Pumpkins planted

I planted four varieties of pumpkins on June 11. The next day, 1/8 inch of rain fell. The following day, a little more rainfall brought the total of to 1/4 inch.

I planted the pumpkins by mid June this year so that they will be ready for harvest at the beginning of October and therefore suitable for market.

Last year, I planted pumpkins on July 4, and they were not ready to pick until a few days before Halloween. More became ready in November, which was too late for seasonal pumpkin buyers.

The varieties in 70 basins are: Cinderella, Big Max, Howden, and Halloween, all from Willhite Seed Company.

To prepare each basin, I added Texas green sand, Sul-Po-Mag, soft rock phosphate, and Agronomic Partner's 14-0-0 sustainable nitrogen from soy.

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Greenhouse seeds started

148 tomato seeds, started 1/5/2024. Seeds maintained at 80° F. 35 ground cherry seeds and 10 pepino seeds started 1/5/24, maintained at the same temperature. 56 pepper seeds started 1/6/24, maintained at 84° F. Notes: cutting back on tomato production, experimenting with novel crops. This is the latest that I've ever started the greenhouse tomatoes.

Straightneck squash planted March 21, 2021

Today, I planted 20 containers of straight neck summer squash. I used last year's perlite in each of the Bato buckets, only pulling out the roots to last year's crops. In some of the buckets I needed to top off the perlite with new perlite. The seeds were from Willhite, tested October 2018. I sowed five seeds in each bucket. April 4, 2021 update: reseeded after poor germination so far.

Microgreens Restarted

After several rounds of failed microgreens using Sure-To-Grow growing pads, I've now opted for coconut coir. The problems that I've had with the pads are that they either dry out too fast between waterings and stay soggy too long after a watering. They also seem prone to growing mold. My trial microgreens crops are radish, kale and sunflower (one tray of each), started today, November 30, 2015. I'll now see if I can be successful with a more traditional medium. I suspect that the pads are a poor medium, and that the coir will provide a more evenly moist growing environment.

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