Sorry it took me so long to get back. I plant Connecticut pumpkins, no hybrids. I buy a pound of seeds from one of the seed catalogs. Up here I plant around the end of may, I could /would plant the corn earlier. If I plant them in the open they will be all gone by Labor Day. I don’t want to fence them. The corn would be a screen for my plot. I will have radishes and winter wheat/oats planted in my plot.
Corn and pumpkins?
- Thread starter Aaron
- Start date
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The deer eat them green at my place. Cageing them would be hard with the vines/ runners. I just think it might be easier to plant lots more and let the corn hide them until mid to late season after the first snow brings down the leaves and tall grass. If I can get some field corn from a farmer I might give it a try. I know I could try fencing them and might still go that route, but also like the idea that some of the corn will produce ears for the deer. I planted a small patch of corn by my yard , about 100-150 yds from my plot and I don’t think there was more than a few ears of corn in it and the deer were in there all the time.
I plant some pumpkins among my orchard every year. Japanese beetles actually prefer them to fruit trees. So I spray the pumpkins to kill the beetles, without having to spray the trees.
Deer have not figured out the pumpkins are edible yet, so I sell them by the roadside. Get enough money to pay for all my garden seeds.
Deer have not figured out the pumpkins are edible yet, so I sell them by the roadside. Get enough money to pay for all my garden seeds.
strawhead
5 year old buck +
www.mainstreetseedandsupply.com
This is a source that we used for pumpkins and was very satisfied with. You can buy by the pound or in fractions. Many varieties to choose from. I posted on past pumpkin threads that they were a great food source. First couple of years had pumpkins into Nov. After that we couldn't get ahead of the deer consumption in July, August, and September. They ate leaves, flowers and green pumpkins. There must have been some benefit to them, just not much of an opportunity to hunt over for us. Our last attempt was 1.5 acres of plants. For food source only, we think there are easier things to offer. We tried a deer stopper spray, but did not try e fencing.
This is a source that we used for pumpkins and was very satisfied with. You can buy by the pound or in fractions. Many varieties to choose from. I posted on past pumpkin threads that they were a great food source. First couple of years had pumpkins into Nov. After that we couldn't get ahead of the deer consumption in July, August, and September. They ate leaves, flowers and green pumpkins. There must have been some benefit to them, just not much of an opportunity to hunt over for us. Our last attempt was 1.5 acres of plants. For food source only, we think there are easier things to offer. We tried a deer stopper spray, but did not try e fencing.
1 year I had pumpkins until the end of December. The deer love them after they freeze. Strawhead what kind of pumpkins do you plant? I have head real good luck with heirloom seeds, a few times I have saved seeds for the next year. The pumpkins don’t get huge like you see in contests.
strawhead
5 year old buck +
Mostly we used connecticut, howden and pumpin pie. We also planted some kind of giant variety with a couple of the small packets, but never gave them any special attention. Got overly "large" but never huge.
strawhead
5 year old buck +
We didn't. We wanted something we thought would have more size. They are some work, if you try to keep sprayed at the start, before the vines start running. We planted corn for 2 years, but that was before we tried pumpkins.( in reference to original post)
cavey
5 year old buck +
A little spin on the topic, just as maybe heads up, WI guys - we had some hunters get busted for baiting up here last year, they were tossing out pumpkins around their property. They can be seen from outer space on your land (WI-DNR fly-overs)and if they are pulled from your fields and tossed elsewhere on the property - that is I believe, considered outside normal agricultural practices thus baiting and 2 gallons of pumpkins doesn't go far when your spreading whole pumpkins around. I've never had much luck with pumpkins, weed control, early deer browse and granted they do hit them for me late but only after I go out and smash them open. We plant a few for us and then leave some out, but it was just to much of a hassle planting a bigger field.
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Wild Thing
5 year old buck +
I use E-Fence very successfully in my pumpkin patches. Here are some of my notes on planting pumpkins:
Pumpkins
Fertilizer – 1.5# per 100 square feet of 6-24-24
Plant seeds 1” deep every 3’ apart and 6’ between rows – not necessary to plant on hills.
Seeded June 19, 2013 and June 28, 2014. I now plant closer to the first of June.
The quintessential fall vegetable is, of course, the pumpkin. Master gardener Chris Dawson shows how to harvest this special squash and the best way to save seeds for the next season. Pumpkins are fairly easy to grow and, depending on variety, you can grow small, tender pumpkins all the way up to pumpkins that weigh more than 200 pounds. For Halloween fun, consider a jack-o'-lantern variety such as 'Connecticut Field', and for making pies, use a smaller, sweeter variety like the sugar pumpkin.
