2017 Giant Pumpkin Fertilizer Program

The following is a modification of my "secret" giant pumpkin fertilizing program.  The soil requirements for this new pumpkin patch is much different than my old patch, so I've made some changes.  In addition to what is listed below, I'll also be putting down a little Azos, myko, kelp and Humic acid to each leaf node.  What is listed below doesn't include what I amended the soil with in the Fall and Spring.  Most of the fertilizers and nutrients products are NPK Industries' RAW fertilizers.

May planting outdoors in hoop houses:
Week 1	B-vitamin, liquid seaweed/kelp, compost tea. With RAW Microbes and Azos in the planting hole.
Week 2	RAW phosphorous, compost tea, fulvic acid, yucca, silica, Biotamax
Week 3	compost tea, foliar seaweed, foliar humic acid
Week 4	compost tea, fish & seaweed, Azos, Actinovate with iron, omina, silica
June vine running:
Week 5	blood meal (for nitrate nitrogen), compost tea, yucca, TKO
Week 6	foliar multi-mineral, yucca, foliar seaweed, fulvic acid, RAW Flower, Omina
Week 7	foliar humic acid, compost tea (pollination)
Week 8	foliar multi-mineral, foliar seaweed, foliar humic acid, yucca, potassium
July fruit (assumed that pumpkin pollination will be around the last week of June):
Week 9	foliar potassium, omina, seaweed
Week 10	foliar fish & seaweed, foliar multimineral, B-vitamins, RAW Flower
Week 11	TKO, foliar fish & seaweed, biotamax, actinovate
Week 12	cane molasses, foliar multi-mineral, RAW Grow, foliar humic acid/seaweed
August
Week 13	Omina, Raw Flower, foliar multi-mineral, compost tea, silica, foliar actinovate, B-vitamins, RAW Microbes
Week 14	potassium, Actinovate, azos, yucca, foliar fish & seaweed, foliar humic acid
Week 15	foliar multi-mineral, foliar fish & seaweed, foliar humic acid, silica, RAW Grow
Week 16	TKO, cane molasses, fish & seaweed on the soil, foliar seaweed, fulvic acid
September
Week 17	foliar multi-mineral, foliar fish seaweed, foliar humic acid, B-vitamins, RAW Flower
Week 18	TKO, foliar seaweed, foliar humic acid, cane molasses, silica, mono ammonium phosphate
Week 19	potassium, foliar seaweed, foliar humic acid
Week 20	foliar potassium, foliar seaweed, foliar humic acid

The Proof is in the (Fertilizer) Pudding

Early this spring I gave my Jupiter Beard plant some RAW brand fertilizers and then again just before flowering.  In years past this plant would be about 3 feet tall.  Look at it now!  The weather has been relatively good this year, but not ideal, but the plant has just exploded.  Nearly as tall as my 10-year-old son.  I have to attribute at least some of it to these fertilizers.

How to Get 13% More Growth on Your Pumpkin in September

We are coming to the end of the season.  Not long now until the weigh-offs.  For some, they are looking at personal best pumpkins and possible state record giant pumpkins.  Even if you don't have a pumpkin this year quite as big as you would have liked it to be, there is still time to add a lot of weight to your pumpkin in September to finish it off.  What if you could add an additional 13% or more to your pumpkin by just doing three things?!  Wouldn't you do it?  It could make the difference in moving up one or two places in the standings.  And the solution is simple if you know the right fertilizers and nutrients for late season growth.

The first thing to do is to start foliar and soil applications of potassium sulfate.  Why specifically potassium sulfate?  The chart below from one study on cantaloupe tells the story:

The most interesting part of this chart is potassium in the fruit.  Potassium is found in large quantities in pumpkins, so the more you can get to the fruit the better.  In the same study yields were also found to be higher in cantaloupe receiving potassium sulfate.  In comparison to the control group, yields were 13% higher in the group receiving soil and foliar potassium sulfate over the control group.

Late in the season the potassium in the soil may start to become less than optimal or even deficient for what the roots can reach. One pumpkin study found:

"If potassium is deficient or not supplied in adequate amounts, growth is stunted and yields are reduced . Potassium is associated with movement of water, nutrients and carbohydrates in plants. The relation between potassium and fruity vegetables such as pumpkin is well established long time ago. There is increasing evidence from the literature that optimizing the potassium nutritional status of plants can reduce the detrimental build up of reactive oxygen species (ROS) which result from various environmental stress factors. In addition, it is widely acceptable that in general, high potassium status in crops decreases the incidence of diseases and pests."

