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Nj

I was wondering if this sounds like a good fertilizing schedule and if the amendments I choose are good.

Per patch
1-50 pound bag of alfalfa meal
8 pounds blood meal
8 pounds bone meal

Every week:
1/2 strength compost tea

Every two weeks:
Foliar feed with seaweed based fertilizer, for micros
Foliar feed with a 5-9-14

Midseason
1-50 pound bag alfalfa meal spread around the plants, and watered in.

This is my first year growing, and have BAD soil, Very bad soil, a lot of sand and rocks, I don't want to till, but loosening the soil is needed, so I will use a pitchfork o brake up the soil to about 6" As the plants grow, I will cover the vines with soil, so they can sprout roots. I hope to get 600 pounds, but more would be better :) How long should the main be before I terminate Right after the fruit I want, or just let it go? How long should the secondary vines be before I chop them? Thanks! John

2/14/2004 9:12:23 PM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

Welcome John!

How big is the patch area?

Steve

2/14/2004 10:37:38 PM

Nj

25x30

2/14/2004 11:10:35 PM

San Diego

get a soil test done so your not guessing on the ammendments, it's worth it:) Then put in what is recommended. Most common good stuff is manure, compost, gypsom in general. If at all possible, till up the ground too, it will help a lot. Most growers also use fish and sea weed (once a week foliar and in the dirt) throughout growing season. Kelp meal is also a common pre planting ammendment. I would advise to supplement with water soluoble chemical ferts once a week in very moderate doses, don't over do it. Slow and easy is the way:) Best wishes, Jim

2/14/2004 11:57:11 PM

Garden State Pumpkins

Manure Manure and more Manure...try and locate a source for well composted stuff...from the amount of sand in the soil sounds like your in south jersey so this shouldn't be much of a problem...Must get the great books from Langevin...you need to get some OM in so the sand doesn't leach out all your nitrogen.....Welcome to the Addiction! Chuck

2/15/2004 8:08:59 AM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

Alfalfa Meal contains about 2.5% Nitrogen. Great stuff. But two 50 lb bags will contain 2.5 lbs of N (100 lbs times .0025). No problem even with the blood meal (10%N +/-) since these sources are so slow to release.

Personally I like this program so long as a soil test is done.

Do you have "the books" yet?

2/15/2004 9:00:29 AM

Nj

Soil test is coming back in a few days, possibly tomorrow, You guessed it chuck, I am in South Jersey, Sand City lol. By my home test, I need more of everything and the pH is 5.8 Let's see what the county tells me. You would think with all the horse farms around, I would have plenty of manure, but, I can't go get any because I don't have a truck, so I need to get the bagged stuff. I found mushroom compost for 1.25/bag. This is what I am going to fill up the planting pit with, and as the vines grow, I will cover the vines with this, and let the worms take it down to the roots. What should I kill the weeds with? I am thinking roundup, sense it is safe to plant within a day, but I am not sure if I trust the label. Any suggestions? If I till, it will just bring more weeds seeds up to the top, so I still would need a weed killer. Thanks! John

2/15/2004 9:56:45 AM

Sheridan . NY

bb 7551 hi--- all great sugestions above --add molasses at 2-4 oz to the gallon of water and fish & seaweed the same rates
--foliar feed some somthing different every day --and theres the giant pumpkin program from Agro-k that available from c&j product --

2/15/2004 10:41:47 AM

Garden State Pumpkins

If it gonna be a new patch roundup is fine...use it to knock down all the growing weeds...It is a contact herbicide so it will not effect the soil...If I remember correctly it actually destroys the plant by excellerated growth to the points the cells burst...plenty of guys here know more about it then me...Avoid using anything that would be considered a soil sterilent...like triox...Yeah I'm sure those pine trees love the PH but you'll want to get it up a little higher as close to the 7 as possible...Again a personal preference is to bury the vines with the same garden soil I grow in...I'd rent a truck...free fertilizer is cheaper in the long run then hauling bags!!! LOL... Enjoy the Patch!

2/15/2004 10:51:09 AM

Menomonie, WI (mail@gr8pumpkin.net)

Hey John,
This is not a lazy mans hobby. You are going to have a lot of work ahead of you if you wish to do this. We spend 2 hours everyother day on average for our 5 plants. You could just throw a seed in, spray some round up for the weeds, the results you get will be ok but not impressive. The best thing for the weeds is a good old fashioned hoe, and use it vigalantly. Otherwise you will just be feeding the weeds. Sorry to be so straight forward and blunt. Shannon

2/15/2004 10:54:41 AM

Nj

2 hours is not that long, I am home all day because I am home schooled, (I am 16) and I am going to start a business this spring selling brugmansia online and to the people around here, so I will be home all day even when I am making money also :~)

Roundup is just something I need to get rid of the lawn that is on the patch right now. After that, I will be doing the weeding the old fashion way.

I love gardening, and yesterday alone, I spent 7 hours in the greenhouse repotting, fertilizing, planting seeds, trimming back some brugs, creating a small compost pile in there, ect.

I can't drive yet, in NJ you need to be 17 to drive. I can get a ride to home depot, next year, I 'should' (if my business dose good) Have a truck, so I will be hauling all kinds of free fertilizers, LOTS AND LOTS Of it! lol

My Brugmansia bed will be getting the all of the same treatment as above. About how many gallons of fertilizer per day would it take to do a foilar feed? 2? 3? 4? More?

Thanks all! :~)
John

2/15/2004 11:52:15 AM

Sheridan . NY

two to three gallons of mixed to do 4 pumpkin s to any thing you wet it down they you know how much wet water you need they mix 2.ozs of product to the gallon of water

2/15/2004 6:49:16 PM

Nj

Huh? 3 gallons will do 4 plants?

2/15/2004 9:02:27 PM