Hey Steve, Allan, et al: Given that cucurbits are notoriously volatile in terms of being up and running full steam one day, and down from a disease the next, crashes in the production thereof are somewhat to be expected from time to time.
I must admit to a certain perverse satisfaction that the Great Storch has hit obstacles in his efforts to grow the Great Pumpkin, if only to demonstrate that BD growers are heir to the same problems that can plague everyone else. I salute his candor in 'fessin' up. If Allan and Elaine are right about compost tea, regular apps of compost tea could have prevented Steve's problem. Last year I grew white pumpkins on very rich soil that were packed tight foliage wise, and had no problems with powdery mildew ( I assume this is what Steve means by 'downy' but could be mistaken). In fact I still have one of them, that has kept well past the normal 'due date'.....:-) But, as they say here, 'une annee ne resemble pas a une autre' (every year is different). Maybe my pumpkin patch of last year would have been nailed like Steve's this year. Maybe compost tea, or horsetail, or some other stuff applied at the right time would have saved it. You never step in the same river twice, which keeps kayaking from getting too boring, eh? I agree with Steve that spacing matters; nearly everything matters. If he had the same big rains this spring that we did, the stage was set for problems (too much water followed by not enough water = stressed plants). In any community garden plot on the island of Montreal, you can see some extremely tight spacing with high productivity, and due to very rich soil and regular watering, little disease in many cases. I once grew 22 canteloupes in a 4 x 5 space in one of mine! And, I also agree that compost tea is one tool among many, and cannot substitute for other good management practices. Subtle energies, it seems to me, can only go so far in correcting fundamental problems. In my own case, lack of water on deep sandy soil means we need to first and foremost organize ourselves to irrigate our land at least three months of the year. This point was driven home to us clearly by the drought we are now experiencing for the last two months. If I believed in Hugh's rainmaking abilities, I suppose I would order a Field Broadcaster and just ask for rain through it. But, I think instead I will go the more prosaic route, pumps and pipes and sprinklers. O me of little faith! And, while compost tea, properly made, can help with foliar problems, it cannot make up for too much water or not enough water, when these problems are severe. Otherwise people would be fighting floods and droughts with compost tea, which really wouldn't make sense, eh? One nice bonus to regular irrigation is the ability to move the tea to the field through the sprinkler system ( I have expressed my skepticism about the ability of drip systems to handle the tea, although some of the disposable ones might do it, much of the benefit would be lost in filtration). So, the irrigation system can now replace the tractor and sprayer most of the time as the tea delivery system. We also got a lot of mulching done this year, which will pay off down the road. But still, on land that could use two inches of rain a week, water is de rigeur, which means we gotta have it. Frank Teuton---humbly acknowledging that humus needs humidity... ----- Original Message ----- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, August 28, 2002 6:45 AM Subject: Re: Compost Tea List > > In a message dated 8/28/02 6:30:25 AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > > << > Just the same, I'm very, very, VERY interested in hearing from you > what a person could be doing wrong in SEED BED PREPARATION, PLANTING, > SOWING, or CULTIVATION that would promote fungal diseases. >> > > Well, for instance we had a gorgeous patch of earth and over the fall and > winter we had turnips and rudabegahs there. I ate as many as I could and I > picked the remainder for the cows. By Winter's end I had stuff the size of > soccer balls. The soil has classic bd crumb structure, earthworm every three > to four inches, and you could see the fungal filaments in the soil. I > thought wow, what a great field for squash or pumpkins this summer. Sure > enough pumpkins go in. Planted way to dense. Plants come up and look great, > fruit set is incredible. Weather turns nasty hot, dry then rains, turns humid > and they get wailed with downy. So now we have three acres of soccerball > size pumpkins in August and no vines with leaves left. What a lost opp > ortunity...sstorch >
