Re: Ironite
In a message dated 11/14/99 10:40:30 AM Eastern Standard Time,
LIpumpkin@aol.com writes:
<< Subj: Re: Ironite
Date: 11/14/99 10:40:30 AM Eastern Standard Time
From: LIpumpkin@aol.com
Sender: owner-pumpkins@mallorn.com
Reply-to: pumpkins@mallorn.com
To: pumpkins@mallorn.com
Wayne....hope your growing /selling season was acceptable in the end...after
hearing all the local horror stories about how bad the weather and pumpkin
season was I would be interested in hearing from a pumpkin professional how
the season actually stacked up.Very often down here there's alot of hype
near
the selling season to boost up prices.I did notice the lack of staying power
of the pumpkins this year too(...is this a result of the heat or the
drought?) but as far as availability----there were plenty of pumpkins around.
Anyway,glad to have you back full force.
Here's a question I'm sure most on the list would love to hear more
about.Everyone in the know says you have to have all the micros in
sufficient
supply and too much can often be worse than too little. I have done a little
research and have asked my local AG.Co-op representatives and haven't gotten
any good or definitive or even a range of target quantities of
micro-nutrients. Is there a guideline we can follow on the major micros?
Now I realize we may be on the cutting edge of science with our specialty
Giant Pumpkins,but there must be a standard chart or something to start out
with? Thanks! Glenn (and thanks with the help of the judging last month!)
>>
Glenn,
There definitely was a problem in our area with high temperatures and
drought. Our yields were off 75 to 80 %. A Gold Rush that averages 35 pounds
in our fields struggled to average 25 pounds. Tom Fox averages 15
pounds....they were around 10 pound average. The numbers were way down with
apx 30 days over 90 degrees and NO rain until August. NO fruit set. A little
rain in August produced a late fruit set that didn't have time to fully
mature. A high % of the late set didn't develop good stems. When Sept hits
and the cool weather, if the pumpkin is still half green and doesn't harden
up. More disease and soft stems despite spraying. Then comes Sept. with 14
inches of rain @ harvest time. With normally heavy soil, the dust turned into
a sea of mud. We had to harvest what little there was with an ATV and
trailer. 4 wheel drives were getting buried in the wet fields. Definitely the
growing season from Hell for the commercial growers in our area. We had heavy
soil so we had a small crop....people with sandy fields lost 100% of there
crop. Some areas near us caught an isolated thunder storm and did better, but
most growers really suffered this year. As far as micronutrients are
concerned, had a talk with Dr. Richard Ashley ( Vegetable Specialist with
UConns Ag School)....this guy is sharp and has years of experience in Ag
research. They conducted studies of micronutrients in field crops and were
hard pressed to see any difference in growth response if micros were high or
low, as long as they were in the acceptable range. Greenhouse nutrition and
hydroponics are a totally different animal.....if micros get out of whack in
an artificial soil mix, you will see trouble quickly. Compost and manure in a
field soil acts like a buffer and is much more forgiving and stable as far as
nutrition goes. Make a mistake in an artificial soil mix and you will pay.
WAYNE
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