From

Location

Message

Date Posted

Kansas City

I've got 1.25 acres of property in my back yard. The middle of it is free of trees and receives full sun. The further south you go in my yard, the more trees...most are small and plenty of sunlight comes through. The light is a bit filtered in places, but there are patches of full sun as well. Would it be ok to plant a patch at the edge of this area and train the vines to grow into the small tree area? Are there any trees that don't get along with pumpkins (like walnuts and tomatoes)? Thanks for the help!

3/13/2005 7:21:46 PM

San Diego

the more sun the better and the bigger the pumpkin, but plants will grow in partial sun areas too. Just do the best with what you have for an area. I don't believe trees will harm the plants or vice versa unless the trees are dropping anything harmful on the plants. More shade equals more powdery mildew, so be prepared.

3/13/2005 8:03:05 PM

Thornhill, Ontario, Canada

Watch out! They might climb. Last summer I had one of my pumpkin plants grow through our fence and up our neighbour's tree. They had a pumpkin growing about six feet off the ground. It was really funny to see.

3/13/2005 8:48:21 PM

Kansas City

Climbing pumpkins! I might just have to try that on purpose!

3/15/2005 9:27:42 PM

Thornhill, Ontario, Canada

I think that I read somewhere about somebody who intentionally has his pumpkins grow on the roof of his shed. But, like mine, they must not be AGs. Either that, or he has a super strong shed.

3/16/2005 2:02:42 AM

Quebec,Canada

I remember from last year someone told me that oak leaves are not good for the patch.

3/16/2005 9:32:22 PM

I've heard that maple leaves break down faster. Is that true?

3/28/2005 8:49:53 PM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

Oak leaves are acidic & contain a lot of lignin which prevents their rapid decay. Maple leaves have less lignin & do break down faster as a result. They are also less acidic.

3/28/2005 9:02:20 PM

Montoursville, PA

From a mulchers viewpoint...oak leaves stay mulch longer. When on top of the ground there is no problem with acid content. It all converts to about PH of 7.0 when fully composted. There is always a little composting going on where the mulch touches the surface of the patch.

3/31/2005 2:31:56 PM

Ljubljana, Slovenia

It was my crazy idea to grow them on the roof but (un)luckily I had no real fruit set up there.
Regarding the shade, in my experience pumpkins love partial shade, i.e. direct sun for only half of the day – preferably until 2pm when it gets really hot so they do not suffer from water deficit. Ideally, full sunlight should reach all parts of the plant at some point in the day.
So, if you have trees I would suggest to plant the pumpkin eastward of them (so it gets the morning sun)..

4/1/2005 5:00:11 AM