Im late to the game on the diary. What a cold spring eh? we had the coldest March in 45 years and april wasnt much better. now here in the second week of May its wall to wall sunshine and some heat.
anyway, heres my 2018 line-up. i was going to go with three of my own but some nice grower sent me a 2145 McMullen to try out. the 2145 grows some ugly pumpkins that im not too keen about, but you cant deny its weight potential.
All loaded up. Final numbers 420".
Off to Woodbridge to get beat by Phil and Jane lol. I thought they were on an Alaskan cruise all summer???
Still kicking.
This one is on its own down the home stretch. I really havent done much. Waiting for the sag line to open up and split, watering once and a while and have put the sprayer away. Old leaves have what looks to be downy mildew. Yellow, brown and orange coloured patches have really taken down my older leaves. I saw my first powdery mildew today which is very late so that was one positive this week.
So I can control my water pump from my cell phone as I don't live near my patch. Saturday evening I turned on my drip tubing and forgot all about it. Sunday morning at 9am I think, did I turn off my sprinklers? Nope they ran all night. My drip tape puts down about 5 gallons a minute so I figure I watered 2800 gallons into the one plant. I couldn't believe it wasn't split this morning when I checked, especially with this weekend's heat. Glad my pump was still alive as well. That's the danger of mobile watering.
1803. Plant looks good still. Dont like the sag line which I never really get. It shows the heat this year. I watered heavy but i guess not heavy enough for a few days. ThThis new format is very difficult to post in for Android. Took 5 minutes to type this.
Down to one plant. The 2145 McMullen went from 42 pounds to about 10 pounds a day in a couple days. Oozing main, shut the plant down.
The 2145 has now taken off at only day 27. I missed an earlier pollination on this plant that would have been 10 days sooner. If this holds together all year I think I'll be regretting not being around for the 10 day prior pollination. We'll see if this holds together. The plant has the best root system I've had. I'm not going to go the full 1200 feet on this plant. I'll cut back soon and dead head all but the main.
End of month for the plants. This is the 1803. It's been steady and consistent. Nothing huge for numbers but in the 30's at least which will work if it keeps up. I think I have some fusaruim with high heat and high moisture.
320" for end of July is nice. It's about 100" more than I've had before August 1st. I'd be more excited to be at this point if it was putting on 45 a day though.
I pulled the 1572 in the background that went down to blossom end split.
1803 Hoelke x 2145 McMullen at day 25. Over 200 inches now. 300 more to go lol.
2145 McMullen x 1803 Hoelke at under 10 days. Late, but lots of plant behind it. Probably be Wellington bound if it makes it to the finish line.
1572 Hoelke x 2145 McMullen somewhere near 20 days.
Big change in a week for the 1803. Glad I kept the 16 footer. This one looks nice and is now moving. I was late with the sand as usual which made for awkward lifting.
What a crazy hot week. These leaves look good but the plants got torched on the south side (left). They're ugly.
I made a tough call and removed a fruit from my 1803 at 13 feet. I wanted to go with the 16 footer. I didnt want to make the cut until after this heat passed but its looking like it's around for a week. The 13 foot fruit was starting to really take off so I didn't want to wait any longer and mess up the plant sinks. Hard to cut a fruit that aggressive. Its not even 2 weeks old.
Really hope I don't lose the small one to the heat.
I cut to one fruit on all plants today as well.
The 1803 Hoelke is really moving. Now over 25 feet long it's not far from the end of the patch. I'll be dead heading secondaries by the weekend at 15 feet long. I've never dead headed by the first of July. Three pollinations on this one. I'm taking more time with pollinations. In the past I'd cut quickly and go with one. I'm going to wait this out a little.
I haven't taken enough pictures this year for tracking. This is the 2145 McMullen. Problem free plant now pushing 20 feet. Two pollinations on as well.
Round-up is a beautiful tool when applied carefully. Perfect results on all plants. I have some hand weeding to do around vine tips but the remainder of the garden is clean. This is the 1572 Hoelke. Two pollinations on the plant in the 13-16 foot range.
9 days difference. Plant has grown well but weeds have even better. I can't put a dent in these weeds from year to year. Frustrating.
My 1803 is out about 16 feet and I did pollinate one this morning that I will more than likely remove at 12 feet. I'm eyeing one at about 15-16 feet that won't be open for a while, but I do feel more comfortable at that length. Today was the earliest by far that I've ever pollinated.
Halifax for the week. Plants are on their own for 7 days. Cooler here and breezy. I'm guessing there's always a breeze around these parts. Down to +2 tonight here so I can see why a lot of maritime growers use a greenhouse to some degree. Nice area and landscape.
Over 10 feet at the end of May is a nice surprise after the tough start up here. This is the 1803.
We got a light rain today. Not much but probably the most in almost a month. More rain coming for the weekend. This has to be the most sun I've seen for a month of may. Simply perfect days. No clouds, dry air, no humidity and no bugs. Going to miss it.
Always wanted a May pollination.
1803 has touched down safely so I've now culled down to one plant in this cold frame. All three cold frames have good looking plants in them. Happy with that in this cold start to the year.