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Hadley Ny

I had one patch that I planted in last year and blew three pumpkins up. Very black soil..very sandy light soil..old garden area covered with plastic for five years and a camper. was wondering if the soil was so loose that roots grew like crazy and absorbed everything they could?? Just wondering why out of the 50 I planted last year that they blew up in this patch. Only soil difference would be the light sand. Good or Bad to plant in an area like this? Makes watering different.

3/21/2017 4:42:05 PM

Little-TON - Colorado

A soil test is needed for any further evaluation... anything less is a guess

3/21/2017 4:44:03 PM

Upa Creek, MO

I blow mine up yearly too. My soil tests have had everything high, low, on par etc and they still blow. I think it has something to do with no sunlight until 9am and no sunlight after 2pm. Mix that with inconsistent watering and there she blows. Not sure about you Hoff, lol

3/21/2017 8:45:45 PM

Owensboro, Ky.

Certainly agree w/ Wiz on this one...soil test!!! Peace, Wayne

3/22/2017 1:22:27 AM

Anamosa, IA BPIowegian@aol.com

Blowing up pumpkins often comes from uneven watering. If they get too dry and the growth slows, then they get a bunch of rain or watering they can blow up. It is best to keep the moisture adequate all the time. If your sandy soil gets dry and rain is forecast for a day or two later, go ahead and water anyway. Avoid that dry to wet shock. It is tougher to do with sand.

And try to increase your organic matter to hold more water. Its hard to keep organic matter in sandy soil, because the big grain size lets in more oxygen to feed the bacteria that eat up organic matter and turn it into CO2. Nutrients also leach out quicker due to the faster water movement, so soil testing is more critical. Maybe you could add some silty soil to improve the texture of the soil.

3/22/2017 8:25:17 AM

Hadley Ny

Thanks for the replies. We had a drought here last summer and that patch didn;t get much water. I had a few orange in that patch that did well but the big ugly ones were the ones that blew up. One that blew up was right after being watered heavily...my buddy ran a sump pump from a pond and forgot about moving the hose. Probably going to bypass that area this year...downsizing..had way to much going on last year.

3/22/2017 10:25:53 AM