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SACANDAGA GARDEN CLUB - by Barbara Henry
Courtesy of the Edinburg Newsletter

Think Halloween!

Yes, it’s time to start your pumpkins for all those wonderful pumpkin pies, soups and of course, the jack o’lanterns.

Pumpkins, like all the squash family, like a nice warm, rich soil to get started. Pick your pumpkin patch – remember that the vines will spread over a BIG area, make sure you have plenty of space and plenty of sun. I have been known to train the vines up nearby trees as they overtook my space.

Cover a small area where you are going to plant them with plastic to help the soil warm. As nature warms your soil, get your seeds started.

Pumpkins tend to get a bit sullen when you transplant them so I find it‘s easier to plant them in peat pots to get them started (or cowpots if you prefer a more renewable resource, see cowpots.com). Put a couple of seeds in each pot, water and the seeds will germinate in a week or less.

Do keep them watered, peat pots will wick the water away from the little
pumpkin plant. When the true leaves develop you are ready to put them in you nice warm soil. Cut off the weaker plant (be brave, you can do it).

Pumpkins are heavy feeders so add compost to the planting hole, even partially decomposed compost is fine. Make sure to tear off the top part of the peat pot when you plant or completely cover the pot so there is no chance of the peat pot wicking away the water from the plant.

Also plant deeply, to the level of the first leaves, those little hairs on the stem will grow into roots.

For the first month feed with a higher nitrogen fertilizer to encourage vigorous vine growth, this makes for more flowers later on. Then change over to a more balanced formula such as a 5-10-5.

Keep the plants moist, it takes a lot of water and fertilizer to keep those vines coming.Your major pest problem will be the squash vine borer which comes from eggs laid by a moth that is active during the day and in the evening rests on the leaves and deposits eggs on the stem or at a leaf node.

When the caterpillar emerges, it’s a white wrinkled grub with a brown head which lives and eats inside the stem and you end up with wilting foliage. Hand pick the eggs but if the vine has wilted, take a knife and slit the stem longitudinally and grab that caterpillar. Then mound soil over the slit stem and roots will grow back. In fact it is a good idea to mound soil over the leaf nodes of the vine as it grows which will promote more root growth and thus more vines.

As the fruits develop, protect them from slugs by raising them off the ground or by putting cat food or tuna cans underneath them. For the purist, you can use a block of foam so the pumpkin will keep its rounded shape.

When my vines were up in the tree I used an expanding mesh bag tried to the branch to support my big pumpkins. If you are growing the really big pumpkins, it’s best to keep just one fruit per vine to let all the water and fertilizer go into just the one fruit.

Pumpkins are ripe when they reach their deep orange color in late winter. They have a tough skin so they will survive a light frost or two. Cut them from the vine leaving an inch or so of the stem. The stem will cure and that prevents rot settling into the pumpkin itself. Then have some fun – scoop it out, roast the seeds, make soup, the small pumpkins make great serving bowls or flower vases for fall arrangements. Carve the pumpkins, put lights in them and I will be by to cheer you on.

Our next meeting will be on June 4 when we look forward to the installation of new officers for the year., Also make a note of these dates: June 3, 4 and 5 when the Garden Club is presenting a flower show at the Northville Public Library called Flower Arranging by the Books. Please come and see the delightful arrangements created by our members.

Happy gardening.