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March 21: Soil Temperature: 72�F It seems like this winter, even milder than the last, is pretty much gone now. There was a small blast of cold air last week that made night temperatures drop to near freezing but it warmed back up quickly. Very warm weather is forecasted this week and next week is the start of April. The soil temp this time last year was about 68�F, four degrees less than now. So, with that in mind I tilled the pumpkin garden today. I dug deeper this year, since I'm planting Atlantic Giants, and struck caliche clay. I removed it and added two bags of Miracle-Gro Garden Soil to make up the difference. It was also added to boost enrichment and to soften the soil. Last year, the soil was too hard and there were some drainage and vine-leaning problems. April 10: Atlantic Giant Planting Day Soil Temperature: 71�F Soil pH: 6.7 Well, the weather looks great as far as the forecasts show so I planted the seeds a few days ahead of the traditional April 15th sowing date. On average, highs are in the 80�sF with lows in the 50�sF. The pH is higher than last year but then again the manure has been diluted. The fertilizers I will use later on hopefully will lower it a little bit. It is presently ok though by many quoted standards of 6.0 to 7.0, while others say the lower half of that bracket is ideal. Soil temp is oddly one degree less than in my previous entry, just an anomaly I figure. I planted today hoping some rain would water for me but it went around the area instead, typical. So, I watered manually. The edges of the seeds were filed to help the plants break through. I sowed three 500-700 lbs. and two 700-900 lbs. specimen seeds ordered from Howard Dill himself. The former seeds were actually bigger but I've learned that is not an indicator of later performance. It will be interesting to watch nonetheless. Of course some thinning will have to take place. Finally, I placed a squirrel chaser bag in the middle of the garden, sprayed Liquid Fence around the perimeter, and laid mothballs around the same. I hope that keeps the squirrels and cats away.

April 17:
Sprouting Day
The two 700-900 lbs. specimen seeds have sprouted. See, one should never underestimate the smaller seeds! Actually, one yesterday was visibly pushing the soil above it. One of the 500-700 seeds is doing the same today. I have been watering every few days; there has been no rain this past week.
Now that sprouts have appeared, I added a sand barrier for slugs and a crawling insect powder barrier. While I was at it, I also sprayed the three-foot stretch of grass around the garden with systemic Fung-Away. I hope to cut down on possible Powdery Mildew transmission early this way. I'll spray other areas later.

April 21:
The two remaining seeds didn't sprout so I went digging for them. I found that the seedlings were unable to break out of their casings and were starting to rot. So, it appears that I have to file them even more in the future. I planted some backup 500-700 lbs. seeds keeping this in mind.
I inspected the existing plants for SVB eggs and found none. I sprayed them with Malathion. I am still watering without fertilizer every few days. I also had to replenish some of the sand and crawling insect powder.

April 28:
Measurements: Tallest plant is 10" tall with a 6" leaf
The backup seeds are starting to sprout. The two 700-900 plants have two true leaves and a third on the way. The one 500-700 specimen that sprouted the first time doesn't look too well, there appears to be no second true leaf in the works. I may have to pull it in favor of the backups nearby. I planted one more 700-900 seed today as well, which was well filed on the edges.
I inspected for SVB eggs but found some other kind of eggs instead on the underside of the cotyledons of all plants. The eggs were grayish-black, round, and at the most about half the size of SVB eggs. Squash bugs perhaps? In any case, they were removed with the help of duct tape. Then another Malathion spray was conducted. More sand and insect powder was needed to in order to fill gaps that formed.
Weather-wise, only one light one-minute shower has occurred since the first seeds were planted. I am still watering with plain water every few days. The existing plants started to lean the wrong way because of the wind and perhaps heavy first true leaves. I had to bring out my "U" hooks for them. I also need to get them to lean in the right direction very soon, perhaps watering the leaves to make them heavy.

May 6:
Soil Temperature: 73�F
Measurements: Two 700-900 plants are 12" high with 5-6" leaves average, one leaf is 7"
The 700-900 plants are continuing to do well. Compared to the Luminas last year, they are slightly smaller at this point. However, it is two months earlier and cooler than last year. I flooded their end of the garden at the two-week mark and started their lean. First they were tilted where they were 60� to the ground, then 45� a few days later, and then 30� today. No splits have formed. So, 12" high is actually 12" long if you look at it that way. I adjusted the "U" hooks and added some bamboo skewers to further stabilize them.
In contrast, the 500-700 seeds have not done well. I pulled that oldest one with only one true leaf. One more sprout has appeared and is growing very slowly with one 2" true leaf so far. The one other 700-900 seed made its vigorous appearance today with a sprout poking through the dirt. It almost was not to be as yesterday a squirrel dug a hole about 2" nearby. I sprayed more pepper spray around the garden when I saw that.
I inspected the plants for SVB eggs and found none. I found one more of those strange eggs under one of the cotyledons. I sprayed the plants with Malathion. I watered the rest of the garden with plain water except for one spot. I watered that slow 500-700 sprout with regular Miracle-Gro to see what that does for it. It did rain nicely a few days ago, the first true episode since planting time. It came down gently and moderately with no wind. I replenished washed away areas of sand and insect powder. The wind barriers are also up, protecting them from northern and eastern winds that have been kicking up occasionally.

