Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 354 Entries. Tuesday, January 1 View Page Happy new year everyone. I hope all had a good relaxing holiday season. Good luck to everyone in the 2008 growing season. May everyone set a new PB. Wednesday, January 2 View Page Ok, I am going to do this diary thing a little different than most I think. I prefer to use the 2008 diary for all things 2008 which includes prep from 2007 for the 2008 season. So, this diary really starts around Halloween. I will add the actual dates within the posting. This is our patch guard. Her name is Lola. She is not a showgirl, but she will eat anything. She is part beagle and boxer. I will also try to post a picture with every posting. There is just something about including a picture that makes the posting more interesting. Thursday, January 3 View Page OCTOBER 10th, 2007 Cleanup begins. Preparing for expansion and amendments. Step 1, remove all vines. Thursday, January 3 View Page OCTOBER 10th, 2007 Step 2, remove all of the irrigation system. Thursday, January 3 View Page OCTOBER 10th, 2007 Step 3, remove the greenhouses. Now we have a blank slate to work with. Thursday, January 3 View Page OCTOBER 13th, 2007 Ok so I lied a little bit. In those pictures, the green houses were still there, you just couldn't see them, as you will notice from this picture. This picture shows the 2007 patch size, along with the expansion area. Thursday, January 3 View Page OCTOBER 10th, 2007 Rivington 1, Stump 0. Took a little bit of work, but the pesky stump (visible in the last photo) is now history. Many thanks to my buddies for helping out....and drinking all of my beer. It's only fair though. Thursday, January 3 View Page Our vegetable garden will remain at the end of the patch, but will go the full width next season. Thursday, January 3 View Page OCTOBER 13th, 2007 Ok, gardens gone, stumps gone, now to get through this grass with a tiller. I will now begin the first round of tilling. The second round will come in a couple weeks once I get all the amendments. Thursday, January 3 View Page OCTOBER 13th, 2007 Ok, so have a look at this black gold. Now that the first round of tilling is done, I can get my amendments and complete the final patch prep for winter. Friday, January 4 View Page OCTOBER 17th, 2007 Ok, now that Alpha patch is done, it is time to work on Beta. Alpha is 25' wide by 55' long. Beta is also 25' wide but is 60' long. Beta is located at a relatives house in Windsor. There will be 3 pumpkins at Alpha and 4 pumpkins at Beta. Friday, January 4 View Page OCTOBER 17th, 2007 Here is another view of Beta patch. Good things are going to happen here. Saturday, January 5 View Page OCTOBER 19th 2007 Soil test results came back from A&L in London today. I send three samples. The first sample was from the existing patch, the second from the expansion area of my existing patch (combined to form Alpha) and the new patch at a relatives house which is Beta patch. I will try to amend each area differently to bring all 3 to a similar place, so that only 2 tests will be necessary from now on....but we will see how that works out. Saturday, January 5 View Page OCTOBER 23rd 2007 Today I moved the irrigation main hoses in, put all of the stakes, greenhouse parts, etc. into the garage. Also brought the liquid pesticides inside to prevent freezing. Saturday, January 5 View Page OCTOBER 23rd 2007 I finally found granular gypsum (sulphur @ 17.30% , calcium 22%) and pelletized 90% sulfur from a supplier in Leamington called Setteringtons. They both come in 50 lbs bags for $15.95 (sulfur) and $12.25 (gypsum). I will be adding all of the sulfur to my expanded patch at home (Alpha) to bring the pH down 0.3-0.4. Right now it is at 7.4. I don't want to bring it down too much at a time, just to be safe. The soil at Beta patch already has a pH. of 6.9, so that is perfect. The calcium levels at Alpha are roughly 2900 ppm and the levels at Beta are roughly 3450 ppm. I will add a 100 lbs bag of the granular to each patch (1450 sq feet). Saturday, January 5 View Page OCTOBER 23rd 2007 I took all of the leaves and grass clippings from yard work today, and put them into Alpha patch. I am waiting for everything to dry to have 16 yards of 2 year old composted cow manure (8 for each patch) delivered. Once the manure is delivered, I will add the gypsum, sulfur, and leaves and till it all in. Saturday, January 5 View Page OCTOBER 23rd 2007 I emailed the father of one of my good friends who does research in wheats for Agriculture Canada, and he is hooking me up with 10lbs of hard red winter wheat seeds for free. It was much appreciated. Saturday, January 5 View Page OCTOBER 26th 2007 Raining again. I am having some big problems getting this Patch into shape for the winter. I will be picking my supplies up in a few days, an hopefully get the rest of the prep work done on Halloween. Then I need to carve the 343 and 449 from last year. Saturday, January 5 View Page OCTOBER 28th 1007 Got my cover crop seed hookup today. 12lbs of Hard Red Winter Wheat. Thanks very much Wheat Man. The identity of the Wheat Man will remain anonymous in case the seed was "borrowed"...LOL. Saturday, January 5 View Page OCTOBER 30th 2007 No rain since the 27th. Have to drive out to Leamington tomorrow to pick up 200lbs of granular gypsum, and 100lbs of 90% sulfur. 100lbs of each for Alpha, and the second 100lbs of gypsum for Beta. Having a total of 13 yards of manure (decided based on tests, 16 yards was too much) delivered, 5 yards delivered to Beta Patch, and 7 yards delivered to Alpha Patch. Sunday, January 6 View Page OCTOBER 31st 2007 This is the sulfur I put into Alpha patch to bring the pH. down from 7.4. Hopefully the 100lbs I put down (1500 sq ft) will bring it down to 7.1 or so. I will put a bit more down in the spring depending on soil test results. Beta patch did not need any pH. change, as it is at 6.9. Sunday, January 6 View Page OCTOBER 31st 2007 Here is Alpha patch after 100 lbs of gypsum, 100 lbs of sulfur, and three pickup loads full of maple leaves. Beta patch also got 100 lbs of gypsum and 3 loads of leaves, but no sulfur. Tuesday, January 8 View Page NOVEMBER 3rd 2007 Got the 1093 Hunt today. WOO HOO. Next season is going to rock. Thanks Russ. Tuesday, January 8 View Page NOVEMBER 4th 2007 Did some more germination testing today. Filed and began a Soak for 18 hours in mostly water (90% water, 10% hydrogen peroxide (3%)). Tuesday, January 8 View Page NOVEMBER 5th 2007 Took those soaking seeds out and put in a damp papertowel. Tuesday, January 8 View Page NOVEMBER 6th 2007 Checked seeds after a total of 44 hours, all three are out. Planting in 4" pots in a mix made from 1/3 golden gold black leaf/grass compost, 2/3 potting mix which has peat moss, peat sedges, peat compost, vermiculite, perlite, compost, and some higher phosphorous fertilizer pellets. I watered each pot it 1.5oz of warm water. The pots were put back into the germination chamber and a thermometer was pushed into the soil of one. Temperature was adjusted until a steady 85 was reached. As soon as they pop up, they will be moved to a room downstairs with the appropriate temperature, humidity, and lighting. Tuesday, January 8 View Page NOVEMBER 10th 2007 All three seeds which were soaked on the 24th are up now. They all look like mirror images of each other. Amazing how they all sprouted simultaneously. They have gone from seeds to sprouts in 6 days. They have been moved to the grow room, and have constant 70 degrees, a cool breeze, and lots of lumens. Small amounts of fertilizer will also be applied. Will be interesting to see how long until first true leaf is out. ONLY 2 PICTURED, SO I COULD GET A CLOSER SHOT Tuesday, January 8 View Page NOVEMBER 10th 2007 Oops, I meant, all three seeds which were soaked on the 4th are up now. Tuesday, January 8 View Page NOVEMBER 19th 2007 Day 15 for the seedlings since they split their shell. The second true leaf is out and a decent size. I started a soaking of some LG and giant watermelons today. I lightly sanded 5 of the melon, but did not sand the LG. Going to soak for 8 hours and then bag in a paper towel. Sunday, February 10 View Page NOVEMBER 20th - Had a couple buddies come over today and Help remove a large limb from the big maple in my backyard. It blocks a lot of sunlight from reaching the patch. This one was over our sun room and posed a thread if a big storm knocked it down. A couple other branches pose similar Threats. In the end, I hope to only have branches up very high in the canopy so afternoon and evening sun will come in over the roof and make it to the patch. The quote I received for removing the other branches was $180. I will definitely get that done prior to the 2008 season starting. Sunday, February 10 View Page NOVEMBER 30th - I have settled on my lineup for the 2008 season. My lineup is as follows: ALPHA PATCH (my house) ---------------------- 1. 1093 Hunt x SELF (due to limited seed stock of 1093) 2. 1066 Vezzolo x 753 pappas (RECREATION OF 1068 WALLACE USING SELFS) 3. 649 Spada x 1093 Hunt (Watch out for that Spada) BETA PATCH (grandmothers house) ------------------------------- 1. 735 pukos x 525.8 Zaychkowski (846 Calai F1 Hybrid with some 1068) 2. 802 Kurilich x 800 est. Seymore 2007 (FOR LOOKS) 3. 1010 Frantz x 649 spada 4. 848 MacKenzie x 793 Olsen (GREEN ENTRY) Sunday, February 10 View Page Ouch, sorry for the last posting. The formatting was removed so its a little hard to read. Sunday, February 10 View Page Have been away too long. So busy with wedding planning. Well, the wedding is over now. All was a success. I am happy to call Kristin my wife now. Hopefully will be able to get back to the orange stuff now. I had a bunch of posts I was going to put up, but I think I will just summarize my "winter findings" and carry on from now. 1. if you don't start your cover crop early enough (even if it is called winter wheat) it won't start...well not very much anyhow. 2. If you plan to use soaker hoses (t-tape) for watering, and your patch is 3000 square feet or more, expect to spend at least $700-800, or just decide to go with overhead watering in the morning like I have decided to do in 2008. 3. If you plan to spray a large patch (which you will have to do, especially to prevent PM from the overhead watering) and don't want to spend the equivalent of a full time work week in the patch, buy a gas powered mister blower (which I will be picking up at the GVGO spring seminar in April). 