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Some redemption of the pumpkin

Posted on January 29, 2014 by CuriousG

Cross-section of the pumpkin showing the sticky sap oozing from just below the outer rind, and most importantly, no insects within!

After discussing the situation about the white patches on the pumpkins with Novice Gardener, I decided to brave it and cut open the pumpkin that had the biggest white patch. I say “brave” because in Novice Gardener’s similar experience, there were creepy-crawlies within. Needless to say, I didn’t want to cut the fruit open, but my morbid curiosity drove me on.

The skin was quite soft and easy to cut through, so I know that meant that the pumpkin was still immature. Moreover, it began oozing a sticky kind of sap, which you get with green fruits, like chiku.

Apart from that, I was happy to note that there didn’t seem to be any inhabitants in the flesh inside. In fact, I deliberately cut through the white patch in the skin, and cut away the white skin from the flesh, and still didn’t see any holes or passages or larvae of any sort.

Thank goodness!

We cooked the pumpkin the next day. It wasn’t sweet; the flavour was neutral. Texture-wise, it was like regular pumpkin. So at least it wasn’t wasted. We intend to keep the other, Double Oops, pumpkin for a while longer to see if it will fare any better. I heard that the fruits continue to ripen even after they’re plucked, so we’ll see if the flavour improves over a few weeks.

With regard to the white patch on the pumpkin skin, I think I caught it in time as the skin was still hard and hopefully still a barrier to insects. I’ve raised the other fruits from the ground and turned them a little to let the white bits get more air and light. I’m also wondering if I should not water the plants too much, in case it’s the moisture from that which attracts the insects. After all, if most of the area is dry and there’s suddenly an oasis of moisture, I think that would be like a beacon to moisture-hungry creatures. That being said, I wouldn’t want to have fruits like tomatoes around right now; I’m sure they’d be under seige.

Pumpkins under attack?

Posted on January 26, 2014 by CuriousG

This does not look good. The pumpkin skin looks like it's starting to rot. I hope I caught it in time.

This does not look good. The pumpkin skin looks like it’s starting to rot. I hope I caught this in time.

I had a shock when I went to check on the pumpkins today. They’re all developing very nicely and have been changing colour to a very dark, almost black, green. Since this looks similar to the picture on the seed packet, I figured it might be almost time to harvest them.

Yes, I know they’re less than a month old, but one can be hopeful, right?

So I tentatively tried the fingernail method of testing their maturity and got good resistance. Then I looked for the tendril near the top of the stem but honestly, am not sure what it’s supposed to look like. Then I tried rapping on the fruits and got a nice hollow sound in response.

Check, check and check. They ought to be ripe, I thought. Then I picked up the biggest one to feel how heavy it is. It was pretty heavy. So of course I had to compare the others. That’s when I discovered that several of them had unhealthy pale patches where the fruits had been resting.

Because you HAD to see the squishy-looking bugs and the millipede up close…

Not just that, the discoloured patches were moist, and there were insects that went hustling away when I lifted the fruits! I don’t know what they all were, but there were a few millipedes and some aphid-like insects that I usually see in some potting mixes. I’m sure they have some function in nature – like the millipedes eat decaying plant matter (which doesn’t comfort me as I’m now worried that the pumpkins are decaying).

Things that did not go running were mealybugs nestled in the many nooks and crannies in the pumpkin skins. I was so upset then I saw the most infested fruit that the stem broke because I was twisting it from side to side to see the extent of the mealy infestation. Oops. The same thing happened with the next fruit, which had mealies but only a little discolouration. Double Oops.

Look at those mealybugs attempting to take over the pumpkin! Begone mealies! :(

Since I had the fruits off the vine, I decided to rid them of the mealybugs, in case the pests spoiled the fruits more. It may not have been the best thing to do, but I washed the pumpkins thoroughly with dishwashing detergent, making sure to work up a good lather to kill the mealybugs (hopefully) before rinsing them off and drying them.

