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Post by macmex on Jul 20, 2024 8:30:04 GMT -6
Can't be pollination. We live in a pollinator rich environment with a great many native bees, of various species. On top of that, I'm a beekeeper and have around 5 hives on the property. I believe the problem is that I got them in fairly late and this variety does not do very well, setting fruit in really hot weather. My hope is that I can maintain the vines in good health until cooler weather arrives and that they will have a second wind.
Old Timey Cornfield Pumpkin, on the other hand, handles the heat and goes on setting fruit.
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Post by FrostyTurnip on Jul 27, 2024 18:09:46 GMT -6
macmex,
I have a spot ready I am considering dropping seed for a few Warsaw plants. Do you think I have enough time? I can wait until spring. I don’t want to waste seed.
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Post by macmex on Jul 28, 2024 4:42:29 GMT -6
If you have enough seed, I'd give it a try. It's close.
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Post by FrostyTurnip on Jul 28, 2024 8:53:01 GMT -6
Looks as though I have enough for both seasons. I’ll give it a go with a few now.
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Post by chrysanthemum on Jul 28, 2024 18:42:50 GMT -6
I found with Seminole Pumpkin that I could pick some fruit that wasn’t fully ripe at the time of the first freeze and bring it inside to ripen just as one would a blushing tomato. I got good seed from a couple like that, so I imagine you could do something similar with Warsaw Buff if frost comes when you’ve got some fruit at the green mature stage.
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Post by FrostyTurnip on Jul 29, 2024 22:27:37 GMT -6
chrysanthemum Thanks for the encouragement. My frost date is earlier than macmex so I’m really pushing the envelope.
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Post by FrostyTurnip on Aug 4, 2024 17:58:18 GMT -6
We have lift off on the undisturbed hill. Strong seedlings. Good seed, macmex
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Post by FrostyTurnip on Aug 5, 2024 17:27:47 GMT -6
The City of Cushing just made a proclamation of emergency. The water pumps are shut off and severe rationing is implemented as well as there not being any potable water. From the sounds of it, they’re anticipating running out of water.
Hopefully we’ll get enough rain. Outside of that, I’m not guaranteeing the ability to mentally keep up with watering the patch. This has broken me. I’m just done.
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Post by woodeye on Aug 5, 2024 20:17:07 GMT -6
Oh no! FrostyTurnip, I'm so sorry to hear this. I sure hope it rains to help you get through this...
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Post by chrysanthemum on Aug 5, 2024 20:44:05 GMT -6
Frosty, I’m praying for you and your city. Please keep us posted on how you’re faring. I’m sorry that you’re going through this.
I know that outside watering is not allowed. I’ve been through that as you know, but I haven’t had to deal with a lack of potable water at the same time.
I know you know the trick of saving dishwater, and a little doesn’t go a long way, but it might make you feel better if you choose just one plant or patch to receive those cast-offs from washing dishes. It might be an encouragement to see something survive.
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Post by FrostyTurnip on Aug 6, 2024 0:06:33 GMT -6
Frosty, I’m praying for you and your city. Please keep us posted on how you’re faring. I’m sorry that you’re going through this. I know that outside watering is not allowed. I’ve been through that as you know, but I haven’t had to deal with a lack of potable water at the same time. I know you know the trick of saving dishwater, and a little doesn’t go a long way, but it might make you feel better if you choose just one plant or patch to receive those cast-offs from washing dishes. It might be an encouragement to see something survive. Thanks, My daughter hates it when I get this way because I yank myself into a very boring and monotonous routine and drag her through it with me to stay focused and I get real grumpy. I get like a trauma induced ADHD and it’s hard to think, so I just ‘do”.
All water must be boiled before use. Even they don’t recommend we shower. They’ve technically banned laundering and other household water use. The boys are going to bring jugs to their places of employment (in other cities) and begin carting home potable water.
You’re forcing me to think this through. Watering the rabbits is an ingrained chore. I have fewer rabbits than water bottles and I’m thinking to include watering the plants at that time.
I’m concerned about contamination with use of untreated water on the plants. For seed? Keep in mind, these pumpkins are not likely to make it but the plan was to ‘try’. That being said, if I water with untreated water flowing from the water treatment plant, do you think it would harm the soil or plant? I’m having a hard time thinking this through. I know that the size of the plot is reconcilable (or rectifiable?) if the water should harm the soil. That problem is doable. I can remedy bad soil of its size and small ratio to the surrounding good soil.
but if the plant should grow and the pumpkins develop (at which time the water should be okay), would they be edible?