4. As long as you don't kill the tree, extreme pruning will likely benefit a patch which does not receive enough sun, is well worth the cost. 5. Similar germination techniques to those we use for AGs (including filing, soaking, etc) work for watermelons and LGs too. Sunday, February 10 View Page 6. Working a second teaching job makes progress on the soil samples website very difficult. Not impossible, but difficult. 7. My 449 seeds germinate without any issues. 8. In the end, just water and a bit of hydrogen peroxide is all you need to germinate. IBA is ok, but I think if you put too much, it is detrimental. 9. I have received seeds from Phil Hunt, David Bhaskaran, Russ Landry, John Vincent, Craig Sandvik, Joe Kurilich, James White, Mike Frantz, The Wiz, Glen Knox, Danny Reeb, Al Eaton, Duane Perry, Michael Seymour, and my bro Sav Spada. I know I have already emailed you guys, but please accept my warmest thanks, and best wishes for the 2008 growing season. If I forgot to thank someone, please feel free to kick my butt, as I surely deserve it. 10. Unfortunately I will be enjoying my honeymoon (and fishing Marlin, YEEHAW) in Jamaica so I won't be able to enjoy Niagara, but I am looking forward to the GVGO spring seminar in April Thursday, March 27 View Page Well the snow is gone. Todays temperature is 41 and we have some upcoming days of mid 50s, so spring is making its arrival known. Here is a picture of the patch from the roof. In it you can see some of the branches that hang down (which block sunlight from the patch) that will be removed shortly. Thursday, March 27 View Page A closeup reveals how starting a cover crop late is not the way to go. I am sure it will pick up when the temp goes up a little more. Also possible that I put too many leaves on top. I think I will be removing much of these as I already shredded and tilled this much in before putting these on top. Slow and steady wins the race. Thursday, March 27 View Page A friend and I have been getting into brewing lately, and all the husks, etc. from all our batches go into the garden. Nothing with the hops in it, they are deadly for dogs. This stuff is from after sparging. Some people make dog biscuits out of it actually. Thursday, March 27 View Page Here are the branches I could get down myself. About "$180" worth remaining to take down. Some are over the house so I will let the pros handle it. There is nothing in the pumpkin budget for roof repairs. Thursday, March 27 View Page Here is one of the major light blocking culprits. There are a couple other like this one. Patch is basically just behind the tree, so when the sun is full in the sky, these give the whole patch 40% light. I think 80-90% light will significantly help up my numbers this year. Thursday, March 27 View Page The patch guard Lola. Always on alert when someone gets near. Seriously...she can't avoid giving everyone a big slobbery kiss. Thursday, March 27 View Page Due to the proceeds from our wedding, I got a little more in the pumpkin budget this year. My major acquisition, a new mister/blower purchased from Bob MAcKenzie. My wife thanks you for speeding this whole pumpkin thing up, lol. I will be picking it up at the GVGO spring meeting, the second weekend in April. Thursday, March 27 View Page I Will also be picking up the following supplies for the 2008 season at the GVGO meeting: - 2 1L bottles of pHortress plant health promoter - 2 1L jugs of molasses to really get those microbes going - 10L of Calcimax for a little extra Ca - 14# myco (1 lb around stump, 1 lb at nodes for 7 plants) - 150 lbs of humic acid (20 lbs around stump area per plant) - 100 lbs of kelp meal (14 lbs per plant around stump area) I need to get some of the yellow whizzers from Joel Holland because the 4x increase in patch size will make a complete drip system a little too expensive (costed it out to about $750). If I didn't get the sprayer I could do it, but I think the sprayer is a better way to spend the money. It seems most have PM problems regardless of watering eventually. I will be spraying a 10% milk with water solution once a week, along with water only during the day so everything dries by evening. Further, I keep daconil handy for any outbreaks is needed. I will not be using system fungicides this year, only contact. I will however by using a systemic fungicide (merit) along with Bifenthrin for those pesky SVBs. Sunday, April 6 View Page Too many leaves left on top. Lots were tilled under (and shredded) but these are preventing the drying of the patch, and will be too much to add in one season. Slow and steady. Sunday, April 6 View Page Here is Beta patch. No leaves on top here. Looking really good, drying nicely, cover crop actually starting to grow now....not late at all! Sunday, April 6 View Page I took soil samples 2 days ago and sent them out. I should be hearing back from the lab by Wednesday or Thursday this upcoming week. I can't wait to see how they improved (assuming they did...) Sunday, April 6 View Page Here is the beauty pile of season supplies. As expected a bunch of seaweed meal, humate, molasses, pHortress, myco, and calcimax. Sunday, April 6 View Page Just got back from the GVGO Spring Meeting. Much fun was had by all...and some secret planning went on to bring Ontario back to where we belong...yeah, you know where....on TOP!!! Thanks to Joe Jutras who gave us all of the secrets that were previously guarded by the R.I. boys. Very informing. I am sure he is bringing some of our secrets back too, lol. In all seriousness though, Joe was the nicest guy you will ever meet. Thanks again. Of course, along with all my ammendments, I brought this baby home for the upcoming season. Monday, April 7 View Page Applying the molasses to beta patch to get those organisms cooking. Things are drying out nicely. We should be able to till by next weekend assuming we don't get any major rain. Monday, April 7 View Page Round #1 of Jordan VS the sun blocking tree. Even with a 15' extending tree pruner, and standing on the roof, it's a tough reach...and forget sawing. It took 10 minutes to get through this one branch. Great shoulder workout though. I ended up getting almost all the branches I wanted to get. There are 1 or 2 that are sort of out of reach. I am currently thinking of a way to get higher, with some degree of safety. Monday, April 7 View Page One tough branch was "lassoed" by a rope, and hooked to the trailer hitch. Needless to say, it didn't last too long. Pruning should be finished at some point tomorrow. Tuesday, April 8 View Page Battle: Tree, is now over. BEFORE #1. Notice all the shadows on the patch... Tuesday, April 8 View Page Before #2. Tuesday, April 8 View Page After #1. Sunlight 1, shade 0. Where did all the shadows go?!?!? Tuesday, April 8 View Page After #2. Tuesday, April 8 View Page The aftermath. Limbs everywhere!!! Thursday, April 10 View Page Getting ready to take the first load of leaves and branches to the local yard waste drop off depot. It no longer costs any money, which is good, since I usually bring quite a bit of stuff there each year. Thursday, April 10 View Page The thick layer of leaves has been removed from alpha patch. Molasses has been sprayed here now as well. Gonna get some rain this afternoon, so that should help was the molasses down into the soil where it can be used. Thursday, April 10 View Page Got my soil test results today. Everything seems pretty good. I was thinking the OM was going to be higher, but it is in the acceptable range. Hope to get both up to the 10% range by next season though. The calcium reading seem to have dropped over thew winter, even after adding 100lbs of granular gypsum to each patch. Likely due to leaching. I think I will till in another 100 lbs to beta and 200 lbs to alpha. Other than that, I am happy with the results. Nothing here is anything I have to correct immediately, or will hurt my upcoming growing season. I have 10L of calcimax, so that should make the ratios better too. Monday, April 14 View Page Alright, the mockup of the new greenhouse design...basically the same as any other greenhouse, lol, but I am using rebar stakes which the 7' lengths of PVC bend and slide onto. This makes it very wind resistant. The top bar (spine) will have a hole on each end and will be tied to stakes to strengthen against winds coming at the ends of the greenhouse. There will be one this size (48" x 48") and two which will hold two plants back to back that will be 48" x 100". The design will be the exact same. Monday, April 14 View Page Here is the inside of the greenhouse. Notice that there is nothing in the way of the vines growing out of the greenhouse. Nothing to grow over, nothing to grow under, nothing to cut to make way for the vines. Last year I had a square frame on the bottom, but if you grow the vines over the frame and the wind rips the greenhouse up, ripped vines. I had to cut the frame last year. I think this will be better in general. Monday, April 14 View Page The last of the pruning remnants. Has a date with the hydraulic splitter, and then the wood stove. Monday, April 14 View Page Here are the supplies for all the greenhouses and the windbreaks. 