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East Jordan, MI

My 1368 Liggett has been growing like crazy. Today, it slowed considerably. Not super concerned, because it still grew 5 inches in circumference. I see no evidence of disease or vine borers. The moisture content of the soil is pretty much perfect in my opinion -- 6 inches down soil will pack when squeezed in a ball, but still crumbles apart when rubbed between fingers.

I'm wondering 2 things.
1. Is it normal to slow down after huge gains, or is it needing something more.
2. Is it due to the cold snap. (went from 90s in the day and 70s at night to 70s in the day and 50s at night). I covered it with a blanket last night, but maybe should have left it on all day.

Any thoughts will be appreciated.

6/30/2010 10:57:26 PM

Rhode Island

if your measuring every day you might want to put the tape away for a while and start measuring less.
there are times when growth will slow a bit if weather sonditions get cooler.
five inches in circon a small pumpkin is pretty darn good in my opinion.
way to early for a blanket during the day yime. onclod night id just use a sheet.

7/1/2010 6:55:12 AM

Eastern Pennsylvania

a pumpkin cant grow 5+ inches circ per day forever. that would be like 100 pounds per day on a big pumpkin. you should thank the punpkin for slowing down and not exploding on you.

7/1/2010 1:13:56 PM

Pataskala,OH

Its the cold it was 49/50 last night. No problem

7/1/2010 3:15:08 PM

East Jordan, MI

Thanks for the input. Helps to confirm what I thought got colder and it's getting to the point that it can't possibly keep gaining in size at the same rate. I was thinking that it was too warm for cover during the day, which is why I removed it even though it was still 53 degrees for maybe 2 hours before the sun came out. I figured, some heat retention was better than none and I didn't want to cook it.

I did notice tonight that the side view pic from 3 days ago compared to today shows that the bottom is really flattening and filling out instead of getting taller.

I know taping it every day is just something else for me to worry myself about. Since this is my first year I wanted to get a benchmark of sorts so I try to figure out where I can make things better. And my curiousity is overwhelming me, it's almost like I can't help wanting to see how much it grew today. What the heck have I gotten myself into....LOL!

7/1/2010 10:03:45 PM