No-till pumpkins - our experiment

[Gaz]

We are trying our first pumpkin path and decided to use a no-till method. we started seeds inside (they got a little leggy) then planted them in a strip using some weed mat. We have photos and a description of what we did here :

http://www.almostafarmer.com/pumpkin-patch-no-till-experiment/

Do you have any advice you can share with us on what we need to do to make this successful?

Thanks

Gaz

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'm not in Maine so I don't know enough about your climate to comment on anything related to that, plus different pumpkin varieties grow differently. I also don't know you native grass or how it grows. Bermuda grass is my biggest problem here.

I anticipate two problems for you. Those pumpkins are likely to run a long way. That's where variety comes in, some can go a long way. They won't stay on your covered and mulched area. They will be running all through the grass and you won't be able to mow the grass or keep the weeds down. If you step on or crush a pumpkin vine, you can kill that vine from that point out. That's typical for many varieties of pumpkins, melons, and vining squash. You will probably have a weedy grassy jungle where those vines run. It's not the end of the world, lots of pumpkins grow like that. The big problem is that it will not be very attractive, which may be a factor if you are thinking of a pick-your-own operation. You might consider expanding your mulched area out tot he side. It doesn't have to be that ground cloth, I use newspaper or cardboard boxes and cover that with mulch. Then try to redirect some of the runners onto that mulched area.

The other problem you might have is that the grass and weeds will grow through the cross you cut to plant the pumpkin. That's going to compete with the pumpkin for nutrients and maybe sunlight until the pumpkin starts to run. The only thing I can suggest this year is to mulch around the pumpkin as tightly as you can and try to keep the stuff cut back and pulled out as well as you can without damaging your pumpkin plant. It will take some preplanning, but next year I suggest you dig out an area at least a couple of feet diameter where each pumpkin plant will go and sift through that to remove any roots, especially grass roots, that you can. Any weeds and grass stems need to come out too. Then make some compost using your chicken manure and mix in some compost where you are planting a pumpkin. Hopefully you already have a nice compost pile going. If you stick with us, we'll have you composting if you are not now. Clearing an area away from the opening will slow the encroachment of the grass and make it easier to pull anything that pokes its head up without damaging your pumpkin plant roots.

Overall I like your plan. As you mentioned there is a learning curve. Maybe it will work out to your satisfaction without doing either of these. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Note: You might modify your profile to give us an idea of where you live. It does help in answering a lot of questions and in understanding what you are telling us.

 

[Gaz]

Thanks for your advice.... Fortunately we have a huge area for the pumpkins to run out onto and I agree, we are going to end up with a weedy mess at the end. We might try and use cardboard under one section and see what happens.

Its a grand experience for us...and we are learning lots from comments and suggestions

Gaz

 

[Jared77]

I love growing pumpkins. What I've done is to mow the area where the vines are trailing towards as low as the deck will go. It may mean cutting some strips or blocks etc before the vines get to that area. Then I put down straw mulch and let the pumpkins crawl all over that. This will really help with weeds. It's not a cure all but it makes a difference.

I've carefully trained the vines in the direction I want them to go by using large stakes to very gently serve as anchor points to keep it holding the vine to train it where I want it to go.

Young vines are MUCH easier to train because as they get bigger they get more rigid and do NOT take well to being moved. I've had rows of stakes along the length of a vine to keep it from sprawling willy/nilly.

The straw also adds a layer to help get the pumpkins off the soil so the bottoms are able to stay dry and really firm up well.

My problem has been deer. Rabbits don't seem to mess with them but I've had deer stomp a hole to eat the inside of the pumpkins. Thats very frustrating.

Keep us posted on how it works out. I've got 30 pumpkin plants myself this year.

 

[TheSeedObsesser]

I'm not trying it with my squash this year, but I'm experimenting on using several different short groundcovers on my other plants. Weeding will be easy as much of the ground will be covered, they'll put nutrients back into the soil, help to keep the soil moist, and some are edible.

 

[lesa]

I love a good experiment! Can't wait to hear the results!

 

[journey11]

Welcome, Gaz!

Can't wait to see how they do. I've always had nice gardens on a brand new patch of soil. Nutrients and pH are usually in better balance.

I've planted melons and pumpkins directly into an old compost pile before. As was mentioned, they will vine out beyond your intended area, but this is easy to fix...just lay down newspaper or cardboard, then cover with straw as the vines start to go out. Don't want grass and weeds coming up. They'll give bad bugs a place to hide.

Pumpkins are heavy feeders too. Add compost, composted manure, blood/bone meal, and/or fish emulsion. I did no till potatoes one year and did it up similar to yours layering down compost, blood meal and bone meal. You've got to put it where the roots can get it though, maybe peel up the black weed barrier long enough to poke some under. Fish emulsion you can just water in.

The chickens will probably be your worst enemy. I've never had bunnies bother squash or pumpkins before. Like Jared mentioned, the deer will wait to take a couple bites out of all of your young, green pumpkins. They won't bother the vine though. You'll want to get some kind of netting or chicken wire and make a circle around the patch.

Good luck!

 

[Gaz]

Wonderful advice - thanks folks! Our chickens have destroyed more than their fair share of our vegetables in the past! My guess is we will hav to fence like you suggest

Gaz
www.almostafarmer.com