Re: new member to the list
- Subject: Re: new member to the list
- From: &* A* T* <h*@gmail.com>
- Date: Sat, 21 Jun 2008 01:38:13 -0400
Welcome Jason- and good luck; learn as much as you can because I hope to see
you next to me in a weigh off by next year if not this year!
This is my first year too but I planned a bit in advance; last October. I
need to know if anyone knows just how detrimental spiders and an ant hill
next to my mound where I have my potential and hopeful(I am ambitious and
keep calling her my 1800 pounder) giant. A girl can dream right?
I just removed the black plastic from the base of the pumpkin and found a
huge spider carrying practically a golf ball behind her! I also saw she had
been weaving in the hay I had under the plastic. I removed the hay, pulled
back the plastic a little at a time until the mound was completely
uncovered. I then proceeded to cover the mound with small flat rocks for the
leaves to rest on so as not to touch the ground. When I removed one of the
bigger rocks that were originally there to hold the plastic, I found the
start of an ant hill right outside the actual mound. I am sure the spider
must have moved on to lay her eggs but ants are somewhat determined. Can
these be a problem to my prize pumpkin?
I guess I have to also say my mound is or was a 3ft X3ftX3ft hand dug hole
filled with chicken manure, table scraps, shredded paper and the original
dirt I pulled out when I was digging it and there was a pvc pipe with
multiple holes drilled all up and down it and I stuck this wholeY pvc pipe
dead center of the material I wanted to compost over winter in this hole and
covered that with the above mentioned black plastic- That worked like a
charm because I have never smelled such beautiful earth! However, this is a
very attractive hole for many creatures to try to inhabit and I have some
great worms, and frogs but the ants seem to like the non compacted dirt as
well. Of the three giants I planted, this is the one that is by far doing
the best; I just want to keep up the good work and am curious to know what
you think about spiders and ants hindering the progress of growth. Also, my
area has had so much rain but I have the pumpkins in a very well drained
area, all three of them. My other issue is that when it is raining, almost
steady for multiple days straight, I do not have to water them BUT this
means I am not treating them to the proper diet. I have not had to water
which means I have not fed it the fish emulsion or the different formulated
NPK fertilizers. How do I go about feeding this giant during the rain? Any
suggestions?
Anxious to know your reply.
Bridgette at I-Tang-O farms
www.i-tang-o.com
On Fri, Jun 20, 2008 at 10:29 PM, Jason Buchanan <jsb@digistar.com> wrote:
> hi - I subscribed to the list and thought i'd post a quick message to say
> hello.
>
>
> I am getting started late in the game but thought i'd give it a try anyway.
>
>
> I live a little west of Boston and have planted 3 different types of
> seeds... The first batch (Ace Hardware jack-o-lantern pumpkin seeds) was
> planted around June 1, the other two (Burpee big max and "prizewinner
> hybrid") planted a few days ago. I didn't do anything real special - I used
> a pitchfork to remove a layer of grass in the yarWed (i've got about 2
> acres) for each group of seeds. The Ace Hardware batch are about 4 inches
> high and have two round leaves and one jagged edged leaf with a little one
> coming out... The Burpee seeds haven't sprouted yet, although I did cover
> the mound of dirt with some burlap and maybe something good will happen in
> the next few days. I put 4 seeds in each mound about 6 inches from each
> other - when they get so large that they're competing for space i'll
> sacrifice the weaker looking ones.
>
> I guess I should have started this around May instead of the middle of June
> but if I get one nice big pumpkin out of all of this i'll be happy. Last
> year for Halloween I spent $30 on a big pumpkin at the local fancy-schmancy
> farmer's market. So far i've got about $10 in seeds invested in this so i'm
> ahead of the game. I have a few Big Max seeds left - I may try planting
> some more on July 1 and August 1 to see what date works the best for having
> a nice pumpkin for my 3 year old boy to brag about.
>
> I noticed the animals haven't touched the pumpkin sprouts although EVERY
> one of my sunflowers have been eaten by the squirrels or rabbits or
> something - very annoying. Apparently pumpkin leaves aren't as tasty as
> sunflower leaves.
>
>
> Next year i'll try to do this right by putting together a proper pumpkin
> patch to grow a big'n - for now i'm just trying to read and learn as much as
> I can. The seeds and plants i'm trying to grow now should be good practice!
>
> thanks - jason
>
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