In my own soil reports from the spring to the spring of the next year, with no potassium being added to the soil, I've seen my potassium levels drop 500ppm.  Even if you have adequate levels of potassium in your soil it may not all be available to the plant, so supplemental potassium could help keep the plant from bonking late in the season.  Watch this video to learn more.

Second, foliar and soil applications of nitrogen at this point of the season might also be a good idea for the same reasons.  Although nitrogen tends to be more available to the plants that other nutrients, nitrogen levels can drop due to leaching from the heavy watering most growers do during the season as well as the plant using it up.  One grower, who is very knowledgeable and has grown some monsters once told me that some late season splits are sometimes due to inadequate nitrogen.  So giving the plant a little extra nitrogen now could pay off big time on the scale.

Lastly, giving your soil some RAW Cane Molasses now could also give you a lot on the scale later.  At this point of the season, when the demands on the plant are great and it is getting tired the plant can be more stingy giving sugars back to the soil microbes that are giving the plant nutrients.  Because of this the soil biology can start to slow down.  Applying some RAW Cane Molasses to soil can give those microbes an added boost so they will continue to give nutrients to the plant that will power the pumpkin's growth.

A Cocktail of RAW OminA, Fulvic Acid, Humic Acid & Calcium for Plant Calcium Uptake

This morning I did a drench of  RAW OminA (learn more), fulvic acid (learn more), humic acid (learn more) and calcium on both plants.  Like I mentioned before, there was some research that suggested that a pumpkin takes in more calcium (read here) just before and just after pollination.  That is a good thing, so in following that theory I gave both of the pumpkin plants a mixture of chelators and aminos that will help make the calcium in the soil more available.  Those items will actually grab the calcium that is bound up in the soil like a claw so the plant can take it up. 

Not only will calcium be made more available but other nutrients in the soil will also become more available.

Don't give the plant too much OminA at this time.  It is a nitrogen source and you don't want to give the plant much nitrogen at pollination.  Just a small application should be enough to open up calcium ion channels in the plant's roots to get the desired effect.

I'm guessing right now that I'll be pollinating the 1985 female flower on Sunday or Monday.  The 282 female flower will probably be Tuesday or Wednesday.

Giant Pumpkin Fertilizer Program: Part 2

In this post I'm going to discuss in some detail the methodology behind my giant pumpkin fertilizer program. Previously I listed out my fertilizer program which is also listed below.  This fertilizer program should work for many environments but should be adjusted to your specific soil needs.  For example, if you have low PH and need calcium in your soil you would probably be adding lime to your soil.  My soil is high PH, high phosphorous and high potassium so you won't see me adding lime or much potassium or phosphorous to the soil.

Looking at the program below, you'll see that in early May I'm trying to get beneficial biology going in the soil early to help protect the roots and add beneficial bacteria and fungi that will help feed the plant.   In the 2nd week I'm also adding a touch of RAW Phosphouous to the soil.  This particular type of phosphorous, when added in the first three weeks after transplant has been shown to increase root mass by 20%.  Who wouldn't want that?

You'll not that in may I'm not giving much in the way of fertilizers to the plant at this point.  What I am giving is being spoon feed in small quantities.  The soil should be built up enough to properly feed the plant.  You'll also note the kelp I've giving to the plant roots.  This will help build the roots system with different plant hormones that comes from kelp.  The main focus of May should be on the roots of the plant.

In June I'm still spoon feeding the plant but adding a little nitrogen.  The RAW Nitrogen and RAW ominA will help support vine growth and in June it is all about the vines.  A good portion of the nitrogen the plant is going to take up in its live is going to be during the month of June.  RAW ominA is a very interesting product that I just learned about this year.  Not only is it a nitrogen source, but the amino acids that are include in ominA can help open calcium ion pathways by the thousands and even millions.  More calcium in the plant means a healthier plant that is more disease and insect resistent.   Since I have soil that is a little high in potassium, which is antagonistic to the uptake of calcium, I was thrilled to learn what ominA could help me do in my patch. 

Around the third week and fourth week of June is pollination time.  So around that time I'm going to give the plant a drench of ominA, humic acid, fulvic acid and calcium.  Some research shows that the newly growing pumpkin can take in more calcium initially so by adding omina, fulvic acid and humic acid I hope to chelate the calcium in the soil to make it available to the plant.  Again small quantities here.  I don't want to give the plant much nitrogen at pollination time because that is going to want to make the plant grow vines and at this stage I want the plant to start focusing on fruit.