To harvest and store pumpkins:
If foliage is shading the pumpkin, cut it back so that the pumpkin will ripen quicker.
Pumpkins are ready to be cut from the vine when a fingernail cannot penetrate the skin; the skin should feel hard, almost like a shell.
If you don't want to cut the pumpkins, you can simply let the vine die back and pick them at your leisure. Most people want them before that time, though.
Another sign that a pumpkin is ready to be harvested is that the stem starts to crack.
When harvesting, wear gloves because the stem can be very prickly. Use a sharp knife to cut the pumpkin from the vine. Try to leave a handle of at least four inches on the pumpkin.
Handle carefully to avoid cuts and bruises.
Don't carry pumpkins by their stems; the stem might not be able to support the weight and might break off.
After cutting, expose the pumpkin to the sun for 10 days to cure it. This hardens the skin so that it forms a barrier and loses moisture more slowly, therefore enabling it to sit longer. While curing, if a frost threatens, cover the pumpkins at night with hay or floating row covers, available at garden centers.
Store at about 50 to 60 degrees. At this temperature, they will last for about six months.
When storing pumpkins, don't stack them. When the skins of pumpkins touch, it can cause bruising and rotting.
Immediately remove and throw out any pumpkins that show signs of decay.
Remove any leftover vines and put them on a compost pile.
If you want to use your pumpkin immediately, there's no need to cure it. Simply cut it open or cut off the top and scoop out the seeds and fiber, and it's ready for a pie or a jack-o'-lantern.
If you are tilling your dirt, just walk down the rows and push a seed in 1" deep every 3'. We just push them in with our fingers but you could make a little hole with a screwdriver if the dirt is crusted. No need at all to plant them on mounds. Rows are 6' apart:
My wife likes lots of pumpkins on the porch for Halloween. She also gives a lot of them away to friends and family for Jack-O-Lanterns.
But...the deer love em. They will typically chew a hole in the top so they can eat all of the seeds and pulp. When they have eaten all the seeds and pulp from all of the pumpkins, they will then go back and eat the rest of the pumpkin. They devour everything but the stem.
If you are practicing no-till, you can mow the previous fall rye and just plant the same way as you would in a tilled plot. You may need to poke a hole with a screwdriver for sure here but you get a nice weed-free plot. You can still go back and spray any weeds with RU but be careful not to spray the pumpkin plants:
Get your solar E-Fence up and you are good-to-go:
If you do decide to save your seeds, here's how to do it:
Gather the seeds and rinse off all pulp.
Lay them on a screen so they can get ventilation from all sides.
Once dried, store in an envelope and keep them in a cool area where there is air but no sunlight.
You can also store them in a jar with an anti-desiccant (those little packets of silica gel that come in new coats, shoes and purses).
The seeds will last for several years if stored properly.
Pumpkins
Fertilizer – 1.5# per 100 square feet of 6-24-24
Plant seeds 1” deep every 3’ apart and 6’ between rows – not necessary to plant on hills.
Seeded June 19, 2013 and June 28, 2014. I now plant closer to the first of June.
The quintessential fall vegetable is, of course, the pumpkin. Master gardener Chris Dawson shows how to harvest this special squash and the best way to save seeds for the next season. Pumpkins are fairly easy to grow and, depending on variety, you can grow small, tender pumpkins all the way up to pumpkins that weigh more than 200 pounds. For Halloween fun, consider a jack-o'-lantern variety such as 'Connecticut Field', and for making pies, use a smaller, sweeter variety like the sugar pumpkin.
To harvest and store pumpkins:
If foliage is shading the pumpkin, cut it back so that the pumpkin will ripen quicker.
Pumpkins are ready to be cut from the vine when a fingernail cannot penetrate the skin; the skin should feel hard, almost like a shell.
If you don't want to cut the pumpkins, you can simply let the vine die back and pick them at your leisure. Most people want them before that time, though.
Another sign that a pumpkin is ready to be harvested is that the stem starts to crack.
When harvesting, wear gloves because the stem can be very prickly. Use a sharp knife to cut the pumpkin from the vine. Try to leave a handle of at least four inches on the pumpkin.
Handle carefully to avoid cuts and bruises.