My concern now is whether the other fruits are going to be compromised if I leave them there, and whether or not to save them sooner than later.

Because I don’t want this post to have only icky photos, here’s a nice angle of the Double Oops pumpkin.

Oh, I also forgot to mention that white flies have started setting up home under the leaves of the pumpkin vines. I’m personally inclined to harvest the fruits now and cull the vines before the white flies and mealybugs get too numerous.

Novice Gardener, the only gardener here I know who grows pumpkins, let me know if you have any advice. Mother Weed, no need to say it – I know you’d chop and throw immediately!

I really dislike it when we get this close to harvest and bugs come along and spoil the anticipation.

Finally winging in

Posted on January 25, 2014 by CuriousG

Mature winged beans

I find winged bean plants very finicky. Yes, they may flower profusely – when they decide to start budding – but the fruit setting rate tends to be sporadic.

Of course, some of the plants I’m talking about had a rocky start. Silly me, I started growing them in a planter that has drainage holes in the bottom, and I left it out where the plants took root in an inappropriate location.

When I finally got over my dilemma of whether to move the planter or not, there was the question about whether the plants would survive the shock of breaking all those roots or not. Since they had to be moved, I had no choice in this matter.

Shortly before moving the planter, I doused the soil in it liberally with a strong dilution of seaweed solution because it helps plants to get over root shock.

The current trellis. I may add on to it if I get into a DIY mood…

It really does.

In fact, after setting the plants in the new location, I soaked the soil once again and pruned the plants down so they could focus their strength on growing their roots rather than struggle to keep the plants alive. That worked, and I set up an adjacent trellis to form an L-shape for the plants to spread out to.

Since the original four plants decided to reach for the new trellis only at its peak, I planted another three new plants at the base of the new section.

It’s been almost three months since I shifted the planter, and the plants have grown quite profusely. However, they stubbornly refused to start budding.

To counter their stubbornness, I’ve been feeding them weekly with different things – fish emulsion, seaweed solution, fruiting fertilizers – and although there were a couple of phases of budding, nothing worked.

Then I applied a fertilizer branded as “humus”, which has a 8:8:8 NPK balance. A week later, budding began, but no beans resulted. A week later, I fed them again with the humus. Finally, one bean resulted! So I gave the plants another dose, and things finally started happening.

Young winged beans. I quite like the curly tendril at the bottom of them!

The conclusion? I’d say that winged bean plants need the right “encouragement” to produce beans! That, and I need to learn more about the kind of medium they will grow well in.

The shapes that pumpkins grow in

Posted on January 22, 2014 by CuriousG

The pumpkin patch has been keeping us entertained. The older fruits have lost their youthful smoothness and are now sporting interesting ridges and textures. They are also exhibiting some distinct shapes…

The rounded pumpkin.

The oval pumpkin (sort of).

The “flat” pumpkin.

The flatter pumpkin.

I still can’t tell whether the shapes are random or if one or the other is unique to this pumpkin. Heck, I don’t even have a specific name for this variety!

Anyway, one of the most recent fruits aborted after a week, but a new one has started growing near the mulberry plant – and it’s still on the same, original vine! Again, I shake my head at myself for worrying that there would not be enough flowers for fruit pollination. This plant has branched out so much that it’s amazing. It currently has seven fruits growing on it!

I wonder how much longer we’ll have to wait before we can harvest the fruits. Some people say to watch the tendril near the fruit – that the fruit is ready when the tendril dries out. Other people talk about rapping the fruit and listening for the right sound. The method I prefer most is to wait until the skin of the fruit is so tough that it will not be pierced when you press your fingernail against it. Well, I don’t want to break the skin and give insects a way into the fruit just yet. At the moment, the skin still feels soft and a little spongy. When it hardens a little, I’ll test the “fingernail” method. I wonder how much longer it will be…

The biggest pumpkin at the moment – one of the “flatties” – close to 20cm wide!

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