Containing The Beast...

Good morning, Growers!

I thought you'd find these latest images of interest. Yes, it's finally that time of year where, out of pure necessity, I must trim my vine. So, this morning, I spent about 30 minutes trimming back various secondary vines that soon would be engulfing the neighbors' yards, and burying the ends. The upside of this activity was I culled 3-4 pumpkins that were growing in odd places, and I was able to take some pictures of this season's most likely candidate. As you can see, it's only about 6" in diameter at this time, and still could be aborted if it wasn't properly/fully pollinated. There are still many male and female flowers growing and blooming, and the vine is literally buzzing with activity from the bees and the occasional bumblebee.

I read this morning that the U.S. Climate Prediction Center is revising its earlier prediction, and forecasts a cooler than average August-September in Orange County. Although the article didn't mention humidity, one of the reasons I braved the inevitable scrapes and minor cuts this morning was to spray for powdery mildew. I saw one affected leaf, which I quickly cut off and then threw away. Then I sprayed the upper and as much as I could, lower leaves on the vine. I hope that the cooler weather doesn't necessarily mean powdery mildew, but I am not taking any chances this season.

Have a great afternoon!

Stuart