The soils are prepared in early spring, as soon as the ground is warm. It then fertilized the patch with a good four inches of rotting cow manure.
Pumpkins need at least one inch of water each week. An inch of rain equals around 16 gallons of water on average, so it is important make sure the farmers have a sound watering system in place, whether it is manual or not. It’s typical for pumpkin leaves to wilt at high noon, but if plants are wilted in the early morning, that’s a sign that it need to be watered.
The old method of irrigation is flood irrigation — basically just allows water to flood through the field by flowing down the length of the furrows. The water has to soak through the dirt sideways two or three feet to reach the roots of the pumpkin plants.
Other method is the use of soaker hoses underground and it requires a little early season planning. Some farmers bury hoses in concentric circles or ovals. As the plant grows, they turn on the second then third rings of hose. The result is underground watering to the entire area where the plant will spread.
The new system has feeder pipes that run alongside the field while dozens of drip-lines branch off into the pumpkin patch.
While water, and plenty of it, is vital to growing big pumpkins, what is really important, is a steady level of moisture in the soil for the roots to tap into.
Irrigation of pumpkins
