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Entry Date
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Nick Name
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Location
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Thursday, June 08, 2006
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Tony Pumpkin
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Abbotsford BC
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Entry 57 of 229 |
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Today was another day of trimming tertiaries ( I am pinching them off when they are really small) and moving dirt under and around vines--as well as a quick greenhouse expansion. The main has grown almost 4 feet since Saturday and I ran out of room again. I still cannot believe how robust these plants are and how pervasive pumpkin roots are--I dug at the bottom of the mound to get some extra dirt (about four linear feet from the main stem) and the thick black compost I laid under a couple of weeks ago was riddled with bright white pumpkin roots! And here I was thinking the roots would likely not make it that far to the compost I laid down! Wow, amazing plants indeed! So far I have 8 females (most are very small). 3 of them are on the main between 13-17 feet--most of the others are paired up close on a couple of secondaries. Funny thing is that the female that appeared 1 week ago has still not matured very much--might be the large secondary sprouting from underneath it--or maybe these things have some internal clock that functions regardless of plant size. I mean it is weird that my plant is huge now (about 10 feet wide by 17 feet long) and loaded with males and females, yet neither males nor females have blossomed yet (though they are close). No worries, I am in no rush to get a pumpkin on yet. In fact I am trying to time one just right. I cut the secondary vine under the third female on the main (the one that just appeared at the end). My hope is to get this one pollinated--the plant will be very strong by then, and the pumpkin won't be set too early, and the placement seems good. Of course, anything can happen between now and then.
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