Foliar Feeding Pumpkin Leaves with Seaweed & Humic Acid

I can't think of anything that could be better to foliar feed a pumpkin plant with than seaweed/kelp and humic acid.  The two work synergisticly together to provide a lot of benefits to the plant.  Improved laterally branching, cell elongation, leaves that stay healthier longer and improve fruit set are just some of the value that comes from seaweed.   Those values are improved further when humic acid is applied with the seaweed/kelp.

This evening I did a foliar application of RAW Kelp along with RAW Humic Acid.

Fertilizer Moving Sale; Everything Must Go

As we prepare to move to the new house, I'm going to offer a 25% off discount code on all fertilizers at http://seeds.giantpumpkinman.com/fertilizers.  This means an extra 25% off the already lowest prices you'll find on the internet.  Just enter the discount code of 'moving' during checkout to take advantage of this great deal.  This offer will end on July 12th, so stock up now.  Limited quantities of some items are available, so you'll not want to wait.  Place you order today!

Kelp for Tired Pumpkin Leaves

Do a little test with some liquid kelp (aka seaweed) on a pumpkin leaf and you will see some of the power of kelp.  Put a drop of the kelp on a leaf and then pull that leaf from the plant and watch what happens were the spot of kelp was applied.  Over a number of days you'll see the majority of the leaf shrivel and dry out, but the spot were the kelp was applied will stay green longer. 

I personally have never done research as to why this happens, but I would guess it is a combination of nutrients and cytonkins in the kelp.  I know kelp can help pull nutrients into the plant, so my guess is that the hormones in the kelp along with the many nutrients it supplies gives it the ability to keeps the cells alive longer.  If you have a more scientific explanation, please let me know.

I like to use kelp on my plants.  I think tired old leaves that have been beaten up in the wind and hot sun during the summer can get a number of benefits from kelp this time of year (for that matter, all year around).  Healthy leaves late in the season add a lot of pounds to a pumpkin.  My biggest pumpkin had the healthiest looking leaves I've ever had later into the season.  The vast majority of the leaves were green and shiny right until we got a very big rain storm for a week in September and only after that did the plant start to show some age.

This evening I gave the 1985 Miller plant a foliar application of 2 tablespoons of liquid kelp, 1 tablespoon of liquid fish, with some fulvic acid and yucca.   I also sprayed some of it under the leaf canopy onto the ground.  Humic acid and/or fulvic acid enhances the benefits of kelp, so when doing foliar applications always apply a little of one or the other or both with the kelp.

I used to buy the bottle so liquid seaweed, but I found it cheaper to buy the dried, concentrate kelp and mix it with water.  The price is about the same for the two, but with the dried kelp you get gallons of product rather than just a small bottle.

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.

Watching the Vine Tips to Figure Out What the Plant Needs

Over the last week or so I noticed the the vine tips on the 282 Scherber plant hasn't had much mass.  Often times that indicates that the pumpkin is sucking the life out of the plant (which is a good thing) as the plant starts putting all of its energy to growing the pumpkin.  In this case, the pumpkin is only the size of a football because of the late pollination, so I knew that wasn't the case.  In most cases I would have given the plant some nitrogen earlier, but I didn't want to do anything that could cause the fruit to abort so I've held of on giving it nitrogen. 

Today I have it a foliar spray of RAW Nitrogen with some liquid fish fertilizer.  The RAW Nitrogen will give the plant an instant nitrogen fix, while the nitrogen in the fish will be a slower release and also give the plant some phosphorus and potassium as well as micro minerals along with it.  In the next couple of days I should see the vine tips on that plant perk up some and see more leaf mass in the head of the vine tip.

Protecting the Pumpkin Leaves & Battling Powdery Mildew

The first week of August I always recommend an application of Actinovate and RAW Silica to the pumpkin leaves to help battle powdery mildew and other leaf diseases.  At this point of the season older leaves become vulnerable to diseases as they lose their resistance due to age.  Once these leaves get infected they become the base camp to spread spores to other leaves and then you can start getting problems.  Actinovate is a biological fungicide that I've found to be effective in helping keep powdery mildew at bay.  Once you have powdery mildew it can only help minimally, but if you start applying the end of July and beginning of August you'll find your leaves do considerably better to the end of the season.  You'll still get some powdery mildew, but it will be controlled much better than without it.

