Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 23 Entries. Sunday, April 13 View Page I decided I would do a BP diary this year to document progress. I told my wife I wouldn't grow this year if I got my jacket last year, which I did, but then spring rolled around and I couldn't resist the itch to grow! Over the winter I grew a mixed mustard and legume cover crop that was mowed and worked under at the end of March.   Sunday, April 13 View Page Cucumber beetle trap plants got started mid March and are now scattered around the patch in 5 gallon buckets. We start getting cucumber beetles in early April and I'm now killing hundreds every day. It's no longer legal to purchase imidacloprid or any other neonicotinoids without a commercial applicator license in CA, so this is one tool to hopefully address the problem.   Sunday, April 13 View Page Amendments were spread and tilled in on Saturday after letting the cover crop decompose for a few weeks. 50 gallons of compost tea with 1.5 gal liquid humic and .75 gal MT-17 were sprayed across the patch and tilled in at the same time to get the biology going and speed up cover crop breakdown. My plants will probably stay in the caterpillar tunnel for around a month depending on weather before I remove the plastic and use the hoops for shade cloth support. Seedlings will probably get transplanted in around a week.   Monday, April 21 View Page Plants were tucked into the ground last Friday. I cover them in Agribon for a couple of weeks because I have extreme cucumber beetle pressure and the beetles will destroy seedlings even inside the greenhouse. I've added some grow lights to the greenhouse this year to see if I can push the plants a bit. Spot 1 is planted with 2 2465 Dawson, spot 2 has a 2198 and 2154 Sperry, and spot 3 has a 2147 Marshall and 2390 Urena. Will cull down to the best 3.   Sunday, May 11 View Page Plants are about a month old now and looking good. Culls have been made and the chosen plants are the 2465 Dawson, 2154 Sperry, and 2147 Marshall. This is the 2147 with the 2154 in the background. The plants have outgrown their cucumber beetle shelters and are now getting pretty chewed up since they're unprotected. Just have to hope they can stay virus free!   Sunday, May 11 View Page The buckwheat cover crop on next year's pumpkin patch is coming along nicely.   Sunday, May 25 View Page Put my shade cloth up last weekend and got the drip tape and sprayers installed today. The plants are looking quite nice considering the weather has been really mild and nighttime temps have been in the 40s.   Sunday, May 25 View Page Put my shade cloth up last weekend and got the drip tape and sprayers installed today. The plants are looking quite nice considering the weather has been really mild and nighttime temps have been in the 40s.   Saturday, June 7 View Page Main vine on my 2465 Dawson split just ahead of my preferred pollination yesterday. Curious if anyone has thoughts on the cause of this as it seems like a few folks are dealing with this, but it's a first form me. I elected to terminate the main and will train a secondary to pollinate on, but it'll set me back a week or so.   Saturday, June 14 View Page Patch view from today. 2147 Marshall and 2154 Sperry were pollinated a few days ago and the 2465 Dawson is probably a week or so out from pollinating the keeper since I lost the main.   Sunday, July 6 View Page The patch is getting close to filled in and the plants overall are looking good. The aphids are starting to set in despite spraying every few days. The plants are definitely bigger and healthier looking than last year, but pumpkin growth has been slow so far.   Sunday, July 6 View Page 2465 Dawson day 15. I removed the blossom nub today because it seemed a bit soft and I didn't like how it looked. I've had good luck in the past when I've done this, so hopefully this one holds together and keeps going.   Sunday, July 6 View Page 2154 Sperry day 17. My main vine pollination was pretty misshapen, so I've decided to go with this one on a secondary. I don't like this plant or the look of this pumpkin and have pretty low expectations for it.   Sunday, July 6 View Page 2147 Marshall day 25. It's a perfect looking plant and a perfect looking pumpkin. It's just kind of small for its age so hopefully it kicks in.   Sunday, July 6 View Page 2147 Marshall day 25. It's a perfect looking plant and a perfect looking pumpkin. It's just kind of small for its age so hopefully it kicks in.   Saturday, July 19 View Page About 95% of the 3000 square foot patch is now filled in and the plants look really good. However pumpkin growth has continued to be much slower than usual. Our nighttime temperatures have consistently been around 5-10 degrees cooler than normal and I think that has a lot to do with it.   Saturday, July 19 View Page 2147 Marshall on day 38 measuring around 600 lbs. Lots of sapping and cantelouping on this one. It's one of the nicest looking plants I think I've ever grown, but the pumpkin just doesn't want to kick in.   Saturday, July 19 View Page 2154 Sperry day 30 around 325 lbs.   Saturday, July 19 View Page 2465 Dawson day 28 around 275 lbs.   Friday, July 25 View Page I visited another local grower's patch today and he has one plant where a lot of the new growth is curling around the leaf margins like this. Does anyone have thoughts on the cause? My first thought was herbicide injury but he hasn't sprayed anything.   Saturday, August 2 View Page The patch is now all filled in and terminated. The plants look pretty solid, but fruit growth hasn't been good at all. I think the abnormally cold nighttime temps we've had have a lot to do with it, but I think there is more at play. My goal this year was to grow more leaf area faster, which I succeeded in doing, but this hasn't translated into better fruit growth. At this point I'm around 250 lbs behind last year's pace despite having larger, healthier plants. This is the 2147 Marshall. At day 52 it's sitting at around 1020 lbs and plodding along with daily gains around 30lbs.   Saturday, August 2 View Page 2465 Dawson around 750 lbs on day 42 and doing mid 30s/day. The growth rate picked up into the 40s for a bit, but seems to have ramped back as I'm fighting with some rot on the stem. It has 1200 square feet of terminated plant behind it so hopefully it will sustain a nice long growth curve if I can get the stem situation under control.   Saturday, August 2 View Page Last but not least, my 2154 Sperry just bit the dust. I figured this one would likely split given its shape, but it would have been a nice looking pumpkin. I think it was measuring around 800 when I hacked it up today.