Pumpkin growing

[BFFfarming]

Hi. We are planning on doing a PYO pumpkin patch this year on the farm as a diversification. Have read up and researched over the winter various things on how best to establish them and got various different bits of advice.
We are planting an area of about 1.5ha, and have already ordered the seed of quite a few different varieties as I understand that is what appeals to the public.
As we have bought the seed transplanting won’t be an option so will have to drill straight into the seedbed.

one thing I’m unsure on is whether a maize drill would work as could use the local contractor if it does?
i was thinking of planting early/mid may? We are based in Leicestershire so would this be about right for picking in October?

the ground will be round upped off before hand it is a stale seedbed at the moment and then was thinking of working it down with a sumo trio a few times to get a nice fine tilth, it’s quite light ground so should work down easy enough.

is what I have said about right or am I off the mark? As first time doing this and agronomist doesn’t seem to have much advice/experience in the area either.
Any tips/advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks very much in advance

 

[Flatlander]

I would put all the fertilizer on before you work the seed bed down. At least three weeks before you intend to plant then round up it. The less soil you disturb after burning it off the better. I’ve grown pumpkins here but only for the kids and to see how big I could get one to grow. If you intend to grow a few huge ones it’s more important to baby them. Once they get growing they will mask most weeds. It’s amazing how fast they do grow. Good luck they are fun to grow. Remember to leave enough space fir them or the pumpkins won’t get large.

 

[CPF]

Speak to Dorian beard from pumpkins R us you will find him on social media he Farms near Stoneleigh He drills all the pumpkins for Sandfields farms

Plus Thousands of ha up/ down the country

 

[jessop123]

you will want a pre-em on it

 

[Kidds]

Speak to Dorian beard from pumpkins R us you will find him on social media he Farms near Stoneleigh He drills all the pumpkins for Sandfields farmsView attachment 1028848
Plus Thousands of ha up/ down the country

That is a very impressive pic.
How does he get them all exactly lined up like that? It must be a special drill to do that.

There are a few useful threads on here re: pumpkins, do a search.

 

[CPF]

The pumpkins are just coming up very clever drill It remembers where it as put the seed in then the second pass plants the seed in the same as the first row so working in a grid so you can weed it from all angles

from last year

 

[Hesstondriver]

The pumpkins are just coming up very clever drill It remembers where it as put the seed in then the second pass plants the seed in the same as the first row so working in a grid so you can weed it from all anglesView attachment 1028885from last year

when do you normally drill them ?

 

[CPF]

when do you normally drill them ?

May into June the pictures was taken on the 11 June

 

[Bruce Almighty]

Pumpkins respond very well to irrigation.
Dorian grew 50 acres on ours last year & was irrigating regularly.
He had to drill late last year because of late frosts followed by lack of moisture

 

[Bigjon44]

Yeah and the moisture will be needed to make the residuals work otherwise you will need a good shim/springtine or a gang of 20 Ukrainians to hand pull

 

[cquick]

Direct drilled into a cereal cover crop works well here. We use a low disturbance subsoiler OSR drill and drop the seeds manually down the pipe. Good enough for 1ha! The cover crop makes a nice mulch to keep the fruits dry and clean in the late season.

You may struggle to get a low enough population with a Maize drill unless you get some special discs.

 

[Mc115reed]

You’ll need special discs too drill it with a maize drill… we drill about 50-60 acre a year all for PYO farms… we tried with maize discs when we first started doing it but it was messy and hard too get the population low enough

 

[BFFfarming]

Where are you based?

 

[Jimmyfinn]

do

Where are you based?

Hi I have a module planter for sale if anyone is interested it is a checchi magli trium it’s all set up for planting pumpkins plants. Message me if your interested

 

[tom_mccallum]

You’ll need special discs too drill it with a maize drill… we drill about 50-60 acre a year all for PYO farms… we tried with maize discs when we first started doing it but it was messy and hard too get the population low enough

Morning. Is this still for sale?

 

[Jimmyfinn]

Morning. Is this still for sale?

Hi Tom yes this is still for sale.

 

[Rijol]

What pre em is everyone putting on? We plant into bio-mulch and cultivate down the rows to control weeds. I think in the past we have used Kerb flo but wind the mulch works better.

 

[Bigjon44]

Yeah kerb,gamit and flexidor

 

[Rijol]

What about for powdery mildew? Do most people spray that? Our agronomist says not to bother and it won't check the fruit. I'm never that sure.

 

[Bigjon44]

Yeah I usually give em one dose of sulphur,dollop of signum and cyflufenamid before they spread and you can't get through them anymore!!