Next year, raised beds

Next year, I will do some raised beds. Formal raised beds, constructed from lumber. More details later.

A very cool late-summer

Heading for a low in the low-40's tonight. We've had several of these already and will have a few more this week. All in all, it's not a record breaking year. I just measured my largest, it's at a whopping 350 pounds now. If I'm lucky, it could get to 500. One thing it has going for it is a great shape and no internal cracks, just like the 779 from last year. So I suppose it could weigh heavy like last year?

Summer was one month

This year we really didn't hit full-time summer weather until just after the 4th of July. Now, it's sort of like mid-September out there. Cool, with drizzly rain. Overnight temps below 50. This is not going to be a record-setting year.

Zzzzz...

OK, well my blog is about as boring as this season is. I have one decent pumpkin, and two other slow growing ones. It will take quite a turn of events for me to get to a personal best this year. I'd like to top the 779 and get into the 800's, but, it's a long shot.

Here is the 1436. It appears to be my only hope.

Down to three...

Well, the 779 fruit aborted. On this one, the main vine is simply running out of energy, much like the 964 did. I have no explanation for it. And on the 964, that "peanut" isn't growing. This puts me down to three fruits that have any chance at being competitive. If I get a split or two, well...

Everything is reversed

Well, here we go. This is just such a "good and bad" year.

Two months ago, if you had told me that the 1436 and the 1392 would be the kings of the patch, I would have not thought it possible.

1436 - Looking awesome. The fruit is growing nicely, and has a perfect shape.

1392 - Also looking great. The fruit is doing well, even though the plant doesn't seem like much.

998 - The double-vining freak plant. The fruit is coming on. It should be round and orange.

Now, for the two that I THOUGHT would do well:

964 - The fruit is PEANUT shaped!! Ugh. I might need to go with a side vine fruit. I'll post a picture, but this shape doesn't bode well for it's long-term prospects. My 964 plant last year produced a 100% perfect fruit with big walls and no cracks. This one, well I mentioned that the vine kind of died off near the fruit... looks like the fruit is bad as well.

779 - Has a fruit pollinated at a good spot, but it just isn't growing much. There is still time for it to kick into gear, but so far I'm disappointed. Maybe this will become the Pocatello Farmer's Market weighoff fruit. ;-)

The 1232 is still around, and should produce some nice carvers.

Shaded, sanded, pruned and buried.

The 1436 Nesbitt.

Update

Here is a general update. Maybe I'll post pictures later today.


998 - The plant is a genetic freak, with lots of vines going double, and vines going everywhere. I try to keep it pruned but it's hard to know what is what. I have a pollination at about 12 feet, on a vine that I turned into a "secondary main". It's too soon to know if this one will take, but if it doesn't just about any other fruit on the plant might do just as well.

964 - Was my best plant, but the leaves on the main just past the 10 foot mark seemed weak, would wilt every day, then finally the vine just DIED at the 13 foot mark! I don't know why. Some of the leaves there look my friend Brian Christensen's leaves, but certainly not as severe. I have a fruit there at 12.5 feet, and it will stay. Nearly all of the rest of the plant has had vines terminated already. There are a few still growing. But if the fruit takes, then it will grow at the end of the main. It has a good plant to drive it. For the moment I'm not taking off any other females until I know that this one on the main will stay.

779 - Finally had a main vine fruit pollinate yesterday. This one took forever to open. I sure hope it takes. Once I get to 12 feet, my vines really slow down.

1232 - Will be a wild plant to grow small giant pumpkins.

1392 - Plant looks a little weak, but it has my oldest main vine fruit at about 9.5 feet, and another one at around 11. It's doing OK.

1436 - This could become my best plant, depending on what the 964 does. It's a nice, straight plant that is easy to train. I have two pollinations on the main, similar to the 1392.

Looks like I might have a another weighoff to look at this year. The Pocatello Farmer's Market is hosting a weighoff, the week before Halloween. Not sure if I can keep a fruit going that long, but if so I might as well go down there and promote the sport. This weighoff appears to be really low-key. I suspect that over half of the entries will be field pumpkins. But maybe I can meet someone who is wanting to get involved, here in Pocatello. Or, maybe I'll be the only one there, with this weather we've had!

A siamese female...

Strange things are all around us!

And the storm clouds gather...

