Pumkin guys?

[Jordan Selsor]

I carved some pumpkins with the boys and we all decided we wanted to save the seeds to plant. I have dried them out on a cookie sheet. I know some of you guys are pumkin guys. I planted some store bought seeds this yr an all the pumkins rotted before they ripened:/
My questions are
A. Are they viable seeds that will germinate an produce good pumpkins?
B. If so How do I store them?

 

[kabic]

I have saved pumpkin seeds by drying them out then I put them in a sealed bag and stored on a shelf in my basement.

 

[Jordan Selsor]

I have saved pumpkin seeds by drying them out then I put them in a sealed bag and stored on a shelf in my basement.

Did yours seeds produce an germinate well?

 

[Jordan Selsor]

I have planted 1/2lb. of large variety pumpkins for 15 years. cost $12.....220 pods, 20 feet apart,disc 8 feet either side for vine crawl,spray cayenne pepper till they flower, produces 2,000 volleyball size pumpkins. They will all be gone in 3 weeks.

Where do you buy your seed from?

 

[TMIL]

I've been thinking I might like to try pumpkins for deer. Is there anything special required? Special maintenance? Are weeds a big problem? My ground sits in zone 6b ... Southern Illinois ... what the USDA calls "prime farmland". Weeds do very well here! Haha!

 

[biglakeba$$]

I cant speak for areas other than where I have planted pumpkins, but I have tried many varities.

The absolute favorite of deer is the Atlantic giants up here. A friend of mine grew them for contests and he gave me a few dozen seeds that I dried. I planted those and from there, I had free seeds that I gave to many people for years. Taking seeds out of pumpkins and laying them on a plate on top of my kitchen cabinets for a few months was all I did. Never had any issues with germination rates on seeds I dried.

 

[biglakeba$$]

I will also add that I have stopped growing pumpkins for plots.... Maintenance was WAY too much.

I just cant beat round up ready corn and beans for ease. I live 150 miles from our hunting land so I dont have time to constantly tend to pumpkin patches.

 

[kabic]

Did yours seeds produce an germinate well?

I get good germination on the pumpkins seeds I save. Pumpkin production never seems to do well for me. They also never gets as big as the ones I buy. I need to do a better job with weed competition when they are smaller. Normally we save seeds from a bigger pumpkin from an area you pick farm, last year we saved from one of our own pumpkins so this years growth was from second generation of saved seeds.


Smaller gourds on the other hand we can grow with no problem. We use them for decorations and then I just put them back in the garden afterward and they just keep coming back each year on their own.

 

[foggy]

I got a few pumpkins one year....and they were a deer magnet. Two other, small scale, tries.....and my pumpkin efforts were a bust. Seems I was unable to stay ahead of the weeds.....and I think rainfall was a problem too.

 

[non-pro-archer]

Is there a herbicide you can safely use on pumpkins? I'm assuming clethodim will work since they are a broadleaf? Any others?

 

[PRK]

If you started with a weed free bed and planted pumpkins and WR wouldn't that keep the weeds down and give you a pumpkin/WR patch?

 

[non-pro-archer]

If you started with a weed free bed and planted pumpkins and WR wouldn't that keep the weeds down and give you a pumpkin/WR patch?

That's what I was thinking, the winter rye planted that early may grow too fast for the vining pumpkins to get enough sun and produce

 

[Greta&Gus]

I plant my pumkins with another crop. I often times like to use sunflowers or milo so they have something to climb.

 

[non-pro-archer]

I plant my pumkins with another crop. I often times like to use sunflowers or milo so they have something to climb.

How does that work after the pumpkins start growing?

 

[Greta&Gus]

How does that work after the pumpkins start growing?

They will still produce the pumpkin on the ground but the vines like to climb and it provides them the opportunity. Sun light is still important, but the first month or so the other plant is still short and doesn't block the light. Weeds are the other major problem and if you plant them with a cover crop you eliminate the need to weed. I will dig up some pics to show you.

 

[Jordan Selsor]

I cant speak for areas other than where I have planted pumpkins, but I have tried many varities.

The absolute favorite of deer is the Atlantic giants up here. A friend of mine grew them for contests and he gave me a few dozen seeds that I dried. I planted those and from there, I had free seeds that I gave to many people for years. Taking seeds out of pumpkins and laying them on a plate on top of my kitchen cabinets for a few months was all I did. Never had any issues with germination rates on seeds I dried.

Tks! Just the answer I was looking for! I'm doing this for the kids mainly. Prolly gonna plant at my dads farm. He has a spring that really puts out some water that I can water from! I will prolly go pretty large scale! And take the extra time to prepare a weed free soil bed. Interesting idea of planting a cover crop with it! Let keep this conversation going!!!!

 

[biglakeba$$]

My initial reason for the punkin patch was mainly for kids.... then I found out how much the deer liked them.

I was spraying pumpkins with a mix of irish spring soap/water every chance I had to keep the deer off of them until we could pick em. Definitely helped.

 

[PRK]

Biglakeba$$: are the deer hitting the pumpkins early in the summer or waiting until fall when they are more ripe?

 

[Jordan Selsor]

Anyone ever lay straw down when planting. Seems some think this keeps them from rotting

 

[Turkey Creek]

Thought for addressing weed control. What if you flipped over a 5 gallon buckets where you wanted to plant your hills of pumpkin seeds, then treated the area with pre-emergent. If you planted in those spots that are free of pre-emergent that would give your pumpkins a definite head start on the weeds.