25 stakes, 50 feet of rebar, and 80 feet of 1/2" pvc conduit. I already had enough vapor barrier, so saved some coin there. Monday, April 14 View Page The 50 gallons barrel that will be used for batches of compost tea. Just have to find a decent pump. Monday, April 14 View Page I know this has nothing to do with pumpkins, but I thought it was kinda cool. I found this cocoon on the compost tea barrel and picked it off. Inside I found a big black grub and decided to stop it from causing any damage to the pumpkins (though it is very unlikely that it would have anyhow). When I stepped on it, the colour of its guts surprised me. Has anyone seen this before? Tuesday, April 15 View Page Here is one of the sprinklers I got. I was going to go with the yellow whizzers from Joel Holland, but we had credit from Home Depot and well....I couldn't justify spending additional money when I could use the credit. I think these will work good though, and they were only $10 a piece. I bought 4 and will use 2 per patch. They say it can do a circle up to 50 feet. Both my patches are 25' wide by 60' long, so that would be more than enough. Tuesday, April 15 View Page So, I tested the flow of my water in various configurations and found the following (all 4 of the following configurations include a backflow preventer and a fertilizer injector): - With 1 hose in a bucket (off a Y splitter) and one hose (1 valve just shut), the flow is 247 GPH. - With 1 hose in the bucket and 1 of the sprinklers, the flow to the bucket is 194 GPG so in that case the sprinkler was getting about 53 GPH, but it wasn't hitting a 50' circle, more like 15'. - Now, the interesting part. With 2 hoses off the Y in the bucket, the flow is 277 GPH. So one of my standard garden hoses (5/8") seems to be able to support at most 240-250 GPH throughput. - If I take the fertilizer injector out, the 2 hoses can fill the bucket at a rate of 300 GPH. So, what does all this mean? It means that I can't run both sprinklers with the backflow and injector and expect to get 2 circles with a diameter of at least 25' which I need. I considered running a 3/4" main to the patch and splitting to two 1/2" lines there, but that would mean I can't buy a second timer (damn budget), and the following solution works while allowing me to use some of the hoses I have and still buy a timer. I can run one sprinkler (zone 1) by setting the timer for 30 minutes before I leave for work, then, right before I leave for work) shut off zone 1 and open zone 2 and the second 30 minute program will kick off shortly there after. Of course this means I will be going across the city to the second patch each morning too to do the same routine, but it's not far out of the way to my work. Further, since I can't afford to buy a second injector for beta patch, I will rotate the fertilizations every other day and move the injector back and forth between patches. I finally got it all figured out. Tuesday, April 15 View Page Notice in the last posting, the circle is about 40' in diameter, which is great. This picture is with the injector, etc. and both sprinklers. In this case, the circles are only about 15' in diameter, which is not enough. Thursday, April 17 View Page The steps in to alpha patch. This will allow me to enter without having to endanger anything with each crossing. A much better idea. Thursday, April 17 View Page I tightened up the fence today and added a second set of stakes to support the windbreak. Thursday, April 17 View Page Here is as view of the right hand side of the patch. You can see the stakes which will support more plastic to divide the pumpkins from the vegetables. Thursday, April 17 View Page Here are the 3 test seedlings I started on Sunday night. 4 days in and they are out of the dirt. By day ten I am hoping for a true leaf. I will start the actual seeds for planting in a couple more days, once I see that these are ok since I tried something new. Friday, April 18 View Page You can barely see the green...or should I say sea the green. 50 lbs of kelp meal down. Friday, April 18 View Page Can I get a little humate? How about 75 lbs. Friday, April 18 View Page Now if only we had some greenhouses. The longer one will hold 2 plants back to back. Its 10' x 4'. The smaller one is 4' x 4'. Plastic soon to follow. Friday, April 18 View Page WOO HOO!!! Alpha patch has 2 tills under its belt and I think we are good to go. The clay sublayer was a little damp but the top 6" are good and tilled. My shoes didn't get muddy and a soil ball crumbles, so the soil was in a "tillable" condition. Friday, April 18 View Page These last 2 postings are Alpha patch. Here is the starting lineup. We are expecting some light rain on tomorrow and if its not very much and its warm on Sunday we may try to till Beta patch. Otherwise, we are waiting for another week for it. If I plant as soon as I till, I can still get everything in the ground by May 1, which was my original goal. Monday, April 21 View Page Alright, all patch prep is done now. Just waiting to put the seedlings in the ground. This is the hoop house at Beta patch. It is one of the 10 footers and will hold 2 plants back to back. Monday, April 21 View Page Here is a full view of Beta patch. This will be the first year growing there. The soil test looks better than my regular patch after my amendments, it has 100% full sun, and I hope to experience some of that first year patch luck. Monday, April 21 View Page All the hoop houses at Alpha are done too. Here is a view from my roof. Monday, April 21 View Page Another view of Alpha from another roof. Monday, April 21 View Page The germination chamber. The 2 you can see emerging are 649 Spadas, which along with 1 planned plant, make up my 4 backups. This seed is going to do great things this year. Also pictured are pots containing the 776.6 Hain, the 1093 Hunt, the 848 MacKenzie, and 2 additional 649s. My 1066 Vezzolo is giving me a hard time germinating. The first sat in the paper towel for 36 hours and showed a bulge, but I thought maybe it needed a little help, so I cut the shell open. Well, my impatience did not end well. I started the second one and will give it all the time it needs. Monday, April 21 View Page These were my first test batch. They are at 7 days from soaking. They are also 649s and will go out into the patch very shortly. Tuesday, April 22 View Page Here is the double greenhouse at Alpha. It has a heater in it now, as well as an in/out thermometer to measure the max/min of greenhouse versus outside. The vents at both ends are open and still 88 degrees in there at dinner time. The plastic looks loose, but I assure you it is not. Tuesday, April 22 View Page This is the heater setup for the large greenhouse at Alpha. The board is to ensure the heat does not damage the plastic (though its not super hot anyhow, just to be safe). The board is my "access platform" for when I crawl into the house to work on the plants on either side. So far, this layout is working great for me. Tuesday, April 22 View Page Let the season begin. These are 2 649 Spadas. They were my test plants (very healthy), but all prep is done, its 75 out during the day and 50 at night and they were getting too big for the pots...so out they go. The rest of the plants will follow when they are ready in 4-7 days. One is a backup, so we will give them both a few weeks and remove the smallest one from the mound. Both were given some myco prior to planting. Thursday, April 24 View Page Here is a summary of what I have done so far with respect to germination and planting of desired plants. All has gone quite well. All are in 90 degree germination box, paper towel method. 2 649s are already in the ground. The following 5 are for growing fruit... 6 x 649 Spada 2007. All soaked 8 hours, popped in 24 hours, out of dirt in 48 hours. 1 1066 Vezzolo 2002. 8 hour soak, after 48 hours in bag and the seed was swelling I decided to help, bad idea. Started second and last, 12 hour soak, 72 hours in towel, popped. In dirt, waiting for break out. 1 776.6 Hain 2003 soaked for 8, bagged for 48 and germinated, 2.5 days in bag, popped out. 1 1093 Hunt 2006. Soaked for 8, bagged for 24, in dirt for 48 and out. 1 848 MacKenzie, same as 1093, but out by way more. A very aggressive plant. In fact, the most aggressive out of all the seeds I have started. These 2 are for pollination only... 753 Pappas 2003. This is an 898 selfed. Will be combined to remake the 1068 Wallace (with selfs) with the 1066 Vezzolo (845 Bobier x self). It will also be crossed with the 776.6 Hain. I have a 616 Corkum 1998 (which is the only seed that has not popped yet, but it went in last). It is swelling and should pop tomorrow some time. If (along with containing no 900 Lyons) will be crossed with the 848. Basically 1/3 of 616 offspring went light, 1/3 went heavy, and 1/3 was unknown. The difference in genetics is worth the chance I think. Also, it grew a 990 Hebb world record in 2000. I am interested to see what happens. The Spada (1502 Wallace x 1420 Larue, 1068 genetics, etc.) will be crossed with the 1689 (1225 Jutras x 998.6 Pukos, which contains 1420 and 1446). This will be a heavy weight cross) The 1093 will be crossed with either the 649 or the 1689, that is to be determined. Thursday, April 24 View Page Here are the 1093 (left) and 848 (right). Same soak time, start time, bag time and here is what I see when I get home. Look how aggressive. Thursday, April 24 View Page Look at that. A day and a half in the greenhouse and the first true leaf has exploded on these 649s. I am pumped about how this seed will do. Look back 3 diary entries and see the difference 36 hours makes. Thursday, April 24 View Page The irrigation system at Alpha was completed today. This is where it all begins. An inline timer and an inline timer from dripworksusa. This feed goes directly to the patch. Thursday, April 24 View Page The tap leads here. This distributes the water to the drip line (for seedling watering at the stump area) and the 2 main overhead sprinklers that will do major watering this season. Notice the 10psi flow regulator on the drip line to the left. Thursday, April 24 View Page 2 sprinklers like this one cover the entire patch with an even coat of H20. Thursday, April 24 View Page In the greenhouses I have 3 rings like such which water the stump area. The stump need drip lines because I bury it and the last thing I want is to get it wet and have rot problems. Each ring has 7 x 1 GPH emitters (5 around the ring and 2 which go right to the seedling). These run for 15 minutes in the morning. I may change the timing after some tweaking to see what is best. Thursday, April 24 View Page As you can see I moved most of the seedlings outside. I figure what could be better for them than being outside? They should be fine in the night when I close the greenhouse up tight. All I am waiting for now is the 753 and 1066 to break the dirt and the 616 to pop of the the shell. These seedlings should go in the ground by the weekend, or Monday at the latest. Monday, April 28 View Page The 1093 went out in its new home today. A very nice looking plant so far. Monday, April 28 View Page The 848 also went out in its new home today. A little behind (after an explosion from the soil) and the cots are a bit curled, but it should grow out of it and be fine in a week or two. Monday, April 28 View Page The 649 Spadas are doing very well after roughly a week outside. The best will be kept. Monday, April 28 View Page The 776 Hain is doing fairly well. Again some cot curling, but nothing it wont grow out of. Those certainly aren't the droids you are looking for in the background. There is no myco here. Monday, April 28 View Page The 5th and final plant which will grow fruit is the 1066 Vezzolo. Definitely the slowest grower so far. It is 6 years old though, so some patience is needed. The backup in this hoop house is a pollinator, but if need be will likely grow something nice...the 753 Pappas (898 Knauss x Self). Tuesday, April 29 View Page Check out the new patch cam. It is a submersible, color high-res CCTV camera with infrared LEDs for night vision. This will be the new patch patch. I will post the link to the feed when it is up and running. Also