RAW Silica is a biogenic silica that works as part of the systemic resistance of the plant.  The plant takes the silica to the points of infection and crystalizes the cells around the infection to make it more difficult for the disease to spread.  Unlike most silica products on the market, the RAW Silica is Ph neutral so it isn't as high in Ph as most products which makes it more friendly to beneficial bio organisms.  You can't over use a biogenic silica, like you can a potassium silica, because the plant can only take in so much, so you can use it every week to get the multiple benefits of silica.

The Actinovate I applied earlier this week I noticed was past its expiration date so I reapplied from a new bag today along with the silica.

Foliar Multi-mineral & Fulvic Acid for the Pumpkin Plants

Today I took off the pollination on the 282 Scherber plant.  Hated to cut it off because I think it would have been my biggest 10 day measurement ever at its current pace, but when I took off the flower petals yesterday it was obviously herniated and as the pumpkin grew it would have easily blown.   Next pollination is going to be about 5-6 days.

Weather is going to cool down in Colorado over the next few days with a descent amount of rain, so I did a foliar application of multi-mineral with a touch of RAW Full Up (fulvic acid), RAW Grow and RAW Yucca. 

Some Foliar Fish & TKO for the Pumpkin Plants

I'm doing something a little different this year.  In the past I would have never gave any fertilizer to the plants at pollination time, but this year I'm trying to read the plants and just give them what they need.  Maybe a little riskier, but I think it could yield better results.  This evening I did a foliar application of fish with a little TKO and RAW Yucca in it.  Both quantities were small (1 tsp of each) so I'm hoping it will just nudge the pumpkins along rather than abort them.

Temperatures in Denver were nice today but it is going to be 95 degrees tomorrow.  Will be putting down extra water for that.  Unfortunately the well was down today so I can only do overhead sprinkling right now which isn't ideal because you end up with big dry areas because the big pumpkin leaves act like umbrellas so the watering is very uneven.

Pic from the Patch

What a difference a week makes.  1985 Miller is growing a foot a day on the main vine right now.  A female has finally showed up on the vine tip, so I should be pollinating in about 7-10 days.

A little leaf burn on the plants new growth today because of 95 degree temps.  Even with misting the plant every 15 minutes it is a little warm.  Did a foliar application of multi-mineral along with some Lithovit and RAW Yucca this evening.  The Lithovit seems to help a little with preventing the leaf burn.

A Little Bloom to Push a long some Flowering of the Pumpkin Plant

Flowering can take a fair amount of energy from the pumpkin plant so I hit both plants with a very small amount of foliar RAW Bloom (3-12-12) this evening.  A little nudge with phosphorous and potassium can encourage flowering.  However, too much can change up the chemistry and give you the opposite effect.

I have to admit I'm getting a little impatient right now.  Both of my plants have females on the main vine at around the 10 foot mark.  However, I'd like to see my plants bigger before I pollinate a keeper.  I'll pollinate everything because you never know what you'll get and what will take, but ideally I'd like to pollinate at around 14-16' range on the main this year.  I'd also like to pollinate by the 24th if possible.  Problem with that is that once a female shows up, depending on the weather (females seem to develop faster when it is hot out), it is typically 7-10 days until a female flower opens.  That means I need females to show up tomorrow or the next day on the main vine. 

When it comes to females it can really be hit or miss as to when they show up.  When a plant is ready they will sometimes just start popping up all over the place.  Some plants might just get a few females on it at all, so you take what you can get. I think a lack of flowering is sometimes a genetic thing and other times it is because of too much nitrogen in the soil or other imbalances.  Nitrogen will encourage vining and the plant can't just can't switch to flowering mode if there is too much.

One thing you have to look at when it comes to newly pollinated pumpkins is their position on the vine.  Ideally you want that pumpkin to be in a place where that vine won't get kinked or crushed by the pumpkin as it grows.  It is hard to remember, but that pumpkin could be 4-5 feet across at the end of the season and if the pumpkin isn't positioned well, you will have all kinds of problems with the pumpkin trying to pick itself off the vine if it isn't positioned properly.

