New Problem, New Solution

Apparently, the heat has been a bit much for my vines. I came home to find a few very "crispy" leaves one day last week. I must admit, that some of the problem was my own fault for not giving them the watering attention that they needed... for one day. That's all it took for them to burn, so now, before I do anything else when I get home from work, I water my vines.

In addition to crispy leaves, three of the pumpkins that had been growing developed rot spots on them. I have a couple of theories, which range from not enough water, to too much water, to too much sun and possibly being too early for fruit. I have no idea what happened, but all three stopped growing and then began to rot. It's frustrating, but at the same time, I have the comfort of a long growing season and many new female flowers emerging.

The "new solution" that I have, is in reference to the vine borer problem. I read on one website, that instead of digging the worm out of the vine and causing significant damage, that some growers simply poke a pin through the vine a couple of times at the site of the borer damage. So far, this has been very successful with minimal damage to the vine. Much better then the excessive hacking that the vines endured with the first round of borers that I found. I do have to check the vines everyday, but as long as I do, the damage is kept to a minimum.

Finally, I discovered that Mother Nature is lending me a helping hand in my pumpkin growing quest :) I've been seeing a LOT of bees buzzing around my vines and this weekend, I found a pumpkin that I surely had not pollinated. It was a nice surprise, especially after having just lost 3 pumpkins.

Now the pumpkin count is 2, one green, one white. Pictures to follow :)