In the past I've kind of held off on potassium around pollination time.  Some have suggested it can cause the fruit to abort.  That could be true, but I also want to grow a pumpkin as big as I possibly can so I'm going to give the plant foliar TKO around pollination time to help the fruit and flowering of the plant and then after pollination spoon feed with a little potassium.

About 24-28 days after pollination that pumpkin should really start to take off.  By this time the plant has hopefully grown to a descent size and some of the side vines on the plant should be terminated.  You should pollinate the pumpkin on the main vine after 9 feet (14 feet would be closer to ideal) and the side vines and main vine should have grown big enough that there are enough leaves and root system to support the growth of the pumpkin.  At about day 28-32 the vines on the plant should really start to slow down in growth as the pumpkin becomes the main sink of the plant (aka black hole).

In July and August the fertilizer program is about supporting the pumpkin growth.  The plant is going to pull up a lot of potassium from the soil.  Like I said before, my soil is a touch high in potassium, but even with that the rhizosphere around the root hairs can only reach so much potassium and as that pumpkin rings the dinner bell, we will want to make sure the plant has what it needs.  This is where some foliar applications can be helpful.

You'll note that each month I'm giving the plants some B-Vitamins. Only in the last few years have scientists figured out how B-vitamins help support the plant.  Basically it triggers a systemic response in the plant that makes it more resistant to insects, pathogens, heat and other stresses.  One application will help the plant for about two weeks.

You'll also notice that towards the end of August I'll be giving the plants a little Cane Molasses.  In the later stages a plant will give less sugars back to the microbes in the soil.  A little cane molasses gives the microbes the carbohydrates they need and in return they will have the energy they need to give nutrients to the plant in the late season.

September is about making sure that the plant has what it needs to continue growth of the pumpkin.  In the past I haven't had great growth in September.  That is partially due to weather but I think my plants on bonking in September and are tired so I'm missing out on wait gains, particularly at the beginning of the month.  So a primary focus this season will be better nutrient management in late August and early September to make sure I'm pushing the pumpkin to the end of the season.

This fertilizer program is a guideline. Read your plants to see what they are telling you what they need.  Don't over fertilize, anticipate needs before they happen and watch the weather because that can sometimes influence when and how much you give a plant.  Grow em big in 2015!  If you are looking for discount fertilizers? Visit our store at seeds.denverpumpkins.com.

May planting outdoors in hoop houses:
Week 1	B-vitamin, liquid seaweed, compost tea. With mykos, myco grow, Rootshield and Azos in the planting hole.
Week 2	phosphorus, compost tea, fulvic acid, yucca, silica
Week 3	compost tea, foliar seaweed, foliar humic acid
Week 4	compost tea, fish & seaweed, Azos, Biotamax, Actinovate with iron, Rootshild, omina, silica
June vine running:
Week 5	Omina, nitrogen, compost tea, yucca
Week 6	TKO, foliar multimineral, foliar fish & seaweed, fulvic acid, calcium, ominA, humic acid
Week 7	foliar humic acid, compost tea
Week 8	foliar multimineral, foliar seaweed, foliar humic acid, yucca
July fruit (assumed that pumpkin pollination will be around the last week of June):
Week 9	foliar potassium, Omina
Week 10	foliar fish & seaweed, foliar multimineral, B-vitamins
Week 11	potassium, foliar fish & seaweed, biotamax, actinovate
Week 12	cane molasses, foliar multimineral, fish & seaweed on the soil, foliar humic acid
August
Week 13	Omina, foliar fish & seaweed, foliar multimineral, compost tea, foliar actinovate, B-vitamins
Week 14	potassium, Actinovate, Biotamax, azos, yucca, foliar fish & seaweed, foliar humic acid
Week 15	foliar multi-mineral, foliar fish & seaweed, foliar humic acid
Week 16	TKO, cane molasses, fish & seaweed on the soil, foliar seaweed, fulvic acid
September
Week 17	foliar multimineral, foliar fish & seaweed, foliar humic acid, foliar actinovate
Week 18	TKO, foliar fish & seaweed, foliar humic acid, cane molasses
Week 19	potassium, foliar seaweed, foliar humic acid
Week 20	foliar potassium, foliar seaweed, foliar humic acid

Latest Photos from the Pumpkin Patch

Weather in Colorado has been a bit schizophrenic this week.  93 degrees one day.  Cool the next. Sun in the morning and then rain in the afternoon and then sun again and then heavy storms in the evening.  For the first time I saw puddles form in the patch from the heavy rains.  Even when we had the floods in Colorado 3 years ago that didn't happen.

