Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 53 Entries. Wednesday, January 23 View Page Time to get the ole diary started and, after a dismal 2012, i now know what a painful season feels like and I'm coming into the 2013 season hungry as ever...So good luck to everyone and may we all have a great year!!! Pic is of the ghost peppers that were started on nov. 21 2012 Sunday, January 27 View Page Well here is what the ole bandit has on the line up for 2013(man i love getting seed in the mail this time of year..lol..means the season will be here soon!) 922 mohr 1455 werner 1498 werner 209 werner (pennsylvania field pumpkin record) This is the tentative line up and i got to say i am pretty excited!! SUPER BIG THANKS to pete mohr and quinn werner for the seeds..you guys are GREAT!! Saturday, March 16 View Page Messing around with different germination methods and tried out some of the wifes water crystal things in a small plastic cup covered with a sandwich baggie. put it on the heatmat and 48 hours later...WA-LA....success! Monday, April 8 View Page Got some good patch prepping done today and amendments have been added. had slightly higher alkalinity so put down some sulfur to bring it into check. All amendments tilled in and the dirt is soft and fluffy!! YUMMY!! Monday, April 8 View Page another patch shot..Really nice here today (64 degrees). it felt good to get outside and working out here in the patch Monday, April 8 View Page Ignore the last pick...lol tooling that had to be repaired at work if anyone was wondering. here's the pic Monday, April 8 View Page Got my cables put down in the chosen plot and will probably get them turned on within the next week. we'll see if they show greater growth than those without! Wednesday, April 24 View Page Seeds filed and placed in the germ cave last night on april 23 for the grand awakening. The 4 seeds started were: 1498 werner 1455 werner 922 mohr 1236 harp ........let the fun begin and good luck to all!! Sunday, April 28 View Page All 4 seeds germed after 48 hours and are now under grow lights. they were started on the 23rd and backups will be started tomorrow the 29th. All four plots in the patch have been covered with 10 x 10 6 mil plastic visqueen for about 2 weeks now and plot alpha has the soil cables that have been on for about a week now. The soil temp was also at about 74 degrees at 8 inches depth so the cables are doing their job!! All goes well the plants will be out in the hoops in 3 to 5 days!! Thursday, June 13 View Page The 1498 Werner plant looking good (pic taken on the 10th). Main is out at 8ft. 4 inches as of today with 2ndaries out and rolling with the longest at 4 ft. now Saturday, June 15 View Page The 1498 werner got tended to today. Vines pinned and nodes/vines mycco'd and buried today. For the record the main was at 9 foot 7 inches and the longest 2ndary was at 4 foot. Also got all plants sprayed with sevin also. Sunday, June 16 View Page plastic wind barrier was installed the other day and worked really well when the storms came thru the other night. easy to remove as well Sunday, June 16 View Page plastic wind barrier was installed the other day and worked really well when the storms came thru the other night. easy to remove as well Sunday, June 16 View Page sorry for the sideways pics...trying to figure this posting thing out on my phone. pic is behind my plant. Monday, June 17 View Page 1498 Werner at 10 ft. now and moving along nicely. gonna have to give it some more feet. as it was probably all leached out after all the rain we got last week. 1st girl is at 9 ft. with another in the tip that's probably gonna be out at 11 or 12 ft so the 9 ft. girl will be culled. Monday, June 17 View Page the 1236 harp is moving slow but still healthy and picking up the pace a little better with the main out at 6 ft. now. COME ON HARPIE...YOU CAN DO IT!! Monday, June 17 View Page this plant is my Lu-lu cross from 2011 (1307 Mohr x 1596 Werner). was a back up for my 1455 Werner that went down cause of frost kill (bummed me out hard). being a week and a half younger than the others she will catch up before too long...I GOT FAITH IN MY BANDIT TEAM!!! COME ON LADIES!!! Tuesday, June 18 View Page cut this leaf off yesterday off a secondary. don't know if this is a prob. or what. am I freaking out for nothing cause its not on all. just a couple of the newer leafs. we have gotten a lot of rain so if anyone could help that would be great.. Friday, June 21 View Page this girl on the 1498 Werner at 9 ft.got pollinated today with 1 male from itself. will cull for sure cause males weren't around on the other plants. only takes 1 right. just wanted to get an early poll. in and see what happens. she was a pretty 5 lobe girl polled at 530 am before I left for work. Saturday, June 22 View Page keeping up on vine early is paying off hopefully. have a lot of tap roots popping out of each node at the bottom and the tops..they be loving the mycco!! Saturday, June 