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long Island

Can I transplant the seedlings outside directly in the ground with the peat pot, or should I be removing the peat pot?

How do I control the weeds in my patch? I get a lot of weeds.

4/25/2010 1:34:06 PM

Anamosa, IA BPIowegian@aol.com

Don't remove the peat pot, as you will disturb the roots and damage or kill the plant. Just make sure that when you plant it, the peat pot is totally buried so it doesn't dry out. Peel off the top part if necessary, and bury the plant right up to the cotyledon leaves. It is best to keep the pot saturated until planting.

There are lots of weed control strategies. One good one is to shield the plants when they are young and spray the weeds with a glyphosate herbicide like Roundup. Just DON'T use any Roundup formulation that has residual additives or it will kill your pumpkin. And don't get any on your plant. Spray only when thee is no wind. Hand pulling works, as does hoeing. Don't hoe deep enough to disturb pumpkin roots. Just scrape them off the surface of the soil. Corn gluten meal works as a pre-emergence herbicide for small seeded weeds and also is a 10% nitrogen fertilizer, but won't kill existing weeds. Mulching is another stragegy. You have top be careful with mulching so you don't get fungal diseases started. I have found that a light application of grass clippings from untreated lawns helps suppress weeds. Any weeds that do get through the mulch can be pulled easoer and left lying on the mulch. Heavy mulch applications can get fungus started and encourage mice to move it. Also, deep green grass clippings can heat up and burn sensitive shallow roots.

4/25/2010 2:24:04 PM