Planting of the Pumpkin Plants (Day 15)

The pumpkin plants went into the ground today.  2 of the 3 have developed yellowing of the cotyledon leaves.  For the 1734.5 Steil, I took the cotyledon leaves off.  Hopefully the problem won't spread to the rest of the plant.  The 1791 Holland plant has the same issue, and is currently our backup plant.

Each planting site had 5 pounds of Mykos added, Azos added around the rootball, and Rootshield Plus Wettable Powder watered in (1/2 tsp per gallon of water).

1734.5 Steil

1843.5 Geddes 2012

Misting Irrigation System

Jenna helped me set up the misting irrigation system today.  12 total misters for the whole 1200 square foot patch.  We ordered the parts from www.dripirrigation.com.

Pumpkin Plants at Day 13

1734.5 Steil

1791 Holland

 

1843.5 Geddes 2012

Looking back at 2013's best (and only) pumpkin

Seed Soaking

In preparation for starting the pumpkin seeds tomorrow, I soaked them for an hour in a 50/50 mix of Humega and Maxicrop Liquid Seaweed.  I then put each seed into a plastic baggie inside a paper towel, and soaked the paper towel in the Humega / Seaweed mix.  The baggies were placed on a heating mat to spend the next 12 hours there.

I will be starting 4 seeds now, and 1 more once I get it.

1874.5 Mathison 2013

1843.5 Geddes 2012

1791 Holland 2013

1734.5 Steil 2013

Marshmallow 2014 (coming soon)

Unfortunately, I only have room for 2 plants.  I will pick the biggest, fastest growing plants.

Each seed will be going into a 6 inch terra cotta pot, each of which holds about 1.5 quarts of potting mix.

Lots of growers start with peat pots, but I had good luck using a terra cotta pot last year.  I like it because it holds the heat in.

To get the planting mix ready, I took about 6 quarts of ProMix potting mix and added the following:

1/3 cup of Biogrow Endo Plus Mycorrhizal Fungus
1/3 cup of Azos
1/3 cup of Humega
1/3 cup of Maxicrop Liquid Seaweed
1/2 tsp of Rootshield Plus Wettable Powder
1/2 tsp of Actinovate
Water, enough to make the mixture damp and stick together

I mixed it all together by hand.  I had some of the Humega/Seaweed mixture from the seed soaking left over, so I added it to the planting mix after it was placed in the pots.

The pots will be left on the heating mats overnight to warm up.

The seeds will be ready in the morning.