I built all six hoophouses on Monday. Since then our weather has been bad.
It's now Thursday and I hope to get the plants out by Friday night or Saturday. The plants are in one-gallon pots and are looking fantastic. But, they face no challenge indoors. Right now I can't even harden them off......... it has me worried. Maybe I should call home and have my wife move them into the garage for an hour or so. I don't know..... plants can really be thrown for a loop if they go from 72 degrees and under grow lights, to overnights in the low 30's.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Monday, April 26, 2010
Spring update
So much to catch up on. The focus now is doing the work, not blogging.
I now have temporary housing for six small families. If I get no takers, these plants will go out in the hoop houses. These are bigger domes, and the biggest that I've had in the last five years.
All of the plants germinated, but the 1087 Bhaskaran's seed leaves were rotten. The stump is still there, and turning green. It could actually come around. The other plants all look great.
For backups, I decided to try the "paper towel method". This was a bad idea. I have no idea what I'm doing, and here I am trying to start backups? It's been bad. None of them have germinated. It goes to show that you should always practice something before "going live". Part of my problem is that all of my pots that are the proper size are in use.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Seeds are up
Well, if you haven't noticed, I make it hard for you to find information on what I'm doing. You need to go to Facebook, bigpumpkins.com, and also this blog to find out what's happening. The real problem is that I can't decide where to post stuff.
Last Sunday I started this: 1725 Harp, 1505 Holland, 1467 Perham, 1240 Bogie, and 1211.5 Toftness. Also, a pure orange 1087 Bhaskaran. I also started two of my own 720 seeds. All of these are up, at 4.5 days. Everything looks good except that the 1505 has funky multiple seed leaves. I doubt it's a problem.
Last Sunday I started this: 1725 Harp, 1505 Holland, 1467 Perham, 1240 Bogie, and 1211.5 Toftness. Also, a pure orange 1087 Bhaskaran. I also started two of my own 720 seeds. All of these are up, at 4.5 days. Everything looks good except that the 1505 has funky multiple seed leaves. I doubt it's a problem.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Flatviners always disappoint
Today's entry in the digest suggests a change in thinking from just one year ago. If you go back in the archives, you will see that I "performed surgery" on the 998 plant that was double-vining.
There is a subtle difference between a flat and a double-vining plant. But, the result is the same.
In the case of the 998 from last year, I had no backup plant in that spot. So I tried to rescue it. That never works. Over the winter I read in the latest Don Langevin book a statement that now makes a lot of sense. There has never been a world-class (or even an Idaho class) fruit from a double or flat-vining plant. After seeing this first-hand on a number of occasions, I'd have to say that I agree.
In the case of the 998 Bowles plant from last year, I kept nursing it along. Aside from the doubled main vine, the plant was good. It still grew well, was dark green with handsome leaves. It was my best looking plant! It was one of the few plants where I could set a fruit on the main (or what was left of it).
And, that fruit grew, really, really, slow. I needed to nurse it along until a week before Halloween, as the local farmer's market scheduled a weighoff on Oct. 24th. Well, when it was time to go I was estimating 350 pounds. Really quite small for a fruit on the main at around 10 feet out, growing all season on a nice looking plant. When I was lifting the fruit with the tripod, I had a mishap and dropped it. As it hit the ground it split in two pieces right down the middle, and after I came to my senses I noted that this fruit was EXTREMELY thin. I doubt it would have made 250 pounds and it would have been a serious disappointment, not to mention embarrassment.
So, the lesson here is, if you get to late May or early June and find a double-vining plant, just rip it out and go fishing. ;-)
There is a subtle difference between a flat and a double-vining plant. But, the result is the same.
In the case of the 998 from last year, I had no backup plant in that spot. So I tried to rescue it. That never works. Over the winter I read in the latest Don Langevin book a statement that now makes a lot of sense. There has never been a world-class (or even an Idaho class) fruit from a double or flat-vining plant. After seeing this first-hand on a number of occasions, I'd have to say that I agree.
In the case of the 998 Bowles plant from last year, I kept nursing it along. Aside from the doubled main vine, the plant was good. It still grew well, was dark green with handsome leaves. It was my best looking plant! It was one of the few plants where I could set a fruit on the main (or what was left of it).