new this year will be a streaming media server next to the patch to ensure a constant supply of reggae for the pumpkins as they grow and be irie, lol. Tuesday, April 29 View Page What I meant was, the new patch cam, not patch patch, duh. Many thanks to John Cummings for donating this camera. I will also use it to record any motion so if anyone tries to vandalize the patch, they will be caught red handed, or is that orange handed, whatever. Thursday, May 1 View Page The pumpkin cam is up and running. Have a look if you want, it should be there all the time. It requires a browser with flash. http://anubis.pointclark.net:1200 Saturday, May 3 View Page The 1066 Vezzolo (slowing picking up pace) and it's pollinator the 753 Pappas. Looking forward to this selfed remake of the 1068. Saturday, May 3 View Page The 776 Hain in full swing now. This was one of the 2 plants which some imaginary growers in my dreams told me to grow, lol. The other is the 1066 Vezzolo. Saturday, May 3 View Page Here is the 776 alongside it's supporting cast. Saturday, May 3 View Page Here are the 2 649 Spadas I have to choose from to grow this year. A little yellowing in the cots, not sure why, but the new growth is the right colour, so I will let it go and see what happens. I have an 1134 Landry 2007 waiting in the wing for any plant which may need replacement. Sunday, May 4 View Page I put the bucket trap out today. I received my SVB pheremone lures in the mail, but will wait until the 1st of June to put one in the trap. They only catch males, but will at least let you know when the egg laying, etc. is happening. Sunday, May 4 View Page This is the 1093 on day 13. It has definitely taken the lead in the 1093/848 race. The first true leaf is 4" from tip to where it meets the stalk. Sunday, May 4 View Page Here is the 848. Slow and steady. Wish it was a little faster, but it should start to pick up. This is also on day 13. If the 1134 Landry surpasses it (ie. this doesn't pick up), I may have to switch them out. Same goes for the 1066 Vezzolo. It is a bit ahead of the 848 though. Sunday, May 4 View Page This is the 1134 Landry backup. Could replace either the 848 or the 1066. Not certain. Would really like to grow it, but will stick with my originals if they work out ok. I picked this as a backup since I really like the seed, and well I must say, if I want another to put in the ground, I think I have a good chance of getting one, lol. Sunday, May 4 View Page JUST SO NO ONE FORGETS, THIS IS THE ENEMY. NEVER LET IT SLIP OUT OF YOUR MIND. RESPECT THE DAMAGE THEY CAN CAUSE, BUT DO WHATEVER YOU CAN TO DESTROY THEM. Ok, now, just to summarize (for my records), since I don't think I really state this anywhere, these are the start dates for the plants: 1. 649 Spada - April 14, 2008 (now day 21) 2. 776 Hain - April 18, 2008 (day 17 ) 3. 1066 Vezzolo - April 20, 2008 (day 15) 4. 1093 Hunt - April 20, 2008 (day 15) 5. 848 MacKenzie - April 20, 2008 (day 15) 6. 1134 Landry - May 1, 2008 (day 4) Sunday, May 4 View Page Well, due to some issue accessing the stream (corporate firewall blocking, etc.) and the desire for me to make it available to anyone, I have changed the port to 8080. If this isn't enough (which I will see in a bit) then I will give it port 80, but I want to leave my actual web server running there. Really, I just want to figure out how to redirect the stream from the webcam program, to the other web server, so I can embed it on another page there. So, for now, the new camera address is: http://anubis.pointclark.net:8080 Tuesday, May 6 View Page The 848 went from 1 tiny true leaf to this in 2 days. Does it look like it is vining already? I see the second true leaf, but I also see quite a bit of stalk underneath. Its been outside for close to a week, so its not getting leggy due to lack of light. Thursday, May 8 View Page The 1093 is one of the 2 best looking plants that I have so far. Very fast growing and very green. Thursday, May 8 View Page The 848 is growing faster than it was but is looking very interesting. It does seem to be growing different than most plant I have. The usual first leaf and then second across from it doesn't apply. Hope this isn't a bad thing. Thursday, May 8 View Page At Alpha, the 776 Hain is doing the best. It has not only picked up pace (after being planted 4 days later than the 649s) but has in fact surpassed the 649s and all other plants I have in. Thursday, May 8 View Page You can see the 3 other 649s already beginning to crowd the 776. These were to maintain the myco, but I am not sure if there is enough room to leave them all in until the 776 vines and can cross that area. You can see the 649 is also a great plant. Thursday, May 8 View Page This is the 1066 Vezzolo. Still ramping up growth. I have confidence that once this one gets going, nothing will be able to stop it. Thursday, May 8 View Page This is the 753 Pappas (pollinator). It is doing ok. Like the 848, it is kind of growing a little weird. I will wait to see what happens. Thursday, May 8 View Page These are the 649 Spada plants. Still showing some yellow. I have to admit, these were the first plants in, and I forgot to put myco down. Could this be the reason for such a major difference? I gave them a bit of water with some fertilizer to see if it kicks them into gear. I don't think I will have to replace these 2, but there is the 3rd in the background (to colonize myco) that could be used as the main, and I could turn a couple vines back to cover the original stump space. Monday, May 12 View Page A 649. Monday, May 12 View Page 753 Pappas (pollinator) that already wants to lay on the ground. Just not in such a neat way. This was its own doing. No problems though. Monday, May 12 View Page 776 Hain. Best at Alpha so far. Monday, May 12 View Page The 1066 Vezzolo. Monday, May 12 View Page The 848 at Beta. Monday, May 12 View Page The monster 1093 Hunt. Growing the best out of every plant so far. Monday, May 12 View Page Here are 2 very important things to Canadian pumpkin growers. I am not sure which is more addictive... Monday, May 12 View Page Mixed a little homebrew up tonight. We shall see what it does for us. Perhaps get the plants that are lagging a bit into full gear. Saturday, May 17 View Page The 1066 Vezzolo is definitely in full swing now. It is currently on day 28. Saturday, May 17 View Page The original 649 Spada on day 34, is smaller than most plants. These 2 were not inoculated with myco and it shows. This is the backup 649 on day 28. It is looking much better. I will have to run a couple vines back to fill since it is 2' forward of the last, but that shouldn't be a problem. Saturday, May 17 View Page The 776 Hain on day 30 looking pretty nice. Saturday, May 17 View Page Here is the 848 on day 28. Growing much faster now, after it's slow start. Saturday, May 17 View Page Inside the 1093 jungle. This plant just won't quit. Getting hard to take a picture from inside the greenhouse and get all of the plant in. I won't complain though... Saturday, May 17 View Page Here is one of the hubbard squash trap plants. Growing nicely. Saturday, May 17 View Page This will hopefully be the pollinator for the 848 MacKenzie....meet the 535 Wolf. One of the few non 900 lines of squash. Saturday, May 17 View Page A couple 735 Icemans and a couple 337 Icemans too! One of these will be crossed with the 535 Wolf to create a new cross that involve a non-900 Lyons background on both sides. I will use the result of this cross (hopefully) to pollinate the result of the 848 x 535 from this year (again, provided nothing bad happens). Sunday, May 18 View Page IF YOU SEE THIS BUG....SHOW NO MERCY!!! Well here are the final crosses (provided I can get the pollen I need, etc. without issues). It seems I love the 898 Knauss so much (for good reasons) that I will be using the selfed 898 (753 Pappas) for alot of my crosses this year. 1. 1066 Vezzolo x 753 Pappas (selfed remake of 1068 Wallace) 2. 649 Spada x 753 Pappas 3. 776 Hain x 753 Pappas 4. 1093 Hunt x 753 Pappas 5. 848 MacKenzie x 535 Wolf 6. 553 Wolf x 735 Zaychkowsky OR 337 Zaychkowsky 4 genetics Sunday, May 18 View Page The 1093 Hunt. Almost as wide as the 4' greenhouse. Sunday, May 18 View Page First tendril showing on the 1093. The vine looks very wide...not sure if it is a problem starting, or just a wide vine though. Sunday, May 18 View Page 1093 has some big true leaves for this time of year... Sunday, May 18 View Page ...and some big cots too!!! Sunday, May 18 View Page The 848 MacKenzie. I went to Beta to check my 1093 after talking to Brad Wursten and found it to be ok. The 848 however was startting to kink, but just starting. Not severe, no splits, got lucky. Mounded a bunch of dirt around it, and all other plants to be safe. Sunday, May 18 View Page Fertilized today. Used a custom blend of CalciMax, pHortress, fish emulsion, and seaweed emulsion. Gave to all plants. Thursday, May 22 View Page 1066 Vezzolo on day 33. Thursday, May 22 View Page Bringing the 1066 to the ground. Thursday, May 22 View Page The 753 Pappas being taken to the ground. This is a backup for the 1066 and a pollinator for several fruit this year. Thursday, May 22 View Page The original 649 being brought down. This is day 39. Much slower than the other 649s, but likely will speed up when it gets nice out. Still thinking of using the backup though. Thursday, May 22 View Page CORRECTION - DAY 33 for the 1066 The potential 649 replacement on day 33. Looking much better. Will have to run a couple secondaries back to cover the missed space if I choose this one. Thursday, May 22 View Page This 649, also on day 33, is the backup for the 776 Hain. It already has a 2' main on it. Growing like a machine. Too bad it will likely be pulled. Thursday, May 22 View Page The vine on the 649 which backs up the 776. Crazy fast plant. Thursday, May 22 View Page The 776 Hain being brought to ground. This plant is growing very nicely. Am fairly sure that the 3 plants at Alpha will be a go without any major issues. Beta patch may be a different story though. Thursday, May 22 View Page Here is the 1093 Hunt. Looking great, except for the main vine sticking almost straight up. Hopefully this can be brought to ground without any major problems. Thursday, May 22 View Page A closeup of the 1093 main vine. Thursday, May 22 View Page This is my only major problem this year so far. The 848 seems to be going the double vine way. This bumpy spot between the 2 vines is so thin you cam move it with your finger. I am not sure what to do about this. I will give it some more time and then consider surgery if necessary. Unfortunately