STUPID SW Kansas Weather! Updated 06/18/2020
What a brutal June so far! The average wind speed here in Dodge City for the month of June through the 17th was 18.7 MPH - the second windiest month of record! Along with the wind, the daily high temperature has been from 95-100 every day! This has taken a toll on the giant pumpkin growing. This is on top of the ridiculous start to spring with record cold in parts of May. See the posting from June 1st (you can see that by clicking here) for more on that.
But, there may be a slight ray of hope!
First, the two early pumpkins planted on May 7 (just as the really cold was returning), have made progress despite the terrible June growing weather. The growth has been steady, but SLOW! Yesterday morning (June 17), here was the plant started from the 250 pound Wallace seed...
The 1257.5 Wallace plant has a REALLY funky stem with weird branching. Instead of round, the stem (even the spits) are flat. I've never seen that. The splits are not really secondary branches either. It's just plain strange! There are two very early stage female blooms evident. One on the first side split and then also on the main vine. But, I would prefer the pumpkin grown on this plant to be on the primary vine and at least 13 feet from the base of the plant. The early female on the main vine will probably open and be available for pollination but I'm guessing at less than 10 feet.
Yesterday morning, here was that plant:
But - the 1713.5 Lancaster that was planted May 31 (and started from seed on 5/23) has surged despite the nasty weather! Yesterday morning it was looking really good!
Compare all the pumpkin plant growth from June 1 - not too bad given the hot and windy weather.
The 1257.5
The 250
The 1713.5
A goal I've always had is to have a pollinated pumpkin on or before July 1 (I wish it could be much earlier but that would require a greenhouse). The 542.5 pounder I grew in 2017 was pollinated on July 8. I think given the late plantings and brutal growing weather, I will be happy if I get one pollinated by the 8th this year. Then we'll see how it goes the rest of the season.
But, there may be a slight ray of hope!
First, the two early pumpkins planted on May 7 (just as the really cold was returning), have made progress despite the terrible June growing weather. The growth has been steady, but SLOW! Yesterday morning (June 17), here was the plant started from the 250 pound Wallace seed...
The 1257.5 Wallace plant has a REALLY funky stem with weird branching. Instead of round, the stem (even the spits) are flat. I've never seen that. The splits are not really secondary branches either. It's just plain strange! There are two very early stage female blooms evident. One on the first side split and then also on the main vine. But, I would prefer the pumpkin grown on this plant to be on the primary vine and at least 13 feet from the base of the plant. The early female on the main vine will probably open and be available for pollination but I'm guessing at less than 10 feet.
Yesterday morning, here was that plant:
But - the 1713.5 Lancaster that was planted May 31 (and started from seed on 5/23) has surged despite the nasty weather! Yesterday morning it was looking really good!
Compare all the pumpkin plant growth from June 1 - not too bad given the hot and windy weather.
The 1257.5
The 250
The 1713.5
A goal I've always had is to have a pollinated pumpkin on or before July 1 (I wish it could be much earlier but that would require a greenhouse). The 542.5 pounder I grew in 2017 was pollinated on July 8. I think given the late plantings and brutal growing weather, I will be happy if I get one pollinated by the 8th this year. Then we'll see how it goes the rest of the season.
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