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Santa Cruz, CA

We had three days of rain here in California. I haven't been feeding the plants while it rains because it seems like the soil would get too wet. We were on an every other day feed schedule.(seaweed, fish emulsion and calcium)with a water day between the feeds. Today, the plants are looking a little pale and two plants have small yellow spots on them. Did we make a mistake by not keeping up our feeding schedule? or is it because it got colder? too much water? or something else? The pumpkins have been protected by small green houses with agribon tops. When the rains came, I pulled off the tops in case the water load was too heavy. When it rains(which is unusual for us this time of year) should I switch to a dry natural fertilizer? Any suggestions? Thanks for the help.

5/24/2006 1:16:45 AM

Napa Valley, CA

Kristine, Its hard to say why your plants are looking a little pale. Perhaps a few days of sun may reverse this. As far as the small yellow spots, this could genteic. Can you post a pic of this on your diary so we can have a look. You probably have enough fert. in the ground that it probably didn't hurt you at all by not keeping up with your feeding schedule.
As far as getting too much water...... how is the drainage in you patch ?

5/25/2006 12:38:07 AM

Santa Cruz, CA

I took a pictures yesterday of my yellow spots (only on two plants)(1233 Reiss and the 1180 Daletas) and will get them up later today. Also one leaf has a yellow section in the center. I'll get that picture up too. Yesterday, after a beautiful day of sun the plants look much greener to me.
The drainage seems good to me but the soil is a bit on the clay side. I planted the pumpkins in mounds to help with that and to give them some more heat.
I've always wondered how much water is right amount. How do you tell if you are over watering or giving them just enough? I think I tend to underwater because I know the pumpkins don't like wet conditions.

5/25/2006 9:42:44 AM

Santa Cruz, CA

I just posted the pictures on our diary page. Let me know what you think. I'll have more pictures in a few days too because I think I fried some leaves today. I didn't get to the patch in time to open the greenhouses and the weather was warm today. Lots to learn.....let's hope the plants are forgiving.

5/26/2006 1:43:41 AM

Napa Valley, CA

Photo 28 (1180) looks like leaf burn. Photos 30 and 31 (1233.5) looks like genetic yellow spotting and nothing to worry about. Not sure about photos 29 and 32.

5/28/2006 3:14:11 AM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

The number of days of rain isn't significant really. But the lack of sunshine is relevant. So too is the inches of accumulation. Nitrogen can & does leach readily & needs to be renewed on sandy soils after significant rain events. Potassium can leach but is more resistant. Phosphorus almost never leaches. So the ratio of supplemental fertilizers we use (and when we use them) should be interdependent on the soil type, growth stage & rainfall.

5/28/2006 7:37:36 AM