I did NOT put a backup in for either the 1093 or the 848...F#%@*&. Will be putting one of each of the 735 and 337 Zaychkowski in behind the 848. Still going to grow the 535 Wolf as the pollinator for whatever I grow. If I can bring the 848 to flowers I will use it as the male instead and cross it with one of the Iceman's. If that occurs, I will cross the other of the Iceman's with the 535 as a genetic cross and use it to pollinate the result of the iceman x 848 from this year. Thursday, May 22 View Page What can be done about this issue? I will pray to the pumpkin gods for their mercy, but in the meantime??? Thursday, May 22 View Page A couple long gourds from Al Eaton. These are from his 118. Saturday, May 24 View Page Fertilized today. Used a custom blend of CalciMax, pHortress, fish emulsion, and seaweed emulsion. Gave to all plants. Also gave the plants a heavy watering in a 4' circle around each stump. Thursday, May 29 View Page The 776 Hain with a 4' main. Thursday, May 29 View Page I ripped this 649 Spada out because the one ahead of it is further along. This main was sitting down. Probably would have been fine with either plant, but this is the one I chose to take out. Thursday, May 29 View Page This is the backup 649 and the back of the 649 keeper. Thursday, May 29 View Page Main on the 649 keeper. Thursday, May 29 View Page The 1066 Vezzolo is the farthest behind. One of two that has not touched the ground yet. Kinda spindly, but I had to remove one leaf to bring the vine down. The forecast is to have at least a week of 60+ nights and 70+ days. Should be fine. Thursday, May 29 View Page The 753 Pappas safely on the ground. Still a backup, but will be used no matter what to pollinate at least 3-4 other plants. It's a 898 Knauss x Self to bring the heavy genes in. Thursday, May 29 View Page Overall shot of Alpha. Thursday, May 29 View Page 1093 Hunt from the back. Thursday, May 29 View Page A few feet of vine safely on the ground for the 1093. This plant is looking good. Looks like it's wilting a bit in the picture, but it wasn't. Thursday, May 29 View Page From this view, the 848 MacKenzie looks great. Thursday, May 29 View Page A different view from here, at 5 pm. This is a couple hours after I gave the plant 3 more gallons than it is used to in a day. Thursday, May 29 View Page The next day, the plant seems to be trying to fix itself. This main is sticking straight back now. Could become a good one. Thursday, May 29 View Page This is a new vine shooting out the originally intended way. Could be promising. Crossing my fingers for this one. Thursday, May 29 View Page This is the current mutant situation of the 848. Even though things seem to be going better, there is still this split on the original main. If I take the newest vine point in the intended direction, this shouldn't matter. Otherwise, it could be an issue. Thursday, May 29 View Page A darker shot of the split. I think this won't cause any major issues if the plant can grow out of the mutant phase. Thursday, May 29 View Page Shot of the full greenhouse at Beta. Friday, May 30 View Page Well, I knew the time would come. We just finished a bit of a cool spell with temps going down to 42-43. The forecast for the next week is no cooler than 60 at night and warmer than 70 every day. The pumpkins (most) are now too big for the greenhouses, so they must be opened. This is the hoop containing the 1066 Vezzolo and the 753 Pappas. Friday, May 30 View Page This is the big hoop house at Alpha. This one contains the 776 Hain (closest) and the 649 Spada. Friday, May 30 View Page A full shot of Alpha after a weeding. Changed how I weed and it is much easier. Since all dirt is still loose from tilling, I made a pair of anti-compaction shoes (from plywood and snowboard bindings) that allow me to walk around and just rake the weeds to the surface. I just leave them there to break down back into the soil. Friday, May 30 View Page Hoop house plastic up at Beta. 1093 Hunt on left and 848 MacKenzie on right. Friday, May 30 View Page Full weeded shot of Beta. Friday, May 30 View Page A low side shot of the 1093. Friday, May 30 View Page First storm of the season. The red at lower left is moving north east so we will have to see how things go. No mention of hail yet. I just got home from beta and had to pull over twice due to zero visibility. Covered all tips of the vines to keep safe (thanks for the heads up Sav). Saturday, May 31 View Page 8:00 am in th patch and it's already 70 degrees out. This is going to be a good day for growing. The next week is supposed to be more of the same. Saturday, May 31 View Page 1066 Vezzolo. Vine @ 3'. Saturday, May 31 View Page 649 Spada. Vine @ 3'. Saturday, May 31 View Page 776 Hain. Vine @ 4'. Saturday, May 31 View Page 1093 Hunt. Vine @ 4.5'. Saturday, May 31 View Page 848 MacKenzie. Vine @ 1.5'. Splits seem to be healing closed. This just may work out. Saturday, May 31 View Page A possible vine that could be turned into the main on the 848. Saturday, May 31 View Page 1093 is growing well on top... Saturday, May 31 View Page ...to the right... Saturday, May 31 View Page ...to the sky... Saturday, May 31 View Page ..and all around...this female might actually open, but I don't see the point in pollination. Its less than 4 feet from the stump. Looks like females shouldn't be a problem though...knock on wood. Wednesday, June 4 View Page I put my long gourds in today. Also built the trellis. Total cost was about $20. Wednesday, June 4 View Page A side view of the trellis. Just a could 2x4x16s. Cut the 2x4 down to 11 feet, then use remaining for top. A couple stakes with tips cut off for the cross pieces and you are good. Wednesday, June 4 View Page Looking up at the top of the trellis. From here to ground I have 128" so I am set for whatever I need. Wednesday, June 4 View Page 118 Eaton Wednesday, June 4 View Page 113 Eaton. Friday, June 6 View Page Well I had to make a decision and it was to perform surgery. The 848 is the only plant not behaving. Look at this double vine. The stump was ribbon vining, so this plant has seen it all. Friday, June 6 View Page She was a fat vine. Friday, June 6 View Page I say was, because it has now been removed from the plant. Now relying on the proper secondary (or second main) coming out of the stump. Friday, June 6 View Page SO now that the huge mutant vine is removed, this is what I am working with. I actually think this one might be ok. Friday, June 6 View Page NOTE: See how split the main vine was in the lat photo. At the top of the stump, you can see the cross section of the old main. This is a picture from the front of the 848. Still have a bunch of leaves. Hopefully, this vine will take over for the main, and we can still do great things with this plant. Friday, June 6 View Page 10:19, 85 (29) degrees. Prune, train, move stakes, found these. Thursday, June 12 View Page This was the first night of 2 bad night for storms. The front hit so hard that a lawn chair with a cinder block was blown over on top of the 649 vine. The resulting damage is shown in the next entry. Thursday, June 12 View Page The last entry was supposed to be June 9th. So is this entry. This is the hole in the main on the 649 from the chair. A bunch of leaves were rolled by the wind on this plant as well as the 1093 Hunt. The leaves should be fine. I think this hole may heal and the plant will be fine. Hard to say though. Sunday, June 15 View Page GAME ON!!! Found this little guy in my bucket trap this evening. I checked the trap this morning and it was empty so I can pinpoint its arrival to exactly today. Tomorrow I will spray all the vines, leaf stalks, and the undersides of leaves. Then I will bury all the exposed vine grown up until now. for the remainder of the season I will follow the following schedule: 1. every 2 days check new growth for eggs, spray new vine growth, and bury. 2. every 7 days spray the plant with 0.17 oz (5 ml) / gallon of bifenthrin. Usually spray .25 oz per gallon, but that is every 14 days, which is too long to wait between sprays since eggs hatch in 7-10. I think dropping the rate a bit should cover the more frequent sprayings and not cause any phytotoxicity problems. Monday, June 16 View Page Sprayed all plants in Alpha patch with 1/2 oz. per gallon of bifenthrin and buried all my vines after yesterdays discovery. Friday, June 20 View Page Sprayed all the plants at Beta with 1/2 oz. per gallon of bifenthrin and buried all the vines today. Man this is alot of work. I must say, I do love it though. Saturday, June 21 View Page Here I sit at work looking at this on the radar... Saturday, June 21 View Page No hail yet...knock on wood...but my webcam shows that I won't need to water for a little while... Sunday, June 22 View Page Here is a flower on the 1093 Hunt. Anyone ever seen a flower with white in the petals like this? Sunday, June 22 View Page Not even July and PM already. If anyone is wondering what it looks like, this is it (pretty sure anyhow, lol). Sunday, June 22 View Page Here is a more advanced stage of PM. A bunch of leaves in the stump area have this PM issue since they grew right up to the top of the greenhouse cover (which I leave up to keep the stump dry when I bury it). I trimmed the affected leaves off, rolled up the plastic a bit to allow more airflow, and sprayed myclobutanil @ 2 tbsp per gallon. Sunday, June 22 View Page Got some hail damage from the storm I was monitoring from work. Only affected my house (776, 649, 1066, and 753) but it is not severe enough to cause any issues. Hopefully this is my hail run in for the year...fingers are crossed. Sunday, June 22 View Page The plants are Beta are doing way better because they get full sun. Alpha is not chopped liver, but just look at the 1093 Hunt....best plant I have ever grown. If you look closely, you can see the mesh bag covering a female that will open in 2 days. I just covered it in case my timing estimate is off. Will still go in the morning to check up on it. Sunday, June 22 View Page The 848 MacKenzie is right on track now. Thank the pumpkin gods for that. I was quite worried with all the double vining and ribboning that was going on. 5 gallons of water and some surgery didn't help the main, but this vine right off the stump seems to be working out nicely. One female on the main that may open, but definitely a female on the first secondary that is out at 8 feet (and its way bigger than the one on the main) that will open in a couple days. Sunday, June 22 View Page This will be the first female I pollinate in the 2008 season. It is on the 776 Hain and it is 14 feet out on