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Springfield, Missouri

Trying to gain better insight into growing big. What fertilizers do you use, what would you recommend, how many times a week do you use it, and when do you alternate? Thanks for your replies.

1/28/2008 7:41:12 PM

Minnesota

I'm only a 2nd year person myself but I can suggest trying the links on the main menue, those web sites, the site search on the top right corner of the page, ask it anything.

1/28/2008 8:57:28 PM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

This will depend on the state of your soil & how long you've been amending it but here is what we did last year. Keep in mind that we were very late getting into a new patch. The soil tested 4% organic matter & hadn't been planted in 8 years.

15.5-0-0 19% Ca........5 lbs/1000 sf at planting & again 2 weeks later. This material is "Calcium Nitrate" which is hard for some growers to obtain. We used it to obtain fast acting soluble Nitrogen for vine growth & Calcium which pumpkin can always use.

No fertilizer at all during flowering so as to not increase the likelihood of fruit aborts.

Once the pumpkins are over 40" & we're pruned down to one we resumed a low rate of balance 20-20-20 Greenhouse Grade soluble - 5lbs per 100 gallons per plant once a week. PLUS a gallon of Fish Emulsion per 100 gallons per plant per week.

By mid September we switched to a Fish/Seaweed blend (same rate) & a high Potassium soluble fertilizer (Miller's 4-2-41) at 5 lbs/100 gallons per plant every week.

These are all very low salt nitrate based greenhouse grade fertilizers that are difficult for some folks to buy. If obtaining high quality synthetics isn't possible, then the average grower should rely on soil building with manures & use fish/seaweed solutions to avoid burning plants with cheap (salty) synthetics that are most commonly found in garden & home centers.

1/28/2008 11:21:36 PM