From

Location

Message

Date Posted

Omaha, Ne.

How deep two pumpkin roots go? Just how deep should the workable soil be? Has anyone used a post hole digger to really get some serious depth.

2/24/2014 5:22:01 PM

South East

18 inches

2/24/2014 6:28:58 PM

Torrance, Ca.

Take a look at Russ Pugh's diary from a few years back. He dug some dandy holes this way!

And you can tell by his diary,,,,,,, his pumpkins did well!

2/24/2014 6:56:11 PM

Upa Creek, MO

Who needs a post hole digger to go 3 feet deep? Its gonna be a gun show in my patch this spring; thunder on the left, lighting on the right... don't get caught in the storm.

2/24/2014 7:12:18 PM

South East

the first foot and half two feet is where you will find the most roots. Will they go deeper...sure they will, but if you focus on those first 6 inches (soil test depth) you should be just fine.

2/24/2014 8:04:42 PM

Lloydminster/AB

My roots go 8" at the most, even in the greenhouse. Soil is good ,soft and deep, so it must be a temperature thing. Soil temp doesn't get very high here.

2/24/2014 8:05:01 PM

Menomonie, WI (mail@gr8pumpkin.net)

They will only go as deep as the oxygen is present

2/24/2014 8:08:58 PM

Eugene,OR

I also burnt out the clutch on my tractor shortly after!

2/25/2014 1:17:14 AM

Mnt.pleasant ,tennessee

So what about air lines down in soil hooked to an aircompressor?

2/25/2014 8:24:30 AM

N.c.

Go here for an excellent study of root systems

http://www.sustainablefarmer.com/pdflibrary/library-rootdevelopment.pdf

2/25/2014 11:45:10 AM

Hinckley MN

The roots at the base of the plant grow the deepest. The adventitious roots grown from the vines don't grow as deep.

2/25/2014 12:26:08 PM

Concord, CA.

Thanks Condo,
This link is to great stuff! Excellent insight.

2/25/2014 3:47:22 PM

Lodi, California

So what if your tiller only does 7 inches?

2/25/2014 6:09:51 PM

Lodi, California

When I used a Broadford to go down 16 ", I brought up a bunch of stuff that I probably shouldn't have.

2/25/2014 6:11:04 PM

Nottingham, UK

.......is your love?

2/25/2014 8:40:38 PM

N.c.

I am glad you liked it Nor-Cal_BP! I have been gifted some world record class rutabaga seeds. Not turnip seeds mind you but rutabaga seeds and I am going to grow the world record largest precooked rutabaga. So after rereading this paper, like Luke I will be doing some hand work on my patch prior to planting. The soil might not seem appropriate down there but it is mine and my root'ss's going down there anyway so I may as well make it my own.

2/25/2014 9:26:26 PM

Concord, CA.

yardman,
Air injection into the soil, that's an interesting idea. It seems like when you till in compost or a cover crop, you trap in some air. I wonder if that trapped air is of a benefit to the plant directly or to the microorganisms that help decompose the compost.

Ashton,
My tiller only tills 7-8 inches deep, so I took the tractor and pulled all that tilled soil back and tilled the whole patch again. Then added aged horse manure and tilled that in. Then I pulled the pile of soil back over that and tilled in more manure. Yeah, that was a lot of work, but the cover crop really liked it. Now, when I walk out there, I sink nearly to my ankles in very fluffy soil.

2/26/2014 1:22:02 AM

Menomonie, WI (mail@gr8pumpkin.net)

Calcium Peroxide

2/26/2014 7:38:38 AM

Central Illinois

as water travels down it draws down oxygen, so maybe good drainage would be of help

2/26/2014 8:47:07 AM

What do you think about a product by grotek called oxy-cal? Claims to time released oxygen and calcium into the soil.

2/26/2014 9:44:03 AM

Piqua, Ohio

Darren
I have an auger attachment on my new holland, it's 18" diameter and can dig 48" deep. I use it only at planting site and fill the hole full of goodies, as far as the entire patch I think 8-10" is plenty. I use a mold board plow for that.

2/26/2014 2:25:39 PM

Elmwood Park, NJ

Darren,
Last year I went at my patch with a post hole digger I had rented from Home Depot. It was crazy easy to to go down the 3 feet so I made like 20 holes. From there I dug out the loosened dirt which took very little time so I decided to go deeper. All in all, I ended up in 5 foot deep hole 3-4 feet around. I filled it up with peat moss, manure, sand, topsoil, limestone and fertilisers. My pumpkin from last year snapped off at the base, from wind, a couple of weeks after planting and with no backups I had nothing to show for my efforts, but this year I'm hoping to see some exciting results.

2/28/2014 6:30:04 PM

Indiana

Oxy-Cal (Calcium Peroxide) = Kitchen Cabinet (Pickle Crisp) + Bathroom Cabinet (Hydrogen Peroxide). My luck, I would just end up with crunchy, bleach blonde pumpkins.

3/3/2014 9:27:21 PM

Indiana

Hmmm, combine that with Dill rings and we may have a new snack. Can you imagine the size of the bag!!

3/3/2014 9:31:18 PM