The Great Gourd Growing Experiment, week 4 (almost)

As you can see from the upper photos, the plants are growing well.  All the transplants have thrived except for one, which never seemed to do very well and didn't grow more than 4 or 5 leaves.  I had to remove the netting barriers because the plants outgrew them and even started to go through them. Summer is definitely here, and temps are reaching into the upper 90's and even a couple days over 100 degrees.  The important thing is to keep the plants watered, and with the combination of the clay soil and the mulch, this isn't too difficult.  The diatomaceous earth I applied a couple weeks ago helped keep the pesky ants and aphids from taking over, but it's time for another application.  I may also try some insecticidal soap if needed.  It's ecologically safe with no bad residual effects.  The photo on the lower left shows some aphids on the underside of a leaf.  A few don't hurt much, but too many can be a real problem.  

The photo in the lower center shows a female flower, with a baby gourd forming.  Gourd plants have both male and female flowers, and if the female flowers aren't pollinated, then the baby gourd just withers and falls off.  So, here's hoping that the bees or other pollinators make their appearance, and do the pollinating thing.  I also read that I can take a little paintbrush and do some hand pollinating.  The photo on the lower right is husband Gary and our gorgeous granddaughter Delilah.