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Ray, North Dakota

What should I use for foam under my pumpkin? Would a piece of old mattress foam work or will it hold moisture and rot my pumpkin?

If I leave it on the bare dirt will I rot the fruit?

7/24/2006 2:06:11 PM

save the foam until you load pumpkin up to take bumpy ride to weigh off then use foam for cushion between it and pallet-yes hold moisture would be bad under growing pumpkin

7/24/2006 2:19:00 PM

Syracuse, NY

personally, i use the aluminum foil-coated
housing insulation from Home Depot that is available in
4' x 8' sheets, cut into thirds (or half, if i am expecting great things from the plant in question)
for transport home and once the pumpkin is capable of being lifted about
5 or 6 inches above the ground without any issues,
a piece of this can be slid under the pumpkin
by a very careful neighbor kid, lol. do not allow
anyone to handle the pumpkin but yourself;
if anything happens you don't want YOU to snap as well, lol!
cut the tap root that is growing from the stem of the pumpkin, along with at least one upstream and one downstream from the pumpkin stem, so that it can be lifted a little, and it would be good to have a small piece of plywood wherever your feet will be placed during the operation. your feet need to be just wide enough apart to
allow the insulation (3/4 to 1 inch thick, by the way) to be slid under the fruit.
so, you get in positiion, basically one foot on each side of the fruit, you lift the pumpkin, neighbor kid puts the material in place for you and you set the fruit down. it can then be moved daily, easily, safely,
and pretty much you have one of the best materials under
your fruit for rodent control...also, the reflectivity
of this material helps the sun to color your fruit more evenly. EG

7/24/2006 4:17:48 PM

Chico, Ca

I prefer 2" thick foam under the fruit...I poke some hloes in it for drainage should it get wet.

7/25/2006 8:40:00 PM