Pumpkin growing problems
We
are a bit south of you in NW Georgia. We have a devil of a time growing
pumpkins. I've been wondering what kind of luck you have had w/ them. I
wonder if our humid climate is just not suitable for them. We do better
w/ butternut squash, but pumpkins are lower in carbs which is a factor
for us.
--- Rita
A
few years ago, I decided to figure out which winter squash suited our
tastebuds and garden the best, so I tested out Baby Bear, Howden, and
Jack-o-lite Pumpkins, Butternut Squash, Royal Acorn Squash, and
Cushaw. They all produced something, but the Cushaw was
definitely the most productive in terms of pounds of vegetables per
vine while Butternuts were quickly decided to be the taste test winner.I have a bit of a French mindset when it comes to food --- I believe that we should eat what tastes good, but consider high carb foods to be a treat to be eaten in small quantities now and then. We'd much rather eat a butternut pie once a week than a pumpkin pie twice a week because the former is just so much tastier! As a result, we haven't grown pumpkins since our trial year, and have found that butternuts are seldom bothered by pests or diseases.
If
you're bound and determined to grow pumpkins, though, I have a few
words of advice from fighting my own battles to grow summer squash
here. The first step is to figure out what's killing your
pumpkins. Is it one of the fungi or bacteria which love moist
conditions? If so, plant your pumpkins far apart in the sunniest
spot like
we do with our tomatoes so that they dry out quickly
after rains. Or are your pumpkins succumbing to the squash vine
borer, which is our
personal bane? Variety selection seems to be your best bet when
fighting the vine borer, so try a half dozen types this year and see
which one does best. Good luck!
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About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.
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