Potato Hiller for pumpkins?

[bky]

I have tried to grow pumpkins a couple times but the weed take over and I cant keep up with them pulling them by hand. I know there has to be a better way than hand pulling once the vines start growing out all over the place. I just wish I knew how.

 

[Luremaker]

I have tried to grow pumpkins a couple times but the weed take over and I cant keep up with them pulling them by hand. I know there has to be a better way than hand pulling once the vines start growing out all over the place. I just wish I knew how.

I like to use wide rows, 8 to 12 feet wide. That way I can easily rototill between the rows, which kills all the weeds there. I also cultivate as close to the plants as possible with my one row cultivator which kills most of the weeds near the plants. I finish off by walking the rows and hoe or hand pull the larger weeds left. As the plants vine I let them take care of themselves.

It's still lots of work but much less than what it takes to weed the corn.

 

[luckyme2010]

hey luremaker do you rototill your garden where you plant your pumpkins before you run the planter im gonna be using a jd 71 planter and was wondering if using a tiller first would make the planter sink to deep and just end up making a mess

 

[Luremaker]

hey luremaker do you rototill your garden where you plant your pumpkins before you run the planter im gonna be using a jd 71 planter and was wondering if using a tiller first would make the planter sink to deep and just end up making a mess

I have the front packer wheels installed on my 71's. The front packer wheels compact the loose tilled soil for a more accurate seed depth placement. If your soil is very light and fluffy after tilling you may have to wait for a rain or roll the ground a little before planting.

 

[luckyme2010]

ok thanks thats how mines set up to i just havent used the planter after tilling

 

[deereman10]

Luremaker-
Do you sell your pumpkins retail/wholesale? How many pumpkins/acre do you get with rows that wide? My rows are 5 feet with 3 feet between plants in rows.

 

[Luremaker]

Luremaker-
Do you sell your pumpkins retail/wholesale? How many pumpkins/acre do you get with rows that wide? My rows are 5 feet with 3 feet between plants in rows.

I have a road side stand and give pumpkins to the local grade schools. I am getting my best yields with the wide rows. I'll have to look up my notes for details for you. Years ago I tried planting pumpkins in 3' x 3' rows but it is too much work and yields were less.

I'll look up my notes and get back to you about my yields at different row and plant spacing. I do get much better yields with the wider row spacing and planting in hills spaced 3 to 4 feet apart in the row.

 

[deereman10]

Years ago I tried planting pumpkins in 3' x 3' rows but it is too much work and yields were less.

Why do you say it was more work?

 

[Ford850]

Why do you say it was more work?

I plant mine similar to how Luremaker does. I find it much easier to maintain by having the wide rows since i can use a 6' disk between the rows to keep the weeds down until the rows really start to vine out. Then the vines shade out all the weeds from then on. For me, rows that are closer require a lot of manual labor to keep up with the weeds since I can't get the tractor in there.

 

[deereman10]

What do you guys do for fertilizer for the pumpkins?