Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 38 Entries. Tuesday, April 24 View Page So here we go! year #4 - not going to make the mistake of past, especially overwatering. Patch set up - planting mounds rototilled with 10-10-10, 20 lbs of sterile dry mushroom soil, 3 handfuls of mycorrhizea, 3 handfuls of kelp meal into a 1000 sq ft bed with 800 lbs of sterile dried mushroom soil applied last fall and covered with grass clipping and leaf mulch all winter. Then covered with black plastic to warm the soil. Plan to put in heating cables next week when sprouts ready to put into cold frames.   Tuesday, April 24 View Page Team 1 2043 Big Bubbles by 2145 McMillen x 1947 Clements 1146 Snyder by 2230 Wallace x 1463 Hoalke (Howard Dill Winner - Orange) Seed edges filed and soaked for 12 hrs in baggy before planting today   Tuesday, April 24 View Page Team 2 2003 Haist '17 by 2145 McMullen x 1781 Haist (MAGPG auction) 1146 Haist by 2230 Wallace x 1463 Hoelke Also a Howard Dill Award Winner (Orange)   Saturday, May 5 View Page Team 1 and 2 have sprouted - or almost sprouted, peeked under dirt - its coming Team 1: 2014 BigBubbles by 2145McMullen x 1947Clementz (5/2) and 1146 Snyder by 2230 Wallace x 1463 Hoelke (Orange) (5/3) Team 2: 2003 Haist by 2145 McMullen x 1781 Haist (5/5) and another seed from 1146 Snyder by 2230 Wallace x 1463 Hoelke (Orange) (5/6) Finished the planting mounds today, rototilling in MnSO4 and Gypsum and covering with more sterile dried mushroom soil Recovered with black plastic and got the houses ready with heating lamps and resealed. Ground temp already 72 deg under black plastic and so going to withhold the heating cables this year and see how we do with just lamps.   Saturday, May 5 View Page Soil reports very good - everything in range except low Mn - added Mn to planting mounds today with some added gypsum as well, even though both Ca and Mg reported high in report. Nothing else needed except the usual NPK later. Disease report excellent, even though both pythium and fusarium were high last year and likely the cause of a poor harvest. I think that was due to all the raw mushroom soil I added last spring - won't do THAT again. Last fall rototilled in fungicide and 800 lbs of expensive sterile dried commercial mushroom. Now Fusarium has 0 cfu and pythium only 1 cfu. Phytophthora and verticillum not detected. Great start! Still have another 800 lbs of the ESDMS to top dress after rototill rest of patch later.   Monday, May 7 View Page Planted the 2043 Big Bubbles with back up 1146 Snyder today. Soil temp 73 deg under black plastic and heating lamp overnight in the cold frame. Planted 8 days later than last year. Buried 3” of stem. Threw in Myco and watered with dilute Miracle Grow (all you thoroughbred growers relax – I didn’t have any Jack’s and couldn’t stand to use just water –promise, no more M.G.). Pit already has kelp meal, 10-10-10, 2-week-old Myco and 1” cover of sterile dry mushroom soil. We’re Off !! Will hold off planting the other 2 seedlings for a week in case of environmental catastrophe over the next few days.   Monday, May 7 View Page All tucked in. Temp in frame 82 deg under sun. Lamp set for 7pm-6 am.   Monday, May 14 View Page Slow start this year. Patch complete and actually expanded from years past - 35 x 25 - about 900sf. Applied Preen to patch today. Weather lousy and variable. Down to 50 last night. Rain but hotter temperatures predicted for rest of week. Box frame vines are growing nicely and healthy - the 1146 and 2043. Small hoop house also has another week younger 1146 as back up, but unfortunately loped off the primary leaf upon transplant. Dummy. 2 more seeds trying to sprout in the incubator. Only planning 2 vines, so I should be OK here.   Tuesday, May 22 View Page Cheated – a friend gave me an extra vine – 1501 Wagner with good stock. Needed to triple size of the hoop house its growing so fast. Bigger than either of my other 2 vines. Growing directly East.   Tuesday, May 22 View Page Matters going well, except that I still have that 1146 Snyder and 2043 Big Bubbles in the frame, unable to decide which to keep – the Snyder giving orange and the BB a potentially huge kin. I’ve grown orange before, but nothing really big – so that answers the question. Today is the day of reckoning – Snyder comes out – kills me not to transplant is somewhere. Will try hard not to put it somewhere else in the patch and get sucked into caring for 3 vines again this year. I have to be strong here.   