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

Vines are Down, Time for the Plant to Grow

I went out of town on Friday and got back today.  Plants are looking better, but a bit off color still.  A little sun today and a few days of sunny weather to come should help with that.  Both the 1415 and the 1985 plants have their vines on the ground now and are just over 3 feet long now.  At this point I would have liked to see the vines about a foot longer, but a month of no sun and cool weather has slowed things down.  Today I gave the plants a little foliar fish to help push it a long a little.  Also did a drench of Biotamax, Actinovate with iron and Myco Grow.  Next week we will add some nitrogen to the mix to start pushing those vines along.

It has been interesting to watch the plants in the yard.  At the end of April we were about 2 week ahead of schedule in plant growth.  We are now about 3-5 days behind because of the weather in May.  I'm guessing that when thing warm up everything is going to explode.

Pictured below are the plants.

1985 Miller

1415 Scherber

Yellow Pumpkin Leaves; The Diagnosis

Yellowing pumpkin leaves is a somewhat common problem that can have lots of causes.  Nutrient deficiency, lack of sun, disease and over watering are the most common issues.  Trouble shooting the issue can be a challenge.  Nutrient deficiencies are going to be typically one of three things: nitrogen, magnesium or iron.  A nitrogen deficiency will typically show up as overall yellowing of the plant with slow growth.  An iron deficiency will typically have yellowing leaves that start at the top of the plant.  A magnesium deficiency will start with yellowing leaves on the bottom of the plant.  To fix this, a foliar application with some fulvic acid (learn more) or humic acid (learn more) will typically solve the issue.  However, you have to look at factors that are driving the issue as well.  Over watering can cause issues with nutrient uptake, so if that is what is causing the deficiency then decrease watering.  Lack of sun light can also cause similar issues because the plant can use the nutrients it has to do photosynthesis.

This morning I went out to the hoop houses to give the plants water with kelp (learn more) and fulvic acid in it.  The plants have been a bit yellow for weeks because we've had almost no sun for the entire month of May.  This morning I could see however that the situation had become worse.  As you can see the bottom leaves are very yellow on the 1415 and 282 plants.  So after doing the drench on all of the plants I did a foliar application of epsom salts and multi-mineral with some humic acid in it.  I'm really, really looking forward to some sunny days, because if we don't start getting some sun I think I'm going to be having some real problems.

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

Foliar Feeding the Pumpkin Plant

A great way to feed your giant pumpkin plant is to foliar feed them.  I believe that where foliar feeding can be the most beneficial is giving small quantities of fertilizers and nutrients where there might be minor (or major) deficiencies.

The leaves of a giant pumpkin plant can absorb many nutrients which can be quickly taken into the plant.  Don't however believe all of the hype when it comes to foliar feeding your plants.  I know the studies that are sometimes referenced when some companies are promoting their products and how much better foliar feeding is than any other method.  The fact is that some of what the studies say are being stretched by the manufactures.  The fact is that it really depends on what type of plant you are foliar feeding and what you are spraying that will determine the value.  Also how often you foliar feed.

Like I mentioned before, some types of nutrients can't very easily enter through the leaf.  Calcium is one of those.  However, based on my leaf tissue tests, I think I may have that one figured out.  My potassium in my soil is high.  Potassium can block calcium from being taken up by the roots so based on that my calcium in the leaves should be a little low.  However, my tissue tests actually had my calcium on the high side, so I believe the multi-mineral foliar applications of chelated calcium that is wrapped in an organic material is allowing the calcium to get into the plant.  Now the question is can that calcium move to the pumpkin.  That is somewhat of an unknown.  However, if the leaves are loaded with calcium then in theory there should be lots of calcium available to go to the pumpkin.  That is just a theory however.

I use a pump canister that is used for spraying stain to foliar feed my plants.  They are exactly the same as the garden pumpkin canisters but cost a couple dollars less and are just a few isles away in the same Lowes or Home Depot.  I'll usually add whatever I'm foliar feeding in relatively small quantities (1 or 2 tablespoons) to about 3 1/2 liters of water.  Sometimes I'll add Yucca extract which is a non-ionic wetter to help the water stay on the leaves and not bead up and drip off.  I'll then spray the tops and bottoms of the leaves as best I can until they are wet but not dripping wet.  The stomata in a pumpkin plants leaves are larger on the underside of the leaves so try to get the bottom sprayed as best you can, but it isn't easy.  Especially this time of year when the plants are large. 

