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Post by Foggy on Jul 25, 2019 20:03:59 GMT -6
OK.....so I did a few pumpkins years ago.....and the deer really liked them in late season. Always thought I should do more pumpkins.....but never got around to it.
I have decided that beans are not as good of plot as I once thought.....and I am considering that I should convert my JD 71 planter to do pumpkins......and then plant brassica around the pumpkins as an annual food plot. (Or simply get rid of my JD 71 two row planter?).
I have also read where some folks use a single point ripper set to make a trench about 2 inches deep....then hand seed into the trench every three feet or so with pumpkin seeds.....and then cover the trench. Seems plausible too.
What should I pay for seed?....and where do you get a good deal on a volume of seed?
Questions.....questions..
Anyway.....I want to explore what everyone knows about pumpkins for next year......and how to plant them. SUGGESTIONS??
I need to figure this stuff out now....for next season. THANKS!!
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Post by Sandbur on Jul 25, 2019 20:09:30 GMT -6
My neighbor usually has a patch of pumpkins to sell and he also gives them to kids on a school day trip.
Deer don’t touch them here, but they don’t like brassica either.
I once heard you needed to split them with an ax to get deer started on them. Does needed to learn to kick them open. Potential baiting violation..,
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Post by sd51555 on Jul 25, 2019 20:19:49 GMT -6
Now you're talkin... I get all I want for $50 or less at sustainable seed company. I had so damn much seed left over from $20 pound packets that I had to ship a bunch of it south. sustainableseedco.com/collections/pumpkin/products/small-sugar-pumpkinsustainableseedco.com/collections/pumpkin/products/connecticut-field-pumpkinAs far as planting, if you're wanting to go big, I'd start with a thick stand of rye this fall and plan to throw and mow your seeds early June. I'm not even certain that will work. But if I had to pick a method, that would be it. I'd take my chances with broadcasted seed under a mat of chopped rye. But, you're also going to have to be able to lay down that rye evenly, or you'll just have bare dirt and piles of snot. If only there was such a precision mower... |
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Post by batman on Jul 25, 2019 20:25:56 GMT -6
I throw them out of the back of the truck and the deer really like them. But I would Not hunt over them. My moral ground is far too high.
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Post by benmnwi on Jul 25, 2019 20:27:52 GMT -6
 best image hostingi have a good no-till pumpkin plot going right now. I planted them in a field that was rr beans last year and relatively weed free. I didn't dig the field up this spring and let the weeds sprout and planted pumpkins and sprayed the field with round up the same day. I plsnted this 1/4 acre plot using a hoe while my kids walked behind and dropped in a few seeds I each hole. The pumpkins eventually grew faster than the weeds and it looks great. I used primarily seeds I saved from last year's Halloween pumpkins I saved. |
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Post by benmnwi on Jul 25, 2019 20:32:40 GMT -6
I planted and sprayed the pumpkins around June 1st.
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Post by wklman on Jul 25, 2019 20:45:37 GMT -6
I'd sell your 71 planter at a deep, deep discount to your buddy wklman and plant pumpkins from now on. Solid idea.
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Post by batman on Jul 25, 2019 20:51:46 GMT -6
Unthinkable people would encourage deer to target a sacred symbol of witchcraft as a food source. Shame on you.
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Post by Foggy on Jul 26, 2019 1:19:32 GMT -6
I'd sell your 71 planter at a deep, deep discount to your buddy wklman and plant pumpkins from now on. Solid idea. is $1200 too deep of a discount for ya?  FORE! |
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Post by Sandbur on Jul 26, 2019 4:09:09 GMT -6
I throw them out of the back of the truck and the deer really like them. But I would Not hunt over them. My moral ground is far too high. Same truck you made the deer stand out of? |
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Post by smsmith on Jul 26, 2019 6:43:13 GMT -6
I've never had a deer eat a pumpkin, even after I broke a few open. All I know is that pumpkins must be quite visible from the air. I don't enjoy interacting with the MN DNR and I wouldn't do anything (including legally growing pumpkins in a foodplot) that might increase my odds of such interaction.
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Post by Catscratch on Jul 26, 2019 6:54:09 GMT -6
I plant them by the Throw n Mow method SD brings up... even do it in the same rye that he mentions. Much to SD's dismay though, I don't always mow and they grow just fine either way. Unfortunately I haven't had a drop of rain since the start of July and I've had a massive infestation of squash bugs so they don't look great right now. Do you guys get squash bugs up north? A vine will be fine one day, yellow the next, and leafless/dead the following day.
While I do advocate TnM, I think a person with sandy soil and a short growing season would be better off getting those seed buried. If a person had an aircondition cabbed orange tractor that they needed to justify ownership of I think the single point ripper would work great! Otherwise the hoeing them in works well (I've done the same thing as benmnwi too).
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Post by Catscratch on Jul 26, 2019 6:56:53 GMT -6
I've never had a deer eat a pumpkin, even after I broke a few open. All I know is that pumpkins must be quite visible from the air. I don't enjoy interacting with the MN DNR and I wouldn't do anything (including legally growing pumpkins in a foodplot) that might increase my odds of such interaction. I don't have to deal with the same laws as you guys do. If a person were to sell a couple of pumpkins at a Farmer's Market one weekend would it still be a foodplot? At that point it would be a cash crop that had a percentage of waste that was unsellable. The first year I had pumpkins I threw some out and nothing ate them. So I poured molasses on one... nothing ate it. So I dumped a pile of corn on another one... nothing ate it. They started eating them last year so that is good I guess, I just like to grow pumpkins so it doesn't really matter. I think the coyotes like them more than the deer. A couple of pics from last yr. A big change from refusing to eat them the yr before. The plot with the pile of pumpkins is beans this yr, should look great this winter.    |
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Post by Sandbur on Jul 26, 2019 7:14:23 GMT -6
Foggy,
I think you could do a great job for deer with clover, rye, and brassica up there. You have great browse after the timber cut.
Forget the row crops and pumpkins.
However, if you like and want to work the land with equipment that is a different thing.
Just like me. I definitely don’t need more apple trees and more varieties of apples for the deer. However, I do it because I want to do it.
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Post by smsmith on Jul 26, 2019 7:14:46 GMT -6
I've never had a deer eat a pumpkin, even after I broke a few open. All I know is that pumpkins must be quite visible from the air. I don't enjoy interacting with the MN DNR and I wouldn't do anything (including legally growing pumpkins in a foodplot) that might increase my odds of such interaction. I don't have to deal with the same laws as you guys do. If a person were to sell a couple of pumpkins at a Farmer's Market one weekend would it still be a foodplot? At that point it would be a cash crop that had a percentage of waste that was unsellable.The first year I had pumpkins I threw some out and nothing ate them. So I poured molasses on one... nothing ate it. So I dumped a pile of corn on another one... nothing ate it. They started eating them last year so that is good I guess, I just like to grow pumpkins so it doesn't really matter. I think the coyotes like them more than the deer. A couple of pics from last yr. A big change from refusing to eat them the yr before. The plot with the pile of pumpkins is beans this yr, should look great this winter. It would all come down to the officer's interpretation of the law. Then it would all come to how much you want to pay a lawyer. My understanding of the law is that I could grow as many pumpkins in a foodplot for deer as I want to grow. As long as I don't then manipulate those pumpkins in any "unnatural" way, I could legally hunt them...just like a clover or bean plot. |
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