|
Post by woodeye on Aug 30, 2022 21:40:50 GMT -6
You done good if your kids gave the baked Seminole Pumpkin high marks, chrysanthemum. It's a nice looking squash, I look forward to seeing some of those here.
I'll wager that the plant will do well with its new haircut...
|
|
|
Post by heavyhitterokra on Sept 1, 2022 17:17:03 GMT -6
On the brighter side of things, Moose; you couldn't have picked a much better year to lay out a season. May, June, and July were heartbreakers around here.
|
|
|
Post by chrysanthemum on Sept 1, 2022 20:07:23 GMT -6
Yep.
You’ll notice that I have had a total of ONE fruit on all that vine, and it only came once temperatures cooled off at the end of August. There was no way to know, of course, but I would have been better off pretty much not planting anything until time for the fall season. I will say, though, that now that things are perking up, it’s giving me a lot of joy that I wasn’t feeling so much earlier.
|
|
|
Post by chrysanthemum on Nov 7, 2022 23:08:16 GMT -6
I just wanted to post a picture of the Seminole Pumpkin after it has grown back extensively from its major pruning at the end of August. I’ve harvested one more green pumpkin, I believe. I’ve had pollination problems despite my efforts to hand pollinate. Sometimes it just doesn’t seem to take. I have a few more prospects, though, so we’ll see if I get anything more before the cold sets in.
|
|
|
Post by woodeye on Nov 7, 2022 23:24:16 GMT -6
November doesn't appear to be slowing it down at all. It must have really like the haircut you gave it.
|
|
|
Post by macmex on Nov 10, 2022 8:19:01 GMT -6
Seminole isn't anything, if not resilient. I need to grow it out again sometime. This is such a good variety for extreme heat and humidity.
|
|
|
Post by woodeye on Nov 10, 2022 10:00:04 GMT -6
Seminole Pumpkins are definitely on my grow list for next year, chrysanthemum & macmex. The sprawling vines remind me of a few years ago when I grew several kinds of Cushaws from seeds I got at Native Seeds Search. I planted about a dozen hills and the vines pretty much covered the entire area that is now the Iron Curtain, plus they ran off into the pastures besides it. I'll have a trellis for the Seminole Pumpkin, but I can see in the picture above that Seminoles don't mind being on a trellis at all...
|
|
|
Post by chrysanthemum on Nov 10, 2022 18:53:36 GMT -6
woodeye, I really like trellising plants as you know, but Seminole is good at putting down roots when it vines along the ground. I try to let it get some good vine contact on the ground before I train it up. I think that helps it be a stronger plant. For the first time I used a paintbrush to hand pollinate some pumpkin flowers this week, and I think I can already tell that they are getting bigger, but they aren’t really big enough to pick yet. We may hit the thirties tomorrow night. I think it will be windy enough that there won’t be a frost warning, but I’m worried about how the plants will fare going from temperatures in the 80s this week down to the 30s. I just pollinated three more blossoms this morning. I sure hope the vines and fruit will be able to take the cold.
|
|
|
Post by hmoosek on Nov 10, 2022 21:09:06 GMT -6
I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you chrysanthemum. Tomorrow, I've got to get mine protected. I still have big boy peas producing! Maybe with a little nip tuck, I can get it on the porch. I was able to save plenty of seed, so its not imperative, but still….
|
|
|
Post by woodeye on Nov 10, 2022 21:35:05 GMT -6
woodeye , I really like trellising plants as you know, but Seminole is good at putting down roots when it vines along the ground. I try to let it get some good vine contact on the ground before I train it up. I think that helps it be a stronger plant. For the first time I used a paintbrush to hand pollinate some pumpkin flowers this week, and I think I can already tell that they are getting bigger, but they aren’t really big enough to pick yet. We may hit the thirties tomorrow night. I think it will be windy enough that there won’t be a frost warning, but I’m worried about how the plants will fare going from temperatures in the 80s this week down to the 30s. I just pollinated three more blossoms this morning. I sure hope the vines and fruit will be able to take the cold. Good to know. I'll take that into consideration when I'm figuring out the spot to plant them next year. I know they can be rampant growers, but I can force them to grow on the ground in the direction I choose. I've had to do that with Tatume squash before. Thanks for the tip...
|
|
|
Post by chrysanthemum on Nov 11, 2022 20:03:41 GMT -6
I often like to take pictures of my plants before a big cold front comes in just in case that ends up being the end of them. Here’s one I took of the Seminole Pumpkin today. I tried to capture both the vines as well as the two fruits that I pollinated earlier in the week.
|
|
|
Post by chrysanthemum on Nov 12, 2022 17:14:57 GMT -6
I didn’t take any measures to protect my plants from our cold front, and Seminole Pumpkin is the only one that this afternoon was showing that it had been through anything difficult. I don’t think it was the cold, though. We also had lots and lots and lots of wind, and I’m thinking that the wind drew moisture out of those big leaves. They were looking a bit wilted this afternoon, so when I watered the whole garden, I gave a little extra surface water all around the vines. I don’t think it was any kind of severe or lasting damage. There will be more cold to come, but I was most worried about the abrupt transition and the winds, and it looks to have withstood that just fine. As long as we don’t get unexpected freezes coming up (the forecast calls for temperatures in the 30s but not freezes), I think things are looking good.
|
|
|
Post by chrysanthemum on Nov 14, 2022 21:24:13 GMT -6
I couldn’t remember exactly when I hand pollinated my first Seminole Pumpkins last week, but I don’t like to leave them on the plant too long. These were smaller than I usually harvest, but they added up to over a pound and a quarter of squash. I fried it up as an accompaniment to breaded chicken drumsticks for our supper tonight. I think the pumpkin was quite the hit. The vines are looking good after a brief dip to 32 on Saturday night. If we can make it through this week without another close call, I’ll be grateful.
|
|
|
Post by woodeye on Nov 14, 2022 22:25:01 GMT -6
Now that is a work of art right there, chrysanthemum. Bravo! It's so good to see pictures like this in November!
|
|
|
Post by hmoosek on Nov 15, 2022 17:26:35 GMT -6
Hot Dog Lucy! I guess I missed this last night! Ain’t they the cutest thing you ever saw.
|
|