May 11:
Measurement: One of the leaves is 8" wide
Tiny tendrils have made their appearance on the two 700-900 plants. It rained nicely again over the weekend. The 700-900 sprout is growing nicely and is a little taller than the others when they were small. I am speculating that it was made so by me covering it for protection from a thunderstorm. Seeing darkness for those few hours, it may have grown upwards thinking it had further to go before breaking through the soil. The 500-700 sprout is starting to grow well too after a slow start.

May 14:
Measurements: Two 700-900 plants are 20" long, largest leaves are 10" across
The lean on one of the plants is complete now; it laid completely down when the stakes were removed. It looks great and no splits are to be found. Its growth direction is slightly off now from where I want it to grow but turning it slightly shouldn't be hard.
The whole garden was watered the other day with standard Miracle-Gro.
I also found a few SVB eggs, three on one plant and one on the other. None were on the backup sprouts. They were easily removed with duct tape and the plants were sprayed again with Malathion.

May 15:
The other plant was leaned totally down today successfully. Several "U" hooks were placed on both vines to help stabilize them from the wind. It also rained nicely. However, the 500-700 backup sprout took a beating, the stem even developed a bent. The 700-900 backup continues to do nicely though.

May 17:
Measurements: V1 is 30" long with largest leaf 12" wide; V2 is 36" long with largest leaf 11" wide
I went ahead and named the two 700-900 plants since they are vines now. V1 is the vine whose base is closest to the edge of the garden; V2 is then the vine next to it. The recent rains sure did their growth some good. Both are now at the edge of the garden and about to reach the yard. I slightly adjusted the end of V2 so that it would grow in the right direction. V1 has a developed a split at its base, it did want to twist a little in the early days so I guess this is the result. V1 may be a few inches shorter but it has the largest leaf of the two vines so far. Also, V2-2004 had a split in the same spot and it was the best producer of all vines last year so hopefully this year it won't be a disadvantage either.
I actually wasn't going to work with the vines themselves today but the sighting of SVB eggs changed all that. Before the actions above, I had to pull 22 of them off all the vines and backups. There were 11 on V1, 5 on V2, 5 on the 500-700 backup and 1 on the 700-900 backup. The adult that laid them was crafty in some cases, even laying a few on the vine tip of V2, which can not be sprayed. Afterwards, I gave all vines and backups a Malathion spray. Then, I treated the yard itself where the vines will grow with Fung-Away, hoping to head off Powdery Mildew this year (the only thing that I was originally going to do today).

May 20:
Measurements: V1 is 40" long; V2 is 47" long
I fertilized with regular Miracle-Gro today, redirected V1 and V2 slightly, and pulled some weeds. I also removed the 500-700 backup; it was still growing rather slowly and had some strange-looking wilting action on two leaves. The 700-900 plant is the only backup left; it looks healthy.

May 22:
Soil Temperature: 83.8�F
Measurements: V1 is 47" long; V2 is 56" long
It was a very hot day today with temps in the mid-90s. Several more days of this is forecasted so I constructed some "umbrellas" to shade the vine tips so they won't burn.

May 26:
Measurements: V1 is 6'5" long, V2 is 7'1" long, V3 is 16"; largest leaves are 14" wide
The remaining backup just looks so good I don't have the heart to pull it so it has become V3. It is in the leaning process right now. Actually, I found a split near the base of V2, I guess they are simply inevitable sometimes. Despite that, V1 and V2 are looking great and are adding 6-8 inches of length daily these past few days.
Thunderstorms are in the area and will be so for the next few days so I erected the wind barriers all around the vines. Temperatures have cooled back down into the 80s. I did my weekly inspection for SVB eggs and found none. I sprayed with Malathion. The garden was also watered with Miracle-Gro Pro-Select 20-20-20 this time.
Finally, this is Day 39 (not including sprouting day). Some male flowers are at about half-size now. A male opened on Day 43 in 2004 and Day 42 in 2003. The first females opened on Day 56 in 2004 and Day 58 in 2003. The vine lengths look the same or perhaps only a few inches shorter this year than in the previous ones. They were planted the earliest ever and a few cold nights were to be had. The Atlantic Giant life cycle is also more stretched out over time from what I have read. Nonetheless, they are doing very well.

May 29:
Measurements: V1 is 8' long; V2 is 9' long
The first male flower bloomed today on V2. They look a little different than Luminas, a little shorter and fatter. It is Day 42, right on schedule according to observations from past years. It also rained nicely yesterday, 1.6 inches of rain.