the main. The positioning is a bit bad, but I think once the pumpkin puts a little size on and the stem gets a little longer I can coax it down to the side. This will be crossed with the 753 Pappas which is a self of the 898 Knauss. Monday, June 23 View Page The first pollination of the 2008 season. This is on the 776 Hain @ 14 feet down the main. Crossed with the 753 Pappas. A nice 4 lobe flower. Tomorrow the first to be pollinated on the 1093 Hunt will open. It too will be crossed with the 753 Pappas. Wednesday, June 25 View Page The first on the 1093 Hunt to be pollinated. Perfect spot on vine (14'), nice position, everything is good except for the lobes. I wonder if these are too mutated to be considered good for use. Almost looks like 4.5, but I guess that means it either 4 or 5. Any comments? Wednesday, June 25 View Page NOTE: Last entry (1st 1093 pollination) was on 6/24 with 2 males from the 753 Pappas. Just like the mutated vines of the 848, the first to be pollinated is a mutant as well. This opened on a secondary and so was not expected. Pollinated (06/24) with 2 848 males. Wednesday, June 25 View Page A side view of the mutant 848 female on the side vine. This won't likely be kept. A female on the main is opening tomorrow and another on the main will open in a week more. I just thought I would pollinate it for the heck of it. Wednesday, June 25 View Page A 649 female on the first secondary. Pollinated with the 776 Hain. Wednesday, June 25 View Page A somewhat deformed 848 female on the main. Had to be selfed since the pollen plants for the squash are not ready yet...damn. Wednesday, June 25 View Page A nice looking 4 lobe female on a secondary on the 1093 Hunt. Crossed with the 776 Hain. Saturday, June 28 View Page Ok, my turn for a fishing picture. This is my other obsession, musky fishing. No bigger thrill than when one of these monsters hit your lure at rips out 100' of line in one run. This one taped at 49". We actually got 2 this size this last trip and lost a third that was as big. This is my 4th season fishing musky and we have broken the 60 musky mark with this one. Our biggest to date was 52 3/4". Monday, June 30 View Page Got a bunch of work done at beta patch today. Another week or so and she will be full. Hard to tell that I buried for a couple hours though with all the leaves in the way... Monday, June 30 View Page Here is a summary of the pollinations I have done so far. Plenty more secondaries to open (at least 5-10) in the next 5 days. The main vines are of course the ones that really matter to me though. Thursday, July 3 View Page 776 Hain Thursday, July 3 View Page 649 Spada Thursday, July 3 View Page 1066 Vezzolo. Very far behind. Not sure how this one will turn out. Really want the genetic gross though, so I am keeping it. This will be crossed with the 753 Pappas in the background. Will be a 1068 Wallace remake with selfs. Friday, July 4 View Page 10 day measurements for the 776 Hain are: C: 23.25" SS: 18.00" EE: 18.00" OTT: 59.25" EST: 6.9 lbs Friday, July 4 View Page Found 3 more SVB eggs on the trap/monitoring plants. All plants got a mix of: 50 ml of Acephate (systemic) 7 ml of Bifenthrin (contact) Used the new sprayer, man what a difference it makes. Total spray time for 3500 sq feet was 1.5 hours. Friday, July 4 View Page The previous measurements were per gallon. Friday, July 4 View Page 10 day measurements for the 1093 Hunt are: C: 22.00" SS: 17.00" EE: 16.50" OTT: 55.50" EST: 5.5 lbs Friday, July 4 View Page Beta patch. A perfect sea of green. The foreground is the 1093 Hunt and the 848 MacKenzie is in the background. Monday, July 7 View Page Pollinated a nice 5 lober this morning on the 1066 Vezzolo. Used the 753 Pappas. Finally got my chance to pollinate what could be a recreation of the 1068 Wallace using selfs. Hopefully this one takes, as it is close to the last chance fruit on this plant. There might be room for one more shot, but I doubt it. Monday, July 7 View Page Ok, after much deliberation, I have picked the names of my pumpkins. They are as follows: Butterball (776 Hain) Shamu (848 MacKenzie) Crisco Kid (1093 Hunt) Pork Beast (649 Spada) Tuba Luba (1066 Vezzolo) - Wife's Pick I hope they all live up to their respective names. Monday, July 7 View Page Fertilized all plants tonight with 1 gallon of water that contained the following: 2 tbsp: pHortress 1 tbsp: calcimax 1 tbsp: musky emulsion 1 tbsp: seaweed emulsion 1 tbsp: molasses This should continue every third day from now until the end of the season. Tuesday, July 8 View Page Selfed a slightly mutated 6 lober this morning on the 848 (side vine). Tuesday, July 8 View Page Also selfed a slightly mutated 4 lober this morning on the 848 (side vine). Tuesday, July 8 View Page Not only is the 1093 a larger and more robust plant, even the flowers are monsters!!! The other flowers are from my 535 Wolf. Tuesday, July 8 View Page 15 day measurements for the 776 Hain are: C: 42.00" SS: 32.00" EE: 32.00" OTT: 106.00" EST: 33.2 lbs That is up 26.3 lbs in 5 days for an average daily growth of 5.26 lbs over those 5 days. I am happy with this so far. Wednesday, July 9 View Page Close to last chance pollination on the 848 MacKenzie. One more possible...maybe. This was crossed with the 535 Wolf, which is what I planned all along, so I hope this one works out properly for me. Was a slightly deformed (really slightly, so should be just fine) 5 lobe fruit. This brings in a line that contains no 900 Lyons with it. I will likely try to grow a fruit on the 535 crossed with the 337 Zaychkowsky (another with no 900) which will be used just for genetics to pollinate the result of the 848 x 535 cross next year, assuming all works out. Wednesday, July 9 View Page So the good news is that the 1093 fruit is growing very fast. The bad news is that I left the chair over it one day too long and it grew so fast it filled the space up and proceeded to become scratched against the chair. Then scratched a little more when I moved the chair...$%&#@$%$@#...ARRGGGHHHHH. So mad at myself. Wednesday, July 9 View Page It looks a little better when all cleaned up, but seriously, what a dumb thing to do. Anyone have any opinion how this will affect the fruit? This pumpkin is the best choice by far. It does however have an issue with stem angle that I think would best be solved by terminating the main right after the fruit. I certainly don't want to do this unless I can be sure it will still grow fine though. I don't care about a scar as long as the only problem is what it looks like. Wednesday, July 9 View Page 15 day measurements for the 1093 Hunt are: C: 44.00" SS: 33.00" EE: 34.00" OTT: 111.00" EST: 37.4 lbs That is up 31.9 lbs in 5 days for an average daily growth of 6.38 lbs over those 5 days. Bad picture. Will get a better one for day 20. Wednesday, July 9 View Page 10 day measurements for the 649 Spada are: C: 23.00" SS: 15.50" EE: 18.00" OTT: 56.50" EST: 5.8 lbs. Thursday, July 10 View Page Better picture of the 1093 during daylight hours. Thursday, July 10 View Page Got my shade structure up over the 1093 fruit. Also curving the last few secondaries up past the fruit. I think this will give me more plant behind the fruit (physically) but they are still before the fruit to feed it. Thursday, July 10 View Page I did alot of work at beta patch today. So much trenching was necessary due to all the rain we have had. This is the 848. Looks pretty good now. Thursday, July 10 View Page The 848 pollination. Looks good so far (after 1 day, lol). The vine has been put into a much better position for fruit growth. Thursday, July 10 View Page Got a shade structure built over the 776 fruit too. Thursday, July 10 View Page Well, the previous post showed the start of the shade structure. Here is the finished product. Thursday, July 10 View Page Here is a side shot of the 776 Hain. A nice apple shape to it. Think this one will work out nicely. Sunday, July 13 View Page 20 day measurements for the 776 Hain are: C: 63.00" SS: 44.5.00" EE: 43.00" OTT: 150.50" EST: 82.4 lbs. That is up 49.2 lbs in 5 days for an average daily growth of 9.84 lbs over those 5 days. The pace is picking up. Sunday, July 13 View Page Here is the cull from the 1093 secondary vine. Was growing almost as fast as the main, but was never intended to be a keeper. Taped 131 OTT for an estimated weight of 57.2 lbs. Its actual weight was 65 lbs, so it weighed 13.5% heavy. Could be a good sign for the keeper. Sunday, July 13 View Page I don't have any pop can pumpkin stump pictures because the stumps are buried for protection, but here is a vine pop can picture, not bad. Sunday, July 13 View Page Got a bunch of work done at beta patch today. Completed ALL my burying...and then realized I had forgotten about the mycorrhizal fungus....#$%#@$@. I will be exposing the nodes and adding it tomorrow. Will cost an hour or two of time, but well worth it. Lesson learned. Sunday, July 13 View Page My keeper on the 848 MacKenzie. Crossed with the 535 Wolf. What a stem on this guy. I have also made sure I set the vine up in a much better position this time. Sunday, July 13 View Page The stem on the 848 was so long, and I didn't support it, that there is a tiny crack in the junction between stem and main vine. I checked and it is still very much connected and solid. Just a little surface crack. Should heal up fine I think. Sunday, July 13 View Page This is the fruit that was on the main vine of the 649 Spada. The marks are from rolling around in my truck. I have made my decision, albeit a tough one. I will be growing the 649 fruit on a secondary vine. Here are some reasons: 1. main was a 3 lobe 2. main was after an early season break in the main (chair fell on it). Seems the plant was growing fine, but the fruit was growing slow, maybe this was why, maybe not 3. 5 day average on main was less than 3 pounds, in fact in the last 24 hours, it seems to have lost 0.5 pounds. 