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Entry Date
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Location
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Friday, July 27, 2012
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EP
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Ashland, KY
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Entry 150 of 154 |
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Haven't posted for a while- nothing exciting to report. Hydroponically grown pumpkins are growing very slowly (but growing nevertheless!). I think that the pumpkins are slow growers because I am not able to provide the four plants I am growing with sufficient and consistent nutrients. These four can go through about 100 gallons of nutrient solution each week. I can keep up with watering the main roots, but the nodal root systems are really keeping me busy and these are often nearly dry when I get home from work each day. I am going to rig an automatic watering system like those I have for the main roots. I've also recently increased the phosphorous and potassium and my nutrient composition is now approximately 180 ppm N; 400 ppm P; 500 ppm K; some Ca, and trace elements. In retrospect, I should have made this increase a few days before pollination. I am also feeding different solutions via foliar feeding every other day. Another reason for the slow pumpkin growth may be insufficent area of plant behind the set fruit.
So, what's shown in the picture? I recently terminated my four mains. I looked at the cut end and wondered if I could take advantage of the exposed vascular system of the main vine. So, I attached a large tube to the end, sealed it with a combination of agar (a jello-like substance) and paraffin film), and filled the tube with solution. The hope is that this will provide the plant (the fruit, to be specific) with additional growth-promoting goodies to compensate for terminating the vine. Imagine providing the plant extra "photosynthate" by this avenue. Sort of like intravenous fluids in humans. Will it work? Who knows! but it's fun. And so crazy that it just might work! A couple of additional pictures of this follow.
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