Potato Hiller for pumpkins?

   / Potato Hiller for pumpkins? #1  

deereman10

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Feb 5, 2011
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Location
Elroy, WI
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John Deere 2440
Anyone grow pumpkins on a large scale? I dont mean growing 5 pumpkins for halloween in your garden. I've heard from some that you have to hill pumpkins and that they grow better in hills. However I never hilled my pumpkins and I have no problems. I was thinking about hilling some this year and seeing how they compare to unhilled. I was thinking about using a potato hiller to build the rows. Anyone ever do this?
 
   / Potato Hiller for pumpkins? #2  
Building raised beds and planting the seeds in raised
beds allows the seed to germinate faster and block
out the weeds quicker as the plants leaves block out
the rows quicklt reducing the weeds to near zero.
 
   / Potato Hiller for pumpkins? #3  
Anyone grow pumpkins on a large scale? I dont mean growing 5 pumpkins for halloween in your garden. I've heard from some that you have to hill pumpkins and that they grow better in hills. However I never hilled my pumpkins and I have no problems. I was thinking about hilling some this year and seeing how they compare to unhilled. I was thinking about using a potato hiller to build the rows. Anyone ever do this?

If you are not having any problems with your pumpkins now why add more work for yourself. I grow lots of pumpkins and have never used raised beds. Raised beds are used if your land has poor natural drainage.

My pumpkin planter (Cole 12MX) plants in hills. My definition of a hill is several seeds dropped in ground together and not a actual raised hill.

In the picture below if you look hard you can see there are 3 to 5 plants (one hill) spaced 3 to 4 feet in the row. (This is the time to side dress)

167869d1276005922-pumpkin-crop-pumpkin_hills.jpg


After a few weeks the rows fill in.

172025d1279741428-pumpkin-crop-pumpkins-jul20.jpg


After first frost....

178483d1284427243-pumpkin-crop-pumpkins-1.jpg
 
   / Potato Hiller for pumpkins? #4  
Building raised beds and planting the seeds in raised
beds allows the seed to germinate faster and block
out the weeds quicker as the plants leaves block out
the rows quicklt reducing the weeds to near zero.

I really do not think planting seeds on raised beds will make them germinate any faster. Germination rate is a factor of heat and moister. One problem I see is it may be more difficult to cultivate the rows on raised beds. The last thing you want to do is cultivate a large patch by hand.

I use this cultivator to cultivate nice and close to the plants. I use my rototiller between the rows.

173392d1280869495-princess-auto-3-point-hitch-cultivator.jpg
 
   / Potato Hiller for pumpkins?
  • Thread Starter
#5  
What's the name of that cultivator? I've been looking for something like that for a while now
 
   / Potato Hiller for pumpkins? #6  
I have planted hills and rows and can not tell much difference. I usually put out around 1500-2500 pumpkin seed but will most likely take this year off from pumpkins. There is one part of the field that is a little low and I will raise the rows a little. What I do is adjust my top link so the front of my disk are raised and get the result beolw.
 

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   / Potato Hiller for pumpkins?
  • Thread Starter
#7  
I have planted hills and rows and can not tell much difference. I usually put out around 1500-2500 pumpkin seed but will most likely take this year off from pumpkins. There is one part of the field that is a little low and I will raise the rows a little. What I do is adjust my top link so the front of my disk are raised and get the result beolw.

Why take the year off?
 
   / Potato Hiller for pumpkins? #8  
What's the name of that cultivator? I've been looking for something like that for a while now

It is sold under any number of different names. It's a cheap made in China model. I purchased it from Princess Auto but seen it listed in Agrisupply and other agri-dealer catalogs.

ONE ROW CULTIVATOR - Agri Supply
 
   / Potato Hiller for pumpkins? #9  
Why take the year off?

Too many projects around the house I need to complete. I usually plant between 3-4 acers of crops and it takes a lot of time. We built a house 2 years ago on this property and I need to complete some of the landscaping projects, build a garden shed, greenhouse, and hopefully start on my workshop, plus a tractor shed. Last couple of years I have tried to plant and do these projects and it hasn't worked out. The produce takes alot of time so this year I am doing a small garden...very small garden and planting the rest in sunflowers so I can get the things around the house done.
Believe me I am fighting the urge to plant and just hope I don't cave and plant because this was what I planned on doing last year. I was only going to plant a half acer last year and next thing I knew all 4 acers was planted:eek::D.
 
   / Potato Hiller for pumpkins?
  • Thread Starter
#10  
I hear ya. not enough hours in a day
 
 
 
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