New Growers Forum
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Subject: How soon do you need to use a tarp?
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From
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Location
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Message
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Date Posted
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Desert Storm |
New Brunswick
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I was wondering how large a pumpkin should be before you need to shade it? I now have two and possibly 3 sets. The 640 gardner baby is the size of a grapefruit at the age of 5 days old. Should I cover him?
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7/10/2003 10:48:02 PM
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C&R Kolb |
Chico, Ca
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As soon as I pollinate I at least throw a 1/2" sheet of foam 2 ft by 4 ft over the plant (on top of the leaves) to keep the direct sun off of the bloom. The foam weighs ounces and does not hurt the plant. We get 100+
f days here so the shade helps. we angle the boards a bit so the water from our misters runs off. The only drawback is if you get any wind then the foam will shift or fly off.
When they get basketball size is when I start to look at making a solid structure around the fruit with pvc pipe stuck over rebar in the ground and covered with large tarps.
Your milage may vary.
Good luck...Robert
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7/11/2003 9:09:33 AM
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Desert Storm |
New Brunswick
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Thanks, (I was wondering if they could be covered too young.) It is cloudy and raining today. The little pumpkin is nestled in grass and is shaded by its own plant leaves for now. That particular plant is growing in a 3 foot deep "clothesline pole hole" that was given up on (as we hit ledge.) My hubby filled it in with horse manure. Last year I grew a 140 pounder in it.(my largest that year) I have much better seed this year. In May, we had a tractor dump a bucket of manure on top and I again planted a pumpkin a month later...this time a 640 gardner. It is my biggest plant and now has two confirmed pumpkins and another that I pollinated this morning. It is growing wild out through surrounding grass. I will erect a tarp over the top as soon as the little guy outgrows its own shade.
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7/11/2003 1:09:29 PM
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Total Posts: 3 |
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