This evening I gave my plants 1 tablespoon of magnesium sulphate with one tablespoon of multi-mineral that was sprayed on both plants.

Building the Nitrogen & Phosphorous in the Plants

I was a fair amount low on nitrogen and I was a little low in phosphorous in the pumpkin plants according to the tissue tests.  This evening I gave the plants some fish & seaweed 2-3-1 as a foliar application.  I'm hoping that I now have put down enough nitrogen over the last 5 days that we are fairly close to getting the plant's nitrogen levels back to normal.   I'll hit the plants again on Thursday with more nitrogen and I'll continue to apply nitrogen in small amounts on a regular basis until the end of August.

Greening Up the Leaves

The rain finally stopped this morning.  2 1/2 inches in total on the pumpkin patch.  Lots of lime green leaves because the soil is saturated and the roots are having a hard time getting at nutrients.

I did a foliar application of magnesium sulfate (Epsom Salts) and multi-mineral this morning.  I'll do this regularly to help with the deficiencies that the tissue test showed. I also did a granular application of nitrogen to get those leaves greened up.  The application rate that I did for the nitrogen is about 1/3 of what the soil scientist recommended.  I'm going to do those in divided dosages to the amount that the report said.  This soil scientist I know knows more about soil and what an Atlantic Giant pumpkin needs than probably anyone in the world, but he isn't a grower and my concern is that if I put down all of this nitrogen at once I could blow up the pumpkin.

I also put down with the nitrogen a little fulvic acid to help the plants get at the nutrients.

Note from the evening:  It is interesting what a little sun and fertilizer can do.  At dinner time the plants have greened up a lot.  Once that nitrogen kicks in over the next few days we should be in good shape.

Giant Pumpkin Growing Tips & Secrets

I got a great email from a new giant pumpkin grower that I thought I would share with everyone because this grower was asking the right questions in order to grow a big pumpkin.  The pumpkin growing tips that were asked kind of get at the heart of what it takes to grow a giant.  They are:

1. When do I send a fall soil test?

2. Does foliar application have to be under the canopy or is it sprayed on top?

3. What is the best organic fertilizer? Do I broadcast on the ground our apply as a drench?

The following is my reply to her questions:

"Thanks for your questions.  At this point of the season you can get a soil test at any time.  The sooner you can start prepping for next season the better.  I know of two growers that have actually pulled their plants with pumpkin still growing because the pumpkins were small for them and they wanted to start getting ready for next year. 

 Most of what will determine how big a pumpkin grows is going to be determined by work done on the soil in the fall and early spring.  Foliar applications can be on top of the leaf or the underside of the leaf.  The underside of the leaf is better because the cuticles are larger on the bottom side of the pumpkin leaf so they have a better capacity to take in nutrients.  However, it isn't always easy to get to those undersides, especially when the plant gets large.

The "best" organic fertilizer is relative to what your plant needs.  One of the hardest thing to learn as a grower is figuring that balance out.  There a lot of growers to help you with that.  Basically with a good soil test you will be able to find out what is in that soil.  Once you know what a pumpkin plant needs then you can start choosing what to feed a pumpkin plant to get the greatest gains.  Almost everything I give my plants is organic.  I use Fish & Seaweed (Neptune's brand) a lot as a foliar application.  My soil is pretty rich with nutrients.  In some cases I have too much of certain types of nutrients.  For example potassium is very high in my soil.  The roots can only attach to so many nutrients at a time (cations) and potassium attaches easily.  Because of that other nutrients have a hard time getting absorbed even though they may be in abundance in the soil.  So, for example, my spring soil test said that I was high in sulfur.  However I did a leaf tissue test in June and it showed my plants were a little low in sulfur.  Why?  Because potassium was blocking the absorption of the sulfur as well as a few other nutrients. 

One of things I've been zeroing in more on the last couple of years is how to do foliar applications of certain nutrients that my plants need that the plant  may not be getting from the roots.  If you read my pumpkin blog at www.denverpumpkins.com you'll see me mention foliar applications of different things 5-6 times a week.  That is very small quantities of those nutrients to get the plant exactly what it needs.