My goal is for seed and if I should be lucky to garner good seed, I think those would be fine to keep because because, ideally, they will be raised in good soil the next season.
For the rabbits, I will boil the water and then I will be filtering it through a Berkey water filter. No idea if that’ll be sufficient but it’s all I’ve got until we build up a potable water supply from another city.
I just remembered I have a couple of 10 or 15 gallon water tanks, specifically for emergency. The water in them is old. I was planning to go up to Stillwater tomorrow morning and buy rabbit feed. The food bank is there and I bet they would be willing to allow me to fill up a tank. I will dump the stale water into a stock tank outside by the pumpkin patch.
And with that, I’m going to go empty those tanks now.
Yeshua Bless You
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Post by macmex on Aug 6, 2024 5:34:13 GMT -6
Frosty, untreated water should not be a problem with your pumpkins. I had to face this issue while living in Central Mexico, in the high desert. The only thing that made it possible to grow vegetables there was the fact that a canal ran through the valley with gray water from Mexico City (over 100 miles away). It had been partially treated yet remained rich in pathogens and contaminants. We just learned to wash our crops if we were going to eat the skin. The plants naturally filter these things out at the root level.
Will be praying for you! Sounds like they're not anticipating that they'll run out of water. They have!
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Post by FrostyTurnip on Aug 6, 2024 12:29:41 GMT -6
macmex Thank you. I had seeded out some root crops around the Warsaw Pie Pumpkin patch, but I think I’ll abandon those. I’ll run the hose on the patch if need be. I found 35 gallons of stale water in storage. We dumped all into the stock tank, but now that water would be good for some of our self care.
We’ve had decent rainfall this summer and the Warsaw Pie Pumpkins are sitting atop moist soil. For the first week of August, this is unusual.
This has been a worthy lesson deserving of another thread. I can say that we are still ahead of most.
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Post by chrysanthemum on Aug 7, 2024 6:14:49 GMT -6
Frosty, I’m glad macmex could speak to your concerns about watering with contaminated water. I’ll mention that having a Berkey is a huge asset at a time like this. They claim that with their filters that boiling water isn’t even necessary, so I’m sure it will be fine for your rabbits. I’m so glad you have that option. If you have plain chlorine bleach you can also use that to disinfect your water. Instead of trying to give you amounts, I’m pasting in a link from the EPA since it covers different volumes and a couple common strengths of bleach. www.epa.gov/ground-water-and-drinking-water/emergency-disinfection-drinking-waterI’ve also seen recommendations for using two ounces of bleach per fifty gallons of water when trying to disinfect a stock tank, so perhaps you could scale that to what you have outside right now. Sunlight destroys chlorine in a matter of minutes, so you might need to cover the tank with cardboard or put in the bleach at night and let it disinfect if necessary. Once it’s daylight, you shouldn’t have any problem with residual chlorine in the water. How are you holding up?
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Post by macmex on Aug 7, 2024 7:24:58 GMT -6
Good advice, Chrysanthemum, thanks. I didn't remember that until you mentioned it. We lived for about 12 years where non of the water was potable, by USA standards.
Last night I checked on my Warsaw Buff Pie Pumpkins. I had been away a week and then, it still took me a couple days, after getting back, to get out there. Anyway, Jerreth took great care of them while I was gone. Still, I see that the plants are starting to lose vigor in this heat. Squash bugs are beginning to make inroads on them too.
My take on it is that Warsaw Buff Pie Pumpkin is better adapted to Indiana and places further north. I know that Old Timey Cornfield Pumpkin would just be getting warmed up and would absolutely swallow my garden by frost.
As the leaves have begun to thin I see that I have a harvest. Fortunately, some vines are still setting fruit. Unfortunately, all season I have noticed a high percentage of the fruit abort. This, I believe is due to our high temperatures. For such a large patch I'm probably going to be pretty lean on harvest.
Next year I need to plant much earlier or later. This patch was put in the very end of May. The problem is, we have such a narrow window from "no danger of frost" to "too late." If I can coax seedlings to get going, say, around the third week of July, that might be the best, as they would come into bloom when temps are moderating.
At any rate, I surely need to hang on to my Old Timey Cornfield Pumpkin seed, in case I really need a BIG crop of squash, produced under adverse circumstances.
Photos taken last night:
The largest squash in that last photo weighed 6 lb 4 oz. I believe that's the largest WBPP I've ever seen
Notice how many fruit rot, even after they've started to make seed?
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