[Col. Fryght]

Are there any NC growers here in the piedmont? I have never had any luck!

I grow in Georgia. Pumpkin growing in the south is the definition of insanity. Too many bugs that survive the winter, too many soil diseases that love early warm weather, and too much humidity. And yet, I keep coming back.

 

[Col. Fryght]

Big Weekend. I have got to get my plants in the ground this week. I rented a rear tine tiller from HD. I have worked in most of my fertilizers, granular fungicides, and granular insecticide this morning. My next project is to get my peat moss tilled in.

 

[WeWhoWe]

I let several uncarved pumpkins from last year rot in various places in my backyard. To my surprise, pumpkin plants are coming up from several of them. I have no hope of them yielding any pumpkins, but it is a pleasure to see those green leaves coming up and spreading.

 

[Col. Fryght]

I let several uncarved pumpkins from last year rot in various places in my backyard. To my surprise, pumpkin plants are coming up from several of them. I have no hope of them yielding any pumpkins, but it is a pleasure to see those green leaves coming up and spreading.

At the very least, you will be enjoying some nice flowers towards the end of May and the bees will be happy.

 

[Col. Fryght]

Soil is tilled. It looks so nice and fluffy. If I hadn't had the disease test done, I would be thinking that it looks perfect.

 

[morganmac]

Soil is tilled. It looks so nice and fluffy. If I hadn't had the disease test done, I would be thinking that it looks perfect.


View attachment 760529

Soil is tilled. It looks so nice and fluffy. If I hadn't had the disease test done, I would be thinking that it looks perfect.


View attachment 760529

That is some nice soil, especially for GA!

 

[IowaGuy]

Either our cat or husky puppy got to two of my pukkin plants last night, I guess I'll see if they have the will to live

 

[Col. Fryght]

Either our cat or husky puppy got to two of my pukkin plants last night, I guess I'll see if they have the will to live

I would re-pot the ones you like by Wednesday. They get root bound quick. They look good. When does your weather allow you to put them outdoors?

 

[IowaGuy]

Probably another month Col. Fryght.

 

[WeWhoWe]

View attachment 760553
View attachment 760554 View attachment 760553 View attachment 760554 View attachment 760553 View attachment 760554
Two places where pumpkin plants are emerging

 

[WeWhoWe]

 

[Col. Fryght]

Probably another month Col. Fryght.

I would go two gallon then and skip one gallon. Two gallon is about as large as I can go and still be able to turn the plant upside down to get it out.

 

[Col. Fryght]

Plants are in. I will choose the best one in about two weeks. To help fight my soil diseases, I decided to dig out a 6x5 planting area to about 16 inches. You can see the rock hard Georgia clay at the bottom. At one time, red clay was my top level. lol

I filled it back in with clean soil. Hopefully, I can keep the my stump problems this year to minimum while I solarize the other half of my patch. The white stuff is Sevin Dust, plus I sprayed the plants with insecticide. The black skirting is an erosion fence that I posted around the plants to protect them from the wind.

 

[Can't Wait]

Hi All,
I just wanted to say that I enjoy reading all of the posts, and you're all an inspiration in my pumpkin growing efforts. I have been growing pumpkins for three years now, and keep getting better each year thanks to all the great info posted here!

 

[Kdestra]

Hi All,
I just wanted to say that I enjoy reading all of the posts, and you're all an inspiration in my pumpkin growing efforts. I have been growing pumpkins for three years now, and keep getting better each year thanks to all the great info posted here!

Welcome to group 🎃🎃🎃
Beware.... Pumpkin Maddness Takes It's Toll

 

[IowaGuy]

So, my gf black cat Amadeus has been eating my pukkin plants through the night. Lil brat has killed 2 of them and snapped one of the stems of another...so....ive replanted the 2 and moved all of them to my enclosed front porch. The temp isn't suppose to drop below 46° at night. Ill continue to use the heating pad on the new seedlings and hope for the best.

(You suck Thackary Binks!!)

 

[Goosebumps]

Any ideas why some of the leaves here are "curly"? They did have some issues shedding the seed case, so wondering if that was part of the problem. Waiting to see if the first new leaves look normal.

 

[Col. Fryght]

Any ideas why some of the leaves here are "curly"? They did have some issues shedding the seed case, so wondering if that was part of the problem. Waiting to see if the first new leaves look normal.

The top picture looks normal to me, just a shell left on a little too long. Cot leaves are disposable once your first and second true leaf get going. So no worries there. The second picture looks like something is missing nutrient wise. I am not sure what type of soil that you used to start your seeds.

I have come around to being a big believer in seed starting soil that has nutrients and a medium that that is conducive to root growth. Keep in mind I just used top soil years ago to start seeds and everything turned out fine.

Maybe just put a couple pinches of fertilizer around the yellow looking plant. I am sure that everything will end up being okay.

 

[MCR]

Hey all. Really enjoyed seeing everyone's progress. Been meaning to post an update for this year's patch. Trying to learn some lessons of last year and get an earlier start to (hopefully) avoid trying to pollinate in the worst heat of the summer and make sure the big pumpkins are at ground level and not 5-6' up on top of a shade structure. I really want to grow a few big orange pumpkins this year (rather than the pale white Atlantic giants I grew last year) and so I only bought/requested seeds from pumpkins that were 500-2000 lbs and nice and orange. I tore up the lawn in the side yard, tried (and failed) to kill the Bermuda grass, tilled in a bunch of organic matter and amendments recommended from a Western Labs soil test and built a rickety shade structure out of PVC to keep the sun down a bit (and hopefully reduce the critters). Got three plants on each end of the patch and will winnow that down to 2-3 pretty soon.

I've also got a few cattle panel trellises where I've planted a bunch of the seeds the Kdestra sent (THANKS!!!) along with some white Baby Boos a few vining flowers to keep my neighbors happy outside of pumpkin season. Last year I put plants in the ground too late and the heat killed everything in this area before it got off the ground. So I'm hoping that an early start and lots of plants will help at least a few of those plants get established before it gets crazy hot. Fingers crossed!

 

[WitchyKitty]

I, finally, have warmer temps and was able to start my pumpkin and gourd seeds with the baggie method (along with my mammoth and large sunflowers, zucchini, and cucumbers.)
I'm going to try my new cable box, again, for warmth but, this time, I placed something between the box and the seed bags so they don't cook like last year, lol...sigh. Hopefully, this will work. I tried a folded up old heating pad cover I had, but it was too thick, so now I'm trying a kitchen trivet or two. I miss the perfect temp of my old cable box, lol.
We already have the soil and trellises ready in the garden...just gotta get those seeds to germinate!