Tuesday, May 22 View Page 1146 on the left, 2043 on the right. Growing to the West   Wednesday, May 30 View Page My granddaughter and I got the wind fence up in only a few hours and before all the storms predicted this week. Plants doing well. Got and 18" leaf already.   Saturday, June 2 View Page Something going on with this leaf on the 1146. Gave both plants a good spray of Merit and Heritage. Hope this does it. I only have 2 plants and would be a killer to lose one so soon. Otherwise plants growing normally, burying the main stem as it grows. Secondaries still small. First open flower on the 2043   Saturday, June 9 View Page All is well. Weekly fertilizer with fish and kelp emulsion, Jack’s soluble and now, today, first application of foliar phospite. 1 ½ tsp/pt – applied 1 pt for 2 plants. Irrigation system now up and running – all 3 leaks, including the mouse hole in a plastic conduit (shot 15’ into the air) repaired. Foliar damage reported above judged to be damage from overly concentrated insecticide sprayed at the wrong time of the day. Nonprogressive – so likely correct opinion. Mainly on the 2023. All new leaves are fine. I WILL NOT AGAIN OVERWATER THIS YEAR.   Saturday, June 9 View Page Made a decision – nice female on the main of the 1146 but only at 10’ – whose knows if going to be a better candidate later more distal and so will start this guy. Unfortunately, my 2043 is 2 weeks younger and has NO FLOWERS BUDS. Really wanted to cross the 1146 with the 2043, but that isn’t going to happen. Next choice is “self” and other choice is to borrow some flowers from a couple of big vines from a friend. Starting the S curve today.   Thursday, June 14 View Page First pollination today – a great female fruit and flower on the 1501 Wagner - 1317 Clementz x 1478 Wagner – This plant was mislabeled 1146 in the prior notes. I wanted to cross with my 2043 but have no male flowers and so bummed a couple of 2112 Skinner- 1810Werner x self to do the deed. Forgot to order Anthesis hormone – so too late for this guy. Downside is that this flower is only 10' from the stem – gotta start somewhere.   Friday, June 15 View Page Arrange and bury secondaries, pinch off tertiaries and tendrils, retention sticks and a throw of the secret sauce at each node (consisting of 50% mycorrhiza, 25% kelp meal, 15% gypsum, 10% 10-10-10 slow release and a pinch of dry Jacks 10-30-20. Arrange and bury secondaries, pinch off tertiaries and tendrils, retention sticks and a throw of the secret sauce at each node. Arrange and bury secondaries, pinch off tertiaries and tendrils, retention sticks and a throw of the secret sauce at each node. Arrange and bury secondaries, pinch off tertiaries and tendrils, retention sticks and a throw of the secret sauce at each node. Arrange and bury secondaries, pinch off tertiaries and tendrils, retention sticks and a throw of the secret sauce at each node. Arrange and bury secondaries, pinch off tertiaries and tendrils, retention sticks and a throw of the secret sauce at each node. Arrange and bury secondaries, pinch off tertiaries and tendrils, retention sticks and a throw of the secret sauce at each node – and on and on and on and on ----.   Friday, June 15 View Page Big Job today – went from the small windbreak enclosure to the Full Monte. 50% occlusive woven aluminum. Poles anchored in all directions – gonna take a hurricane to take that sucker done. Enclosure 30% bigger than last year, and only 2 plants this year compared to3 last. I've become an adult. Sprayed:1/2 strength Heritage, Full strength Cleary 3336 systemic fungicide; ½ strength Captain Jack DeadBug for vine borer; ½ strength Eight to get the cucumber beetles I saw today, ½ strength Star-Phite (0-0-26 phosphite). Irrigation system enlarged by 2 more rows to accommodate the secondaries that are growing like crazy! Nice young female 13’ out on the 2043 main stem. Plenty of males on the 1501 to do the work.   Monday, June 18 View Page Lemon size fruit 4 days on main stem after pollination on the 1501 with 2112 Skinner. At 10 ft and only 11 secondaries behind – again, gotta start somewhere.   