Hoop Houses Come off Today

Both of the pumpkin plants have overgrown their hoop houses this weekend and so they will be removed today.  When you remove the hoop houses you want to make sure the vines are buried and staked down (I use bamboo stakes) so that winds don't rip your plants apart.  This week Denver is going to be having above normal temperatures all week so yesterday I programmed my mister timer so I can keep the plants happy.  The leaves on the plants will be misted a minimum of once every 30 minutes from 10:30am to 5:00pm and a little more frequently from 1:00 to 4:00.  This is the best that my timer can do and it is adequate for days below 95 degrees.  Above that temperature it isn't quite enough so this year I'm going to try watering during the hottest part of the day to keep the plants cooler on really hot days and I suppose we will see a lot of those this summer.

I gave the plants some compost tea this morning made with 3/4 of a cup of earthworm castings from my bins, an old leaf, alfalfa pellets, big bloom fertilizer, tablespoon of molasses, tablespoon of humic acid and a teaspoon of liquid seaweed.