And, that fruit grew, really, really, slow. I needed to nurse it along until a week before Halloween, as the local farmer's market scheduled a weighoff on Oct. 24th. Well, when it was time to go I was estimating 350 pounds. Really quite small for a fruit on the main at around 10 feet out, growing all season on a nice looking plant. When I was lifting the fruit with the tripod, I had a mishap and dropped it. As it hit the ground it split in two pieces right down the middle, and after I came to my senses I noted that this fruit was EXTREMELY thin. I doubt it would have made 250 pounds and it would have been a serious disappointment, not to mention embarrassment.
So, the lesson here is, if you get to late May or early June and find a double-vining plant, just rip it out and go fishing. ;-)
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Things to remember
For those of us who live with four seasons with winter being the longest, there is an interesting phenomenon that happens each year. At the end of the growing season your mind is focused on all of the things that didn't go as planned and more importantly, a list of items to improve for the coming season. Then, we have winter. Four or five or six months of winter, depending on how you want to measure it. And when spring finally arrives, you're so excited to finally get started that you have forgotten all of the things that you were going to fix.
So, here's a list for giant pumpkin freaks like me. And, if you're just into gardening I'll bet you can find parallels in what you do.
Number one, you WILL have a double-vining freak plant. If you have five or more plants, you could have two. Plan for it by double planting each site, and leaving enough space between the two plants so that each can get to the vining stage before needing to cull one of them.
Number two, you WILL have cold weather and wind challenges! Hoophouses are essential in southeast Idaho. It's impossible to be competitive without them. Consider also, if your local area is like mine, you need a hoophouse and also a fortress around it built from wood pallets to slow the wind around the HH.
Three, get in the habit of checking the weather closely each evening. Whatever they say the temp will be, subtract X to be pessimistic. For me near Pocatello, I subtract 7 from whatever number they say. So if they say the low will be 37, plan on it being 30. It isn't always so extreme, but just one freeze can end your season before it gets going. I don't want to be the only one at the fair this fall. Watch your plants carefully and don't let them freeze!
Having said that, it's amazing how close I came last year to loosing them. One night a few years ago, I woke up at 2am and realized that I had forgot. I went out at 2am and covered, and saved the season.
Well, that's just the quick fundamentals. I'll be back with other tips. Please use this page to post your own in the comment section.
So, here's a list for giant pumpkin freaks like me. And, if you're just into gardening I'll bet you can find parallels in what you do.
Number one, you WILL have a double-vining freak plant. If you have five or more plants, you could have two. Plan for it by double planting each site, and leaving enough space between the two plants so that each can get to the vining stage before needing to cull one of them.
Number two, you WILL have cold weather and wind challenges! Hoophouses are essential in southeast Idaho. It's impossible to be competitive without them. Consider also, if your local area is like mine, you need a hoophouse and also a fortress around it built from wood pallets to slow the wind around the HH.
Three, get in the habit of checking the weather closely each evening. Whatever they say the temp will be, subtract X to be pessimistic. For me near Pocatello, I subtract 7 from whatever number they say. So if they say the low will be 37, plan on it being 30. It isn't always so extreme, but just one freeze can end your season before it gets going. I don't want to be the only one at the fair this fall. Watch your plants carefully and don't let them freeze!
Having said that, it's amazing how close I came last year to loosing them. One night a few years ago, I woke up at 2am and realized that I had forgot. I went out at 2am and covered, and saved the season.
Well, that's just the quick fundamentals. I'll be back with other tips. Please use this page to post your own in the comment section.
OK, time to get to work!
Good news, maybe. I'm going to maintain this blog for another year.
Yesterday I was able to burn all of last year's left over debris. That can be significant with around 50 trees on the property. Now, I've already started creating this year's debris. Oh well.
Today I hope to do quite a bit of tractor work. We will see how it goes. Can you believe it? Above 50 degrees. Incredible. (Tongue in check statement.)
Yesterday I was able to burn all of last year's left over debris. That can be significant with around 50 trees on the property. Now, I've already started creating this year's debris. Oh well.
Today I hope to do quite a bit of tractor work. We will see how it goes. Can you believe it? Above 50 degrees. Incredible. (Tongue in check statement.)
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
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