Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Pics from the Pumpkin Patch

What a difference two weeks will make. Compare this picture with the one from two weeks ago and you can see how much the plant has grown. Right now the plant is about 24 feet across and 13-14 feet long. Look at the size of those leaves in the foreground!

It looks like I'll be pollinating the female that is at 11 feet tomorrow morning. It has a small scratch on it so hopefully that won't cause me problems down the road. Heavy winds yesterday pushed the vine on it's side and I think it got scratched then. Gave the plant some compost tea and a little phosphorus, calcium, Mycorrhizal fungi and sulfur yesterday and a light amount of fish & seaweed today. Also terminated the first four side vines. High temperatures here in Denver yesterday and today are making the young leaves weep. Even the leaves under the canopy weren't very happy. Gave the plant a little extra water this evening. The temperatures tomorrow and Friday will be hot again so I'm going to be putting some frozen gallon jugs next to the female that will be pollinated in the hopes that it won't abort. Next week the temperatures are looking to be a little more mild.


2 comments:

Noey and Rowys Mommy said...

I had to check out the pumpkin blog not only to tell Amber that I've been here but also to garner some inside information from the professional!

While my pumpkin plant is not nearly as impressive as yours, it is crowding out my other squashes so I am going to trim the vines. Hope it doesn't kill any chances that I might have of getting a fruit from it.

Wish me luck!

Jamie said...

Hey guys! Thanks for visiting the site. To get a pumpkin you need a male flower and a female flower. The female flowers are the ones with the little pumpkin at the bottom. As long as you have both flowers going you will be okay to cut the vines. However it might effect the final size of your pumpkin.