Don't carry pumpkins by their stems; the stem might not be able to support the weight and might break off.
After cutting, expose the pumpkin to the sun for 10 days to cure it. This hardens the skin so that it forms a barrier and loses moisture more slowly, therefore enabling it to sit longer. While curing, if a frost threatens, cover the pumpkins at night with hay or floating row covers, available at garden centers.
Store at about 50 to 60 degrees. At this temperature, they will last for about six months.
When storing pumpkins, don't stack them. When the skins of pumpkins touch, it can cause bruising and rotting.
Immediately remove and throw out any pumpkins that show signs of decay.
Remove any leftover vines and put them on a compost pile.
If you want to use your pumpkin immediately, there's no need to cure it. Simply cut it open or cut off the top and scoop out the seeds and fiber, and it's ready for a pie or a jack-o'-lantern.
If you are tilling your dirt, just walk down the rows and push a seed in 1" deep every 3'. We just push them in with our fingers but you could make a little hole with a screwdriver if the dirt is crusted. No need at all to plant them on mounds. Rows are 6' apart:
My wife likes lots of pumpkins on the porch for Halloween. She also gives a lot of them away to friends and family for Jack-O-Lanterns.
But...the deer love em. They will typically chew a hole in the top so they can eat all of the seeds and pulp. When they have eaten all the seeds and pulp from all of the pumpkins, they will then go back and eat the rest of the pumpkin. They devour everything but the stem.
If you are practicing no-till, you can mow the previous fall rye and just plant the same way as you would in a tilled plot. You may need to poke a hole with a screwdriver for sure here but you get a nice weed-free plot. You can still go back and spray any weeds with RU but be careful not to spray the pumpkin plants:
Get your solar E-Fence up and you are good-to-go:
If you do decide to save your seeds, here's how to do it:
Gather the seeds and rinse off all pulp.
Lay them on a screen so they can get ventilation from all sides.
Once dried, store in an envelope and keep them in a cool area where there is air but no sunlight.
You can also store them in a jar with an anti-desiccant (those little packets of silica gel that come in new coats, shoes and purses).
The seeds will last for several years if stored properly.
Northbound
5 year old buck +
Dam wildthing, your pictures always make me feel lazy!
A little spin off about saving seeds. I've had terrible luck trying to germinate saved seeds from my fast maturity hybrids, no idea why... Saved seeds from typical jack o lantern varieties save and germinate easily.
Also if you plan to fallow with a cover crop after pumpkins, depending on location you may want to go the till route just to have warmer soil temps sooner than no-till method. No till is nice to lessen weeds but pumpkins don't like cold soil. With the weather many of us are experiencing, soil temp may be a concern.
I never thought much about it until a farmer neighbor pointed out why the no till fields get planted after the tilled fields. That was a ah-ha moment when I realized some of my problems after going primarily no till on my land
A little spin off about saving seeds. I've had terrible luck trying to germinate saved seeds from my fast maturity hybrids, no idea why... Saved seeds from typical jack o lantern varieties save and germinate easily.
Also if you plan to fallow with a cover crop after pumpkins, depending on location you may want to go the till route just to have warmer soil temps sooner than no-till method. No till is nice to lessen weeds but pumpkins don't like cold soil. With the weather many of us are experiencing, soil temp may be a concern.
I never thought much about it until a farmer neighbor pointed out why the no till fields get planted after the tilled fields. That was a ah-ha moment when I realized some of my problems after going primarily no till on my land
Wild Thing
5 year old buck +
Thanks Northbound. You are right - don't bother saving seed from hybrids as they will not germinate.
Tap
5 year old buck +
Those last 2 posts were excellent! You guys have made my decision easy on whether to try pumpkins or not.
Thanks for all the great info.
Now I just need to decide which variety.
I'm in zone 6. Any input on a variety for me?
I think I may want a shorter maturity variety because
My plot is a NE slope so it will have slightly cooler soil early on.
Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
Thanks for all the great info.
Now I just need to decide which variety.
I'm in zone 6. Any input on a variety for me?
I think I may want a shorter maturity variety because
My plot is a NE slope so it will have slightly cooler soil early on.
Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
Wild Thing
5 year old buck +
Thanks Tap - I am in zone 4b in Upper Michigan. My wife usually orders the pumpkin seed so I'm not entirely sure on what all we have tried but I do know that we have had very good success with Howden, and if memory serves me correctly maybe one called Gladiator?? She gets them from Harris Seed.
