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Eastern Pennsylvania

Who’s had enough? My melon is destroyed, my 811 @ 780 lbs drowned and killed with soft spot. Everything left ain’t doing too hot since the ground has been so saturated I can’t step in the patch to weed or do anything since around July 22. Last year was the wettest summer on record here and this year is already 6th and it’s not the middle of August yet. What am I doing living here and what am I doing trying to grow these pumpkins? This is getting plain old stupid! Climate change is real here in east PA.

8/14/2018 8:48:52 AM

Eastern Pennsylvania

Oh forgot to mention that after spending 4 years finishing my basement I finally completed it this year and we got flooded. So all the carpet and moulding got ripped out. Good thing I hung the Sheetrock above the cement otherwise it would’ve been a total disaster. But people around here have it way worse than us, trust me. I still remember to count my blessings.

8/14/2018 8:54:51 AM

Brownsville, MD

Seems like a pretty bad year all across PA. Our patch is at the top of a hill that drains into a creek, so it doesn’t flood, but we have had other issues. We just had a 118” long gourd nearly rip itself in half after a thunderstorm. We lost 2 of our giant pumpkin plants back in July when the temperature swung by 25 degrees and it was about 100 for 5 days in a row before going back to high 70s and rain. We were thinking about going to Doylestown and Altoona this year, but that’s not happening now. It will be interesting to see what people bring.

8/14/2018 2:18:51 PM

Connellsville, Pa

It rains here everyday pretty much too. Gets old real fast.

8/14/2018 2:50:25 PM

NE Wisconsin

Send some my way. My area has been extremely dry all summer. I plant quite a few decorative pumpkins/gourds/squash but they are ripening early and plants drying up from heat and drought. My first year growing giants but I've had a large garden for about 15 years and this is one of the lowest summer rain totals I ever seen.

8/14/2018 2:57:53 PM

Honesdale, Pennsylvania

Yes its been a struggle in the NE corner of the state. It is the worst year by far for Dyberry Patch Andy and myself. I heard the weather man say we have had measurable rainfall for 23 out of the last 30 days and that was after the heat wave that messed up most pollinations. Throw in the necessary removal of a few woodchucks and it all adds up to a bad year. I am down to one plant with a pumpkin still on the main vine and I am almost expecting something to happen to it. I have some late pollinations around basketball size just hoping to have something for my efforts. Hell I am still considering a pollination when I spy a rogue female flower. It seems like lots of growers are suffering unusual amounts of losses this year. I am enjoying the tomato thing though the stress level is much lower. I do have a couple of long gourds hanging,a couple of field pumpkins that are ripening to quickly and a squash or two sitting on secondaries. At least there is something to stare at while I have a cup of coffee in the morning and tip toe around the mud. It is a challenge.

8/14/2018 3:12:45 PM

Bethlehem CT

Yeah it's been ridiculously wet here too. It is almost impossible to get any work done in the garden or anywhere outside for that matter. The sun will show up for a bit then it will pour. This can happen many times throughout the day. This has been one of the more challenging seasons. I haven't had one tomato yet that didn't have splits or cracks due to all the rain. I would have to pick them green in order to avoid the splitting.

8/14/2018 7:53:19 PM

Eganville, Ontario

We had the rain almost daily last summer.

Very dry here this year. It’s funny how it goes.

8/14/2018 9:35:04 PM

Pittsburgh, PA

I’m near Pittsburgh and the weather sux this year. Way more cloudy rainy days than any sun. But I don’t have it nearly as bad as the middle and eastern part of the state. I feel for those guys and gals.

8/14/2018 10:47:50 PM

Anamosa, IA BPIowegian@aol.com

We have been lucky 2 years in a row at Anamosa. To the north they have been drenched, flooded and hit with high winds. South of us, especially around Bloomfield they have been bone dry. We are just starting to get a little dry but we are supposed to get some light rain tomorrow

8/14/2018 11:44:07 PM

Ontario, Canada

HOT, HOT & DRY!!!!!!. Worst dry spell ever here in Cameron. Glad we decided to take a bit of a break this year. Tomatoes don't need as much water as the kins do.

8/15/2018 8:34:15 AM

Princeton Kentucky

Raining right now w/ air so humid you can cut it with a knife. Forecasted for next 4 days on n off. Yes we have had enough.

8/15/2018 8:44:33 AM

Bethlehem CT

Phil it sounds like it would have been a good year to plant melons!

8/15/2018 1:34:18 PM

Ontario, Canada

We put 2 melons in the greenhouse, but they fried in the extreme heat, along with the 1st 2 trusses of maters on our tomato plants. I guess we should have planted them outside this year. Next year we'll try to get back into growing a couple AGP & maybe try growing melons outside again as well. Temps are to reach into the mid 90s again today. It'll cool off a bit on the weekend.
Good luck to you all.

8/16/2018 8:30:34 AM

New Berlin, PA

Sharing the struggle here in central PA, but I figure if I'm going down, I'm going down swinging. I have used a submersible pump a few times after two big rain events to drain the low corner of my patch. Have had water laying in places I've never seen before. Very tough to work in the patch or feed with liquids as its always too wet. Pumpkins grown outdoors in central/eastern PA that make the scales this year should be applauded.

8/16/2018 8:45:12 AM

New Berlin, PA

Frustrating, but I keep reminding myself abnormal weather is not grower error, just bad luck. What I do to try and counteract the ill effects of bad luck is up to me, the rest is out of my control.

8/16/2018 8:47:08 AM