Pumpkins I picked last weekend

[Corley5]

Pumpkin season is all but over and I'll be able to afford to do it again next season ;) ;) ;D ;D

I had 1 9'x20', 1 8'x12' and 5 8'x16 wagons and trailers covered with fruit.


Sunday at dusk I dropped the prices from $5 for the big ones, $2.50 for medium ones and a buck each for the little ones to a $1 a piece for everything. 8) 8)  There shouldn't be too many left by Monday evening
   

I left these in the patch because the powdery mildew outbreak rotted the handles (stems).  A lantern isn't much good without a handle ;)  What's left on the wagons and in the patch I'll sell for deer bait at $15.00 a pickup load.
 

 


There are some new powdery mildew tolerant varieties that are to hit the market this winter that I'm going to try next season.  The Autumn Kings didn't have much of a problem with it but the Appalachians especially the ones that weren't quite ripe didn't fare as well.  The learning experience continues 8)

[Don_Papenburg]

What do tou use to keep the bugs away?  I sprayed mine  with seven and malathion several times and it seems that the bugs just brought inreenforcements.  Killed of all of my pumpkins  .  I had Sugar pies. Love punkin pie.

[Corley5]

I read somewhere to plant zucchini with the pumpkins as the squash bugs prefer them.  I did and it seemed to help ???  I saw more squash bugs on the zucchini than on the pumpkins 8)  I did have some damage from them but it was within threshold levels.  Crop rotation is probably the best way of controlling insects and diseases.  Most info that I've seen recommends rotating to different ground after two and no more than three seasons.  Deep fall plowing to bury insects and crop residue is also recommended.  I'd stay away from Sevin as it's death for honey bees.  The main reason that I get a pretty good yield is the neighbor's honey bees 8) 8)  Powdery Mildew is what causes me the most trouble.  I'm hoping that the new resistant varieties help out.  This is only my second season growing pumpkins on this scale and I'm still learning.  I bought the "Pumpkin Production Guide" published by the Natural Resource, Agriculture and Engineering Service (NRAES).  I got my copy from Johnny's Seeds but it should be available anywhere online.  It has just about anything you ever wanted to know about growing pumpkins 8)  I'm gonna plant a smaller variety next year too as I had quite a demand for small pumpkins to the point that I've still got some fairly big ones left but you won't find any small ones.