Based on what I remember from last year and from Greg’s recollection of the last 10+ years, the powdery mildew has made an early entrance and it’s never a welcomed one. Powdery mildew is basically a fungus that can infect many different species of plants, but for some reason it loves Curcurbits (cucumbers, squashes, pumpkins, melons and watermelons).
I just wanted to post a short update to tally the amount of active pumpkins. After another round of fish emulsion and plenty of water, pumpkins are really starting to pop up all over the patch. I did a quick count today and the patch has roughly 56 pumpkins.
The last week of July, with it’s long days, was filled with tons of growth and progress. The last frame of the animation below was taken on July 1st and the first frame was taken on around June 10th. The difference is staggering and the plants are 10 times larger (if not more)! At this point in the growing season, I’ve gone through 2 gallons of fish emulsion and it’s worth noting…
As each passing day goes by I realize more and more that everything is energy and that energy is never created or destroyed, it just changes form. Plants, just like animals, need sunlight, water and food! At one point in time the soil at the plot may have had some nutritional value, but over the years the plants have absorbed those nutrients leaving the soil defunct.
I spent about three hours at the pumpkin patch today with the rototiller. All of that walking around caused the soil to compact, making it a bit harder for the root systems to flourish. Some gardeners may advise against rototilling because it can potentially disturb the biology of the soil, but my soil isn’t the greatest in the world, so it really won’t hurt.
I’ve realized the importance of fertilizing my plants despite the fact that I added ten cubic yards of compost to my patch. While the compost I purchased was good, it wasn’t great. It was a bit premature and it seems as if a lot of the organic matter hasn’t completely broken down. Adding compost to the patch will help with water drainage and root growth this year, but it won’t really add much to the nutrient content of my soil.
Cucumber beetles can be a real menace to Cucurbitaceae family and it looks like they’ve arrived a bit early this year because of the summer-like temperatures. According to various sources, once the males feed (they’ve already started about 2-3 days ago) they seek females and mate. The females lay eggs 8-25 days after mating and the eggs hatch in about 5-8 days.
Today was the second day that I added fish emulsion fertilizer to my patch. I use Lilly Miller Alaska® Fish Fertilizer 5-1-1. I added about 1/4 of a cup to each watering can which holds about 2 gallons of water. Over the course of the two days, I spread about 8 watering cans worth over the entire plot. Mathematically that would equal out to about 2 cups of fertilizer, but since I didn’t take exact measurements, I want to say it was more like one and a half cups of fertilizer. I’ll start taking more precise measurements moving forward!
It’s May 21st and we’re expecting a 90 degree day! It’s hot and humid and feels more like the middle of summer. Mary and I got up early (9AM is early for us) and headed to the patch to give the plants a drink so that they don’t dry out from the heat.
Today I put up a scarecrow that I made using a couple pieces of wood, a Funkin, a flannel and a hat from the Salvation Army. I’m not exactly sure that it will keep the geese away, but it definitely gives the patch a fun touch! I plan on swapping the pumpkin for a Jack-O-Lantern come October!
