Washington end of July update.
The Northwest is still waiting for spring to release its cold clammy grip
on the throat of summer and relax those long gray fingers that are not quite
strangling, but none the less have firmly restrained the season in this part
of the country. Our patch tour and picnic were held under gray skies that
held little warmth and released only rain and few rays of the needed
sunlight. Hopefully we'll get some much needed warmth in the month of
August, or this could end up being a season of couldabeen and shouldabeen
here in Western Washington and Oregon. There are already a few impressive
pumpkins out there as I had a chance to see, unfortunately, they aren't
growing in the P-patch hard by the Rio Verde. What I have isn't bad by my
standards, but I can tell already they will need a major growth spurt in the
next two months to catch the competition. Cool cloudy weather with daytime
temps in the 60's and nightime lows in the low 50's have prevailed for the
months of June and July. We've had some fair weather with highs in the mid
70's mixed with equal parts heavy clouds and cool showers. Where May felt
like July this year, July has felt like May. I'm pinning my hopes on
August.
Enough about the weather, on to the patch. My most impressive pumpkin
plant this year is the 871 Richart. This has my largest pumpkin which was
pollinated on July 5th and had a 62" circumference yesterday afternoon.
It's on the main vine and several other fruit remain on the secondaries
waiting for the knife or the shade structure depending on how they perform.
The 723 Bobier has a number of fruit awaiting similar fates. The largest on
this plant is on a secondary pollinated July 8th and had a 44" circumference
yesterday. The largest fruit on the main was culled yesterday for having a
poor shape and almost no growth over the past couple days. Another fruit
further out picked up the pace and will remain on the plant. It was
pollinated on the 12th of July and is at 35" circumference. The 835
McIntyre has it's largest fruit is on the main vine at 48½" yesterday
pollinated on th 6th of July. Smaller fruit remain on the secondaries as
well with this plant. I culled a number of fruit yesterday and more will
follow once I determine which ones want to attend a weighoff this fall and
which want to join their siblings in the compost pile. The 720.5 Welty
which is giving me beautiful round green squash that are smooth with no
ribbing visible yet has it's largest fruit on the main vine and was at 62"
yesterday. It was pollinated on July 6th, so it's one day younger than my
largest pumpkin, and the same circumference. It could well be that the
heaviest fruit out of the Michalec patch this year will be a green one. It
figures, I spent the last five years trying to grow giant pumpkins and it
turns out I'm better at growing squash. I should have known already based
on the production of my zucchini in recent years.
A big thank you goes out to Paul and Steve Handy, Mike Stephenson, Nance
Drill, Jim Sherwood, and especially Brett and Lisa Hester, for showing us
their patches and Brett and Lisa for organizing the patch tour and hosting
the picnic at their home. I learn something every time I visit another
pumpkin grower and see how they do things. I am constantly amazed by these
plants and the variety they exhibit. The 723 Bobier plant in my patch looks
completely different from the one Steve Handy is growing, except for the
smaller than hoped for pumpkins. It's a long season though and these plants
may shine for us in the months of August and September if we can get some
better weather. That's all for now.
Chris Michalec
Covington, WA
PB 576-00
Zone 8 The cool gray damp and sometimes just pleasant and sunny but not hot
zone.
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