June 26:
It has been quite awhile since my last entry but things have basically just been repetition since then with the fertilization, spraying, training, etc. It is Day 70. On one occasion 100 SVB eggs were removed. Most recently, 27 were removed. Two SVB larva breeched the defenses (one on V1 and one on V3) so I injected BT where they were. Three more spots seemed suspicious for breeches (on V2) so I injected BT there too. It has not rained for a month now so the vines have totally relied on my watering, including the secondary roots.
V1 and V2's main vine tips broke from the stress of their own weight. I tried to anchor them to prevent that but it happened anyways so I trimmed them off a few inches back from the breaks. I trained a new main from a new secondary for V2 near the break with another big secondary now providing support. A few smaller secondaries now exist too. The new main is starting to get some promising female flowers on it. Hopefully they will start to reach maturity now and open up for pollination. V1's main just broke a few days ago so I am keeping an eye on eight new secondaries for the new main. A few others will make nice support vines for V1 too.
Finally, V3 is pretty small compared to the others, not even looking like an Atlantic Giant vine. Only a few small flower buds have appeared on it but it is still growing, doing so nicely these past few days. Hopefully it will get a little bigger and flower as it starts to take advantage of the morning sun too.

July 12:
Pollination Day
It is Day 86. A female flower finally opened up on V2 and it is huge. It is much larger than the ones you see on regular-size pumpkin varieties. Bees were all around too, traveling from the two open males on V2 to that female. There were five honeybees, two bumblebees, and two sweat bees. Even with them around, I still used one of the males to pollinate the female myself. No males on the other vines were open. Later in the day, I set up a fan with a block of ice in front of it to combat this continuing 100�F weather.

July 18:
It is Day 92. Boy has this been a disastrous season! The six-week spell of no rain and 100�+F temperatures finally was broken these past few days but it has come too late. Sixty percent of the leaves (the older ones) have now been trimmed away due to heat, age and powdery mildew. The last of those is a result of the near 80�F morning lows with 100% humidity. I sprayed the rest with Ortho Funginex to help keep the problem at bay. I also treated the lawn with Fung-Away again.
The SVBs keep coming too, not showing any mid-season letup. I removed 95 eggs laid over the past week (40 on V1, 39 on V2, 16 on V3) but that was just from the remaining leafy sections. I saw some more on the leaves I removed so perhaps 120 total were to be had, and that is a conservative estimate. Some also breeched my weekly inspections and sprays. Two were in a secondary in V2 that I removed since all the leaves on it were gone. One was near the base in V1 and I treated it with BT. One was further down on V1 and it too got BT. One was at the base of a flower stem on V2 that I was able to cut out since it was on the side of the vine and not in the middle of it. It still left some damage on that side though. Then I injected BT into several other suspected breeches.
Before the rain started, I was watering the primary roots twice a week and the secondary roots once a week. I fertilized weekly with a high-nitrogen content solution when I needed vine growth and added Bloom Booster when the flowers needed promotion.
As for the potential of the vines themselves, V1 is having a hard time starting a good secondary for the purpose of becoming the new main. I had to trim several because they were growing in the wrong direction, suffered powdery mildew, and most recently two broke right off the vine with only a thin layer of tissue continuing to sustain them. Right now I don't see any promising growth. V3 has stopped growing too after only producing small leaves and many immature male flowers. It hasn't produced many tendrils and secondary roots. Only six feet of leafy vine remain on it and it flops around on windy days. The only vine that still shows any decent effort is V2. It has been growing nicely with a daily gain of almost a foot with all the rain that has been falling these past few days. The new leaves on the vine are green and thick but do not grow all that big, perhaps ten inches across at a maximum. However, the pollinated female failed after reaching lime-size and a female flower a little further down shriveled up as well. The next promising female is much further down the vine and is currently about pea-size.

July 22:
Another round of inspections and spraying has been completed. V1 had 27 SVB eggs and one major breech by a SVB larva. However, next to one egg there was one dead tiny larva that must have not liked the Malathion. V2 had 33 eggs, two major and two minor breeches. V3 had 17 eggs and 2 minor breeches. BT was applied to the breeches.
More leaves were trimmed away in the patch. V3 was removed completely as it started growing tiny stunted leaves and plenty of long tendrils but no flowers. Only about 20% of the plants remain. Two secondaries on V1 came off again with only the slightest of touch. Another one looks better and might take hold.

July 27:
Measurement: V2 is 46� long
I officially declare this current season a disaster and complete loss. It is Day 101.
A female opened up on V2 on Saturday and I pollinated it with three males from the same vine for lack of any on V1. The pistil was well-coated with pollen. I then placed a box over it with some ice inside and kept the temperature between 71� and 79�F all day while it got up to 95�F outside. Today it began to turn yellow after reaching about the size of a golf ball. A small female flower further down the vine turned yellow after reaching pea-size. A female at the tip is yellow too. V1�s short secondary produced a stunted female flower that yellowed around pea-size too. The vines are just too old and devoid of leaves at this point to produce a viable pumpkin. For curiosity, I measured V2.
I�m planting another round of seeds, hoping to get a successful season in this year. I cut the bases of V1 and V2 away to make room and the vines didn�t even miss them. So the base roots had ceased to function much if at all. I�ll keep those vines just a little bit longer but won�t update this log with their status unless something spectacular happens with them.

Note: The second round of plantings failed too as the extreme heat and drought continued. This season was a complete loss.

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