The 1985 Miller is 6-8 inches from the end of the hoop house and I can't reposition the hoop house any more.  Sunday or Monday I'll have to remove the hoop house.  Fortunately the weather forecast is looking a little better.  I'm glad I didn't have to take them out sooner because I wouldn't have wanted the plants out in this weather, even with hail netting over the plants.

The 1985 looks very 2009ish to me.  The fact is that it should look that way, but from a genetic standpoint both plants are very similar.  If you look at the shape of the leaves on both plants they almost look identical.

I can tell the RAW Nitrogen (learn more) I gave the plants kicked in.  This type of nitrogen is one of the few non-organic fertilizers that I give plants but the quantities are small and this type of nitrogen is readily available to the plants.  The leaves got bigger on both plants and the side vines have started growing a little faster.

The 282 plant is looking better all of the time.  Growth on the main vine for it might be a touch faster than the 1985 at the same stage.  It still has some catching up to do, but I have more and more hope for this plant all the time.  

How to use EC Testing of Soil for Proper Fertilizing

The year I'm trying something different in the pumpkin patch.  After a conversation with Don Barron last season it drove home what I have heard other growers say and something I've known for years but wasn't sure what to do about.  In the Spring and Fall typically I'll do a soil test so I know what I need to amend the soil with, but during the season I've been clueless as to what is going on in the soil.  The last couple of years I've done a tissue test which helps some, but they are expensive and one test doesn't necessarily tell you what the plant needs to grow a bigger pumpkin.

When I heard about what world record grower holder Beni Meir was doing with EC testing was it perked up my ears.  Basically Beni used an EC testing device that tests the salts in his soil to figure out when to fertilize.  Basically nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium are salts and the electrical conductivity tester gives a reading of how much salts are in a solution.  An EC tester won't tell you what nutrient a plant needs or what nutrient is deficient, but when testing during the season you can see the EC numbers drop as the season goes on and when the numbers go down you can then hit the soil with some fertilizer to get the numbers back to optimum levels.

During the season I'll give some updates on this and what I find.  I did an interesting test today where I tested the soil inside of both hoop houses and outside of both hoop houses and it was clear that with all of the rain we've had there has been some leaching.

Today I gave both plants some compost tea with cane molasses and RAW Omina (learn more).   The cane molasses is a food source for soil microbes so it helps promote microbial activity.  When I first learned of Omina I was super excited.  My soil is too high with potassium.  Potassium, in large quantities, can be antagonistic in the uptake of calcium.  Omina can make nutrients in the soil more available and you can increase calcium ion uptake by 1000% because of some of the aminos that are in Omina.  Omina is 14-0-0 so the nitrogen in it will help support the current vine growth.  My vines are growing 6-8 inches a day right now.  That should put me close to a June 24th pollination with a little luck.

NEW! Pumpkin Fertilizers Now Available

I've mentioned before that not all fertilizers are created equal.  I've tested a lot of different fertilizers over the years and have wanted to bring a world-class product line of fertilizers to the pumpkin growing community.  They are now available!  In the top menu of this blog you can now access the full line of NPK Industries RAW fertilizers and biostimulants directly from The Pumpkin Man.  These fertilizers are the purest, most cutting edge and best you can give to your garden.  A little of them goes a long ways.  One 2 oz package can make up to 200 gallons of product, so they are a great value.  Not only that, I offer them at the lowest prices you can find on the web with super low shipping.  I want to help you grow big this year!   Use discount code 'pumpkin' during checkout and get an extra 10% off the already everyday low prices.  More product coming soon!  http://seeds.denverpumpkins.com

Want to know why these fertilizers are the best and how to use them optimally.  Listen directly from the scientist:

Cal/Mag for the Pumpkin Plants

To encourage a little more vining on my pumpkin plants I gave them a little RAW Cal/Mag this evening.  Growing has been okay, but with less than desirable weather, I decided to try to push them along a little more.

