Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 9 Entries. Monday, March 31 View Page This one is for you Frank, Dave and any other Pat fans. It's the "Silver Dome of Death" for the Patriots. To Bad guys, there's always next year. Right? LOL I was driving by there last week and saw the dome and thought of you guys. Saturday, April 12 View Page Another year in anticipation of a PB begins. With so many good seeds to choose from the decision was tough to pick just two to grow. So, throwing caution to the wind I decided to go with two unproven seeds that will no doubt be proven by many growers this season. My choice was to go with the 1385 Jutras and the 1290 Poirier. Germination was done on 3/22 the only problem was that the 1385 just never showed any sign of life and finally after several days of patiently waiting it finally just turned soft and mushy and so the writing was on the wall...it wasn't to be. So as a replacement I decided to go with the 1689 Jutras. Joe Jutras is a really generous great guy. Back when I asked him for seeds I told him I was not even going to ask for a 1689 because I figured I had no chance to get one. I was after his 1385. When my bubble arrived in the mail I had a pleasant suprise. My bubble was loaded with a whole bunch of his seeds and the 1689 too. So Joe, if you read this, thank you for the seed and I'll do my best with it. My plan is to cross the 1689 with the 1290 Poirier. It will hopefully make for a nice big orange cross with great shape and color. Another pleasant suprise today as the temps soared to 95° was that the 1689 didn't flinch a bit at the heat. Hopefully the is a trait that will continue as the plant gets bigger. Here is the 1689 Jutras doing its thing. Temp was 95° when taken. Saturday, April 12 View Page This is the 1290 Poirier. Picture also taken while temp was at 95° and it looks like this plant has no problem with the heat either. The 1290 is a few days older than the 1689 so it is a little bit ahead. A caterpillar was munching on the plant until I finally found him today. This years new products I will be trying are humic acid (leonardite shale), Biogrow Endo Plus and Soil Soup. Both plants will be getting their doses of Agro-K as well. I was real happy with how healthy the leaves looked on last years plant due to using the Agro-K. We'll see what this year holds but I know I only have a very small chance at growing a real biggy being this far south in latitude and with the heat factor and limited space, but I always have fun trying. Saturday, April 19 View Page Seems that my pumpkin plants are under attack this year. First numerous caterpillar attacks on the 1290 Poirier which I finally took care of with a light shot of malathion. I tried to pluck off any caterpillars I could find on the plant only to come back a couple hours later and find a couple more eating away. Seems like they may have been coming from the soil. Haven't seen a single one since spraying. I had been watching the 1689 Jutras nervously for the last few days as grub trails just under the surface of the soil started showing up and getting closer to the plant. Not wanting to suffer damage to the plant I hit the area they were crawling around in with triazicide last night and by morning I had them. I didn't want to use the triazicide because it harms the worms but I didn't know what else I could get them with in a hurry. It works great for the grubs. They come to the surface like they are drunk and just lay there wiggling around until you pick them out. Got these two ugly guys last night. This is the first year I had grubs show up in the patch that the 1689 is in. I hope that is all there was. Tuesday, May 20 View Page 1689 Jutras enjoying a cooling mist in the 105° temps. So far the 1689 is looking very good. It has been problem free so far and the plant looks completely normal. Only odd thing on this plant is that there is a pumpkin on one of the first secondary vines that will probably bloom in a day or two. No pumpkins in site on the main vine yet which is fine for now. I am hoping to get a pumpkin set 15 feet or more out on the main to have more plant behind the pumpkin since I have limited area for the secondaries to grow. Growth has really taken off in the last week with the high temps we have been having. I've been busy trying to keep up on innoculating each node with myco. Hope the work pays off. Tuesday, May 20 View Page Last entry was the wrong picture. That was the 1290 Poirier in my micro patch of about 200sq ft. The 1290 is looking good except the secondaries were kinda just sitting there not really doing much which seems to be a yearly problem I have growing in this spot. The best I can tell is that there seems to be a phosphorous deficiency. So with that in mind I gave it a good dose of 15-30-15 and within 4 days the secondaries are taking off like they should. This plant is also getting myco applied to every node and Agro-k on a daily basis as is the 1689. This is a picture of the 1689. Tuesday, May 20 View Page Something new I am trying this year...Soil Soup. Brews up real nice in about 36 hours. I follow Paps recipe he posted a while back. Wednesday, June 4 View Page Pollenated first pumpkin on the 1689 today at about 12 feet out on the main. Used 3 males from the 1290 Poirier to do the job. This was a controlled cross as all will be. I used a cheese cloth sack tied at the bottom to keep any bees out. Sunday, June 8 View Page Here is an under the canopy shot looking down the main toward the stump on the 1689 Jutras...I really like this plant so far.