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Jamul

My first ever, better late than never, almost unplanned, store bought, pumpkin project is going along... somewhat. Making a few mistakes.Not going all out.The plant is doing pretty good . The daily wilting bothers me but I am not willing to put in misters. I do what I can for it with the garden hose and low flow sprinkler.

At least for now, I would be happy with growing Orange Pumpkins in the 100 to 300 pound class, which could possibly be brought about consistently with moderate effort and/or expense.

What would be needed to do this as compared to competitive efforts or goals of ever increasing personal bests?

For instance, is total vine burying necessary?Training and prunning? Intense well planned feeding, ect? Can the wilting be tolerated to a degree? How many smallish pumpkins per plant?

I imagine I will read one the big pumpkin books,probably organic growing, but my thought for now is that less is better.
Thanks,
Russell

8/24/2009 7:14:42 PM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

Russell,

You have the most important thing covered - you're here at BP.

Next comes the positive outlook which you have covered.

If you plant a decent AG seed in good soil in partial-full sun there should be no trouble growing a 300 pounder whether you bury vines or not.

You WILL need to control certain insects & diseases but the space & time requirements can be lessened if a modest result is cool by you.

8/24/2009 7:35:07 PM

Jamul

Thanks tremor,
I read in the archives about a man who grew a nice orange 200+ pumpkin on a sickly snake vine, that with your comments kind of settles it... Doesn't have to be all or nothing.I see you grow in teams, at least sometimes, and have a great time. That looks like a good way to go.

8/25/2009 8:17:49 PM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

I'd have trouble NOT growing with a team now-a-days. My wheelchair gets hung up on the walking boards or sinks in the soil. LOL

If it isn't fun - why bother?

It's OK to play for fun. Then bring anything you grew to a weighoff. The people you'll meet will be the finest folks in the world. Trust me on that.

Steve

8/25/2009 9:54:19 PM

Jamul

Hello Steve,
That sounds good. About the weigh-off though, I think I am growing a Christmas Pumpkin with my July 4th start. I might have to join a South American growers group! Se habla calabaza?
My family is going to help a local grower and Bigpumkins poster hoist his Pumpkin on the scale this Fall. My 3 little Rusticos are all excited about it. I know he is a good guy because I offered to give him a fishing pole for some seeds,since he likes fishing. He said to keep the fishing pole,"seeds are free"!.


Russell

8/25/2009 10:11:21 PM