Four of the eight giant pumpkin seeds we planted actually germinated (or hatched, as I like to think of it). They have grown at a fantastic rate these past seventeen days.
May 1st—Seeds started in their little incubator in the laundry room.
May 5th— the pale green loops begin to appear! (Those little green things with two leaves—weeds!)
May 9th—the first true leaf appears—that’s the highest leaf in the picture below. (True leaves are the first leaves that are actual foliage, not the seed leaves or cotyledon leaves.)
May 11th (TWO DAYS LATER!)— the four that have “hatched” are off to the races!
We had a gorgeous Mother’s Day weekend here in Minnesota and so the plants stepped out to enjoy the sun. Kept them in their bin for a little wind protection—they’ve been coddled in the laundry room up until now, so they need to be gently introduced to the variables of being outside. We’ve brought them in at night as the temps are still dropping into the 40’s and 50’s.
You can see how much they liked Real Sun! We were gone all day on Saturday, and when we got home their leaves were noticeably larger.
And today (May 17th), they’re reaching up out of their bin! We have storms this week, so it’s a constant taking them out, chasing the sun, bringing them in when the thunder rolls. (It’s not unlike having a pet, I suppose.) We’ve got a good start on these—we want to control what we can while we can!
Right now, the weather is forecasted to be rainy and stormy until Sunday. So we’ll rotate them in and out of the bin so they can get used to a little wind during the sunny times for the next few days, and then get ’em in the ground this weekend! The pumpkin patch looks like a tulip wasteland right now, so a little work will need to be done in preparation.….