22 View Page here is another little hottie out at 13 - 13.5 feet on the 1498 Werner that I'm gonna be pollinating in another couple days..this may be the one!! Saturday, June 22 View Page well..tom is all out of svb traps so I had extra time at work and attempted to Fab my own...mcgyver style!!! will it work....I have no clue but gonna paint it up and give her a try...will keep posts on it as to how it is working...god I knew I had redneck in me...lol Saturday, June 22 View Page another pic of top looking down. materials were a coffee can, a 2 liter pop bottle, threaded rod and a piece of lexan for the top. just gotta mount a little holder for the attractant under the lexan and put the vapor strip in the bottom of the can...and paint it first of course. Monday, June 24 View Page 1498 Werner still rolling along with the main out at 15 ft. now and been heavy into burying vines and there are a bunch of em. throwing lots of terteraries also that I have been pruning off along the way. plant got its treatment of merit on Sunday and the svb traps are online and active so hopefully this will keep the bugs off the old girl. Monday, June 24 View Page first cull was done sunday on the 9 ft. set cause more are coming. next one is at 13.5 ft. with another looking to be at the 15 ft. mark. hopefully if the stars line up its going to be one of these 2 for sure. Wednesday, June 26 View Page this was the 5 lobe girl that got pollinated this morning at 13.5 ft. on the 1498 Werner with 1 male from the 1236 harp. really hope it takes. Wednesday, June 26 View Page this is the next girl coming down the way at 16 or 16.5 ft. hopefully the 1236 harp will have alkt more males when this one opens. Wednesday, June 26 View Page back shot looking out of the 1498 Werner. filling in real nicely with lots of 2ndaries. Wednesday, June 26 View Page same plant looking towards the back. this is the plot for noting that I used the soil cables in and in the background is the 1236 harp with no soil cables...so did the cables help or not...looking at the plant sizes I would say maybe so I will be buying cables for ALL plots next year for sure. Wednesday, June 26 View Page this is the 1236 harp plant and is heathy but chugging along a little slower. in the background is my 1307 Mohr x 1596 Werner cross from 2011. still feel like this is going to give me something good this year also. Also for noting that day one of my svb trap being out I have one svb in it and yesterday I killed one by hand flying around my Mohr/Werner cross on the end. nasty little feeds they are. also...all plants got an over and under spray with merit/bitherin cocktail...chew on that you little devils. Wednesday, June 26 View Page some of the tops of the nodes are actually throwing out double roots as pictured on the 1498 Werner. lots of yummy soil for all of em...lol. also for noting is the 1498 is out at 16.5 ft as of June 25 and the others are around 10 ft. out now. Friday, June 28 View Page Thursday afternoon was BAD for storms that came through my neck of the woods and we must have gotten between 3 to 6 inches of rain over a 3 hour period and then the hail came!! we have never gotten hail this far into summer and just the feeling of watching it come down and knowing what was happening in my patch have me a sick feeling in my gut. THEN the wind came as well and knocked out my power. initial survey of the patch had multiple leaves blown sideways and hole marks from the hail all over...man I hate this..lifted the last 3 feet of the main vine out of the water on the Werner and put a screen under it to keep it out. time will tell what this storm will have done for my season and I hope she can bounce back..I'm praying. will not have to water anything for quite some time if everything is OK. did wade out in the mud and pollinate a 5 lobe girl on the 1236 harp this morning at 10 ft. or so with 3 males from the 1498 Werner. Friday, June 28 View Page this is what most of my leaves looked like after the hail from yesterday...will these be OK??? I don't know but I hope so..any input would be appreciated. Saturday, June 29 View Page until the patch can dry out for a few days I'm gonna follow fire Marshall bill's advice. Sunday, June 30 View Page pollinated a 5 lobe girl on the 1498 Werner this morning at 5 am that was 16.5 ft. out with 2 males from itself. didn't want to self it but no males ready on the 1236 harp. this pollination is where Quinn pollinated his 1498 so maybe this is the lucky spot for this fruit...time will tell! Sunday, June 30 View Page here's what a portion of the patch looked like yesterday after all the rain we have gotten in the last 3 to 4 days. need it to start drying out for sure. Sunday, June 30 View Page have 3 long gourd plants going this year from seeds that I had left over from bumkin a few years ago. finally grabbed hold of the fence and their off to the races Tuesday, July 2 View Page for noting*** the main on the 1498 Werner is at 21 