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Minnesota

The pumpkin seedling,I plan on putting some worm compost, a little bat guano, com manure, maybe potash, blood meal. Any suggestions, given a soil test has been done, do you put anything in there before you put in the seedling?

10/12/2007 2:12:36 PM

Georgia

I use worm compost and a solution of kelp. I dont really over do it because seedling dont require that much nutrients at first the seed itself has plenty. But I dont think too much would really hurt it. I mix a little Captan in it though.

10/12/2007 2:24:46 PM

Minnesota

Whoa Fog, You plant in a hole? I had to re-read the post...

10/12/2007 2:26:38 PM

Baildon, Saskatchewan, Canada , EH

Doh!!!!!

10/12/2007 3:53:54 PM

Minnesota

When the seedling is placed where you want it in yoour designated pumpkin growing area, do you add anything before placing the seedling where it is to go,,,how's that.

10/12/2007 3:56:15 PM

Ohio

I made my holes in late Ocotber last year, I put compost that wasnt quit done cooking in mine and let it sit untill the spring, I then run a tiller over my entire patch including over the holes filled with compost, Id mark the spots where my pits was, because if I didnt I was sure to lose where my pits had been.

10/12/2007 5:14:47 PM

[email protected]

Brooks, how deep were the pits and how deep into the pits did the roots of the plant go?

10/13/2007 1:22:53 AM

Salem, OR

Why not go nuts and treat the entire patch as a "planting hole"? Lots of nutrients everywhere, I say

10/13/2007 10:33:48 AM

[email protected]

Just treating "holes & pits" with physical amendments can cause problems. A fifteen foot radius would be about the minimum as far as I'm concerned but the entire patch is the ideal.

If we over do just one area the roots aren't "incentivized" to go out searching for fertile ground. If we end up with a mass of local shallow roots the plant will eventually run out of nutients in that area & may also be more prone to drought

Digging real deep in one spot can cause a wet spot beneath the plant. This depends a lot on the physical/mechanical properties of the soil especially the subsoil. Sandy soil will be more forgiving in this case but why tempt fate?

If we bury fresh manure too deep it will turn anaerobic. In the worst case scenario the resulting gasses can be toxic to roots.

The only thing recommended right in the planting hole would be VAM mycorrhizal inoculant. The same inoculant is then used along nodes as the main runs & as secondaries are buried. Doing this with VAM is safe since by itself we aren't changing the physical spect of the soil (much).

Mineral & organic amendments are best spread throughout the entire area that we expect the roots to eventually reach.

10/13/2007 5:12:05 PM

Minnesota

How far out do the roots reach, roughly, 2-3 feet, yes, I was going to try mycorrhizal nezt year.

10/13/2007 7:04:49 PM

San Jose [email protected]

15-20 feet out from "stump" i think is possible, but with burying vines you want to do as much area as you can

10/13/2007 7:17:05 PM

Somers, CT

This is a great question, keep them coming.

The issue is that the plant drops spike roots along the vines which contribute to the root system and are a big contributor to the whole picture. Better off treating the hole as the rest of the patch. We do need more info on innoculants. Listen to Tremor, he knows what he is talking about.

10/13/2007 8:15:20 PM

Picton,ON ([email protected])

Since I started diging pits and amending the planting area, my weights have just kept going up. I dig about a 2ft deep pit about 3 feet in diameter and fill with a mixture of good amended topsoil, peat moss and composted manure. I build this up to a mound about 1 ft higher than the surrounding soil and extend the mound in about a 6-8ft diameter. Yes, it would be better to do a larger mound, but by the time I get done digging 8 of these Ive had enough digging....lol
We also add,mycorrhizal innoculant, Jump Start Innoculant, Humic Acid and kelp meal.

10/13/2007 9:14:52 PM

[email protected]

Keeping what you said in mind Steve, why has Matt Teeter, who never grew a pumpkin over 600 pounds up until last year when he started doing growing pits, now has grown 2 1000 pounders last year, anbd 2 1000 pounders this year? He said all of his efforts are to the growing pits. Something doesnt add up here if growing pits are toxic and create bad root structures prone to drought conditions. I am trying to understand the benefits of pits and agree with your philosophy, but realistically the pits seem to be the place to be!

10/13/2007 9:59:20 PM

[email protected]

If the subsoil drains well then pits work. They'll work in a dry year like 2007 too. But if the subsoil is clay & we receive a lot of rain they turn into bath tubs. It happened to me one year even though our subsoil here in Stratford is sandy. We dug pits with a back hoe & filed then with a manure & leaf compost mixture. For a while things were great but then it started to rain. After a weeks of heavy rains the plants turned sickly yellow & stopped growing. I stuck a soil probe in the patch. Around 12" down it smalled bad. Any deeper than that & the probe made an awful wet sucking sound when I pulled it back out. Despite the sandy subsoil, the pit was little more than a swimming pool filled with waterlogged soil & some wet footed plants/

Consider the Jerry Rose mound technique if amending the entire patch isn't possible. Mounds drain in a wet year.

10/14/2007 1:37:24 AM

maine USA

Tremor could you please explain the Jerry Rose mound technique, I've never heard of this. thanks Kathy

10/14/2007 10:51:03 AM

Minnesota

Me either, what is the Jerry Rose mound technique?

10/15/2007 12:22:25 AM