Monday, July 21, 2008

And then there Was One - DillBoy the Pumpkin

Since it has been over a week since my last post (very busy week) the following are the latest updates from the pumpkin patch.  DillBoy the pumpkin is now all by himself.  All of the other  pumpkins have been culled and we are hoping to create a massive sink for him (a "sink" is the draw of the plants energy to a certain location).  I took off the 2nd to last pumpkin yesterday after slowly cutting through the stem over 3 days so the transfer of energy to DillBoy would be gradual.  It was sad to see this last one go.  It was 32 lbs and putting on great gains each day.  DillBoy is a little small at 21 inches at day 10 (ideally it should have been at 27 inches), but since the other pumpkin was 6 days older, also on the main and only 3 feet away it was drawing a lot of the energy away from DillBoy.  

On Friday I gave the plant 1/2 cup of Happy Frog 5-8-4.  This is the first descent dose of fertilizer it has had in about two weeks while I have been waiting for the fruit to set. 

The sides and main continue to grow although a little bit more slowly now.  Two days of 95+ degree temperatures and growing pumpkins have taken some of the energy away.  The temps will cool off only slightly this week so we will keep misting as much as we can and adding a little extra water when necessary.

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