Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 106 Entries. Wednesday, May 10 View Page Took a season off from growing so here is my 2017 line-up. 1187 Johnson '12(1059 Vincent/McGill x Self) 1212 MacKenzie '13(1730 Werner x 1566 Rodonis) 1650.8 Sproule '11(1421 Stelts x 1185 Kline) 632 est Buck '13(1756 Lancaster x 2009 Wallace '12) 2009 Wallace '12(1725 Harp x 1409 Miller...been burnin a hole! 783 est Young '15(1314 Bryson x 401 est *Buck>(*1872 Wallace x 2009 Wallace)) LG-113.75 Houston '14(111.5 Martin x open)   Wednesday, May 10 View Page Growing my own 3.40 Young '15 BZ Tomato(7.10 Foss x 4.77 Hunt) Nine Plants in the Ground. Raised a Barrow Hog last year, 439 pounds in the Freezer, Huge! Fed him on Corn, Corn Stalk (green) cut Fescue(no seeds) & alfalfa. Nice finished compost on all patches.   Thursday, May 11 View Page Late start on grafting this season but going very well. Got a 95% success rate last year & over the winter plus got a nice big Grafting ICU Chamber now fully controlled temp & humidity   Thursday, May 11 View Page My typical AG/Melon Grafts. These are my est783AG x 146.5 Melon. These grew the full seasons with nice strong trunks zero splitting at the grafts but mid season health issues forced me abandoned them. This year they will be spoiled.   Thursday, May 11 View Page My custom double rootstock 2/3 cleft graft. Ag rootstock/My 146.5 melon scion. I figured out hoe to do a 2/3 cleft graft after 3 years of trying. Really looking forward to this one growing. I'm also growing the same double AG graft but to my 99.5" Long Gourd scion and it will be suspended down an abandoned well that has over 20' clearance. Always wondered if the rising vines kept energy from full potential of length on the LG's. All I need to do is get luck and be able to maneuver one over the well opening. Fun experiment.   Thursday, May 11 View Page Previous post: I figured out "hoe" to.... my how the subconscious mind works,lol   Saturday, June 17 View Page Well, due to a series of numerous destructive storm I am down to 1 pumpkin plant, the 2009 Wallace that will obviously be self pollinated. It is the only plant I designated in the screen house for just this reason..Storms. What a beautiful Plant! The plant is growing so fast/large that the stem has begun to split at grounds surface but I'm not too worried about it fore I have dealt with those quite successfully in the past. Not growing in the screen house for a season and amending the soil really seems to have conditioned the soil very well. It has that earthy musty smell to it that tells you, "Yes Grasshopper, you have done well",lol. I also have 2 of my own 146.5 Melon plants behind the 2009 Wallace far side of pic and they too yet behind are doing great. Hope to break 200 on those plants this season. Also three more melon plants of the same but grafted via AG Rootstock outside the screen house doing quite well.   Saturday, June 17 View Page There's actually a reason for the weeds left growing around the outside of the screen house both in & out. Looks like heck right now but we will pull them before they seed and use them as mulch to block weeds for the melon plants inside the screen house and in the fall they will get turned under. Good Cracker Opie!   Sunday, June 18 View Page Yet another round of strong storms with nickel size hail late yesterday at about 9 pm...Plants survive again!2009 Wallace grew about 1.5ft yesterday approx. 15ft on center vine   Monday, June 19 View Page Gave a dose of Docanil to the 2009 yesterday as well as the Tomatoes and Watermelon plants. Will be on a 10 day cycle with this fungicide application.   Friday, June 23 View Page 2009 Wallace plants doing great. I also have it to where additional vines will run off the back for later growth support. Tall grass beginning to be put down for weed barrier. There is a 1st kin to be set at bottom of pic where vine is bent approx. 14' out.   Monday, June 26 View Page Pollinated the first female on the 2009 Wallace this morning. Nice 4 lober.   Monday, June 26 View Page The 4 lober I pollinated X Self on the 2009 Wallace is 12' out on the main   Monday, June 26 View Page Very Nice megabloom on my own 3.40 Young plant   Tuesday, June 27 View Page Here is where I wish I had a greenhouse with heat...In June? lol 47 degrees out & falling just before sunrise!   Friday, June 30 View Page Pollinated a very nice 5 lober via 2nd kin (X Self) on the 2009 Wallace. This flower is huge approx. 11 inches across middle ring of petals. The kin is bigger than any I've ever pollinated before for a pre-set kin.   