Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 14 Entries. Monday, March 24 View Page First entry of 2025! Got tons of great info at Greenbay, talk about drinking from a fire hose! Amendments so far for a 3k sq ft patch include 7 yards horse manure, 100 lbs alfalfa cubes, 100 lbs thorvin kelp, 50 lbs blood meal, 240 lbs gypsum, and 50 lbs potassium sulfate. I'll add in the micros once I get my soil test back. � Friday, March 28 View Page Bought a cheap thermal camera attachment for my phone over the winter, which came in handy for many things, including checking my heating cables before they went in the ground. I found it interesting that the cables show a distinct pattern, white( hottest) red( less hot), white, etc. I wonder if that's just how these cables work and I'm seeing the result of alternating current. Will be interesting to see what the soil looks like once I have these installed � Saturday, March 29 View Page Standard heating cable install. Probably should be deeper, but I dig until I in hit hard-pan, then stab a broad fork as deep as I can and then lay the cable. Bucket holds an empty space for the plant so I don't have to try and dig after installing the cables. Nothing I came up with, just borrowed from the rest of y'all � Sunday, March 30 View Page 24 hours after installing the cables, mainly just adding this picture to reference for the thermal pic next � Sunday, March 30 View Page 24 hours after install and a cold rain. Beginning to at a noticeable change in the thermal. Adding a cold frame should keep everything warm enough pretty soon � Monday, March 31 View Page 36 hours post install, with cables still on. Seeing a noticeable difference on the thermal, this is at 645 am, with an ambient air temp of ~40 degrees, soil temp statewide at 6 inches ~50 degrees. � Sunday, April 6 View Page First chance to get out and look at the patch since the rain stopped. Something like 6 inches of rain in the last 4 days, and since my recently tilled and amended patch runs downhill, it looks like all my best soil ran out the bottom of the patch, and I grew a new crop of rocks. Very frustrating. Wondering if it's worth redoing my soil test at this point � Monday, April 7 View Page 180 days until Pumpkin daze 2025, so time to start the seeds. Very excited for my line up this year, as long as I can get them started. Growing the 2,471 Gienger, 2,097 Kisamore and a 2416 Haist. I had great luck with the 2416 my first year with 'real' seeds, and have wanted another shot growing it ever since. Still need to get irrigation put in, and weed barrier, which is new and I'm hopeful will help this year � Sunday, April 13 View Page Trying to catch up on the season so far. The 2471 came up fairly quick, and went in the ground around April 20th. The 2416 was a bust, and I had a terrible time getting my other seeds started. The 2471 went in the middle of the patch, and was pollinated on June 14th with one of my best plants for this time of year. The other two plants are quite behind � Sunday, May 4 View Page Next up was 2042 R. Kisamore at the top of the patch. This one had fairly bad transplant shock, and all the rain caused fairly bad chlorosis. Some fertilizer and Epson salts seemed to straighten it out, but it's going to be behind, looking at a mid July pollination at Best � Sunday, May 11 View Page Finally the 2097 at the bottom of the patch. This plant is in pretty good shape, but about three weeks behind where I need it to be, also probably going to be a mid July pollination, but it's a fairly healthy plant � Saturday, June 14 View Page This is the 2471 just prior to pollination. This is probably the best plant I've had for this time of year. The weed fabric is a bit of a mixed bag, it's a real pain getting down and cutting holes at every node, and because it's white, it seems to let enough light in for weeds to generate under it. So I'm also cutting holes and spraying glyphosate to kill weeds. Once the vine roots down it does seem to hold the fabric close enough to keep weeds from germinating. After talking to Richard Bottorf last year, I'm not burying nodes this year, as I do think it contributed to disease pressure that rotted my vine, but I am still using clone-x on the bottom root, against the recommendation of several experienced growers. I strongly believe this increases the heat resistance of the plant, and helps pull in more nutrients and water. Timing is important, as if you apply too soon, it will stunt or terminate secondaries, but I think it's worthwhile. � Saturday, June 14 View Page 4 lobe, pollinated on 6/14. Had to leave for a week on 6/20, so I set it up as if it was the keeper, since I won't see it again until day 15. Then I'll have a week off cutting holes and terminating secondaries before I leave for another week from day 22-day 28ish. Can't believe my summer has me missing two weeks in the middle of pollination time, but it is what it is � Saturday, June 14 View Page 4 lobe, pollinated on 6/14. Had to leave for a week on 6/20, so I set it up as if it was the keeper, since I won't see it again until day 15. Then I'll have a week off cutting holes and terminating secondaries before I leave for another week from day 22-day 28ish. Can't believe my summer has me missing two weeks in the middle of pollination time, but it is what it is �