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Location

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Date Posted

Perkins, Oklahoma

Let's say you moved to a new house. What would you do to prepare your patch from scratch that us new growers wouldn't do?

My plan is to roundup the area a couple times over the next month as needed to kill the grass off. I'll then till in a whole bunch of composted cow manure then send a soil test off. Amend the soil, till again then plant a cover crop. Am I way off what the experts would do?

8/9/2020 1:03:20 AM

Menomonie, WI (mail@gr8pumpkin.net)

Determine Sun Light Hours and Drainage. I have seen a few patches planned in the spring that during the summer have three trees providing full shade

8/9/2020 9:32:43 AM

Colorado

Work on the ph once you get your soil test.Ph target 6.5 and organic matter 5%

8/9/2020 10:50:55 AM

Central NY

A new place in my area I would do half composted manure, half municipal compost..3” of each. I would get a machine in there to dig the existing a good 12-18” deep, and get all the rocks out. Mix that all up well. Then I would order joe’s soil fertility guide.

8/9/2020 12:19:45 PM

Central NY

And no, yer not far off. Right on time to get prepared for next season.

8/9/2020 12:22:09 PM

Grittyville, WA

Not an expert but I would solarize rather than use round up? If you can till the perennial weeds out... then solarize the new ones that sprout or plant a cover crop to smother them...

8/9/2020 1:23:50 PM

Perkins, Oklahoma

Engel's- the area I'm looking at has direct sunlight from sun up until maybe 2 hours before dark. My shop is 30 yards away to the west. It gently slopes away from the shop maybe 2-3 inches every 15'

Porkchop-. I had no idea people used that much compost. I was planning on doing 2" total compost 😳

G. kins- the roundup was a cost saving measure. I'm planning on 800 square feet X 3-4 pumpkins and buying that much plastic for a 1 time use seemed like a pretty big cost. I may regret not doing it though

8/10/2020 12:43:02 PM

Syracuse, NY

if you go the Roundup route, get a Roundup backpack sprayer, 4-gallon; once you get it working for you, you'll look FORWARD to 'weeding'! ahem - best 80 bucks i've ever spent, really!
i, myself have tried to instill a cover crop of Dutch White Clover (i've added Mycorrhizae for years on-end, so everything grows great anyway) but the weather worked exactly against me - i threw it down and had a drought for two weeks in central NY, then the terrestrial weeds did VERY well, thwarting my efforts, but the head start i created has paid off. so, good luck to you - a weed-free patch is REALLY good for AGs---eg

8/11/2020 11:22:16 AM

Perkins, Oklahoma

thanks pumpkinpal. i actually have a tow behind sprayer, so i should be all set in that department :) I'm a bit nervous about the cover crop. I still don't know if people use cereal rye or rye grass lol. being new to something is fun though. almost everything you click on is a learning experience, but there is sooo much left to learn.

8/12/2020 12:19:49 AM

Western NY

See that start of my 2102 diary - that's pretty much my procedure for starting a new spot:

http://www.bigpumpkins.com/Diary/DiaryView.asp?season=2012&grower=16717

8/12/2020 8:07:32 AM

Grittyville, WA

Cereal rye.

8/12/2020 10:44:35 AM

Syracuse, NY

Now, THAT's forward thinking, lol---a super example of how to do it---i, myself took back 3 50-pounders of oats because they have an alleopathic effect and that means that once it's in use or even killed, nothing will grow in its wake for 3 weeks or so, and i wanted to plant AGs in the immediate wake of whatever i used, AND i had to consider the germination temperature of the Dutch White Clover or i woulda planted THAT exclusively, but that needs a temp. of i believe low 60s to germinate...in any event, it's hard to get DWC to establish but that's because i did not set up sprinklers that could be moved along as it germinated(!)...ahhh, next year always! i also tried WHEAT initially (it friggin' FROZE out the next day!) (see, i din't know and din't care - i'd been happy if more ROCKS showed up, lol) So, do as Andy does, as i will also take that to heart for the future; it is pretty darned cool to see ANYthing germinate that will help you! --- eg

8/12/2020 11:00:28 AM

Lakewood, WA

I don't want to sound like an advertisement here, but I'm growing Joel Holland's Cover Crop right now with nice results, although I haven't actually grown a pumpkin in it yet. It's easy to grow in the patch, just make sure to put a nice thick coating of seeds on your soil for full, even coverage. Joel's pumpkin growing videos are also quite informative and entertaining as well.

Best of luck to you Russell! Keep us posted!

8/12/2020 3:45:27 PM

Bethlehem CT

Wow Andy I just went through that 2012 Diary. I bet you would like to forget that year! I didn't have any pumpkins that year either.