Saturday, July 1 View Page Pollinated this 5 lober X Self on the 2009 Wallace this morning. It is 16' out on the main   Saturday, July 1 View Page another nice 5 lober pollinated X Self on the 2009 Wallace this morning 13' out on a third side vine. This is the 3rd kin pollinated on this plant. Lost 15 leaves on this plant due to rust. I already have 4 back tertiary vines growing off the 1st side vines just for this possibility. Running regular 7 day applications of copper base fungicide now. I should have been using copper based in the beginning and forgot too. This area is bad for rust. Plant is growing mad crazy good!   Saturday, July 1 View Page ***Correction*** There are '4' kins on the 2009 Wallace pollinated now, 2 on the main and 2 on side vines. The race begins   Saturday, July 1 View Page OH BOY! Just checked over the 2009 Wallace plant and I see that the kin out on the 1st secondary starboard side is twice as big as the 1st kin I pollinated on the 26th/5dap out on the main. Don't know if anyone has run into this, can't see myself culling a main vine kin...But.. Got 2 more on this plant pollinated this morning 1 that is out further on the main. Should start to get interesting around here!   Monday, July 3 View Page The Japanese beetles are out of a horror movie this year. No matter what you throw at them there is too many of them to combat. Last week I couldn't step out side without getting them in my mouth if left open. They had eaten the grapes and blackberries & rose bushes, apples, plums, pears and peach trees. They are now eating the sugar maple leaves and trying to eat the tomato plants but they don't seem to like them that well. They are trying to get in the screen house and a few do slip in so I have to do more rounds on inspections. Unbelievable numbers of them. I believe they are here because of the soy bean fields that surround me and when the corn silk appears on the corn ears look out, they love the sweat corn silk. I'm going to cut all the fruit trees down because it gets worse and worse ea. year with zero fruit benefit. The only trees they seem to not like are the Ash and fur trees. They are even eating ragweed and hemlock & regular grass.   Monday, July 3 View Page No nice words for these guys and this is a family program so...   Tuesday, July 4 View Page Pollinated a nice 4 lober 17ft out on the main of the 2009 Wallace X Self. This was the 5th kin on this plant and will be the final kin on this plant. Also culled number 3 kin on this plant so down to 4 kins on the 2009.   Tuesday, July 4 View Page the latest 5 lober I pollinated this morning is 19ft out on the main after measuring, wow this 2009 Wallace plant grows fast   Tuesday, July 4 View Page Non Pumpkin Related but there is a few of you out there that has met my daughter Paytyn she is writing more and more music and has copy written songs already at 15 yrs old. Very proud of her. Here she is at one of the local TV/Radio stations WGEM News Talk Live with a couple songs. She had a lot of fun with them. https://www.facebook.com/284613171504/videos/10155347138881505/?pnref=story   Wednesday, July 5 View Page Very Humid muggy air this morning, very thick so I sprayed fungicide early. Going to cull 2nd kin today leaving 2 kins at 17' & 19' on the main vine on the 2009 Wallace. Cuke beetles are here and I saw 1 squash bug on a late started plant outside the screen house.   Friday, July 7 View Page The 2009 Wallace plant this morning. It is big and I've grown it in a F-15 jet sweptback wing pattern to get longer side vines of 18'. In the back is my 2 146.5 melon plants by the way they have been grafted together at the biggest 2 mains and go down into 1 main in hopes of pollinating a nice melon on that single main being backed by 2 plant systems. The 6" linear graft has taken. After cutting I clamped the two together used super glue on the outside (like your doctor puts on a cut) and then wrapped with grafting tape to prevent air entry. I'm also training 2 other center vines to come around, meet each other and they too will be grafted. They are not dead head grafted but rather very long cleft grafted and after I see they have taken I terminate the outside vine too be terminated leaving 1 main vine. I kept the plants very wet for 3 days following the grafting and it was very humid out to begin with. I had been itching to try, lets call it late term grafting on melon plants wondering if it could be done. A couple years ago I successfully grafted a melon tip on a field pumpkin side vine so I knew pretty much this would work if done carefully with exact sizing on the vines. Should be interesting.   Friday, July 7 View Page 2009 Wallace 3dap 16"circ 17' on main another kin 19' on main & I pollinated another 5 lober this morning x self 21' on main   Friday, July 7 View Page nice mater growin on 1 of the eight 3.4 young plants goin.   Sunday, July 9 View Page All in on the 2009 Wallace. Kin is at 17.5' out on main vine 5dap 52" ott.   