The spring weather has been real crappy in Ontario this year & all this rain is making the soil too wet to get in to do any real work on it. The boards to walk out to the planting sites squirt water out the sides when I try to walk on them. At this rate, plants won't be seeing dirt for at least 2-3 weeks. I was hoping for early May, but will have to settle for mid-May, if it doesn't stop raining soon. Morning temp was -1.
On a good note, my seeds are up & looking good. We planted 3 - 1959's, a 2145 Mcmullen (replaced my earlier Daletas choice) & the 1855 Matesa. We have room for 2 plants, 1 will be the 2145 & the other will be our own 1959 Hunt. The others are back-ups. Our 1959 is off to a great start & is already ahead of the 2145. They are only 8 days old, but there is a noticeable difference between it & the rest of the plants. Lets hope that is a good sign for this season.
Lets hope for some warmer weather soon.
The weather is the same in here in Nova Scotia. Very cold and wet. I still haven't got my fall rye tilled up yet, the patch is too wet. I did get some composted manure dumped yesterday hopefully it clears up and I can spread it out today.
Weather the same here in new Brunswick. have 2 of the 1959"s going as well as a 1600 Tingley and an 1803 Tingley. Also have 4 back up plants. Below freezing here tonight. Rained all weekend. No hopes of getting on the soil anytime soon.
Got soil temps up to 73 degrees today on 2 hoop houses with cables and heat lamps but too cold today to put out no sun and not looking good for next few days ..oh well it is what it is good luck to everyone this season
Cold and very wet in Eastern ON. Jim has not had good luck with germination, some of the pumpkins have sick looking scrunched leaves, some the edges yellowing. with all of the rain last night we are saturated.
Sorry to hear that Jim. Yes, we are very, very wet here as well. I expect I won't be working up the dirt any time soon. The pumpkin is in it's ark, under the protection of the higher soil level in the hoophouse, but the soil outside it is so wet, that we won't be tilling it in for at least 10 - 14 days. That is if we don't get any more rain in the next 2 weeks. No sense in rushing to till up the mud. Lets hope for warmer temps soon. Risk of frost here tonight for us lucky growers in central ON. The only good thing is that all our rain tanks are full & ready for some warmer, drier weather this summer.
Good luck to all our fellow Ontario growers.
Hi theresaraid,
I also have 2 plants that have curled leaves (1927.5 Daletas & 1807.5 Holub) and they have been inside my Mom's house since I planted the seed.
Simon Southwell
Yes this weather is the toughest that I can recall for a growing season start in a long time but it will improve at some time. Curled leaves have been the norm with me for several years now. Three of the four plants that I have in the ground now started with leaves that were burnt along the edges that resulted in curled leaves. I don't know why and I have looked at all possible causes but no reason seems to stand out. For me they grow out of this problem by the Fourth leaf or so and there is no more issue with it. Take care of those plants and they should be Ok.
Looking forward to better weather and best of luck everyone. Chris
Hi Mr. Lyons,
Thanks for the quick reply, It's good to know that other growers have had the same problem because I thought I did something wrong, I read through a book on "how to grow giant pumpkins the organic way" and I didn't see what the cause of it was.
Sincerely Simon Southwell
My plants are still under lights with the exception of one plant inside a greenhouse. The weather here isn't reaching double digits yet. Most days are 7 to 8 degrees for a high. My plants are getting big so they will have to go outside soon regardless of the weather.