Re: crinkly stems / chemicals
B Rado wrote:
>
> I've just noticed something weird on my backup plant. On a couple of
> the biggest leaves, the stems are very crinkled looking... almost like
> an accordion fold.... though the tissue seems to have integrity - it's
> firm, the color is good, and all that - and I don't think it's been
> traumatized at all. Is this just a genetic variation of this plant, or
> do you all think this is the beginning of some sort of problem?
>
> What an effect this pumpkin growing has on us... although I've been
> growing things all my life, I have never given two plants this level of
> scrutiny before. Every morning, every evening, I am inspecting every
> little detail. Oh! The hairs on this stem are a little longer than
> those over there, what could this mean?? And, I'm not happy to say I
> have been killing things and using scary chemicals. My yard used to be
> a haven for pretty much any living thing. Not so any more. I've
> drenched the ants with diazinon because I don't want their strawberry
> root aphids. I've seen spiders bailing out and (good!) worms dying ugly
> deaths. I don't even want to think about what happens to the birds who
> eat the writhing worms.
>
> I better grow a terrific pumpkin this year - I'm not sure I can keep
> going down this particular path. I don't think I would mind selectively
> killing the pumpkin threats. I can smoosh a cucumber beetle under a
> rock. But these chemicals have so many repercussions - and I probably
> don't even know the half of it.
>
> Is there anyone out there successfully growing large pumpkins without
> using these scorch-the-earth chemicals??
>
> Beth
>
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Beth ;
Two years ago I was very green at growing these things. I didn't use any
fungicide, Sevin or other chemicals at all. I thought all those yellow
and black striped beetles were kinda neat. Never saw them before ! I'm
sure they enjoyed the best of cucumber beetle heaven. Also I had a
plant do weird things ( I now know it was the mosaic virus ).
Since I've been reading these posts I now have an arsenal of chemical
weapons.
I thought I ended up pretty well with several AGs over 500 pounds. Now
with the info I've gleaned from here I look to better that by a hundred
pounds or more.
I tried looking up info on a more organic way of taking care of the AG
but not alot of luck. I'm interested in what you find out. Good Luck.
cornhusk
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