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First year and we have a wager with some other newbies. Here is what we have so far:

1) "Plain" Howard Dill Atlantic Pumpkin seeds from an online store. Are these okay? Or should we try and round up some specic seeds?

2) 20X60 patch...few questions here. How many plants here? 3 20x20s or 2 20x30s? Should we plant near the edge and have the longest main vine possible and train the vines where we want them to go?

3) SEEDING...we have 6" peat pots and were going to do the filing and soaking thing. How important is it to use a fungicide when doing this? Is there any negatives to using fungicide and what ones should we use?

4) We are thinking of leading our planting by 10 days...is this a good goal? We are near Chicago and May 15th is the last frost date.

5) Soil amendments.....our patch has a PH of 8. Was thinking about digging out 5x5 areas for the main plant and filling with organic materials (manure and store bought compost) and trying either some aluminum sulfate (fasting acting I know of) on the rest of the patch and tilling in some pine needles/peat moss/sulfur in slow quantities to get the PH down a bit by maybe July during the fruit bearing time? I know its late for all this but the only other option is to leave it alone.

6) How many plants should we seed...was thinking 8 and taking the best 3 or 4 from them and then digging up the weakest one in about a month.

7) The patch is about 10 min from out house....should we try and cover the pumpkins oncool nights with a plastic covered shelter to keep them warm? Or just construct a box to leave on all day with just sides to protect the seedlings from wind?

Any and all comments appreciated! Thanks!

4/29/2008 11:08:03 AM

Windsor, Ontario, Canada

1. get seeds from someone on here....email me jordan.rivington@gmail.com

2. 2 or 3 plants like you mentioned would work. It is a classic debate about how big it has to be. If you plan to do this mostly for fun, go with 3 plants and you have more chances of ending up with a fruit in case something bad happens.

3. if you use peat pots, DONT bury the plant in the pots, remove them. Also they tend to wick water away from plant, so I would go with plastic.

4. 10 days in a 6" pot should be fine. If you ever see roots from the bottom of the pot, its time to go out. You want to avoid the seedlings becoming root bound.

5. For pits, check out this thread: http://bigpumpkins.com/MsgBoard/ViewThread.asp?b=3&p=248027

6. For pH. the fast change can be dangerous, but effective. Perhaps throw some sulphur down and be good for next season. Wait for other guys to chime in, but I think some big stuff has been grown in 8.0. You are right though, 7.0 is more what you want.

7. I hate wasting good seeds for backups, but its a must. Have one backup for each you plan to grow. Put them in the ground together. If the one you want to use works out, just cut the other one out when it get crowded (for me usually June 1st)

8. A cover is best, but if it is under plastic, it will get very hot if the sun is out. If you cant go remove the cover in the morning, I wouldn't risk a full cover. Of course, if it is frost you are worried about, I don't think side protection will stop a frost from forming. I grow at a second site and am forced (while the greenhouse "season" is here) to go open and close every day. Once June hits, that won't be an issue.

Good luck in 2008.

4/29/2008 12:06:27 PM

Wow thanks great info!

4/29/2008 12:21:30 PM

Georgia

Good Job Jordon I was to lazy...lol. I get nervous after 10 days .I have one plant hitting 10 today but it sussposed to get down in low 30s tommorow and then warm up so one more day Ill have to wait. There in 8 inch pots and no roots coming out yet.

4/29/2008 2:27:01 PM

Join a club,,find experienced growers in your area,,read the message boards here,,check out the diarys,,drop into chat. This should all be done at night while you put in all the spare daylight hours on your patch ;-)

4/29/2008 8:53:09 PM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

Bacon,

All good advice. Where are you located? Finding a local mentor would be the best move if we can find you one.

4/29/2008 11:01:51 PM

I am in Batavia IL...Chicago's far western suburbs....

4/30/2008 12:07:22 PM

Rhode Island

get out while ya still can ---- lol

5/1/2008 8:10:38 AM

Coventry R.I.

lol ,,,,,,,,,, Pap

5/2/2008 7:49:48 PM

Colorado Springs.Co

Gee pap why didn't you give that advise earlier

5/5/2008 11:58:25 AM

Aurora, IL

Hi, I live in the Aurora IL, I am finally going to transplant my seedlings today. I know I am late, but now that the days are in the 80's and nights in the mid to upper 60's, do I need to do more than protect them from wind? I was going to use gallon milk jugs with top and bottom cut out. The seedlings have had some natural light in the basement, so do i need to protect them from the sun once I plant them? Also, what type of feeding/ insect control program should I use?

6/7/2008 8:16:45 AM