The Goldfinches were wreaking havoc with my Zucchini....these cute little birds are destroyers! Monday, June 10 View Page So I got some bird netting to keep them out...easy enough. Tuesday, June 11 View Page Thanks for the feedback everyone. I will cut the runt vine :D No room to keep two mains. My 'Big' Patch is only 325 sf or so. Tuesday, June 11 View Page Here is the 1775 post-haircut. Tuesday, June 18 View Page Vine Split! The result of the double vine and torque from one large leaf I should have cut.... How bad is this? I've got a backup plant I can put in but its weeks behind this one... Tuesday, June 18 View Page I trimmed off the leaf that was causing this to twist and split and then wrapped it in plant tie. I saw another grower use cable ties; that made me nervous that they would ultimately cut into the vine if it grew. Tuesday, June 18 View Page After a kind email from a fellow grower, I took the plant tie off, applied the sulphur powder and then put one small piece of plant tie back on. It was a receipe for rot as it was. Thanks again Terry! Monday, June 24 View Page First Female showed up at about 9 feet and will extend out a couple more feet before settling in. First male flower opened today too. The main is quite skinny near the stump. Only about a 1/2" thick. It gets thicker further out but I don't think this is going to be a producer. It may be best to cut this existing main and re-train a secondary. I dropped the 972.1 Finders into the patch but it was pretty rootbound having been too long in the gallon pot. One of these plants will have to go. There's just not room for both plants in 325 square feet. Tuesday, June 25 View Page Saw a minor spot of what looked like downey mildew growing on the Zucchini so I got out the Daconil for it and the pumpkin. Sprayed in combination with Neptunes and VF-11. Tuesday, July 2 View Page Today is day 62 for the 1775 Starr. The stem split is wicked; (two splits each about 6" long) but its stayed healthy so far and the plant is growing well below it. My question is, can enough nutrients get through the area to support pumpkin growth? Based on other growers 60 day pics, the plant is growing slower than most. The main is about 14' feet and the side vine growth has resumed more of a normal pattern further down the vine, although the one side of the main has only two secondaries in the first 8 feet from the stump. The misting/ fogging system and shade cloth have prevented any flagging during this recent heat wave. Its been in the low 90's and pretty humid. Sadly, the first and only female so far appears to be aborting (pre-pollination). Its at about 10'. Not too concerned as there are more females visible in at least two vine tips but so far none showing in the main. Last years pumpkin was on a side vine, I am hoping for a main vine fruit this year. The 980 Fredericks in the flowerbed is laying down now. Looks like a fine plant but will be growing in about 100 square feet. Tuesday, July 2 View Page I found a female buried in the main vine tip....Should be 15-16' out. A couple weeks away for sure... Tuesday, July 30 View Page Finally have a pumpkin going on the 1775 plant. Its at 10 DAP and looks to be doing fine. Sadly its a side vine fruit as was last years. Pollination date was July 20, 1 day earlier than a year ago but with a late October weigh off, that shouldn't be an issue. Its selfed as I used my males from the 980 on another female that sadly didn't take. Nice weather here right now with a high in the low-mid 80's. Can't believe that its almost August. Way cooler than a year ago. I've turned off my misters for now. Had that nasty downy mildew hit the plant; cut off a bunch of leaves and went back in with the daconil. Hope that keeps it at bay. Its been a tough plant to grow. Lots of deformed female flowers and this is the first one to take in 5 or 6 pollination attempts. The 980 flowerbed plant, by contrast, has been easy to grow. No fuss, no muss. I had a beauty of a six lobe flower but it was in a spot that would be impossible to grow a fruit so we just left it. Pollinated on the main vine at about 12 feet and we are waiting to see if took. Have another coming in at 15-16 feet that I am most hopeful about. There is not much plant behind it but its just for kicks anyway since this plant was just grown for a cross pollinator. Still, a nice orange kin of a couple hundred pounds should be do-able....and so fun. Wednesday, August 7 View Page Its been a tough go in the 'big' patch (350sf). The 1775 has suffered from a nasty split at the stump when it double vined right after planting. Also battling the Powdery Mildew, although the milk treatment has helped (thanks Matt D and Jim F). We've had such cooler weather this year but also a lot of cloud cover with it. As a result, is sunshine has been at a premium and with the large trees in the adjacent park, I can't control it. There were four fruit on this; one was culled due to position and three remain. The largest is about basketball size now, and growing slowly as compared to last years kin. One is on the main and I am still not sure it has taken. I think with the stump split that the nutrient pipeline is just too damaged for this plant to grow much of a fruit. We will see.... The plant that was an afterthought is now looking like my only hope for a fruit of any size. Its the flowerbed 980 Fredericks plant, growing in only 100 sf or so. It has one fruit growing at about 12' and a second that was pollinated today at 15'. I used the 1775 Starr as the pollinator. I am pretty excited about this, even though the potential for much more than a couple hundred pounds is very slim. I really wanted seeds from this cross and this new blossom is at the perfect spot in the flowerbed to grow a kin. Really hoping this one takes. Although the plant is small, it gets better sunlight in this area and there's no PM on this plant at all. I can already see the orange surging into the kin at 12'. So cool even for a little 4 lb ball. I wish I could switch these plants and have the 980 in the 'big' patch! Monday, August 12 View Page I got out and did some more pruning this weekend. Cut back all new growth. The two pumpkins, both on side vines are growing slowly; only adding a couple pounds a day. I hit them a foliar spray of TKO last night and am going to increase the watering a bit to see if that might help. Very dissapointing season so far....