8/13/2020 7:14:01 AM

North Of The Border

I would probably get a tiller or plow, and plow it. After that I would put down 3+ inches of manure and mix that in. After that take a page out of pumpkinpal2's book, and use a cover crop. In the spring add ammendments the way you would normally.

I am not normally against the use of chemicals, but to me roundup sounds like it might harm the soil microbes, more than it helps the plant. Harming the soil could cause less than optimal results with the pumpkin. I would try to polarize the soil, if you are looking for less work, but weeding by hand is better for the soil.

Personally I would try to get a plow because it would be cool, and would let you plow down your cover crop, the same as with a tiller, but better for the soil. I would also try and get a quick growing cover crop, to try and smother the weeds initially.

Hope you do well!

8/13/2020 11:41:55 AM

Perkins, Oklahoma

thanks everyone. i think i might try tilling 2" across the garden location and shoveling that up. then till, then add manure and compost and till again then add a cover crop. that's the working plan at least.

8/14/2020 12:54:55 AM

Perkins, Oklahoma

as a side note, the location is in Bermuda grass lawn right now.

8/14/2020 12:55:50 AM

Perkins, Oklahoma

One more question: Is there a best direction to have the plants facing? do they like to grow the main vine south or does it matter?

8/17/2020 12:15:48 AM

Grittyville, WA

They may seek to grow towards the brightest area when you first plant them. They dont like to grow towards shade much. In my experience their preferred direction of growth has more to do with seeking bright areas/ avoiding shaded areas.

8/17/2020 2:18:33 AM

Grittyville, WA

I think they sense bright areas of sky rather than the sun itself. Has to do with diffusion of polarized light or something? I dont know.

8/17/2020 2:24:20 AM

Grittyville, WA

"Plants need to detect light sources to get food. We now know they do this using phototropins – light receptors in the membranes of cells in the plant's tip. Phototropins are sensitive to blue light."

I meant diffused light not polarized light. Anyhow if that's too confusing then my bad. In most situations it doesn't really matter.

8/17/2020 2:35:39 AM

Menomonie, WI (mail@gr8pumpkin.net)

The pumpkins grow the direction you tell them to grow..if you give them the option to grow where they want they will become monsters

8/17/2020 7:46:26 AM

North Of The Border

You don't have to worry to much, worst case scenario, the vine will lay down wrong, and will need to be wrapped around. Personally, I would plant in partial shade, so the plant is less likely to get sunburn early on. This is just me personally, but it seems like a good idea.

Growers mainly worry about position of the plant, in comparison to shade, not so much plant in comparison to direction. If your going to do a greenhouse, it would matter that the ends are facing east and west, but not so much for just a plant.

8/17/2020 7:51:54 AM

Perkins, Oklahoma

ok. thanks for the help everyone. the area i'm looking at has my shop building uphill and maybe 30 yards to the west. it ends up getting shaded by the shop building the last 2 hours of the day. is that ok?

8/18/2020 12:12:47 AM

North Of The Border

They should be fine, as long as they have at least 8 hours of sun, for most of the growing season. The best plant in my patch, has a fruit about twice the size of the others, is in an odd area. It has shad for about 2 hours in the morning, and then has some shade from a tree above it in the middle of the day. This seems to help it recuperate from heat stress.

8/18/2020 9:59:32 AM

Perkins, Oklahoma

What are the best dimensions for a patch? single plant. i was thinking around 30' wide x 25' long so x3 plants 75'x25'? or am i way off. i don't want to start out on the wrong foot.

8/26/2020 3:18:38 AM

Syracuse, NY

i don't get your math but i am lovin' my wider-for-the-plants 30 feet Wide x 35-40 feet Long growing areas; they ARE growing into each other at this point (hence the longer dimension in the growing direction advisable) and i'm regretting having NOT put on a second sprinkler for EVERY plant before they got filling in all the area(s) - - - i still CAN, but i'd have to make more, lol; always 'next year' - eg

8/26/2020 5:38:43 AM

North Of The Border

Three plants would need as a minimum 1500 square feet. Most would advise 3000 plus. It depends on the size that you can make. What dimensions are possible in your patch?

8/26/2020 7:15:31 AM

Perkins, Oklahoma

grower216 - i can do about anything as far as 3 plants are concerned. it's a pretty big area. i'd mostly be limited on compost and amendments budget. i was thinking about 3 25' x 30' growing areas put together to make it 75'x30'. the plan is to plant the 3 plants toward the middle of the patch if you could imagine the 3 25' marks that would divide the length portion of the garden. [|><||>] i tried to crudely draw it with text :) the less than and greater than symbols |> representing the plants in a Christmas tree pattern. if this is too redneck i can draw it out and post to my diary on here.

8/26/2020 11:58:50 PM