This image is a prime example of how this summer has gone. Nearly every day there is some of this.

Last night we got pounded again. I've never seen so much rain in 30 minutes, at least in this part of the world.

As for the plants, despite all the water they look "wilty", probably because the soil is so compacted the roots are smothered.

Pollinations - 1392, July 3rd, open; 1436 July 4th, x964; 964 July 5th, x779;

Update

I'm surviving here. The plants have responded to some nice weather and some good feedings. Although I'm never where I'd like to be, considering the weather I'm glad to have what I have.

One thing to note, the growth in the patch is not linear. That is, right now they are taking off. A week ago, they were not.

Pictured here is the 779 Warren. This is going to be a good seed. I already know that this one will be in my patch next year. It's at 10 feet right now.



The 964 is at 11.5 feet. The 1436 is around 9, and the 1392 is at about 8. The 1392 has taken a lot of hail damage. As for the 998, it's doing a little better but it's an odd plant due to it's propensity to throw double vines. On that one I'll probably set a few fruit wherever and keep the best one.

What a difference a day makes

I was so positive yesterday. Things have made a turn for the worse.

We got another downpour today, along with hail. Lots more leaves have been ripped up and shredded. The 1392 is particularly bad. I don't see an intact leaf on the plant.

My soil is so wet, I sink in 4 inches if I take a step on it.

Catching up...

Here is where we stand. Not bad, considering the lack of warmth we've had!

998 Bowles - This one started out "gangbusters". Then the main vine went double, twice. I stopped the main and have anointed a secondary to become a new main. But it has taken forever to develop. One of the side vines is also a massive double vine. Many of the vines simply grow straight up into the air... it's a crazy plant and I'm not sure what I'll get from it.

964 Wolf - Awesome in every way, except that it has a nice split in the main vine. I think it's manageable, if I can keep it from getting worse. The main is out beyond 10 feet right now, I think.



779 Warren - Also very good. Almost as long as the 964, (from whence it came). It has a female at about 9 feet which should open in about 5 days. But that one is early. I should have a nice set at 12 or 13 feet, at the proper time!



1392 Bresnick - Odd looking plant, hairy, weird leaves, but doing OK. A little smaller than the first three I mentioned.

1436 Nesbitt - Looking fine. About the same size as the 1392. This was Elise's plant, but she seemed to have lost interest this year when she found out that the fair wasn't hosting a big money prize. So far I've done all the work, and so it becomes my plant. Between this one and the 998, likely one of these will need to be the fair fruit, because I can't get the others out until one of these comes out of the patch.

1232 Bailey - Out of the running. The plant has always been small, and then a section of the main got some sort of rot or it just didn't develop. It came out 90 degrees out of phase, and the main is now snapped... The plant might stay around simply because there is no other use for the space.

These leaves.....

I wish I could figure out what's "eating" these leaves. They first appear as tears in the leaf. And then they progress.

Click on the images to get a high resolution version.

I did use neem about one month ago, and then I used it again today.

My leaves always look like this, every year. I'd like to know what causes it!

Still hasn't changed

I haven't needed to water anything for three weeks!

We're in the wettest month ever for Pocatello, and it's only the 20th of June!

When will this weather change!?

It's been cool and rainy since May31st!

998 Surgery

I performed surgery on the 998 Bowles, to stop a double vine.

First of all, if you are seeing this via Facebook, it's because I setup my blog to send the blog posts to Facebook as notes. But, on FB you aren't seeing the pictures. If you would like to see the pictures, visit me at:

http://cliffsgiantpumpkin.blogspot.com/

OK, well the idea is to stop the double-vine completely and then train a secondary to take over. You can see how this vine is a trouble spot. It's sticking straight up and probably won't come down.

The offending main vine:



With the amount of "stuff" pruned away, hopefully that will send a lot of energy to a secondary. The secondary I have picked out is two nodes up from the double-bundle of pumpkin parts.

Before:



After:

998 double-vining

Well, I see now why the 998 has such a monster vine. It's double-vining again. It had done this early on, then it split and I terminated one. Now it's double vining again. Not to panic... I'll just have to look at it and decide how to best manage it. Pics are forthcoming, I hope. And, it does look like it's spliting again, and if so I'll just terminate one.

