Re: Warm Water
Brian and Mike,
I think a lot of the heavy weight growers warm their water with splendid
results. I had intended to do it myself this year, but I did not have time to
get my system set up. Instead, I used overhead sprinklers with municipal
water to grow my 1096 and 805. I usually watered later in the day (6:00-8:00
PM). Maybe it was less of a shock because the air and plant temperatures were
already cooling down at that time. The biggest problem I had with the
overhead watering was washing off my insecticides and fungicides, but the
cool water temperature did not appear to affect the pumpkins growth.
I too would recommend Joel Holland's videos. I learned a great deal from them
and he includes some pumpkin seed too!
Joe Pukos
Leicester, New York USA
Zone 6
5th year grower
Personal best 1096.8
<<
HI BRIAN
I wish i had the time to fully explain the full reasons for and how to warm
up your irrigation water but i am limited on my time in front of the PC.
However, i will give you some idea as to why and how the water is warmed up
first.
Firstly, if you want to see the way in which some of the worlds to growers
warm up their irrigation water i suggest that you obtain some of Joel
Hollands videos that he has made over the years as these show very clearly
the way in which they warm up their water prior to it going out into the
Patch. They do use large BLACK plastic storage containers, some around 400
Gallons each in some cases. From memory i do believe that Jack LaRue used,
and may still use, several of these very large Black plastic containers in
his Patch for irrigating his Pumpkin Plants.
In one of Joel Hollands Videos it shows how Joel uses Solar Heating Panels
on
his house roof to heat up the water in his ground level water storage tank
that also contained a percentage of soluble plant food in the water. When
Joel Irrigated it also served the purpose of feeding his plants as well. The
Videos are a MUST if you want to see the many GREAT IDEAS and techniques
used
to grow Giant Pumpkins.
As to whether all the biggest Pumpkins are grown using warmed up water is
something that i have never seen any figures on. Maybe there are some List
Members who would like to come on board and share their experiences with the
results that they have had using warm and cold water. I think it is a very
difficult thing to assess as there are so many factors involved that can all
be contributory to how BIG or SMALL Giant Pumpkins can grow using different
methods.
It is a known fact though that plants thrive much better if they are
irrigated with warm water as it does not shock or CHECK the Plants growth
pattern which is a positive backward step when trying to get every inch out
of a plants performance.
In closing, may i suggest that you make a request on this Mailing List for
someone who may live near to Joel Holland to contact you and maybe give you
Joel's address so that you can write to him and ask about purchasing some of
his Videos that show what i have discussed above. I have Joel's details but
i
do not want to make them public on this list. Maybe if JOEL is reading this
he may contact you himself.
BEST WISHES
MIKE TURNER
ENGLAND
>>
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