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Indiana

i have seen several pics in the diaries of some people putting down styrofoam or some kind of cloth under thier fruit when it starts growing. is this nessessary and what kind of cloth is it?

6/24/2013 11:49:21 AM

Billerica,Massachusetts

most likely Mill fabric

6/24/2013 12:02:00 PM

Stanwood, Washington

The important thing is to make sure you don't have moisture trapped against the bottom of the pumpkin or you can get rot. Most people use mill fabric which is will keep weeds down but let water drain through. You should also pile up sand under the pumpkin which makes it easier to maneuver as it grows.

6/26/2013 5:09:59 PM

Rhode Island

i do believe we should place something between the growing pumpkin and the gardem soil. why take an additional risk of rot or tunneling rodents to for that matter.

best method is thin plywood with a large piece of mill fabric laid over top of plywood. ----allow fruit to grow on this ---- fill in edges as needed if the fruit grows over the fabrics edges.(it only take a small unprotected area to invite late season rot.

we also put mouse bait and sometimes moth ball around the fruit once cooler weather arrives and pumpkins are blanketed at night.(the mice think its a holiday inn under that blanket-lol)

excess mill fabric around the fruit also helps soil from splashing all over the fruit when it rains.----which can also cause disease or rot.

pap

6/27/2013 7:08:38 AM

Farming- a bunch of catastrophies that result in a lifestyle

This may sound goofy.....I had a thought about using an inflated tractor tire inner tube. It would be off the ground, the pumpkin would be cushioned, and it dries readily. My only wonder would be heat, as in the air in the tube holding heat too long and causing heat stress to the pumpkin, except it would be shaded so the sun wouldn't be directly on the rubber inner tube. What do you guys think?

6/27/2013 8:10:13 AM

Albert County, New Brunswick,CANADA

Could someone explain "mill fabric" to me.Google search doesn't do it. So ,I assume it is a fabric but not conveyor belt.I assume it must be very thick and woven. Wondering if it is discarded by some industrial process? No metal insert. Other uses? Maybe carpet will substitute perhaps?....As for rubber, I bet that would cause a ring on the pumpkin-not so pretty. I've often thought of building a teeter-totter affair-movable...one end the pumpkin grows on, the other end you fill with water-calculated to give a weight due to volume-it would have to be big but it would be interesting, and the water is useful.

6/27/2013 9:58:17 AM

Springfield, VT

Mill fabric is a woven nylon mesh belt used in the paper or waste water industry to separate solids from liquids. It may vary in thickness depending on source about the same thickness as canvas cloth. The surface is slick and allows things to slide well across it including the grower. Water drains easily through the mesh.

6/27/2013 10:23:23 AM

Albert County, New Brunswick,CANADA

Thanks. Not something I've seen in salvage before. I know there are mats for cows to lie on that might resemble this-expensive though.

6/27/2013 10:31:55 AM

Albert County, New Brunswick,CANADA

why can't I use a thick bed of straw. It was good enough for jesus.

6/27/2013 12:13:48 PM

Mnt.pleasant ,tennessee

Is it the same cheap fabric you use for landscaping.that you can find at any store this time of year ?

6/27/2013 12:50:31 PM

President - GPC

Nope, ThiZ stuff will be a challenge to cut with metal shearZ>...

6/27/2013 12:54:52 PM

Mnt.pleasant ,tennessee

Aww ok.thank ya

6/27/2013 1:06:11 PM

Upa Creek, Mo

I ordered mine 2 years ago from someone on here in the for sale section. Forgot who, but this stuff is like a thick metal screen.

6/27/2013 1:46:22 PM

Farming- a bunch of catastrophies that result in a lifestyle

Pumpkin-eater I LIKE THE WAY YOU THINK!! That's awesome!!!

6/27/2013 3:35:25 PM

President - GPC

The mice will love you if you uZe straw....

6/27/2013 3:56:22 PM

Piqua, Ohio

straw holds moisture, Jesus isn't a pumpkin. Take paps advice rumor has it he knows what he's talking about.

6/27/2013 4:38:54 PM

Mnt.pleasant ,tennessee

Dont beleive i've ever seen nun have to ask around.was thinking styrofoam packing & moth balls with sheet over the pile.

6/27/2013 5:12:00 PM

South Hero, VT

See extremepumpkinstore.com for mill fabric. Also equipment for sale message board on this web site.

6/27/2013 6:21:27 PM

Menomonie, WI (mail@gr8pumpkin.net)

It is like conveyor belt..used in the paper industry

6/27/2013 8:52:59 PM

NE Kansas

That doesn't sound like the kind of protection I would want to wear...

6/27/2013 10:53:11 PM

Eastern Pennsylvania

Are you raising pumpkins or children get the mill fabric lol. Most serious growers use it.

6/27/2013 11:39:17 PM