I hope I haven't made this sound overly complicated.  In some ways it is and in some ways it is not.  If your goal is to grow a 600+ pound pumpkin next year than doing soil prep now, getting 400+ square feet of soil balanced, getting some quality Atlantic Giant pumpkin seeds from a competitive grower, reading up on how to grow giant pumpkins, burying the vines as they grow so that they can root then giving the plant some granular fertilizer and some foliar applications during the season and you should easily do just that. 

If your goal is to grow a 1,000+ pound pumpkin then it takes a good seed to do that sometimes.  Every seed in a pumpkin has different genetics.  My plants this year is a good example of how genetics determines growth.  Both of my plants are about the same size at about 500 sq feet each.  I try hard to make sure that the entire growing area (all 500 square feet) is great soil and evenly built up.  This year I got a little too much nitrogen on the 1775 plant side and that cost me but otherwise everything is exactly the same for both plants.  However, my 1421 pumpkin is going to end up around 1,400+ pounds and the other pumpkin is going to end up around 700+ pounds.  The difference: genetics!  Some plants just want to grow pumpkins and some plants do not.

The other piece of growing a 1,000+ pound pumpkin is hard work in the patch before and during the season, good weather and experience.  With experience you can recognize problems before they happen and know what to do for them when they do happen.  A lot of giant pumpkin growing is mitigating risk and that only comes with time and advice from other growers so continue to ask lots of good questions.

I'll let you know what you have to do to grow a 1,500+ pound pumpkin when I get there.  I'm hoping my big pumpkin will get there this year.  There really aren't any secrets to growing a giant but there are about 700 different things you need to learn to do well to get there along with a little luck."

This evening I gave both pumpkin plants some foliar fish & seaweed along with a fairly heavy dose of 0-1-1 and a little multimineral.

Fertilizer Time for the Pumpkin Plants

This week is the first time in about two months that I've given either of the pumpkin plants any substantial amounts of fertilizer.  I've talked about foliar applications of a lot of different stuff but most of that had very little to no NPK in it because either the quantity was so small or it was mostly just minerals.  This evening I hit the 1421 plant with about 3 ounces of foliar 2-3-3 liquid fish & seaweed (every dog and cat in the neighborhood will be at the pumpkin patch) and the 1775 plant with about 3 ounces of 0-1-1 with one tablespoon of liquid seaweed added.

I was told by John Tabernera back in late June that in mid-August I would need to hit that plant with phosphorous because of the high nitrogen on that side of the patch.  Once I week I'll do that.  The growth on the 1421 has naturally slowed due to age so tonight's fertilizer will give it a bit of bump hopefully.  Depending on how the pumpkin reacts over the next three days I'll probably give the plant 3-4 ounces of fish & seaweed twice a week for the next 4 weeks.

I've been watching the 335 Scherber that was crossed with the 2009 clone and there has been no growth for a week.  The pumpkin is very small but still shiny.  The other pumpkin on the plant seems to be sucking everything out of that plant so I'm not sure that pumpkin is going to make it.  Kind of sad because that pumpkin is really cranking for its size and growing conditions and the cross with the 2009 is perfect.

Mistakes and A Little Help

If you've followed my posts you'll know that not that long ago I talked about making sure you cut the tap roots around the pumpkin so that the main vine can lift up as the pumpkin grows.  I was getting the vine bound up against the pumpkin over the last few days so I asked Joe to help me move the pumpkin back to get it out of the way of the vine.  Joe caught something that I didn't.  One tap root wasn't cut which was part of the problem with the vine.  A silly rookie error.  The root was cut and with some effort we moved the pumpkin carefully out of the way of the vine and things look good for another few weeks.

Even with the very cool and rainy weather in Denver the last couple of days both pumpkins have put on some nice growth all considering.  Warmer days to come so we will see what these pumpkins can do.

I sprayed some multi-mineral with a touch of metasolate calcium added on the plants.  I believe that times of low precipitation and high precipitation can cause calcium to not move properly through the plants so adding a little extra calcium I hope to reduce the risk of dill rings and blossom end splits (BES).  Because of the tall shape of the 1421 pumpkin I fear that I'm susceptible to BES.