RE: 4-H garden update

Barb,

What is the consensous of when a plant stops expanding. Is it not
gaining weight or is it "thickening up?" Your plant may be gaining
weight but not showing it.

ZOO

>----------
>From: 	COMPUTRESE@aol.com[SMTP:COMPUTRESE@aol.com]
>Sent: 	Thursday, June 11, 1998 12:39 AM
>To: 	pumpkins@mallorn.com
>Subject: 	4-H garden update
>
>Greetings:
>
>Here is the state of the garden: 22 AG plants remain out of 32. Some were
>lost
>early on due to vermin, birds, etc. The last few were culled due to crowding,
>size and mosaic virus infestation. Planting date 3/11/98. Three months later:
>
>The following 22 plants remain:
>
>5 Renaud 588 plants, 3 of five have fruit on vine. 
>
>2 Rooke 486 plants, neither have set fruit. Plants are relatively small.
>
>1 Canniff 459, huge plant with 2 young fruit. 
>
>1 Castellucci 430- huge plant with fruits that set but drop off at baseball
>size.
>
>2 Hester 676 - one plant has two small fruit set, the other has none.
>
>3 Castellucci 425's- one huge plant with 4 nice fruit developing, the other
>two are not as large but one has multiple fruits set.
>
>1 Baird 762- this huge plant crossed with the Andersen 977 has my "monster"
>fruit on the vine! (approx 250 lbs).
>
>1 Castellucci 682.4-this plant was severly wind damaged, but has snapped out
>of it and is blooming profusely and setting fruit.
>
>1 Brock 599-this plant was slow to grow, but is a large plant with multiple
>fruits set.
>
>1 Eaton 739- huge plant with tall, gigantic leaves, huge stump and very thick
>vines. Females coming on, 4 fruit set, three dropped in the heat, one nice
>one
>remains.
>
>1 Andersen 977-huge plant with a profusion of male blooms, no females yet.
>
>1 Andersen 634 - Blooming and setting fruit, although fruit drops off. 2
>remain on vine.
>
>1 Castellucci 743.2 - Dense, bushy dark green foliage with no blooms or
>fruit.
>Medium size plant.
>
>1 Eaton 664 - This plant represents endurance in the face of hardship. It was
>severely over fertilized early on by an overzealous parent unfamiliar with
>gardening practices, and has come back from near death to setting one large,
>round fruit. Medium sized plant with large leaves and leaf stems.
>
>It is important to mention that I visit the garden daily and spend at least 3
>hours there pollinating, watering, pruning and documenting. Weekends give me
>more time to garden with my husband; we often pack a cooler of drinks, fresh
>fruit and subs for a tailgate lunch break, spending at least 6-8 hours each
>gardening and maintenance.
>
>We put in a large patch of Gold Strike hybrid jack o'lantern pumpkins. The
>patch was doing well until we noticed an unusual growth pattern to the
>leaves,
>not so much mottling, but scraggly, pointed leaves and vines that were very
>aggressive and invasive....it was discovered to be Mosaic virus, prompting us
>to pull the entire patch by hand. Mosaic spreads by insects like wildfire,
>and
>we have noticed new growth on some of the AGs to have the virus. It looks
>different on AGs than it did on the hybrids.
>
>As mosaic only affects new growth and fruit on affected vines, it should not
>impact our productivity. It does mean that we will have the unpleasant chore
>of pulling the plants after this season and taking them off site to be
>burned.
>
>Our bug situation has been next to nil, until recently with the appearance of
>small grasshoppers. Obviously insects have visited our plants, or the virus
>wouldn't be there. Bees, butterflies, dragonflies and ladybugs are also
>abundant residents of the garden.
>
>We have tomatoes ripening but the corn, beets, carrots, string beans, cukes
>and summer squash are past. 
>
>Our patch of Rouge Vif D'Etampes is nearly ready for harvest and the fruits
>have been beautiful. I highly recommend this variety for it's lovely fruit,
>aggressive vine and prolific fruiting. They are perfectly symmetrical, and
>not
>quite as flat as I had expected. Enough room to carve if you wish, or lovely
>as a focal point on a fall centerpiece. Average fruit is 15 inches diameter,
>and 8 inches tall. Gorgeous color.
>
>As some of you know, the large fruit on the Baird 762 plant is nearing
>harvest. We expect to pick and weigh it off Friday. It has stopped growing,
>or
>so I thought, until I measured it again today, noting a 1/2 inch increase on
>circumference. The fruit is not growing on level ground, but sits in a
>hollowed out area between vines, on a bit of a slope. The ground to ground
>measurements may be a little on the shy side, but I'd rather have it weigh
>heavy than light. 
>
>Tim Canniff visited the field Saturday and was surprised to learn of the
>guestimated weight of 235. He eyeballed it and guessed 260-275. We'll know
>Friday.
>
>While I was lucky to have this early fruit, I do have my work cut out for me,
>bringing along the rest of the crop. My biggest challenge is getting the
>fruit
>to stay on the vine!  Our weather is awful; hot, high 90's upwards of 100
>during the day, with only a 10 degree cool-down overnight. We are also in
>drought conditions. So severe is our fire hazard that there have been
>bulletins telling smokers not to discard their spent cigarette butts out the
>car window. Brush fires plague our county and made CNN news over the weekend.
>Is there an end in sight?
>
>The heat and humidity will take it's toll and setting fruit this late in
>Florida is asking for it. It will be a long, hard summer, bringing fruit on
>this many plants to decent size. If the cooler months allowed me to grow only
>a 2-3 hundred pounder, then we'll be lucky to compete with POV to beat a 70! 
>
>Barb Kincaid
>Orlando, FL
>SPGA
>
>
>
>
>
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