Why Not All Fertilizers are the Same

During my college years, I had a number of friends who were into bodybuilding. I found the supplements and how they could be used to build muscle fascinating. Frankly, I did more research than your average pencil neck geek. However, in the early days, I have to shake my head at some of the worthless stuff I bought. Marketing hype sometimes drove purchases because of my ignorance.  At other times, good research was done, but the studies were early and later researched disproved the early hypotheses. On some occasions good quality supplements were purchased, but the the quantities of the key ingredients were so low that no good would come from them. Much of all of this is the same when it comes to picking fertilizers for your pumpkin plants. All fertilizer labels should read, "Buyer beware!"

I have to chuckle to myself when I go into a hydroponic shop. It kind of looks like a GNC store. Slick looking labels, marketing lingo and lots of promises. You look at the label on some of these products and most of them have good ingredients but very little of the key ingredients. Then you look at the price. For 1/2 the price you could get 3x the amount of product if you got the fertilizer at somewhere other than a hydroponic store. If you were to test the products, in some cases you would find that there was very little of the key ingredients in the bottle. I think of a popular mycorrhiza product that was recently tested and it was found that it pretty much was just kitty litter in the bottle. This is the same product I see getting rave reviews on some of the forums.

If I told you I had a product that in studies it was found, when given in the proper doses, would double your plant size and yield, it may grab your interest. Then what if I told you that this plant supplement was found to increase beneficial microbe activity, increase root mass and was found in university studies to increase fruit yield by over 25%, it may grab your attention. Then, what if I told you is that this magic elixur, used by the past 5 world record giant pumpkin growers could be yours for just $10 per pound, would you buy some?  Then, what if I told you this magic supplement was, drum roll please: water!?

If you go through and read my claims in the previous paragraph you'll find that all of the statements I made were accurate. Water would do all of that for your plant, and although misleading, nothing was a lie. Now you understand how the marketers do it.

Having said all of that, don't think you should not buy fertilizer and other nutrients for your plants. In many cases you need them. But do your research first. Read everything you can. If a fertilizer makes a claim, go read the first hand source and see if it matches up to the claim. Ask other growers if they have used the supplement and what they found. And then do your own trials and take notes. There are great things out on the market, even more than just 6 years ago. But be an informed grower, save money and get a bigger pumpkin!

Secret Giant Pumpkin Fertilizing Program

The following is my "secret"giant pumpkin fertilizing program.  This fertilizer program will be modified during the season, depending on what the plant is telling me.  In addition to what is listed below, I'll also be putting down a little Azos, myko, kelp and Rootshield to each leaf node.  What is listed below doesn't include what I amended the soil with in the Fall and Spring.  The Fish & Seaweed is Neptune's, foliar multimineral is Albions' Metosolate multimineral and most of the other products are NPK Industries' RAW fertilizers. 

If you would like to see a great video that not only explains how and when to use fertilizers, but why, watch this video:

The Giant Pumpkin Fertilizer Program

Please note that the quantities of different fertilizers being applied here are very small. You want to spoon feed the plant to push it along and don't want to pour on the fertilizers which can sometimes do more harm than good.  Fertilizers should be applied in the early morning or the evening.  Most of these fertilizers, bio-stimulants and nutrients are available at a discount at http://seeds.giantpumpkinman.com/fertilizers.

May planting outdoors in hoop houses:
Week 1	B-vitamin, liquid seaweed/kelp, compost tea. With mykos, myco grow, Rootshield and Azos in the planting hole.
Week 2	phosphorus, compost tea, fulvic acid, yucca, silica
Week 3	compost tea, foliar seaweed, foliar humic acid
Week 4	compost tea, fish & seaweed, Azos, Biotamax, Actinovate with iron, Rootshild, omina, silica
June vine running:
Week 5	blood meal (for nitrate nitrogen), compost tea, yucca
Week 6	TKO, foliar multi-mineral, foliar fish & seaweed, fulvic acid, Omina, cal/mag
Week 7	foliar humic acid, compost tea
Week 8	foliar multi-mineral, foliar seaweed, foliar humic acid, yucca
July fruit (assumed that pumpkin pollination will be around the last week of June):
Week 9	foliar potassium, Omina
Week 10	foliar fish & seaweed, foliar multimineral, B-vitamins
Week 11	potassium, foliar fish & seaweed, biotamax, actinovate
Week 12	cane molasses, foliar multi-mineral, fish & seaweed on the soil, foliar humic acid
August
Week 13	Omina, foliar fish & seaweed, foliar multi-mineral, compost tea, silica, foliar actinovate, B-vitamins
Week 14	potassium, Actinovate, Biotamax, azos, yucca, foliar fish & seaweed, foliar humic acid
Week 15	foliar multi-mineral, foliar fish & seaweed, foliar humic acid, silica
Week 16	TKO, cane molasses, fish & seaweed on the soil, foliar seaweed, fulvic acid
September
Week 17	foliar multi-mineral, foliar fish & seaweed, foliar humic acid, B-vitamins
Week 18	TKO, foliar fish & seaweed, foliar humic acid, cane molasses, silica
Week 19	potassium, foliar seaweed, foliar humic acid
Week 20	foliar potassium, foliar seaweed, foliar humic acid