Monday, June 18 View Page both vines in good shape – the 2043 coming toward camera has a great female flower at 13 ft on main stem with 15 secondaries behind it – started the S curve, expecting to pollinate with the 1501. Looking to set up the 1501 for quantity, as almost all secondaries have female flowers and a historically orange lineage – maybe get 4-5 orange 250’s for my wife to put outside her children’s swim school – KIDS JUST LOVE PUMPKINS. The 2043 will provide my first 1000 pounder.   Saturday, June 23 View Page Status- 1501 Wagner 12’L x 19’W and growing like crazy– 3 pollinations – 9 days ago at 9’ x 2112Skinner on main stem – 9 preceding secondaries - 17” circ; 2 days ago with a borrowed 1457 Gansert on main stem at 13’ with 14 preceding secondaries and today x self, 8’ out the first secondary. Plant expanding almost a foot/day – only a few feet left to the limits of the fence. Looks great 2043 Big Bubbles – 12 L x 15 W; 2 weeks younger than the Wagner but with bigger leaves’ biggest 19”. 2 female flowers just starting near tip of main stem and a nearby secondary. STILL – not a single male flower has matured and bloomed – a few candidates slowly growing. Maybe I buried them with the nodes. Will be more careful. Looks great. Have not applied much extra fertilizer beyond commercial dried bagged sterile mushroom soil, 10-10-10, gypsum, borax and epsum salt that I rotolled in in last fall and again this spring. Just 3 applications so far of fish and Kelp emulsion and Jacks 10-30-20 and the concoction applied with each buried node (see 6/15)   Saturday, June 23 View Page 1501 Wagner x 2112 Skinner day 9 since pollination. 17” circ   Thursday, June 28 View Page 14 DAP on the 1051 – 29” circ. With 11 proximal secondaries. Buried secondaries with sprinkling of mychorhiza, kelp meal, 10-10-10, dry Jack’s 20-20-20, dry sterile mushroom soil and gypsum at all the nodes and then fertilized the stem, main vine and lengths of all secondaries with fish and kelp solution with Jack’s 20-20-20. Then it POURED last night – sun out now – perfect. Looking to pollinate first 2043 Clementz female flower at 16’ on main with 16 proximal secondaries. Another female forming at 19’. Probably with “self”   Friday, July 6 View Page 26 DAP on the 1501 – OTT wt est 110 lbs – never had one this big this early. Definitely orange! 2 other nice ones a week or so behind. Vine looking good, all secondaries have reached limits of fence and so cutting them off at growing tips. The 2043 is FINALLY producing female flowers – pollinated 3 over last week with “self” and one with the 1501. Somewhat concerned with the vine – Main growing end turned yellow and leaves wilting – afraid of “Yellow Vine” – saw several of the carrier beetles today on vine as well – Cut off main vine back about 3 ft. Huge secondaries growing about 10-12”/day. Sprayed with Eight, Earthworks Potent Sea and Earthworks Protein plus. Plan to Spray with Merit tomorrow and fungicide. Cal-Vantage waiting in the wings. Still adding a tablespoon mixture of Mycorhizae, Kelp meal, 10-10-10, gypsum, dry Jacks 20-20-20 and scoop of dry sterile mushroom soil at each buried node.   Sunday, July 15 View Page 30 DAP 1501, OTT suggests weight about 280. A second kin at about 70 lbs. – plant looking good. FINALLY getting multiple females on the 2043, 1 is 5 DAP on an early secondary and growing normally, 3 more are 2 and 0 DAP at the growing end at 25 feet. Nothing in between. The plant is acting strange – main vine leaves turning brown and about 10 removed right from the center of the plant. Leaves on secondaries fine. Hope that was from a ill-advised spraying and not yellow vine, altho the main vine is yellow. Arrrrgh. Major 2 week drought with 80-90 deg sunny weather has the grass brown, but irrigation system seems fine. No wilted leaves, even during hot part of the day. Applied Phosphite today.   Sunday, July 15 View Page sprayer stream along vines/secondaries and foliage spray of Protein Plus, Kelp extract, Heritage fungicide and Jacks 20-20-20.   