4. secondary fruit is taping 131 OTT on day 18, so is doing fairly well. Well thats it. I hope I made the right decision. We will never know though, will we. Monday, July 14 View Page 20 day measurements for the 1093 Hunt are: C: 62.00" SS: 47.00" EE: 46.00" OTT: 155.00" (3" off 1200 benchmark) EST: 89.1 lbs. That is up 51.7 lbs in 5 days for an average daily growth of 10.34 lbs over those 5 days. This fruit did 16.5 lbs in the last 24 hours. Getting excited. Note: The 776 did 15.5 lbs last night too. Less than 2 pounds away from the 100# mark. Monday, July 14 View Page Sprayed all plants with a mix of: 1/4 oz. (7 ml) per gallon of Bifen I/T (bifenthrin @ 7.9%) 2 tbsp (30 ml) per gallon of Bayer T&S (imidacloprid @ 1.47%) Monday, July 14 View Page Innoculated all nodes of Beta patch with mycorrhizal fungi while burying the vines. Tuesday, July 15 View Page NNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! Whats the possibility this won't open up into the internal cavity? What can I do? This fruit put on 18 lbs last night. Dang!!! Tuesday, July 15 View Page The reason I took the blossom pictures was to see what everyone thought about it curving in one direction. Then I see that tiny hole....I could honestly cry. Tuesday, July 15 View Page 20 day measurements for the 649 Hunt are: C: 61.50" SS: 43.50" EE: 43.00" OTT: 148.00" EST: 78.8 lbs. That is up 44.0 lbs in 5 days for an average daily growth of 8.8 lbs over those 5 days. This fruit did 12.7 lbs in the last 24 hours. Not bad for a secondary vine fruit. Wednesday, July 16 View Page Here is the BES this morning when I went to work. Wednesday, July 16 View Page ...and when I got back in the evening...so thin it just fell right out. Wednesday, July 16 View Page ...so that was it for the 1093...survived the scrape and had a nice scar to show for it. Couldn't make it through this though. Final OTT is 173.00 with an estimated weight of 119.9. The actual weight was 130 lbs, which goes 8.4% heavy, so still a good sign for the 1093 in general, if I can actually get something to finish on it. This one was maybe not the best shape, so perhaps this is for the best. Could have been a little longer. I AM NOT GIVING UP ON THIS PLANT YET!!! Wednesday, July 16 View Page She had nice thick shoulders on her... Wednesday, July 16 View Page The blossom end however was another story. This is not modified, its like the blossom end was hollow all the way to the skin. I have to think genetics has something to do with this. Wednesday, July 16 View Page An overall cross-sectional view. Wednesday, July 16 View Page So here is a nice pic of the fruit on my 848 MacKenzie. Looks good, OTT of 56 on day 7, circumference of 22". But when you look close... Wednesday, July 16 View Page A small split in the stem on the vine side. Looks like it might be from when I removed the tendril/leaf/vine. Anyone have an opinion on this? Wednesday, July 16 View Page If you are still unsure, here is a closeup. Wednesday, July 16 View Page I think my 1066 Vezzolo fruit is aborting. It is now 15" on day 9, and only increased 2" in overall OTT in last 24 hours. I also missed another main vine pollination this morning on the 1066 because I thought this one was set ok. MISTAKE. Wednesday, July 16 View Page So the good news is that I have a shot at another pollination on both the 848 and the 1093. The bad new is: 1. today was 94 degrees and tomorrows forecast is the same so now I have to contend with some heat for my pollinations 2. I already pinched off the other appendages on both of the other fruit (but I always do, so maybe the stem thing on the 848 is only because the stem is really long and I didn't help it sit down) So my plan includes shade tarp, fan, cooler on top with frozen bottles of water for the 1093... Wednesday, July 16 View Page ...and the 848. I just noticed that table leg...I am sure by morning it will have fallen on my fruit!!! Good luck this season. Thursday, July 17 View Page Pollinated a 5 lober on both the 848 MacKenzie (x 535 Wolf) and the 1093 Hunt (x 1134 Landry) today. Highs today were over 90, so I used shade tarps, fans, ice bottles, etc. Hopefully I was successful. The 848 was only pollinated in case I have a stem issue (possible) but the 1093 will be the last possible pollination on that plant. I really hope it takes. Friday, July 18 View Page Shade structure over the 848 MacKenzie. This fruit is doing great things, but I won't give any numbers until day 10. Friday, July 18 View Page The non 900 Lyons genetics fruit. It is the 337 Zaychkowski x 535 Wolf. Will be used to pollinate the result of the 848 MacKenzie x 535 Wolf from this year if it makes it to maturity. Friday, July 18 View Page The next 1093 attempt. 5 Lobes, pollinated on a 93 degree day but shaded and I used a fan too. Is bigger but way to soon to tell. Friday, July 18 View Page The last post with the 1093 was crossed with the 1134 Landry on 7/17/2008. Here is a genetics fruit on the 1134 Landry crossed with the 1093 Hunt. Friday, July 18 View Page 25 day measurements for the 776 Hain are: C: 80.00" SS: 55.00" EE: 52.00" OTT: 187.00" EST: 148.5 lbs. That is up 66.1 lbs in 5 days for an average daily growth of 13.22 lbs over those 5 days. Friday, July 18 View Page Sprayed Daconil (chlorothalonil) @ twice recommended rate at Beta patch. That is, 2 tbsp instead of 1. Will water for 1 hour in morning overhead to help wash some off if possible. Will keep posted of outcome. Friday, July 18 View Page Sprayed 1 tbsp per gallon of Daconil at Alpha. Saturday, July 19 View Page 10 day measurements for the 848 MacKenzie are: C: 36.80" SS: 28.30" EE: 28.80" OTT: 93.80" EST: 24.3 lbs. This is well over the 1200 lbs benchmark. Hope I can keep this one going like this. Sunday, July 20 View Page 25 day measurements for the 649 Spada are: C: 78.00" SS: 52.00" EE: 52.00" OTT: 187.50" EST: 149.6 lbs. That is up 59.00 lbs in 5 days for an average daily growth of 11.8 lbs over those 5 days. Monday, July 21 View Page Sprayed all plants with a mix of: 1/4 oz. (7 ml) per gallon of Bifen I/T (bifenthrin @ 7.9%) 2 tbsp (30 ml) per gallon of Bayer T&S (imidacloprid @ 1.47%) Monday, July 21 View Page Found this hiding among the 848 vines. The worlds fist square squash. Monday, July 21 View Page Had to change some of the shade structures up today since I could no longer fit underneath to measure the fruit. Here is the uncovered 776 Hain. Don't worry though, wasn't uncovered for very long. Looking like a fat one. I guess Butterball is a fitting name. Monday, July 21 View Page Ok, so I am OPG. No point in fooling around anymore. Takes too much effort to log out and login as another person. I have enough work with pumpkins already. So I am growing the 1134 Landry too. So far so good. 10 day measurements for the 1134 Landry are: C: 20.00" SS: 18.50" EE: 17.00" OTT: 55.50" EST: 5.5 lbs. This plant is only about 200 square feet, so it will be interesting to see how big it can get. Tuesday, July 22 View Page Anyone know what this is? I sprayed it last night with 10% bleach solution, and will do that every other day for a little big in case it is a bacteria/fungus kind of thing. Wednesday, July 23 View Page 30 day measurements for the 776 Hain are: C: 93.50" SS: 63.00" EE: 58.50" OTT: 215.00" EST: 219.20 lbs. That is up 70.70 lbs in 5 days for an average daily growth of 14.14 lbs over those 5 days. Pace continues to climb. Not as high as I was hoping, but lots of rain, small plant size (approx. 400 sq ft), and a big tree that gives lots of shade will take their toll. The big numbers will come from Beta patch though. Thursday, July 24 View Page A day shot of the 776 Hain. Still pretty dark, but this was not photoshopped to increase the brightness like the last night shot. Thursday, July 24 View Page Here is a picture of my 113 Eaton long gourd. Main vine is very long. Have had about 5 or 6 males open now, still looking for the ladies. Thursday, July 24 View Page I thin this picture is very interesting. This is one of my hubbard squash trap plants. It trapped many SVB eggs this year. I removed the stump and all the eggs, but left this in case more eggs would come in the next few days. Behind the leaf to the left of the yellow leaf (right in the middle) is a pollinated squash. It was about softball size when I removed the stump. It is now slightly larger than a golf ball...notice how the hwole plant is basically dead, except the the vine tip. It is still growing...must be pulling the water and such from the fruit. Thursday, July 24 View Page I did a bunch of work at Beta patch today. I think it is safe to say that the 3rd stage growth is doing well...until I cut it all off that is. Thursday, July 24 View Page The 1134 Landry after pruning. Thursday, July 24 View Page The 848 MacKenzie (left) and the 1093 Hunt (right) after a good pruning. Thursday, July 24 View Page 15 day measurements for the 848 MacKenzie are: C: 58.50" SS: 44.00" EE: 43.00" OTT: 145.50" EST: 75.30 lbs. That is up 51.00 lbs in 5 days for an average daily growth of 10.2 lbs over those 5 days. This fruit is well over the 1200 pound benchmark. This is exciting. Friday, July 25 View Page 30 day measurements for the 649 Spada are: C: 89.00" SS: 56.00" EE: 54.50" OTT: 199.50" EST: 177.70 lbs. That is up 39.90 lbs in 5 days for an average daily growth of 7.98 lbs over those 5 days. Looking like it will be a very nice orange pumpkin. Friday, July 25 View Page Here is another picture of the 649. Look at how wide it is. Saturday, July 26 View Page Man the 1093 does not like me.This is the second last shot and it is beginning to split already on day 8-9. From this picture, you can see that the skin is weeping all over too. The growth on the other hand is good, its just too bad they won't stay together. This one is 25" around and has a total OTT of 60.5 on day 9. Have been doing 2.5" around a day consistently, so its likely it will end up around 27-28 on say 10, which is right on the benchmark. Oh well, 1 more shot, though late in the game. Saturday, July 26 View Page This is pretty much the last shot on the 1093 Hunt. It was pollinated on the 22 of July. It was crossed with the 1134 Landry as well. It is 11" around on day 5. PROBLEM: KINK/SPLIT IN VINE. THIS JUST ISN'T MY PLANT. WE WILL SEE HOW THIS TURNS OUT!!! Both will be left on the vine until at least day 15 to see what is what. Saturday, July 26 View Page I THINK THE KINK/SPLIT IS ACTUALLY AFTER THE FRUIT ON THE MAIN (OF THE 1093 IN LAST PIC), WHICH HAS BEEN TERMINATED AFTER THIS FRUIT SINCE THE GARDEN IS ONLY SO BIG. I AM JUST FREAKING OUT ABOUT EVERYTHING WITH THE 1093, PLEASE LET THE PUMPKIN GODS TAKE CARE OF THIS LAST ONE. This is the 1134 Landry on day 15. The measurements are: C: 35.00" SS: 28.00" EE: 28.50" OTT: 91.50" EST: 22.90 lbs. That is up 17.40 lbs in 5 days for an average daily growth of 3.5 lbs over those 5 days. The vine is above by a bit, but the pumpkin will certainly grow into a better position. No point in trying to bring it down, just to bring it back up again shortly. Saturday, July 26 View Page On third glance, this looks like it is actually a broken off flower stem. This pumpkin thing is going to drive me crazy I think. Saturday, July 26 View Page Sprayed all plants with a mixture of 2 tbsp of immunox (myclobutanil) and 1 gallon of water. Sunday, July 27 View Page Sprayed 30ml of