Pumpkin |
P
H
N |
Cucurbitaceae: Cucurbita spp. (pepo,
moschata, mixta, maxima) | |
2014
April 12: I bought a packet of seeds of the Lumina variety from Stokes.
This is a novelty pumpkin. The packet says: 85 days.
Medium sized creamy-white, 2-25 cm 4.5 kg fruit have orange flesh.
Harvest immature to retain white colour.
I bought them for friends to try as they said they would like to try growing a white pumpkin.
May 4: I planted 4 seeds in 4 pots.
11: 2 sprouts today.
14: No more sprouts yet so I planted 3 more seeds.
31: I put two plants into a large red tub of soil that is on the driveway.
I have given 4 plants away, and still have some seedlings.
June 20: I put one more plant on top of the mound in my raised bed.
The plants in the tub now cover about 40% of the tub area.
27: Now 75%, taller, and spilling over at one place.
July 31: The plant on the mound is flourishing,
with 2 longs vines going out that have rooted in a couple of places themselves
and at least one small pumpkin.
However the plants in the pot remain yellowish and not very large.
Other Years
1999
May 10: I planted 3 pumpkin seeds today, for Jean.
They are of the Atlantic Giant variety
(Cucurbita maxima, actually a squash, not a pumpkin) from T&T.
I planted 2 in a 4 inch square pot,
with the soil surrounded by 2 layers of newspaper,
and 2 in a small peat pot.
20: One shoot is coming through this morning.
21: I dug the 2 other seeds up,
and neither had sprouted.
I replanted them, and put the peat pot into the warming box.
22: The shoot was quite bent over, without any apparent cause.
I put it into the sun, expecting it to straighten up.
23: The shoot is still bent over. Eureka!
Pumpkins grow sideways, not up!
24: I planted 2 more seeds.
June 3: One sprout was coming through,
when I gave the pot to Mac.
16: The first plant is doing well,
and there are 2 seedlings coming from the second batch,
in Mac's garden.
20: The first plant died,
perhaps from its stem having become compressed
where it crawled over the edge of the pot.
The other 2 are doing fine.
August 10: Mac says there are several small pumpkins on the vines.
28: There are, but they look like squashes, not pumpkins.
They are long, yellow, very smooth, and lying on their sides.
October 11: Mac says he has 3 pumpkins,
but they are not pumpkin shaped, and are a disappointment.