Re: Hera's Hurting
Diana,
You did the right things by relieving the vine/stem
stresses and treating the split area.
the only other recommendations I could make would be
if there is any rotted material in the stem or
pumpkin- to carefully cut it out. then repack it with
your Capton. Keep the stem cool and dry. Set up a
little electric fan on it if you can - like Rocky and
others have done. If the split in the stem keeps
getting bigger you could wrap it up with first aid
gauze soaked in a capton paste, then rubber or foam or
something like that and then put a radiator hose type
clamp on it like someone mentioned not to long ago in
a post. If for some reason she looks like she might
not make it, find a place and make arrangement so you
can get her weighed in a hurry if you need to.
I hope she hold up for you.
Gordon Tanner
Maple Valley WA
>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<
Checking Hera's stem this morning, I was horrified to
find that she was tearing away from her physical bonds
to the earth. The top of the stem has a two inch
ragged tear that has been oozing. The flesh around
the tear was brown and soft. I think she thought she
could fly.
She has grown so much that she pulled the vine up
tight and was tearing away. I relieved the stem
stress and when I was treating the torn area with
Capton I found a split under the stem. The split is
about three inches long and starts in the base of the
stem and carries into the body. This split appears to
be entirely the result of the stem stress. A stupid
rookie mistake.
Probing the split, I found that it goes about two to
three inches deep and seems dry and still solid. I
coated the inside of the split with Capton with a
artist's brush. Hera watch me mournfully. I don't
know what else to do.
Hera has come face to face with her own mortality.
She now can see her future - a huge pile of watery
glop. She looks rather pathetic, hunched down in the
patch, as she contemplates the uncertainty of her
existence.
A harsh, cold reality for a proud pumpkin deity to
fully comprehend.
Anybody have any other suggestion of what I can do
treat the split?
diana
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