The Great Pumpkin Race: Warning #2

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Warning #2

-from Anna of team Sweet Pumpemon:

Watch out Ladies, we have some enemies!!! There are some strange species , who plan to destruct our Pumpkin race.
Yesterday as I was trying to Pollinate my " Sweet Pumpkemon" there was a big surprise waiting for me .First reaction: panic and suspicion– have any of my Competitors visited my terrace at night?! hmmmm :)
-Carni, I know you are a ruthless competitor but I don't think you would stoop to such a low, would you???

Ok ok! now lets get serious. I´m asking for help to you Anita, a "Mother of Pumpkins," what should I do? Can I use same spray which I normally use for inside plant bugs? or it might kill my "Sweet Pumpkemon"?

Thanks and take care of your ones.
-Anna, I was afraid this might happen to other competitors. My plant also has these small black bugs but so far they don't seem to bother the plant. I think they are "black aphids" and they had been on some of my flowers and it looks like they jumped to my pumpkin. I will research some remedies and post shortly. You can just remove them by hand but i know there are many of them and it's hard to do with the bristles on the pumpkin stems. You could also try some insecticides that are "vegetable safe". Stay tuned for more information on this.

1 comment:

GertiJune 26, 2011 at 1:16 PM
Oh NO! I am going to inspect Hercules first thing tomorrow morning. And I PROMISE I have done nothing to inflict the Sweet Pumpkemon with these horrific bugs. Poor Sweet Pumpkemon :(
ReplyDelete
Replies

Add comment

What is this?

This blog is to document the hard work, vision, courage, perseverance, and devotion of the amazing participants of this distinguished competition.

Who are we?

We are an international group, currently residing (and often times bored) in Luxembourg. We represent many countries: Estonia, Mexico, Iceland, Georgia, South Africa, and the United States (USA! USA! USA!). We may be diverse in nationality but we all share a common passion to grow the BIGGEST damn Pumpkin that we can, using any means possible.

The Rules?

There are only 2 ...

1. No buying a new pumpkin (we will all have to provide photos prior to "harvest" to prove that your plant indeed produced your contestant pumpkin)

3. You must disclose ALL details of what you did to grow your pumpkin (if asked...we may not want to know)

The PRIZE for the biggest pumpkin?

Besides the respect of your peers and a great sense of pride and accomplishment, you will get something very American and worthy of your feat. In other words, I don't know what the prize will be yet. But it will be GREAT!

Racers, tend to your pumpkins!

Growing Tip: Milk Feeding

Some say that the only way to get one of those crazy, multi-hundred pound state fair prize-winning pumpkins is to feed your pumpkin milk. How?
The easy way: pour some milk around the pumpkins for some extra nourishment.
Or, if you really want to "go big" then try the following:
Clear all the smaller pumpkins off the vine and choose the one you want to nurse to greatness. Next get a bowl of milk and sugar and place it near the fruit. Then carefully make a small slit in the stem where the pumpkin is growing from the vine. Soak a cotton wick in the milk and sugar and insert one end in the slit and the other end in the milk and sugar mixture.
Keep the bowl filled with fresh mixture until your pumpkin reaches the desired size.

Some blogs even suggest adding ground up fish to the soil. I would skip that, we all have neighbors living sort of close by.