Know Your Enemy

Disease

Not so swell news from the pumpkin patch: a sudden and extremely unwelcome case of POWDERY MILDEW! It just showed up this morning, suggesting that it may actually be sentient and have a sense of irony. This is unwell news. Hell news. Makes me want to yell news. Time to quell this evil spell or bid my plants farewell news. I will be spraying the tops and undersides of the leaves with neem oil this evening. I've read mixed reviews about using a diluted milk spray instead, but I'm more comfortable with neem. If you have experience using milk to control powdery mildew on pumpkins, please share. I'm all ears and eager to learn.

Nooooooo!

Pests

Meanwhile, I finally bothered to identify those pale greenish-yellow ladybug-like insects that have been hanging out in the pumpkin flowers. Actually, I didn't even bother to do any active identifying. I was just reading a gardening tips book from my mother and happened to come across an illustration of a bug that looked awfully familiar: CUCUMBER BEETLE. Unfortunately, it's not a good bug to have in the garden. I'm a little surprised, since all I've ever seen of them suggests that they are incredibly lazy and just like to sit around inside of large flowers all day. In reality, this is not so. Apparently, when I am not looking they actually eat said flowers. They eat the flowers and the leaves and their evil baby larvae tunnel through young plant roots. Destruction everywhere.

I couldn't get ahold of this spotted cucumber beetle to squish it because this
honey bee was so dedicated to her work that she wouldn't let me into the flower!

So, I will be hand-picking these spotty little monsters in the mornings (something I should have been doing for the past several weeks!) and continuing to research more widely effective ways to insure their demise.

An Ounce of Prevention

In yesterday's post I showed you my two ripe Small Sugar Pumpkins and shared my hesitance to pick them. This morning's appearance of the dreaded PM was all it took to make up my mind. With sharp pruning shears I snipped those two darlings from their vines and then I disinfected my shears with rubbing alcohol. Since there were no other viable fruits left on one of the vines, I pulled up the whole plant and immediately threw it in the garbage can. Powdery mildew spores are carried on the wind and I have no intention of idly allowing this fungus to spread around my garden or my neighborhood, especially since I am not the only person growing pumpkins on this block.

Lessons Learned

I love Internet forums and gardening publications and tips from friends and family, but I definitely learn a lot of things the hard way, by making my own mistakes. I have had very unpleasant personal experiences with powdery mildew on roses and honeysuckle. There's a different powdery mildew for each type of plant that it infects, but every version of PM sucks giant, hairy monkey balls. On the bright side, because I have learned from experience how to recognize the fungus, I am ready to deal with it at first onset. Additionally positive is the fact that this current situation is helping to prepare me for next year, when I fully intend to put that ounce of prevention to good use and stop PM infections (and those stupid cucumber beetles) before they start.

The Triumph of Productivity

Here sits the beginning of my very first pumpkin harvest! I've decided to let them cure in the sun before digging in and dishing out their pulpy goodness. Supposedly the curing process can further increase sugar content. So, why not?

Freshly cut Small Sugar Pumpkins, their stems a-bleedin' all over the place.