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Chicago il.

I was wondering how i should set up my soaker hose. I was thinking to just make a loop around the trunk and send the rest of it away from the plant in a straight line and training the vine to follow it. Is this what i should do?

Also how long should I keep the water on for? Also, do you guys like to use mulch around the pumpkin?

6/9/2008 4:33:21 PM

Farmville, Virginia (mfowler@hsc.edu)

Personally I don't mulch around the base. It just gives squash bugs another place to hide.
I run my soakers the way you are describing. Just train the vine the way you want it to go and move the hose to it. I leave the hose a few feet out from the main as it grows and once a side vine gets long enough to bury then I gently move the hose over the buryed side and right up to the main. I'm sure there are hundreds of methods of doing this though.

6/9/2008 8:50:30 PM

Chicago il.

Should i mulch the rest of the area?

Should i put multiple loops around the base? How far should be from it?

6/9/2008 9:23:04 PM

Poulsbo, WA

I looped my soaker hose one time around the base about 10" away from the trunk to try and avoid stressing out the trunk if I need to move it later. I have several plants, so right now the hose is looped around to each plant. As I select the plants I am going to keep (or in other words have lost a couple) I move the hose out of that area. I have no idea how long to water. I am experimenting and would like some advice on that one. I am not mulching b/c I want to see the dirt and do not want diseases etc.

6/10/2008 1:11:50 AM