If you mean the vine split then you should be okay. The vine will callous over. If you meant the main stem snapped then that sounds like a problem that will be too much to overcome.
Not sure what you do once squirrels get a taste for your garden. I don't recall you having as many problems at your last home. Maybe get a cat?
Well, it is 623 gallons per 1,000 sq ft. I am not sure you need that much for regular pumpkins. Most giant pumpkin growers shoot for 75-100 gallons per day. You will be fine with less. I think a better rule of thumb is to keep the soil moist to at least two inches below the surface.
Our old house had just as many animals...much more, actually, but more woodland area for all of those animals to have other food choices. Also, we built a much taller, smaller, better fenced in garden at the old house. We had issues with animals eating/digging plants, flowers and veggies there, too, but not this bad, and it seems to get worse and worse, here, each year, too...insect issues included.
For sure you can drown them.. When I have them in one to two gallon pots, I water them with a 32 oz. cup twice a week. Everybody develops their own system. Just make sure that the bottom of the containers have holes so the water can drain if it is not absorbed by the soil.
Not sure if building/buying some kind of mesh structure around the plants while they get going is a possibility. At our place, if I put anything out that would still be considered a seedling it inevitably gets eaten. But if I put up a barrier around the plants until they're well established, then the critters seem to leave them alone (though the bugs still go after them). I'm still totally building a greenhouse when we get a big enough yard.
Definitely yes. I recall a Josiah Brandt video from last year where he talked about how pumpkins can't pull nutrients out of the soil if there is too much water in the ground (from rain in his case). Here it is:
Wow! That'll be a good, long grow. Fingers crossed.
I have a mini greenhouse in my basement...I have my mother in laws seeds in pots to get started, for her, in there right now, but I had run out of soil to pot my own. So, when my seeds all started germinating in my baggies, I just direct sowed them outdoors, since it was warm enough. Bad idea, I guess, as the seeds just get dug up...this is why I need to keep starting them and getting them to good sized seedling form before planting outside...
You never want standing water nor soggy soil for a prolonged period. I am now up to 2 gallons every 48 hours on my outdoor plant. I probably will not go over that amount since I will soon have a half dozen solid secondary roots from the vine that will need to be watered. I bet more stumps are lost to over watering versus under watering. Last night I could stick two fingers in the ground and it was still moist to about an inch of the surface. That tells me that I am okay to water tonight.
I've seen people use large Rubbermaid bins, full size trash cans, baby pools...
Go for it. You would still need to let the plant grow to 200-300 sq ft. with access to dirt. Not sure you can put enough water in a container for 30-60lb pumpkin which is why your vines will need to root themselves to dirt.
