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Entry Date	Nick Name		Location
Friday, July 21, 2006		Tony Pumpkin	Abbotsford BC

Entry 123 of 229

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Big increase! 26 lbs from yesterday! There is always a significant visual difference when the pumpkin has grown. I didn't bother to measure the other one as I measure it every second day. Some concerning highlights. Firstly, although the pumpkin has no visual defects on the stem or blossom etc., its stem is very close to the ground--so much so that the pumpkin almost seems as though it might start to grow over the stem with its large shoulders. For some reason the main vine does not lift itself. Today I yanked at the vine to rid it of another tap root in hopes of a possible remedy to the problem--although it seems like there is plenty of slack in the vine anyway--the pumpkin just does not want to lift it up. I know I should not yank at the vine to sever tap roots, but the reason I yanked at the vine is because I did not have a knife, and the vine itself is so thick and scarred that I can't possibly imagine it would break. The other concern is the rot developing on the stump. Even though it is covered in sulphur powder, and does not get any direct water, it is starting to rot at the base of the two primaries. There is a small hole that is rotted just to the right of the stump that I filled with sulphur powder. Also, there is the primary that extends to the left that has a rotted area or two. Today I sunk my finger about a quarter inch into a wound and scrapped all the "guck" out. I then rubbed it deeply with sulphur powder. I may have to stop watering around the stump with the soaker hose and just water the vines (although the soaker hose is at least a foot away from the stump itself). I also thought of excising the second primary, and maybe even the other one. There is still a considerable amount of growing time left, and I don't want stump rot to end my season. I have cleared it of all leaves, and the sun beats down on it all day. Perhaps I will set up a fan to give adequate air circulation.