elephantine pumpkin inside low tunnel
On Wednesday I transplanted the giant pumpkin vine in Bri ’s Pumpkin Patch here at the place .
Bri , my horsey , is no longer with me . Last year I used her 2000 sq foot corral as the jumbo pumpkin patch and I got a New Mexico State Record-421 lbs for Giant Pumpkin last year . I think she is watching over them ! I miss her terribly .
Giant pumpkin inside low tunnel
Here ’s how I plant the pumpkin transplants that I started in the house .
1 . First I dig out an domain about 4 animal foot around and 1 - 2 feet deep where their antecedent system will turn . This year I added generous amounts of compost , 1/2 cupful of mycorrhizal , 1 cupful humate , and 1 cup of insect cast and mixed it into the field . ( I did not add any fertilizers as my soil test I had done in Spring said I was eminent in nitrogen , atomic number 19 , and potassium hydroxide , which is your basic fertiliser ingredients . ( This is uncanny because the pumpkins usually use up all available nutrient by the end of the season . The only thing I did last fall was put some chicken manure on top of the ‘ holes ’ . I did n’t even dig it in but I think the nutrients leached into the ground from the wintertime snow and increased the levels . )
2 . Then I stab a little cakehole where I place the pumpkins and I add another fistful of dirt ball casting and 1/2 loving cup more of mycorrhizal ( it ’s wry granule stuff ) and shuffle them together . This way the molding and mycorrhizal will be proper in the immediate root zona in the rootage and the bighearted remedy area will be accessible as the root organization grows .
3 . I cautiously peeled off the peat pot include the bottom so not to upset the roots but if the Cucurbita pepo is root bound , I must carefully compress the roots to loosen them up so they can grow outwards . This twelvemonth I did n’t have to do that . I range the pumpkins in the bottom of the hole opposite the first true leaf so it develop in the direction I want and put the amended grunge back around the tooth root ball . I make a well around the industrial plant so I can add water right to the root zone .
4 . In a 5 gallon bucket , I added 1 tsp/1 gal of water of liquid seaweed and about 3 drops of Super Thrive/1 gallon of water which helps vastly with graft jolt . Super Thrive is super expensive and super good . It has lots of the B vitamin complex in it which aid with stress - just like for us ! I first watered the well 2x to check that all the soil was soaked around the plant , then I added the liquid seaweed / thrive in water to the well .
5 . I put the Seaweed and Thrive with the water in each 24-hour interval for about 5 days , then afterwards I ordinarily give them water with fish photographic emulsion once a week but for now since my nitrogen is high-pitched I will wait awhile . I do piddle every mean solar day with about a 1/2 gal of water mightily now .
6 . I do n’t put fertilizer in the water system every time I water , normally just once a week . I will also tot other things to the water once a week but will discourse that as I go along in the season . I still have to do a drip scheme for the pumpkins and will hand irrigate them until I get it up and running .
7 . I underwrite the transplant with a pocket-sized piece of row cover to help it in it ’s transition with the acute sunshine and wind and keep rabbits away . I tack it down with rocks .
8 . On Thursday I put the low tunnels I previously made over the already covered pumpkins to protect them from the hotness and confidential information even more . Low burrow are like gamey tunnels but only go over the plant . You ca n’t walk inside them - they are low ! They will stay on till the plants grow out of them at the end . So far they are search practiced . The grime is nice and fond at 70 ° degree Fahrenheit .
9 . Saturday ( today ) I put the nuance covering over the low burrow as the sun is sooo intense right now . I can take it off once they adjust to the outside ingredient .
