"Vinectomy" or "Shall We Go Stumpless?"
- Subject: "Vinectomy" or "Shall We Go Stumpless?"
- From: P* S*
- Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 08:16:12 -0500
First, thanks to Dan and Beth Carlson for all the advice on my little
problem. We do what we feel we have to do...don't we!
Well...yesterday afternoon I stood there, having made the
decision to make the cut, and very slowly reached into my pocket,
pulled out my pocket knife, opened it, took a deep breath and reached
down and cut the main vine in two at a distance of about 8 feet, and
also cut all the other vines connected to the main at the same distance.
I covered all the cuts with a shovel full of dirt and before leaving at
dark,
turned on the soaker hoses and let them run all night. This was the only
possible solution to try and save what's left of the 576 Castellucci 96.
The plant covers an area 40 ft. x 40 ft. and the longer the infected portion
stayed there, the more vine it infected. Autopsy on main will follow today.
The initial prognosis is squash vine borer, although the vines have
developed
so many splits, who knows. I found one SVB grub wiggling on the ground
right next to the main a couple of days ago, so I'm fairly sure that's going
to be what I find. With so many vines and so many roots still there, it
might make it. A week from now I'll let you know. All my plants are in
just this same situation.
Oh well, work hard and you shall be rewarded. I envy you, Shellie
Cramer, with your immaculate pumpkin prison, such well manicured soil,
virtually varmit and bug proof, beautiful...just beautiful! My spirits are
very
low right now, having worked very hard, even at times sneaking away from
the spouse to try to attend to the plants, and quite frankly, so tired of
being
ridiculed about them... harsh words at times...very harsh. I've done all the
work by myself with no one lifting a finger to help...but...I WILL MAKE IT!
These plants know how much I care...really they do.
Scott
"Just smoke and mirrors."
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@mallorn.com with the
message text UNSUBSCRIBE PUMPKINS