Calcimax plus 30ml of humic acid per gallon of water at both patches. Used one gallon at each site. Monday, July 28 View Page The end of my 1093 second shot is still looking rough. I am not totally certain that the one a foot past it took, so I may be forced to go with this one. I sprayed some new nutrients I got today, so I hope they will help the blossom end thicken up so a couple little splits won't be a season ender for it. Monday, July 28 View Page I got this in spring, so its not new, but I learned from Russ that it may do me no good without the proper chelaters....is that a word? a verb? I chelate, you chelate, forget it. Monday, July 28 View Page This is my chelating agent. Humic acid. Bought this at the local hydroponics shop. $30 for 1L which will make enough for 33.3 gallons. I give each patch (1500 sq ft, 3 plants) a good application (1 Gal with 30ml of this and 30ml of calcimax) every 5 days, so this will be good for this season and a good part of next year too. Monday, July 28 View Page Well day 35 reached for the 776 Hain, but its numbers are not what I had hoped for so far. I think it may be a water issue. Looking into it now. Except for the day I added more sand, and thus found the proper levels underneath the fruit, I am staying above 10-12 lbs a day. So, the average in these last 5 days was hurt by the new (proper) level of sand. My 10 day average is 11.4 lbs, so if I can keep up the double digits, will hit a new PB, but not a great one. 35 day measurements for the 776 Hain are: C: 100.00" SS: 66.00" EE: 63.00" OTT: 229.00" EST: 262.10 lbs. That is up 42.90 lbs in 5 days for an average daily growth of 8.6 lbs over those 5 days. No good, but should improve over the next 5 I hope. Monday, July 28 View Page Here is a pic of the 649 Spada. Doesn't look too big. It just crossed the 200# mark. Gonna be a nice colour. Monday, July 28 View Page Well, I think the new pumpkin on the 1093 Hunt deserves a new name. My favorite team is the Pittsburgh Steelers, so I will pay homage to them. This is a tribute to Jerome Bettis, aka. Da Bus. So, because this fruit looks like a football, and will do what it needs to do to cross that goal line, it shall be known as Da Bus. Hopefully it can live up to the name. I should note that the splits are not getting any larger, and are drying nicely. Sprays of calcimax and humic acid will be applied every 3 days to ensure Ca levels are where they should be. Have mercy on me pumpkins gods. Tuesday, July 29 View Page Let there be light... Tuesday, July 29 View Page SINCE SANDBAGGING IS THE THEME THIS YEAR, I WILL DO A BIT TOO, BUT ONLY REGARDING MY 848 SQUASH. BEFORE I START THOUGH, I WILL GIVE A FINAL PROGRESS REPORT OF THE 848. 20 day measurements are: C: 78.50" SS: 58.00" EE: 54.00" OTT: 190.50" EST: 156.30 lbs. That is up 81.00 lbs in 5 days for an average daily growth of 16.20 lbs over those 5 days. Thursday, July 31 View Page Top view of 1093 fruit with small splits. Thursday, July 31 View Page Side view of 1093 fruit with small splits. Thursday, July 31 View Page Closeup view of the splits on the 1093 fruit. Thursday, July 31 View Page Alternative 1093 option #1: open pollination (all of the fruit in question are on massive secondaries). Thursday, July 31 View Page Dang, no picture. Alternative 1093 option #1: open pollination (all of the fruit in question are on massive secondaries). Thursday, July 31 View Page Alternative option #2 on 1093. This one is also crossed with the 1134 Landry. Also on very large secondary vine. Thursday, July 31 View Page 15 day measurements for the 1134 Landry are: C: 35.00" SS: 28.00" EE: 28.50" OTT: 91.50" EST: 22.90 lbs. That is up 17.40 lbs in 5 days for an average daily growth of 3.48 lbs over those 5 days. Thursday, July 31 View Page 35 day measurements for the 649 Spada are: C: 95.50" SS: 60.00" EE: 58.50" OTT: 214.00" EST: 216.40 lbs. That is up 38.70 lbs in 5 days for an average daily growth of 7.74 lbs over those 5 days. Thursday, July 31 View Page Lesson of the day. Cracked dirt doesn't mean it is dry...in fact it can still be way to wet for pumpkin if it is cracked on the surface. This meter is what I use to see when watering must be done. This is likely the cause of the slowed growth at shady alpha patch. Will stop all watering here for at least 4-5 days to see if growth picks up. Thursday, July 31 View Page This is the weedy and unkempt 1066 Vezzolo. Due to failure to set fruit (after 8 tries), it was scheduled for removal. Then it the plant doubled its growth speed and all of a sudden... Thursday, July 31 View Page ...my pollination attempt with the 1093 Hunt took. So with only new growth and almost zero PM, we begin a trip that might end with a decent grower until the end of the season. Thursday, July 31 View Page Though the 1134 Landry was put in place as a small plant to grow my grandmother a nice orange fruit for the porch, it seems the shape may be off a bit, lol. No worries, it should still be a nice orange, if it doesn't cave in on the one side. Sunday, August 3 View Page 20 day measurements for the 1134 Landry are: C: 52.00" SS: 35.50" EE: 37.50" OTT: 125.00" EST: 50.70 lbs. That is up 27.80 lbs in 5 days for an average daily growth of 5.56 lbs over those 5 days. Sunday, August 3 View Page 40 day measurements for the 776 Hain are: C: 104.00" SS: 69.50" EE: 65.50" OTT: 241.00" EST: 296.10 lbs. That is up 34.00 lbs in 5 days for an average daily growth of 6.80 lbs over those 5 days. THE PUMPKINS AT MY HOUSE ARE DOING TERRIBLE. I THINK THEY MUST HAVE GOTTEN TOO MUCH WATER. HOPEFULLY THEY CAN PULL OUT OF THIS FUNK. Sunday, August 3 View Page 848 is on day 25. Doing very well. Sunday, August 3 View Page 20 day measurements for the 1134 Landry are: C: 52.00" SS: 35.50" EE: 37.50" OTT: 125.00" EST: 50.70 lbs. That is up 27.80 lbs in 5 days for an average daily growth of 5.56 lbs over those 5 days. STILL LOOKING UGLY!!! Sunday, August 3 View Page Well the splits on the end of the 1093 fruit seem to be doing very well. With each passing day I worry less and less about them. I don't they will be an issue unless we get alot of rain and experience some very rapid growth. Sunday, August 3 View Page The shape of the 1093 fruit leaves something to be desired, and there is alot of cantalouping on it. I hope this cantalouping won't cause me any major issues. Sunday, August 3 View Page This is the larger of the 2 backups on the 1093. Same splitting occurring here too so I am not certain it won't be able with any of the fruit on this plant. The shape is a little better, but the larger one looked like this when it was small too. Sunday, August 3 View Page sprayed both patches (total of 2 gallons) with a mix of 30ml of humic acid and 30 ml of calcimax. Monday, August 4 View Page Sprayed Alpha with 1 gallon with 1.5 tbsp of daconil and 1/4 oz of bifenthrin. Monday, August 4 View Page Sprayed Beta with 1 gallon with 2 tbsp of immunox and 1/4 oz of bifenthrin. Saturday, August 9 View Page Day 30 for the 848. Still growing at a perfect pace. Very happy with it so far. Very cool nights for the last 4 days...last night went down to 53 degrees. Hope is doesn't slow the growth too much (so far it hasn't really at all). Sunday, August 10 View Page Here is the white blotching that was showing up on the blossom of the 1093. Sunday, August 10 View Page Blossom was thick on the 1093 the second time around though. About 3". Sunday, August 10 View Page One of the culled fruit from the 1093. Cut it off before I realized the blossom went soft on the other fruit. Oh well, lesson learned. Seems to be developing a dill ring anyhow. Sunday, August 10 View Page The 1134 Landry. Not quite so ugly as before. Starting to fill out better. Day 30 measurements are C: 80", SS: 55", and EE: 54" for total OTT of 189" for 152.90 lbs. The 10 day growth average is right on 10 lbs. This plant is only 170 sq ft, so I am happy with it. Was just intended for genetics, but it seems that it may be our best shot for a pumpkin at beta patch. Sunday, August 10 View Page Like I said, the 1093 Hunt is a great plant. Look at the size of this stump. Not only is the vine the size of a pop can, the actual stump is 18" in diameter where it comes out of the ground. Basically it is a tree, lol. Thursday, August 14 View Page Here is why you remove a pumpkin that is done right away. Mush harder to move when they are like this. Thursday, August 14 View Page LG trellis is filling out nicely. Even making good use of my garage roof. Thursday, August 14 View Page Finally have a couple females on the 113 Eaton. Hope they take and continue to grow. Friday, August 15 View Page 20 day measurements for the 1066 Vezzolo are: C: 58.00" SS: 43.00" EE: 42.50" OTT: 143.50" EST: 72.60 lbs. 10 day average is 6.6 pounds. Friday, August 15 View Page The 848 on day 35. Safely protected. Still growing well. Not on the 1200 pound pace it was previously on, but still very happy with it. Friday, August 15 View Page A side shot of the 848. Friday, August 22 View Page Sprayed plants with 1.5 tbsp of daconil per gallon. Little PM showing up at Beta, so I am trying to knock it out fast before it gets out of hand. Alpha is a lost cause for PM. Too much moisture, shade, etc. Gonna give patch a rest for a year. Monday, August 25 View Page Drenched the 848 with 15 gallons of fertilizer. Mix was (per gallon): 1 tbsp of humic acid 1 tbsp of 15-15-30 1 tbsp of calcimax Saturday, October 11 View Page Well here is my new PB. The 661 Rivington 2008. It is an 848 MacKenzie crossed with the 535 Wolf. If anyone wants any seeds, let me know. Monday, December 29 View Page Well, this is the closing of my 2008 diary. This season went ok. I made a new PB of 661 for my squash. The best pumpkin was 402 but that was on 150 sq ft. The big pumpkin plant (1093) didn't support a fruit, and my place got way too much water. Things got very busy towards the end of this year. My wife and I had our first born on Nov. 18, 2008. Her name is Ruby and she weighed 7 lbs and 1 ounce at birth. She is now over 10 lbs and everything is well, except for the lack of sleep. This seasons problems will be solved next season. This is a summary of our fruit from 2008 (quite disapointing): 1. 192 EST Rivington 2008 (1066 Vezzolo X 753 Pappas) 84, 61, 60 (TOO WET) 2. 286 EST Rivington 2008 (649 Spada X 753 Pappas) (TOO WET) 3. 353 EST Rivington 2008 (776 Hain X 753 Pappas) 109, 75, 70 (TOO WET) 4. 402 Rivington 2008 (1134 Landry X 1093 Hunt) 263 OTT est 390 = 3% heavy (150 sq ft) 5. 661 Rivington 2008 (848 MacKenzie X 535 Wolf) 129, 92, 86 EST 617 = 7% heavy Merry Christmas to everyone, have a safe new year. See you in 2009.