Thread: Growing Pumpkins

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I know a few others here have tried this. This summer I plan to plant a Pumpkin patch. (I also plan on haunting it come Halloween as part of my haunted trail) what varieties of pumpkins have people tried and how much in the way of insect problems did you have?

Originally Posted by dariusobells

I know a few others here have tried this. This summer I plan to plant a Pumpkin patch. (I also plan on haunting it come Halloween as part of my haunted trail) what varieties of pumpkins have people tried and how much in the way of insect problems did you have?

Well i try and grow pumpkins every year but i ALWAYS get invested with vine borers every single time. This year i cant stress enough!!!!!! Get that garden netting that you put over the vines so those boogers cant get to your plants. It Lets light in and water but keep the bugs off!! BTW im growing big max this year. Few things are they love water,root system runs with the length of vine, 1 pumpkin per vine, only water at the base not the leaves, Soak your seeds in a wet paper towel for a few nights until they sprout in a warm spot like on the fridge, and start now! Well depends on where your at but i always start seeds indoors at about this time. I started my batch sunday. And remember the first flower are all male and they drop off so dont panic females start poping out about two weeks after. With the netteing your going to have to hand pollinate but thats not a big deal i do ever year i dont trust bees to do there job so.... Its easy if you can live with a load of vines,water bill, and keep pesky bugs away and remember the more leaves the better

If you're not opposed to chemicals, and don't want to bother with the netting.

BUY SEVIN DUST.

The actual DUST, not the spray.

The 10%, not the 5%.

That's what we used on the professional farm I worked, and it WORKS. But, and I can't stress this enough, WEAR PROPER PROTECTIVE GEAR WHEN APPLYING!!!

This is a proper DUST meant for dusters, as such it gets EVERYWHERE. GUARD any cuts/scrapes against getting this on them...my arm went numb for 2 days on a little scratch...

I plant them in May. build up a little mound of dirt and put about 3 seeds in a pile. Space the mounds out a good ways. I have seeds from the previous years pumpkins; I don't even remember what kind they are

I don't use pesticides unless I absolutely have to... I only had to last year, because of a massive invasion of stink bugs and used the same sevin dust powder that UnOrthoDox is talking about. It does indeed go everywhere. Keep pets and kids away, and it wouldn't hurt if you wore a mask over your nose and mouth.

We also get a powdery mildew on the leaves, but a milky wash gets rid of it.

I forgot about pumpkins. I been trying to figure out what i'm going to grow this year, i'll have to add that to the list. Every year i have a nice size garden, i grow a bunch of veggies and freeze and can them for later. Right now i'm just starting to run out of veggies from last summer. Sinse money is tight were expanding the garden, growing everything i possibly can.

Theres a farm not too far from my place that grows really nice pumpkins, i been buying them there for the past few years. But this year i'm going to give it a shot myself.

On the sevin dust it doesnt work on borers trust me i have tried unless i have some super mutant breed which is immune to all I do use sevin though but i stay away from the dust i use the concentrate and mix it up well and put in a spray bottle and hose things down. I like the concetrate b/c you can apply when its a little bit windy without getting a face full of dust and you can control where you want it easier then dust everywhere plus you can walk garden with spray bottle and attack all that crawls

my pumpkin growing skill suck lol. I'v had only about 4 good ones ever. It's a year long commitment I think. Good Luck!

Originally Posted by Toetag

but i stay away from the dust i use the concentrate and mix it up well and put in a spray bottle and hose things down. I like the concetrate b/c you can apply when its a little bit windy without getting a face full of dust and you can control where you want it easier then dust everywhere plus you can walk garden with spray bottle and attack all that crawls

See, I've found that the concentrate does not work nearly as well as the actual dust. Might be that's why it doesn't kill your borers.


Or, you didn't apply quick enough. You've gotta get em before they're IN the vine. Best to spray early-mid june, once a week or so.

I tried growing pumpkins for the first time last year. I had 2 mounds that gave about 4-5 pumpkins each. I was pretty satisfied with the results, being a pumpkin growing virgin!






Some decided to stay green for some reason, lol! Well trial and error. Hopefully I can do better this year!

Wow Thanks for all the great responses! I have used Sevin dust before on other vegetable crops to great success. I could just never find anything to keep birds out of the tomatoes! Any way I am going to go to my local garden center this weekend and see what varieties are available and find out when to plant in this area.