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Lymington UK

I really hope that I’m not putting myself in the firing line but here goes.
I’ve had a fair few emails saying that we are wrong cutting down the feeding when the pumpkins start to grow.
That’s fine but we want to help growers understand their soil
So this is open for discussion.
What Stuart’s and I are saying is this.
Once the pumpkin plants hit the side of your patch, you don’t need to feed any more.
If your soil sample says everything is fine why would you need to put more food on the patch.
The last thing you need to put on is nitrogen.
You do need your boron levels to be around 4ppm but that needs to be sorted before the pumpkins are the size of a beach ball.
The only reason to post this discussion is to help growers.
Ian

6/3/2025 10:06:37 AM

Nova Scotia

You nailed it Ian, during the days when Dad was growing the first half of the season basically establishing nourishing the plant, second half fruit development and carefully not having any blow ups by fertilizing that much. He always said "No prize for the biggest plant" and with the nitrogen only leads to more foliage production taking away from resources going into pumpkin. Anyway with your results the past several years speaks for itself. Danny

6/3/2025 10:49:37 AM

Grittyville, WA

If its dialed in perfectly for fruit growth then why add more... I think this is true. The high yield corn growers keep their nitrogen high. But the nitrogen demands of a pumpkin/ pumpkin plant are probably easier to meet than that of a corn plant.

6/3/2025 3:57:14 PM

Grittyville, WA

I am curious why you mostly use nitrate when other forms of nitrogen might be superior. But you get great results. So what you are doing... its not like its not working! Hopefully growers can make the best choice for their situation.

6/4/2025 3:36:38 PM

Lymington UK

I wouldn’t say that there are superior forms of nitrogen because they all have their place.
We use calcium nitrate because we always like to work on our calcium.
I don’t think we will be putting anymore nitrogen on this year but if we did it would be in the form of potassium nitrate as or potassium dipped a little.
For growing inside nitrate is much more gentle than ammonia or urea etc

6/4/2025 4:49:47 PM

Mission Viejo, CA

Ian I appreciate you putting this out there. Your posts have made me question things I might not have thought of on my own on more than a few occasions. This season I’m concentrating on the soil above all else and what you're suggesting seems logical.

6/4/2025 5:59:03 PM

Lymington UK

Thank you Kevin. Feel free to run soil samples past me.

6/5/2025 9:33:42 AM

Torrance, Ca.

I love the honesty and not running away because some idiot says something stupid about one of your posts. We've lost so many great growers over the years because a newbie grower chimes in on how this heavy hitter is wrong. There's so many ways to get a huge pumpkin to the end and I love hearing how these guys do it!

Keep it up Stuie!:)

6/5/2025 9:37:41 AM

Winchester, Ohio

Ian,
I appreciate this discussion and your information. As a new grower I have been focusing on getting my soil right first and foremost, but have been trying to figure out if I need to feed in season like I see so many people doing.
Is there a possibility of leaching potassium with the amount of water these pumpkins need? I know in some soils leaching potassium is a possibility but it's probably largely CEC dependent.
Do you continue to soil sample throughout the season? I am a farmer so I'm familiar with the basic agronomic principles but growing these pumpkins is a different world.
I took one recently as my plants were starting to takeoff, thought about another one in a couple weeks.
I would appreciate input on my soil sample of possible.
Thanks,
Keith

6/5/2025 12:16:37 PM

Grittyville, WA

I figured something like that, nitrate works well in a greenhouse... outdoor growers might do better with the other forms, and amino acids. For outdoor growers in high heat/ low humidity my understanding is that nitrate might stress the plant and maybe fruit. I haven't used azos much but perhaps they get a certain portion of their needs met from nitrogen fixing bacteria regardless of what additional nitrogen is being added.

6/5/2025 5:33:16 PM

Grittyville, WA

I think its possible to abort a pumpkin with a combo of high nitrate, hot weather, and excess or deficient water. Thanks for the discussion Im always learning.

6/5/2025 5:43:03 PM

Lymington UK

Hi Keith
First of all welcome to our mad sport.
Potassium tends to be reasonably stable in soils outside or inside but you can leach it out.
We take soil samples about every two weeks and I sent one out today so will share our thoughts when the results are in.
You’re more than welcome to send me a soil sample and I will do my best to help.
i.paton@uwclub.net

6/6/2025 5:46:02 PM