Florida 4-H garden update
- To: pumpkins@mallorn.com
- Subject: Florida 4-H garden update
- From: C*@AOL.COM
- Date: Thu, 4 Jun 1998 01:14:11 EDT
Hi, all!
Thought I'd post an update on the patch.
Having a rough time with the Florida weather this season. It is unsually dry
here, with precious little rain. All watering is done by hand by me and my
husband.
Don't laugh, but we only had one 400 ft. long hose and one spigot until we
went shopping for a pump at Agri-Supply in Lumberton, NC. Agri-Supply is a
fantastic place, for those of you who do not reside along the I-95 East Coast
highway, this place is like a Home Depot, except it handles farm and
irrigation and farm supplies of all types. Everything from hard to find tools,
parts for farm machinery, tractor tires, replacement discs for harrows, you
name it, they have it. They have a catalog and are on the web at WWW.Agri-
Supply.com
Call them toll free for a catalog 1-800-345-0169.
Anyway, we bought a 5 hp ag pump with a 2" intake and output. Agri-Supply
fixed us up with quick-connect hoses and fittings, which work perfectly. Since
our field is surrounded by a drainage ditch on three sides, we are able to
pump nutrient rich water onto the field. Watering 27 plants plus a field of
carving pumpkins and a vegetable garden is now a snap. Literally and
figuratively....in a moment of cavalier humor, my husband instructed me to
pick up the end of the 2 inch hose with the pump on high.....of course, it's
like wrestling with a 125 foot wet Anaconda. I wondered if the hose was going
to win the battle, and I decided I didn't want to become airborne, so I locked
the hose between my knees and prayed real hard it didn't slip....things worked
out for me, but Mike knows that paybacks are hell......his few moments of sick
fun will cost him dearly! I'll call in the bill sooner or later.....probably
sooner!
Before leaving on vacation, we had pollinated several pumpkins on plants in
the field, but due to lack of water and heat stress during our recent trip,
the plants dropped most of their fruits. Sadly, we have had to start over with
pollination of new female flowers. This will be tough to accomplish in 93 plus
degree heat this late into the season (for FL).
On the bright side, two sizeable pumpkins made it through the drought. One is
affectionately called the monster.....it is on my Baird 762 plant, and is
roughly 196 lbs and growing. It was pollinated 5/4 with an Andersen 977 male.
The other pumpkin is on the Andersn 634. It was about honeydew melon sized
last Friday when many of the 4-H kids discovered it and manhandled it before I
could advise them against it. This pumpkin has turned white where it was
handled, as if it is being consumed by a fungus. A disappointment and a lesson
learned the hard way.
Presently, we have several pumpkins on the AG plants, most of them about the
size of an orange or a baseball.
I must add that I planted three Rouge Vif D' Etampes Cinderella pumpkin seeds
and those plants are really prolific! A profusion of blooms and a very high
ratio of fruit sets. Many, many female flowers. A delight to grow, they are
nearly ready to be picked. I definitely recommend growing these in addition
to AG efforts. You will be delighted. Thanks, Tim Clark of Redlands, CA. for
sharing his wife's seed.
Besides water, another tough problem we are facing is the presence of mosaic
on the nearby pepo hybrid patch. As mosaic is a virus that is easily
transmitted, we are just now seeing evidence of it's presence on tertiary
vines on some of the nearby AG plants. So far, I have pinched off all diseased
tertiaries I have noticed.
To those of you unfamiliar with mosaic virus, it would be wise to research
this and become familiar with it's appearance. It is a stubborn disease of
plants that changes the leaf patterns, shapes and color. It also changes the
fruit it may set....it basically corrupts the host plant. It is for this
reason that watermelon mosaic warnings are issued in the South, and pose a
real threat to commercial growers of cucurbits. There is nothing to spray to
get rid of it....it is heat sensitive, and the best way to eradicate it is to
burn your field vegetation off. Any diseased plant matter should never be
composted. The virus lives in vegetation, weeds and soil. It winters over in
the milder southern climates, ready to rock and roll.
This virus is so easily spread, insects being the prime culprits, but also
people, spray wands, hoses and other garden implements can transmit the virus
from one plant to another in seconds. For this reason, many farmers use
pesticides on their crops as a preventative measure.
No evidence of females on the Andersen 977 yet. Chris tells me this is normal,
so I'm watching and waiting for the blessed event. The plant is huge and
lovely.
Well, that's about it for now. Will post another update in a few weeks.
Barb Kincaid
Enjoying fresh veggies and sweet corn from our garden!
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