Transplantation

The pumpkin plants were transplanted into the garden over this past weekend (May 18th).  Each had its first true leaf, which was about sand dollar size, and was starting to get its second leaf.

It turns out that we will have room for both plants, with 2 20'x30' patches planned.  The garden site had graciously been tilled and leveled over the last few weeks by our new landlord. 

We are trying to go as close to organic as possible for growing our pumpkins.

Each pumpkin site was prepared as follows:
1. 2.0 cubic feet of Coast of Maine Quoddy Blend Lobster Compost was poured into a volcano shape.
2. Approximately 1 pound of Mykos, mycorrhizae from Xtreme Gardening was hand mixed into the upper half of the pile of compost.
3. Approximately 4 tsp. of Azos, a nitrogen fixing microbe from Xtreme Gardening, was added to the
planting hole.
4. Approximately 4 tsp of Neptune's Harvest Kelp Meal was added to the planting hole.
5. Each plant was then transplanted, with the first true leaf facing away from the direction I want them to grow.  The plants are supposed to grow away from the first true leaf.
6. Radishes, tansy, nasturtiums, and  marigolds were planted around each plant to try to prevent insect pests.  The marigolds were bought as flowers, the others as seeds.
7. Each plant was then watered with compost tea, which I made with the help of the kids.
8. The pumpkin patch was fenced to try to keep out critters (we have already met several of the
woodchucks, and our landlord says we have deer and racoons).
9. Those are bars of soap tucked into the fence posts.  The smell is supposed to help keep deer away.  I bought Ivory Coast, one of the smelliest soaps I could find.  It would certainly keep me away.
10. Once the plants are older, and the mycorrhizae have had time to do their thing, I will apply an
organic microbe-based fungicide, Actinovate.  I will also apply calcium, again using an Xtreme
Gardening product, CalCarb.

The preparation of each planting site followed recommendations from Don Langevin in How-to-Grow World Class Giant Pumpkins The All-Organic Way.  We also made our compost tea following his directions.  Due to the time it took us to prepare the garden, the compost tea sat for 30 hours instead of the recommended 24 hours.  I bought a backpack sprayer to use, but did not have time to figure it out this time.  I will use it next time.  I applied the compost tea with a watering can. 

Compost Tea recipe, as per Don Langevin's recipe.  Note that this is an aerobic culture.

1. 5 gallons of water (we used tap water, which in our case is well water)

2. 4 tablespoons, or 2 oz (1 tablespoon = 0.5 oz), of molasses (this is the food for the microorganisms you will be growing).

3. 4 tablespoons of Neptune's Harvest Fish and Seaweed Fertilizer, which contains hydrolysed fish. (It was a bit lumpy, so I will have to mix it better next time).

4.  4 tablespoons of Humic Acid.

5. 2 handfuls of Earthworm Castings were placed into a cut-off pantyhose leg, which was then hung from the bucket handle in the liquid.

6. An aquarium air pump (Aqua Culture: 5-15 Gallon, Single Outlet Aquarium Air Pump, 1 Ct), along with tubing and a bubble stone, were used to aerate the mix. The pump and supplies were purchased from Wal-Mart - it cost just under $7.  I only needed 4 feet of tubing.

7.  The tea is supposed to be aerated for 24 hours and then applied to the plants.  It is supposed to be applied every 2 weeks from what I have read so far.