From

Location

Message

Date Posted

Frankfort Ohio

if you plant back to back how much room do you leave in the middle

11/19/2008 4:00:13 PM

Picton,ON (j.vincent@xplornet.ca)

Jed

This depends on the plant pattern you wish to grow. We use a spyder pattern so our plants have about 20-23 feet between them. We then train the first 3 sets of secondaries to grow backwards. roughly 10 feet and we leave a three foot walkway.

If you are growing in a christmas tree pattern you may only wish to leave 10-12 feet.

11/19/2008 4:08:35 PM

Minnesota

i planted back to back last year and i had 6 feet between my plants, seemed to work for me

11/19/2008 4:23:57 PM

Rexburg, Idaho (brianchristensenmd@gmail.com )

4-6' is what I do. That way they both fit in one greenhouse.

11/19/2008 4:36:09 PM

i did 4 feet

11/19/2008 5:00:35 PM

Santa Rosa, CA

Jed,

I have done 4 feet and 6 feet. I really liked the 6 foot spacing. It was easier to work around the stumps. If you have the patch space, I would plant your pumpkins 6 feet apart.

Chuck

11/19/2008 6:28:16 PM

Ontario, Canada.

I have planted back to back for a few years now and I never seam to have enough room for all of the vines. I like to let them grow at a backward angle like John does. You always need to consider underground root spread when planning your planting sites. I would say however more is better. Next year I will give my plants a lot of room between the crowns, nearly a full 10' or more.

I will also elect to have shallow drainage trenches furrowed out for rain water run off too. Walkways are fine as long as you are not compacting the soil in between the plants. If you can bridge boards of 2" x 12" with 4" x 4" cleats in this area is even better. Careful determination of your soil situation is required here too. Sandy soils compact less a than clay compositions.

I also have tried using mulch on the back areas behind the crowns with good results. Straw or brown grass clippings work best for me. I have tried colored plastic mulches in between the plants with limited success.

Russ

11/19/2008 6:49:07 PM