Those of you who have been around the mental_floss blog for a while know I growpumpkinsin my garden . Last spring I write about how gardener are using mould to growvegetables in odd configuration , and I state I was going to essay that myself . Well , I did .
So rather of buying aspecial moldmade for shaping produce , I assembled some thing I had hive up in the cellar that could possibly be used for mold . keep reading for the story of my garden experimentation .
Procrastination is my midway name . June came around before I recognise it ! I could wait no longer to start my experiment . I had planted two varieties of pumpkins this year : steady Jack - group O - Lanterns and miniature ornamental pumpkins . The miniatures come out overnight , seem mature already . Hoping they would grow some more , I stuck the footling Cucurbita pepo in glass jam jars and one small pot .
It became immediately clear that they would n’t stay in the molds without supporter . canal tape is the answer . Whatever the question , duct mag tape is always the response .
The larger pumpkins were very unripe in June . I found three that were good prognosis for experiment and placed them in 1 ) a hoop , 2 ) a plastic flower pot , and 3 ) a ceramic pot . Unfortunately , the June video of 1 ) and 2 ) seem to have vanish .
The great thing about growing Cucurbita pepo is that usually you could pretty much ignore them for several months ; just make certain you do n’t step on and crush too many . As the summer don on , the heavy autumn pumpkin in the hoop decompose away . The miniature pumpkins stopped produce . I should have caught them earlier and used much smaller molds . The two remaining large autumn pumpkin swelled and sate their containers . The plastic was no match for a growing pumpkin vine .
By October , the neighborhood blackguard had carried away two of the miniature pumpkins , jars and all . I retrieved one from the retriever . The miniature that I had put in in a ceramic flowerpot had rotted away . It courteously left behind seeds for next year .
The other miniatures had uprise just a tiny bite since I put them in jars . My daughter joked about ship in bottle , but she grapple to joggle them out without breaking the shock . No divergence in shape at all .
The regular size autumn pumpkin in the plastic flowerpot had mature and totally rive the plastic , but the shape was quite different from a innate autumn pumpkin . I tore the plastic aside to see my … chef-d’oeuvre . Heh .
The pumpkin in the ceramic flowerpot , however , grew without breaking or even crack its container . And it really took the shape well !
The pumpkin vine was n’t orient exactly straight in its container . The brown spot to the right hand is the factual blossom end . The spot in the middle is where the pumpkin grew out a bite into the hole in the bottom of the flowerpot . Because of this , I will have to make a doughnut cushion of sorts so the autumn pumpkin can stay vertical . Yes , I will have the strangest Jack - o - Lantern on my block !
The conclusions drawn from this experiment:1 ) Miniature pumpkins raise firm and early.2 ) A veggie mould that has any flexibility at all will yield to the grow fruit.3 ) If you want professional results , invest in professional equipment.4 ) This was fun ! I may do it again some time .
