Message Board - BigPumpkins.com

Did anyone have so many problems the second year, to make you wonder what you are doing right? IF anything? I started out with 4 pumpkins in just over 1200 sq ft of a patch,and I am down to 1 pumpkin. It's is thankfully at 289 pounds, which beats my PB from last year as a rookie, but, still what a miserable year.

I am already adding fertilizer, got a good load of it this weekend sitting out there for after weigh off. Got my soil sample sent out and waiting for the report to come back this week to tell me what else needs to be added. After that, color me confused.

These pumpkins were just rotten on the inside, at least 2 of them were, and the green guy had one soft spot on the outter edge that split and that was the end of it.

I'm just not wanting to repeat that again next year. Any suggestions short of what I am already planning on?

9/23/2007 4:36:20 PM

Rhode Island

diamond lady

two things come to mind
have your soil test annalized by a grower who understands the combination of reading that are needed and /or how to adjust based on your report
and
get yourself aquainted with joe pukos who will be at cooperstown weigh off with several other good growers.make some new friends and ask for their help

you have the land and the determination .you just need more experience which will come with time providing you can get a good mentor to advise along the way

pap

9/23/2007 8:04:36 PM

Rhode Island

ps ------- good genetic proven seeds are also a must
pick the proven ones that do not have a history of stem splits and excessive sag lines (dill rings ) as part of there history
by doing so you will eleminate possible problems later in the fruits developement

9/23/2007 8:07:16 PM

Rhode Island

also -------- sorry i just thought of this. with pumpkins rotting etc you should consider a couple soil drenches and also some root shield in the planting area.
id also use micro fungi applications when vine buring.
quite a few sprays of various pesticides are also needed to keep the plant and pumpkins healthy through out the year

pumpkin plants are very susceptable to all kinds of diseases

9/23/2007 8:12:42 PM

pap, thanks for the good advice. Been working on some of the things you mentioned already, guess I'm just disappointed that 3 pumpkins went down, but, like you said earlier, there will be pumpkins that go down and not make it to a weigh off more often than not...The thing to do is look forward to next year and am trying to do that now.

Should I do a ground cover crop such as buckwheat for Spring tilling?

9/23/2007 8:21:57 PM

Rhode Island

winter rye put down properly is a good cover crop. do not spred it real heavy cause its more difficult to till in the spring

9/24/2007 5:48:18 AM

StL Kenny

Wood River, IL ([email protected])

Diamondlady,

I feel your pain. Had 3 plants going with 1 pumpkin on each of them. they all stopped growing around the 30th day mark. 2 of them rotted from the inside out and one blew up.
Pretty dissapointing to put in all that work and then lose them like that. It wasn't no fun telling my 2 little girls each time one went down.

But I've already started working on fall Patch prep. Have the patch cleaned off and lightly tilled. Already have my soil test results back. Now I'm just going to sit back and wait for the season to finish up for the growers with all the knowledge to check out my results, and point me in the right direction. I'm also looking to add a cover crop this year, looking at opinions there.

Starting to make plans for "08". Have my eye on a few seeds. One thing for sure I'm doing to beef up my pesticide and fungucides next year.

Had a ruff year in "07" but I'm looking forward to "08".

Kenny

9/24/2007 6:12:42 AM

Rob T

Somers, CT

One thing I learned this year is the power of a healthy plant. If you can keep the leaves green and the soil just moist enough, you'll do fine. Take the time for the soil test, use fish and seaweed and look for good proven seeds from healthy plants. Once you get too many days of wilting leaves, it starts to look tempting to disease and bugs.

9/24/2007 8:57:44 AM

Frank 4

Coventry R.I.

Hi DIAMOND,, 2ND SEASON HERE ALSO, got off to a real bad start,, but with some help from my friends ,, Saved my season, WILL HAVE 2 OVER LAST YEARS TOTAL,, AND A 3RD PUMPKIN ALSO STILL GOING.

9/24/2007 11:25:23 AM

Chris S.

2nd season here also.

Started with 4 AWESOME plants. Lost 3 to pythium. The 4th I sprayed accidently with herbicide and set it WAY back. Then I lost it's basal crown to SVB the middle of July. Set a fruit and it has grown on maybe 200 sqft max since then.

I feel your pain. I will be back next year and I believe I'll be prepared for anything. No way I'll lose it all next year.

9/24/2007 11:44:43 AM

SafeHouse Orange

Minnesota

Blossom end split, Stem Split, Plants that would NOT take. Pumpkins that would NOT grow. So, I am glad I planted 6 this year as I have 1 very nice one going and 2 others that Will still kick Franks butt!!! Lots of new challenges with 6 plants instead of 2 that I grew my rookie year!
Now, For my 3rd year I think I'm ready to cut back to 4 plants and perfect the entire process for my 1st 1,000 pounder (As that won't be happening this year!!) I am just realizing how lucky I was my rookie year!!

9/24/2007 3:08:39 PM

ditto on the luck for a rookie year. I had 2 plants and had a 256 pounder last year and a 218.5. The third I did not take for weigh off but it was somewhere in between the two. I'm glad that was the first year and not this year.

9/24/2007 4:24:46 PM