Comeback

These plants never cease to amaze me. On Friday I was blasted by wind. The plants were a mess. I pruned out quite a few twisted vines and a lot of broken leaves. By Sunday evening, the plants are looking great again. To the untrained eye, it would appear that nothing happened! They just fill in the empty spots and look great! I should always remember that top growers take out 1/3 to 1/2 of their secondaries anyway, and it should be good for the plant.

I'd say that I'm nearing 7 feet on the mains of the 998 and 964. That's pretty good considering that I've been with cool temperatures over the past week. Today is the first day that we're starting to see some sun in quite some time. This rainy pattern is supposed to continue through this week, but I'm hoping for some lucky breaks of sun.

The 998 is a monster. I've never had such a vigorous plant. The main vine is huge for this stage.

Is this the end?

I'm not talking about the end of my giant pumpkins.

When we have to turn our central heating on, in June? When we get more rain in one week than we usually get in a year? I've had the sprinklers off for a week now. That has never happened before. The sun is at a low ebb, but it's out of character, out of it's normal cycle.

On Friday the wind really did a number on my plants. I had to do a lot of pruning, but they will come back just fine. Right now I'm wondering when the weather will give them warm growing conditions.

Hmmm

OK, looks like I need fins, a snorkel, a mask...

Just add sun

About the only thing I could ask right now is to have some sun. We're in the second day of heavy overcast and rainy conditions.

Looking good

Welcome to June. My three best plants, the 998, 964, and 779 are as good as any that I've had at this stage. So far, we haven't had a weather event to do any damage to the plants, but perhaps it's only a matter of time.

One point that I need to write in bold letters, is that last year's 779 was grown at 13 feet out. It was probably the furthest out that I've had a fruit on a good plant. That is something to focus on... I'd like to get these fruits further out, even if it means that I'm into the second week of July to do it. But unless our weather turns cold, I have a good chance at getting some distance on some of these.

779 Warren

I have five nice plants (one is Elise's) and one that is tattered and torn, but should recover soon.

The 779 Warren, 998 Bowles, and 964 Wolf are each doing awesome. The 1392 Bresnick and 1436 Nesbitt (Elise's) are also doing great. The 1232.5 Bailey, well, I made a mistake in where I put it in the HH, and it got battered and burned as the leaves were into the plastic.

Anyway, our weather is fantastic (at least for now!) so the plastic is down early this year. I'm going to love this as long as we continue to get great weather.

Here is the 779 Warren, which is a good example of the others:

Aerobic Compost Tea

6 good plants

Well, here we are. Another hard freeze this morning. Sunspot activity is really low, and I think we're going to have a very cool summer. I have six really nice looking plants. I can't complain on that front. Hopefully this Saturday I'll be able to catch up with each of them, take pictures, etc.

Anyone out there who is reading this and has plants going, please let me know how you're doing!

998 Photo

Here is the 998, this morning. Those are milk jugs in the picture, so you can see how "tall" the plant is getting. In a few days this should fall, and then the plant starts crawling. Right now, my biggest challenge is to get each plant to fall in the right direction. Several of them seem to want to tip backward and go in the opposite direction from what I have planned for them.

Finally

I was about to say that the weather is finally getting nice, but we're supposed to go through another round of wind and cold starting this afternoon.

I only have 5 plants, plus one for Elise, this year. No backups made it out to the patch. It seems that any time I have a spare 5 minutes the wind is blowing or it's extremely cold. But each of the six plants out there is doing really well. The 998 Bowles is shaping up to be the Big Kahuna this year, and the 964 Wolf and 779 Warren are not far behind. My other two plants are the 1392 Bresnick, and the 1232.5 Bailey. Elise is growing the 1436 Nesbitt.

If I ever find a spare moment, I'll take some pictures.

25.9 degrees last night

Well, the headline says it all. I should be fine, all plants were covered.

Last night I was lying around, about 9pm, playing on my iPod. Tap, tap, scroll, and I can get an hour-by-hour report of the predicted temperatures. I saw that it was going to get down to 33. I know that for my particular spot, take what they say and subtract 7 or so degrees, and that's what you might get. It's easy to get complacent when you go about a week or so without freezing temperatures, to forget, to slip up just once and guess what? Your season is done. But the iPod really saved me last night!

Time to swim

I think I might swim out to my patch tonight....................

The weather has been very bad for giant pumpkin growers.