Monday, July 23 View Page the Patch a few hours before the massive thunderstorm rolled through the northeast – seems it was taking dead aim at my wonderful patch. Fortunately, the wind was from the south, and the patch was somewhat protected by 8’ walls of corn against the south fence. Unfortunately, it flattened and kinked a lot of the 1501 leaves – don’t look so good now – continuing to suddenly rain alternating with sun. Never saw anything like it. Applied phosphite, and later in the day, CalVantage before the rain and Neptune fish/kelp emulsion with Jack’s 20-20-20 today. Lost the only other fruit on the 1501 at circ = 58 inches. Soft white spots. Cut it off and rolled it out while the rollin’ was still good to avoid needing to snow shovel a pile of mush (again). The 2043 has 6 fruits DAP 1-10, all in good shape and waaaaaay out on the tips – about 25 ft.   Monday, July 23 View Page On the 1501 – est 450 by OTT – matches my best ever 3 years ago. Hope the vine still has enough umph to push this baby over the 1000 mark.   Monday, July 23 View Page Patch photo didn't make the cyber trip with the verbage   Monday, July 23 View Page Neither did the est 450 lb on the 1501 Wagner   Tuesday, July 24 View Page 480 on the 1501, now the only candidate on the vine since TinkerBell went kaput at 58 in" circ. 30 lbs in 24 hours. At least these torrential rains are good for something! Everybody looking good on the 2043. and the 2043 vine is healthy and HUGE!   Saturday, July 28 View Page Est 520 on the 1501 vine – OTT sum not progressing much over last few days despite massive rain fall. The vine was pretty beat up with the storms. Applied copper fungicide between downpours last week and Heritage today. Broadcast about 1/2 lb potash 0-0-26 over patch today to try to re-kick start ole “Jack”. 6 very nice starters on the 2043 up to 36” circumference. 2043 vine in excellent condition. Looking for rain all next week again. What’s going on here ?!!   Sunday, July 29 View Page Applied 6 oz of EarthWorks Potent Sea, 2 oz of Captain Jack’s Dead Bug for vine borer, 2 oz of Cleary’s 3336 fungicide, and 2 tbsp of Jack’s 20-20-20 all in the same 2 gal heavy sprayer. That’s 3 kinds of fungicide in 3 weeks – Heritage, Copper and now 3336 – that oughta do it, even with all this rain we’ve had and another week comin’. My last 4 seasons were ended by vine borer, fusarium and Pythium and only God know what else. This time it ain’t gonna be the fungus!   Friday, August 3 View Page Jack, on the 1501 Wagner has significantly slowed his growth - only 2 more inches on the OTT in 2 days – est 530. The stem has some small slits and mush on it – uh oh. Aggressively treated with a stiff rub of a paste of Bordeaux mixture (copper) Sevin Dust, Ortho Home Orchard Dust (Captan, Malathion) and a some Heritage granules. Washed out the bowl and put the wash in a watering can, added a gallon and washed all the pumpkins and their stems on the 2 vines with it. Hope for the best. DAN: any ideas how to get Jack rockin’ again – maybe I was too timid with the amount of potash I broadcast a couple of weeks ago. All the kins on the 2043 are 35- 40” circ and growing nicely. 2 smaller ones started on the 1501 – will let them be until Jack gets movin’ again.   Sunday, August 5 View Page Starting to see this stuff here and there – presume vine borer despite Captain Jack’s Deadbug that totes killing vine borer right on the front of the bottle. Made solution of Captain Jack’s, Eight and Cleary’s 3336 and poured it on all of these lesions I could find, including main stem of 2043 yesterday. Today, an under-leaf application of CalVantage and Jack’s 20-20-20. Temp later got to 100 deg in the shade! Local River 4 feet above banks. . Small tornado touched down a mile from the patch during Friday night storms (2-4" rain), Crazy.   Tuesday, August 7 View Page Uh oh ! Never did dispatch this little stinker – jumped away too fast. Sprayed the patch with Merit. Unfortunately another thunder storm 2 hours later. Hope it was effective. Also applied 10% bleach solution to kins and their stems. The stem to Jack isn’t looking as good as it did a week ago. Mailed away for a fan.   Friday, August 17 View Page Ballgame over. As reported, stopped growing 2 weeks ago. We ALL know what that means. Toast. Sorry Dan lost 3 contenders on the 2043 as well. 1 good on left, about 23' from the stem - huge healthy vine. We'll see.   Tuesday, August 21 View Page Results of a year of work – lost the last 4-30 pounders over last 2 days Nothing to show except some nice vines with a few little starters. I’ll be back next year – see ya then. Maybe more sun than rain. Hey Dan - any more of the 1501 seeds? - that 530 lb was beautiful before it collapsed.