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Natick, Massachusetts

I have grown regular pumpkins before and have always mounded the soil but never known why.
As a novice to Giant Pumpkin growing once again I wonder why mound the soil? How big should the mound be? How many plants/mound? Lastly, how much distance betwen mounds. Call this a mound of questions!
Many thanks to Roseman who gave an excellent answer to my previous question about plastic mulch!
Thank you all,
Steve

2/17/2000 12:45:21 PM

Connecticut, USA

One reason for mounding is so the soil will warm quicker. Another is to allow for proper drainage. You will only want to grow one plant per mound. However, I plant multiple seedlings per mound and cull all but one over time. Last year I tried to grow two plants per mound. I now think that was a mistake. It became too much work to keep the vines from crossing. You need access to the center of the plant for fertilizing, spraying and weeding. Check out my full diary on the Grower Diary page for some pictures.

2/17/2000 1:09:04 PM

Bristol,CT

Mounding is important for all of the reasons that Ken gave. It you have very sandy soil, then mounding is not as critical since you will have good drainage. Additionally, some soil borne diseases (Phytophera) are more prevalent in wet conditions.
As for the size of the mound, it could be as small as 3x3 to as big as 30x30 if you wanted to grow your entire pumpkin on a raised bed due to drainage or soil fertility concerns. If soil temperature is the main concern, then 5x5 should be sufficient. By the time the plant is large enough to grow beyond the mound, the air temperature has risen enough where soil temperature is not as much of a concern.
The distance between mounds is dependent on a number of factors - Plot size, pruning strategy, and amount of sunlight. Ideally, each plot should provide a minimum of 1000 sq ft, so a 30x30 or larger is desired if you have a lot of open space. If you have full sun, then put the mound in the center. Let's say the main vine grows West, then 3 secondary vines should be permitted to grow in the other directions. Each of these vines should support only one pumpkin. Prune the ends when they exceed the boundaries.
I have very limited space and about 6 hours of sun in the middle of the day. I built a 50x20 raised bed using the Xmas tree pruning strategy. The mound was placed at the north end near the house and the main vine was permitted to grow 50 feet south. The side vines off of the main were pruned at 10 feet on each side. All secondary vines were immediately pruned. My focus was on growing just one large pumpkin on the main vine.

2/19/2000 5:25:37 PM

Connecticut, USA

Roseman, how did you make out with this strategy? I would love to see some pics? How about putting up some Diary Entries of Last Year...

2/19/2000 8:27:00 PM

Bristol,CT

John, my initial plan involved digging a 3x3x3 foot pit and filling it with topsoil and compost. I was then going to grow the plant over my lawn as I had previously done with Prizewinners. I discussed this strategy with Warren Cole and he highly recommended that I either dig up my lawn or build a raised bed (PS. the raised bed is now gone and my kids now have a place to play). The Dave Hampton 801 plant was a monster. I pollinated my first female on 7/12 and I made the first of 3 deadly mistakes. I had seen Joel Holland's perfectly upright pumpkin at Disney so I decide to dig out 18 inches under the pumpkin (30 inches) and grow it upright. Unfortunately it aborted. Thinking I was smarter than the plant, I tried it again with the same result. I finally got a 3rd pollination on a back door vine in mid-August but didn't position the pumpkin perpendicular so the stem ended up tearing off the vine as it grew - stopping at 235 lbs. Other growers using this seed produced two 800 lb pumpkins this year - just think - one on them could have been me! PS. I gave some photos to Don Langevin at the NEPGA dinner for his next book.

2/22/2000 6:13:57 PM