ft. long as of July 1 with another girl at the 20 ft. mark. the main will be terminated after this last female. she ought to be ready in 3 or 4 days. hopefully some 1236 harp males will be able to show up for that party. Wednesday, July 3 View Page the last week has been hard on the plants with the crazy weather but hopefully that's behind me now and I can stay focused on the pollinations that have been done and keeping the plant healthy. this is the 1498 Werner plant with my 16.5 ft. pollination on the white sheet at the end. Wednesday, July 3 View Page here would be the last girl coming down the road on the 1498 at about 18 ft. if need be and the main was to be terminated after her about a foot or so Wednesday, July 3 View Page this is the girl at 16.5 ft.that was pollinated Sunday morning June 30 on the 1498. 2 dap Wednesday, July 3 View Page poor leaves took a whoopin this week but hopefully they're gonna be OK. I want a lot of green behind these fruits. Wednesday, July 3 View Page here is the fruit on the 1236 harp at about 10 ft. and was polled on Friday June 28. hope this one takes also even though its not very far down on the vine. Saturday, July 6 View Page another pollination on the 1236 harp this morning at 12 or 13 ft. on a 5 lobe girl with 5 males from the 1498 Werner. poll. took place at 530 am. Sunday, July 7 View Page pollinated a 5 lobe girl on the 1498 Werner at 21 ft. today at 6 am with 5 males from the 1236 harp. man that little sweety is a country mile from the stump!! this being an insurance for the set that is at 16.5 ft. and is currently 7 days old. as of today. time to start terminating secondaries any this point. Monday, July 8 View Page pollination on the wife's plant (my 1307 Mohr x 1596 Werner cross from 2011). poll was a 5 lobe girl at 11 ft. out and was crossed with 4 males from the 1498 Werner at 530 am. Tuesday, July 9 View Page had to do a little trimming on the button ends of the sets on the plants cause lots of muggy....rainnnny equals fungus and mold and other little nasties. after the trimming they were covered with some captan paste and then covered to keep em dry. plants really need a good daconil and sevin foliar but every time I want to...ITS RAINING!!! you would think that I lived in seattle or something....but its starting to look like it is going to dry up for a while starting late weds....thank you jesus!! Wednesday, July 10 View Page lordy...lordy...when are these monsoons going to let up. I honestly don't know how these plants endure this torture unless they've grown gills.. suppose to start getting nicer and dryer starting tomorrow. my 10 day number for the 1498 set is 28.5 inches..damn its always been feast or famine around here with all this rain and water...what are ya gonna do though..lol Wednesday, July 10 View Page here's what we got today after some squalls blew through and dumped more rain. this was my best attempt at keepin parts of the plant from drowning....and yes I have one vine straddling a piece of wood and two others laying on a piece of chicken fencing...YA DO WHAT YA GOTTA DO!!!lol Wednesday, July 10 View Page I do stand corrected on my 10 day measurement but I swear when I got home from work today the measurement was 28.5 inch circ. and I checked it a half hour ago and it was 29 inch circ....crazy huh...but look how cute she is!!! Sunday, July 14 View Page second set at the 21 ft. mark has been culled as of today so all the eggs are in the 16.5 ft basket on this one. vine sling has been installed to keep the vine and stem level to each other hopefully preventing stress. day 14 is 41 inch circ.....ITS ON LIKE DONKEY KONG NOW!!!! Wednesday, July 17 View Page here is the fruit on the 1236 harp at day 10 and the circ. is 31.5 inches. I believe the fruit on my 1498 Werner is going to abort on me because it stopped growing at day 15 just like my 1622 did last year...man this hobby is hard on the heart sometimes cause of all the effort that gets put into it without results to show. I think all the rain that we have had coupled with the intense heat that has followed most likely is the culprit for the aborts. will be spending more time attending to the 1236 fruit and hopefully can get that one to the weigh offs. gonna let the other plant grow some side vine fruits for the kids to carve...sigh...next year I WILL have a tunnel to grow in for sure. I need better control over the micro climate here and that seems to be my only option. Saturday, July 20 View Page here's my 1236 fruit at day 13 which was crossed with the 1498 Werner 13 cap and the circ. is 43.5 inches. gonna leave the fan on it through day 20 just to insure the heat doesn't abort it like the 1498 fruit did. this year has been funky with the enormous amount of rain followed by the stifling heat we've been having for the last week so don't want to take any chances with my last possible weigh off fruit. hopefully this one will look like its parents and be really nice and orange!!!