2 Inches of Rain and it is Still Coming Down; Plant Tissue Tests

It has been raining like crazy for the last 24 hours.  Two inches so far in the pumpkin patch.  I like a good rain, but this is a little too much.

I got my tissue test report back just now.  I'm glad I sent it in because what has been going on makes a little more sense now, although some of the numbers are a little surprising.    I sent in two leaf stalks on Friday and the lab gave me a pretty detailed report along with recommendations. In the spring I sent in a soil sample and had it tested so I know what my soil had it and I amended it accordingly.  The interesting thing is that you can be very high in something like magnesium and get a tissue test and it will show magnesium low in the plant.   That will be somewhat explained later.

My soil was high in sulfur, phosphorus and nitrogen in the spring.  My tissue test shows low numbers for each of those items.  Some of this I can't explain very well.  Others I know are being blocked from being taken up by the roots because other nutrients that are a little too high in quantity are taking up the cations or places that they can be absorbed by the roots.

The tissue test also showed I was low for zinc, manganese and copper.  Those I'm traditionally low in and apply foliar applications to help with that.

What I'll be doing over the next few weeks is applying regular foliar applications of nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, zinc, manganese and iron.  I'll also apply some blood meal to the soil to increase the nitrogen.

This tissue test explains what I've been seeing in the plants.  The lighter colored leaves near the vine tips is from a lack of nitrogen and magnesium.  It is more pronounced right now with all of the rain going on because nitrogen and magnesium are hard for the plant to uptake with the saturated soil.

This evening I did an application of fish & seaweed.  With all of this rain I don't want to over do it but I also wanted to correct these deficiencies right away to get the pumpkins growing better.

Getting Your Soil Just Right for a Big Pumpkin

I'm frequently asked what you should feed a giant pumpkin.  Good soil is the key.  To get a good soil built up takes a little time and a soil test.  The soil test will tell you exactly what the soil has and what it needs.  What should a good soil have?  

The following are some good target numbers:

• 6-9% organic matter

• pH of around 6.8 

• Nitrogen around 30-40ppm

• Phosphourous:  170ppm

• Potassium:  550ppm

• Magnesium:  350ppm

• Calcium:  2525ppm

These numbers are based on averages from patches that have grown pumpkins 1,200 to 1,800 pounds in recent years.  Giant pumpkin plants seem to however do quite well in wider ranges of soil nutrients than some other plants and can take what they need.  However if you have a well balanced soil it will go a long way in growing a new state record.

Getting Some Growth After The Pumpkin

This evening I sprayed the vines on the 1421 plant after the pumpkin with some NurtiCal to try go get a little better vine growth after the pumpkin.  The big rains never happened today at all.  Cool temps today however in Colorado.

CalCarb and Foliar Magnesium for the Pumpkin Plants

I gave the pumpkin plants some CalCarb and magnesium this morning as a foliar application.  My soil potassium is high and potassium will often out compete with magnesium in the cations to get absorbed by the roots.  As such I apply the magnesium as a foliar application to help the plant get magnesium. My magnesium source is just Epsom salt that you can buy at any drug store.

The next couple of days are going to be warm in Colorado so the CalCarb is used to help the plant with the heat.  The CalCarb helps the plant keep water and deal with the heat stress.

A Little Fox Farms Organic Big Bloom for the Pumpkin Plants

Today I gave the pumpkin plants some foliar and drench Big Bloom with their water.  It is a very mild organic fertilizer.  Less than 1% of NPK.  The plants are growing, although not terribly fast and I'm not sure why.  I'm not overly concerned about it at this point, but I would have expected the vines to be down by now, but they are not.  Both plants however have very thick stumps so that often keeps the vines up in the air longer.