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Entry Date
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Nick Name
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Location
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Tuesday, May 23, 2006
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Tony Pumpkin
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Abbotsford BC
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Entry 37 of 229 |
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Today was rainy, but I didn't let that dampen my spirits. I got about an hour of work done on the patch with a rain jacket--my wife now thinks I am officially crazy.
Mainly I was covering the thick nitrogen filled grass compost with some deep compacted soil to inibit the nitrogen in the compost from evaporating into the atmosphere and enrich/break-up the more compact deep soil in my mound. Once it is exposed to air you would be surprised at how quickly the nitrogen evaporates from compost.
I was also extending the sides of the mound in the process so the vines have more to cling to. I was a little worried that all that thick muddy compost made almost exclusively from grass clippings would cause my plant to "burn"--I mean the compost was the consistency of fresh manure (I may make some compost tea from it). All in all, I think the plant is large enough to utilize the nitrogen rich compost--afterall, the compost was filled with roots from virginia creepers and red wiggler worms when I dug it up, and there is plenty of average topsoil around the base of the plant--I don't think it will burn.
I may cut back entirely on the miracle grow and other fertilizers depending on how the plant responds--right now I have so much compost in various stages of decomposition that I don't think I need ferts at all right now.
I have nudged the main so that it is resting close to the ground--looks to be doing good. The top leaf is massive (must be around 24+ inches across). No watering today as there was excessive rain--hopefully that draws the roots deep.
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