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Missoula, Montana

I think that this may have been talked about before but I am not sure. I see growers using everything imagineable to put their pumpkins on while they are growing and I personaly use a piece of styrofoam used for house insulation. The blossom end on my pumkin from last year was grown over by the side of the pumpkin so the blossom end was parallel to the ground instead of perpendicular. It appeared to me that friction caused the bottom of the pumkin not to move as it grew and the top of the pumpkin grew over the blossom end. Does this seem feasible? How can this be prevented? Sand instead of styrofoam?

1/24/2006 2:49:39 PM

Wilmington.Ma.

Use both

1/24/2006 2:52:38 PM

Berlin,mi.([email protected])

yep foam then sand.

1/24/2006 3:02:03 PM

ENGLAND

Yep Sand. From what i have read, Kiddies Play Sand is the best to use as each sand particle is more rounded than other types of sand. Because the sand particles are more rounded they glide against one another more freely as the Pumpkin/Squash/Water Melon etc grows.

Regards
Mike

1/24/2006 4:36:17 PM

Thornhill, Ontario, Canada

I saw one grower who was using a couple of "magic carpets" (the plastic sheets that are used to slide down snowy slopes) under a couple of his pumpkins. I don't know if it worked or not. But, it's an option.

1/24/2006 5:37:04 PM

Pocatello ([email protected])

I vote for sand.

1/24/2006 5:42:13 PM

Syracuse, NY

sometimes it could partially be the eventual
shape the pumpkin will attain anyway, and
i have not yet been able to keep a nice area
of just sand for the fruit to grow on (irrigation
distorts and disperses the sand a bit; need to have a tarp
over EVERY fruit) but i have generally had a piece of
1 inch foam with aluminum foil on each side as my
ground surface. i would like to have sand on top of that also, like those pinball-style bowling machines they have at bowling allies...a gritty powder lubricates the "puck" as it goes toward the "pins". hope you make out....eric g

1/24/2006 5:58:56 PM

Norton, MA

Just a crazy wonder here: What about thick axle grease or something like that on foam? Wouldn't want to push my 1640 of it's foam when measuring though, big mess. AleX Noel.

1/24/2006 8:29:29 PM

Ohio

I used the house Insulation for the first time last year and had perfect bottoms on every pumpkin, I was impressed with it very much. I never had the trouble with any of the blossom end troubles your talking about Bass. Maybe we was using a diffrent styrafoam house insulation? I used the 1/2 inch blue insulation from lowes.

I used sand the year before and the bottoms of my pumpkins where wavy due to the sand being humped up in certain areas under the pumpkin as it grows.
Last year I used sand then the insulation on top, Only reason for the sand first was because of moles amd mice, they say moles dont like sand,nether do mice, not sure if it was true so I did the sand first then insulation thinking that maybe no moles or mice would get under my pumpkin and chew up through the insulation to get to my pumpkin,lol,it worked never the less!!,LOL.. and I had moles this year out of the Ka-Zoo.

Brooks

1/24/2006 8:34:52 PM

Ohio

Bass, I was wondering if you or maybe anyone eles knows who used the paper mill fabric and how the bottoms ended up looking after it was done growing?

1/24/2006 8:42:35 PM

Missoula, Montana

I don't know much about that fabric. I thought it was just heavy felt at first, which is what they use in the mills here, but the picture I saw of it makes it look like it is plastic coated. The bottoms of my pumkins have all been concave.

1/25/2006 2:14:33 PM

Norton, MA

By the way: foam always works great here. Flat bottoms. I use the 2" white Polar foam in 2' X 2' squares. AleX Noel.

1/25/2006 5:57:30 PM

Indiana

The paper mill fabric is a finely woven Teflon like material about as thick as the cardboard on a 12 pack, its fairly slick. It works good enough for me. Some of my pumpkins are flat on the bottom some are concave. Not really sure what it would take to stop the concave ones.

1/25/2006 6:01:57 PM