Sunday, July 9 View Page 2009 Wallace 5dap 4'x 4' platform put down with light sand. Main vine elevated.   Sunday, July 9 View Page top view '09 Wallace 5 dap   Sunday, July 9 View Page Mater off my own 3.40 doing good. got er supported now   Monday, July 10 View Page 2009 Wallace 6 dap 63.5 ott   Monday, July 10 View Page 2009 Wallace 6 dap   Monday, July 10 View Page Just realized how odd it was for this plant or any AG to have a female open at 17.5' and another at 19' on the same day. The difference was the kin at 17.5' opened in the morning and the kin at 19' opened up at 6 pm the same day, the 4th of July. There another 2 set of kins at about 24' & 25' that would have opened the same day I'm sure. The sides vines want to do that also instead of staggering the females. Hope it means something good. This kin is growing really good at this point.   Monday, July 10 View Page Grafted together another set of large main vines off the pair of my 146.5 melon plants so that's 4 main type vines coming together so I can try and set one good melon on one plant. A week will let me know if this graft takes. The last graft took just fine, now whether it will actually have an affect remains to be seen but the vine coming from than graft is growing and throwing out females as expected   Monday, July 10 View Page My insane melon grafting idea/attempt   Tuesday, July 11 View Page purdy darn excited about my melon plant graft yesterday on my (2)combined 146.5 melon plants. This morning 7/11 looks like the graft is going to take just fine..and I knew it would I've done them so much. So now these 2 plants are grafted at 2 main vines each if and when thee other 2 of the 4 main vines reach each other they too will get grafted but I think having 2 of them grafted is good enough for what I want at this point. Now for a melon to get set past one of those 2 grafted vines. Fingers crossed. I did a very nice gradual cleft graft, clamped with 1 set of clapms over & under of ea. other and a single clamp next to that to hold the graft tight and secure from slipping then I cover with sulfer wrapped in plastic wrap and cover from the sun. The very High Humidity levels right now are perfect for this 100%!   Tuesday, July 11 View Page yesterday as all late term grafts do the tip of the melon vine laid limp and now this morning it is perked up and running. Good sign! Hard to tell in the pic but where I did the graft both vines measured 3/8" across, pretty big for a graft but wrapping it with plastic wrap keeps the air out.   Tuesday, July 11 View Page 2009 Wallace this morning 7 dap 29" circ, 75 ott. Funny, theres a guy named Ron W. growing one of these and its a near spittin image of it...for now,lol   Tuesday, July 11 View Page 2009 Wallace 7 dap 29" circ top view bigger than the soccer ball this morning! Plant looks very good. Missed some damaging storms yesterday evening by about 1 mile, way too close!   Tuesday, July 11 View Page Storms coming right at us this morning, about 15 minutes out   Wednesday, July 12 View Page My new Sprayer, a bit noisy but nice coverage. Well maybe too much coverage https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Te_VO2Y6LOQ   Wednesday, July 12 View Page 2009 Wallace 8 dap 34" circ, 88 ott   Wednesday, July 12 View Page Applied Copper Fungicide to 2009 Wallace and all melon plants late yesterday evening   Thursday, July 13 View Page 2009 Wallace 9 dap 39" circ. 99 ott   Thursday, July 13 View Page 2009 Wallace 9 dap   Friday, July 14 View Page 2009 Wallace 10 day Progress   Saturday, July 15 View Page Graduated to a basket ball. 2009 Wallace 11 dap. 50" circ. yesterday pollinated my own 783 uow X 2009 Wallce.   Saturday, July 15 View Page 2009 Wallace 11 dap, 50" circ.   Saturday, July 15 View Page ****BREAKING NEWS**** This just in, War has been Declared on Squash Bugs in my patch today. Thisgrower has 2 units of Chemical Warfare Training along with ADAT & BDAT at Eglin AFB, Florida. The Bugs haven't a chance, BWWWWHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!! Oh and huh, I sprayed for them...Heavily..one act of friendly fire was noted when an unsuspecting preying mantis was noticed walking sideways asking why? Just why. He was a good bug.   Saturday, July 15 View Page back side of the 2009 Wallace this afternoon   Saturday, July 15 View Page another angle   Saturday, July 15 View Page I'm trying this for the first time on the Squash Bugs. I sprayed and timed to 7 minutes....They were Dead. Got it at Wal-ly World, 3-6 tbls/gal can spray vegetables and fruit trees. Spray between 45 - 85 degrees F'   Sunday, July 16 View Page My best AG/W. Melon Graft yet. This plant has a nice melon set   Sunday, July 16 View Page Sweet, with tons of plant behind it. ground to dust and made soluble 0-0-60 Muriate of Potash and drenched 3 days ago. When I drenched it totally dissolved to nothing.   Sunday, July 16 View Page This is half of the 2009 Wallace plant. There is still plenty of plant below the pic and to the left lower corner.   Sunday, July 16 View Page Meant to enter that the kin put 20 pounds on in the last approx. 18 hrs and its at 12 dap   Monday, July 17 View Page 2009 Wallace 13 dap starting to show some character in shape   Monday, July 17 View Page 2009 Wallace 13 dap 149 ott   Tuesday, July 18 View Page 2009 Wallace 14dap   Tuesday, July 18 View Page 2009 Wallace 14dap   Tuesday, July 18 View Page Here is one of the 7 maters I've got set on the 8 plants off my own 3.40 I've got growing.   Wednesday, July 19 View Page 2009 Wallace 15 dap. Put another approx. 24-25 pounds on in the past 24 hrs   Wednesday, July 19 View Page 2009 Wallace sprayed copper Fungicide this morning early, heat today will hit above 100 and the same for the next few days. Put a full size fan on her which will help with the heat. She put another 24-25 pounds on since yesterday. Yesterday drenched 0-0-50 1/8th Tsp/Gal x 45/gal.   Wednesday, July 19 View Page Note the lil brown voo-doo ghost's on the top of the"T" post's in the prior posted pic. I use these to balance while in the patch and was cutting my hands on them. My daughter put heavy vinyl padded upholstery material on them and sharpied faces on them to ward off evil patch diseases. She got the ghost idea off of Gilligan's Island, So far so good. Thanks Dear!   Wednesday, July 19 View Page 2009 Wallace 15 dap 172 ott   Friday, July 21 View Page 2009 Wallace 17 dap. Cool front came in today 97-98 degrees the feel like temp around 110. Nice melon growing on the 2 grafted plants 3 dap is about 9" long   Friday, July 21 View Page 2009 Wallace 17 dap bench numbers so far way above 1400 benchmark   Friday, July 21 View Page lumpy   Friday, July 21 View Page here that melon 3 dap. It is growing super fast. Not 9" but 7"   Friday, July 21 View Page also pollinated this nice female x self this morning on the 146.5 grafted plants   Saturday, July 22 View Page Thunderstorms coming through right now at 6:00 am 7/22 and I can tell I will need to get Fungicide reapplied even more so because the rain is warm from it being so hot. 85 degrees right now.   Saturday, July 22 View Page 2009 Wallace 18 dap, 82" circ, 195 ott, 26 lbs last 24 hrs   Saturday, July 22 View Page 2009 Wallace 18 dap   Saturday, July 22 View Page 2009 Wallace 18 dap   Saturday, July 22 View Page Back of the 2009 Wallace   Saturday, July 22 View Page 1 day comparison at 3 & 4 dap on my melon being grown on my 146.5 plants grafted together. Is this about normal growth rate on a 4 dap melon? Maybe a veteran grower can let me know. When I lifted the sun protection off of it late this morning I was pretty amazed? Can't wait for tomorrow! I haven't even started pruning plants yet but I think I'm going to get it done asap!   Saturday, July 22 View Page I was questioned on the dap of this melon and rightly so. It has taken forever for any females to show up on these 2 plants and finally on one of them 2 females showed up 7/18/17 and they both got pollinated, one x self & one x sib, this is the melon pollinated x self. The next morning 7/19 the sib pollinated female had been chewed on and was done, this one took and here it is. It was a unusually big female bloom and fruit combo but on the morning of the 19th when I saw the size it was already getting I knew it took and was going to be a nice grower. Just hope it hangs in there! This is my own 146.5 melon '15 grown from my own 117.5 (297 Kent x 291 Kent).   Sunday, July 23 View Page Terminated all vines on the melon plants. 1st melon 5 dap 28.5 cc, 63 ott & pollinated another big female I found this morning on the other 146.5 plant even though they are grafted together I may grow 2 melons instead of just one if they seem to do ok. Did not grow last season in the screen house. West end where the melon are growing has been a compost pile for about 6 years, had about 7 wheel barrels of finished hog manure put in the screen house with 0-0-50, Hydrated lime spread and tilled in the whole screen house area. This is where the 2009 Wallace is growing also. Wallace plant has had all vines terminated last week and it is growing very well. Tomorrow is day 20 on the 2009 Wallace.   Monday, July 24 View Page Hard to tell in this pic but here is a female I pollinated yesterday 7/24 on the opposite sib plant of my 146.5. It measures exactly 2" from end to end (not including bloom), and 7/8" thick. I hope it takes!   Monday, July 24 View Page 2009 Wallace 20 dap,   Monday, July 24 View Page 2009 Wallace 20 dap   Tuesday, July 25 View Page This is the super fast growing melon I've got growing on those 2 grafted plants at 7 dap, 38" circ. I noticed this evening that it has split on the side. Is it going to make it? Will it heal up? You can almost sit and watch it grow. I packed it with sulfer powder.   Tuesday, July 25 View Page Sulfer packed, Fingers crossed.   Wednesday, July 26 View Page 2009 Wallace 2nd day with no growth, has shut down. It has been Very Hot for nearly 2 weeks now. Been keeping it cool, Getting more lumpy with growth bumps/ripples all over it. No discoloration or soft spots and looks good but sadly not putting on inches.   Wednesday, July 26 View Page Melon split has not increased in size this morning but yet melon has put on more over all ott.   Wednesday, July 26 View Page My daughter Paytyn this morning live on FM 105.1 WGEM News Talk Live Radio. Her second time with this station. Courtesy pic by Greg at WGEM News Talk Live.   Wednesday, July 26 View Page Just took measurements on the 2009 Wallace and yes, it is still growing for sure!   Wednesday, July 26 View Page The 146.5 melon that split is still growing fast 3.5" circ from yesterday 7:00 pm, no kidding. The 1st split has stayed the same but there is a new small split around the front shoulder area running length ways. Diamond Makin Fun!!   Thursday, July 27 View Page 2009 Wallace put only 3 pounds in the last 24 slowing way down but on a good note my 146.5 melon is still growing > 90.5 ott, 9 dap est 23 pounds on the 2012 chart. Raining this morning temps in the upper 70's   Thursday, July 27 View Page Who else uses a tape made in "West-Germany"? 146.5 Young, 9 dap 90.5 ott. Will post again tomorrow then every 10 days or until it explodes or stops growing. I've culled down to 2 other melons on these two plants that are grafted together. I want to cull them too but what happens if this one goes down? Decision decisions hmm. YOU MAKE THE CALL! lol   Thursday, July 27 View Page mater off one of my 3.40 plants. Heat really slowed these down too   Thursday, July 27 View Page there's just no good angle to get a decent pic of this mater. It is a mega mess!   Thursday, July 27 View Page 146.5 split side today   Thursday, July 27 View Page look closely. In my 54 years on earth this is the 1st Monarch egg I have ever found. "We'll raise it...raise it like a squirrel" - PUSS IN BOOTS!   Friday, July 28 View Page Have decided to keep a 2nd melon growing on the opposite sib plant of my 146.5. It feels like fall weather around here with temps in the mid 50's this morning. Will harvest 2 Tomatoes on two of the 8, of my 3.40 Plants I've got growing, no real big ones... possibly 3 pounds on one of them, we'll see. Back to possible zero growth again on the 2009 Wallace. It is showing signs of growing but not actually in ott numbers. Weird.   Friday, July 28 View Page 146.5 Melon(1), 98.5 ott/10 dap. Side split appears to be healing ok. Already out grown the 1st sun hut so replaced it with the hut that sheltered it's Mother, Hoping I have to replace that one. Leaves on this plant out on the ends are getting BIG! Next diary entry on day 20 unless it goes down.   Friday, July 28 View Page 146.5 Melon(2), 32 ott, 3 dap. This one is 1" shorter than the number 1 melon was at 3 dap and 3" less ott of 32". The stem at the melon is twice the size of the 1st melon at just shy of 1" across, really thick in my little experience of these things. Hope that's a good sign. For size comparison that's a 6" wide ship lap board its sitting on. I know its really senseless to be spitting out these numbers so early and know what really matters if they make it to scales!   Friday, July 28 View Page For the record both 146.5 melons are pollinated x sib   Friday, July 28 View Page This is my 146.5 Young '15 (50 uow Carey(290 Mudd x 319 Edwards) X 117.5 Young (297 Kent x 291 Kent)the mother of these 2 melons   Tuesday, August 1 View Page My how things change! I culled this split melon that was growing just fine. 37 pounds 14 dap for another melon that is out growing it by far. The other melon is 7 dap and is growing on the same plant as the one I just culled. It is very very long and fat. Still have 2 melons on. This new one will be refered to as melon (1) and thee other one is melon (2).   Friday, August 4 View Page WELL, It is 55 degrees this mornin. So I did what I think most people in the rural areas do.... went outside.... and exposed my melons....to the low sun to warm them up! Terminated more vine ends and culled three melons hiding in the under growth.   Tuesday, September 12 View Page 40 days since I've posted melon numbers....and the silence continues. I do remember telling myself, "These numbers can't be right!"   Thursday, September 14 View Page ...and he said while he trembled, "Its an ugly tall, big devil that only a few locals have caught sight of."