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Pumpkins/ squash

Bucksnbears

Bucksnbears

Well-Known Member
I seen mentioned a member posting about a pumpkin plot.
I've been planting the in food plot for about 15 years.
They have become my number 1 plant, excpecially for late season.

If anyone wants to know how I do it, let me know.

The past 8- 10 years have been incredible.
 
Do you save seeds from current plot and use them next year or buy seeds every year?
If you save, what's the process to dry and store?
 
I'd like to hear more about it . I considered this for a small plot this year but I didn't know how to keep the weeds from taking over.
I've watched the deer in my backyard chew on pumpkins in my garden which got me interested in the idea .
 
I’m interested!!!!
weed control seems “weird to me”.... as in, is there a great method for soil without torching the whole field. Like I mentioned- maybe crimped rye??? I have no clue but that’s idea that 1st popped into my head. So.... u could do small amount of weed control around where seed is planted. Then the plant gets so big & spreads ... it would seem like u wouldn’t need to kill whole field ?? Just keep root area weed controlled. Just an idea.

anyone have experiences on how much is produced per acre? Like BASIC example. Say corn is 150 x 50 lbs = 7500 lbs. I know brassicas are super high - especially sugar beets. Maybe 20,000+ lbs. I’m just asking generally speaking “could 2-4 acres produce a lot of tonnage that would last with good deer populations?”

another one... may have been mentioned..... when is main time they eaten from? I assume October into..... ??????..... December ???? Do they keep hitting up and last into gun season for example or they goners by then??

very cool topic & I’m new to this one!!
 
Sligh1 said:
I’m interested!!!!
weed control seems “weird to me”.... as in, is there a great method for soil without torching the whole field. Like I mentioned- maybe crimped rye??? I have no clue but that’s idea that 1st popped into my head. So.... u could do small amount of weed control around where seed is planted. Then the plant gets so big & spreads ... it would seem like u wouldn’t need to kill whole field ?? Just keep root area weed controlled. Just an idea.

anyone have experiences on how much is produced per acre? Like BASIC example. Say corn is 150 x 50 lbs = 7500 lbs. I know brassicas are super high - especially sugar beets. Maybe 20,000+ lbs. I’m just asking generally speaking “could 2-4 acres produce a lot of tonnage that would last with good deer populations?”

another one... may have been mentioned..... when is main time they eaten from? I assume October into..... ??????..... December ???? Do they keep hitting up and last into gun season for example or they goners by then??

very cool topic & I’m new to this one!!
Click to expand...
Patches around here seem to get hit hard late season. Late muzzleloader time frame.
 
Sligh1 said:
weed control seems “weird to me”.... as in, is there a great method for soil without torching the whole field. Like I mentioned- maybe crimped rye??? I have no clue but that’s idea that 1st popped into my head. So.... u could do small amount of weed control around where seed is planted. Then the plant gets so big & spreads ... it would seem like u wouldn’t need to kill whole field ?? Just keep root area weed controlled. Just an idea.
Click to expand...
If crimped rye is not feasible as in no crimper. What about growing pumpkins in a clover patch? I to am interested.
 
Sligh1.
Tonnage per acre I don't know..
I have 1 plot that is about 3/4 acre.
The pumpkins are about 30lbs.
There may be 500 in there so, 15,000 lbs.
You may be right about weed control just around the plant root. I have neglected a plot or 2 over the years and they still produces fine. But I try and control weeds. A weedless punkin plot just looks cool.
Even with corn sunflowers,beans and white clover real close by, the deer started on pumpkins a month ago.
They are now hammering them,,
But typically, mid Oct until they are gone is when they shine.
And yes, they can get into a frozen one.
 
I'll be the naysayer for using pumpkins for food plots instead of the many more commonly used food plot options. Sure, a passerby deer will check out and even eat the darn things. What they don't do is travel to them as a primary source like they will for the other goodies. I plant them every year for Halloween for my grand-kids. The pumpkins that are left behind and the Halloween pumpkins that are disposed of are hardly touched, especially the old mushy late season rotten ones. Just my experience with them. I'll use my limited food plot areas for better options per the deer in my area.
 
I've grown them for a few years for not only a hobby, but plots as well. Weeds-the more weed free they are until vines control the canopy the better they yield, same as other crops. Pumpkins will root from each leaf node as well as the stump so the less weed pressure/competition the vine roots have the better they will produce. Time frame of usage-the first years they won't hit them till later so they will last into the gun seasons. As they learn that they are food they will start hitting them earlier in the season. I've got a couple spots I'm going to have to fence off if I'm going to grow them there again as they eat them as fast as they set on the plant. Tried growing some melons in one of those spots this year and they ate them just as fast now that they know round fruit=food. Once they know they're a food source I'll highly disagree with the statement that they won't travel to eat them. Tonnage-I've never really measured but in good soil/conditions it will be pretty high. I've got one field pumpkin plant here at the house that I'm growing for weight competitions. Usually only grow 2-3 pumpkins/plant to achieve max size, but this one got away from me this year. It's in 500 sq feet and currently has at least a dozen pumpkins on it that are 40-80 lbs, so call it a 60 lb average. That's over 700 lbs in 500 sq feet and would be higher if I wouldn't have culled several off along the way. Think there's a little over 43,500 sq feet in an acre so that would come out to over 60k lbs/acre. Granted this is a variety with genetics for size and has been taken care of through the drought this year. Even with over the counter field pumpkin seeds planted in the right densities yield will still be pretty high. Could easily achieve 1/3 of the yield quoted above on a field plot. That being said I'd probably start out with a few dozen plants on the edge of a plot until you know the deer have learned to eat them before dedicating acres to them. Other downside is that they are probably a little higher risk from a disease/insect loss than some of the more traditional plot crops. Need to rotate areas or have a pretty tight insecticide/fungicide plan if growing in the same spot over multiple years.
 
Hmm? I've watched MANY deer leave standing bean/corn and make a beeline for my pumpkins.
Once had about 60 deer in a half acre plot.
 
I use to feed deer pumpkins and left over apples in the winter from an apple orchard. Annually I would get approximately 3 truck loads of pumpkins and about the same in apples. Deer hammered both. I tried growing pumpkins a few years later. Probably about an acre. Probably half got eaten before they were even mature. The rest were turning out good. Came back to hunt in mid to late sept and on the way in walked passed the pumpkins. Every single pumpkin was gone. Couldn’t believe it. In one week the entire patch, well what was left had been eaten.
 
Interesting. I put some pumpkins out for the deer after Halloween one year after Muddy posted some pics of a buck he had frequenting his pumpkins but I had no response from deer as far as I know.

Perhaps Muddy can chime in on his past experience?
 
My deer was a weirdo... he chased deer off his pumpkin pile... seriously.

I did have a bunch of other deer eat at the pile but Peter was a freak, he was there 3 or 4x a day. Also, there was zero other food options around so I think that was a contributing factor.
 
muddy said:
My deer was a weirdo... he chased deer off his pumpkin pile... seriously.

I did have a bunch of other deer eat at the pile but Peter was a freak, he was there 3 or 4x a day. Also, there was zero other food options around so I think that was a contributing factor.
Click to expand...
I love it! Peter Peter pumpkin eater!

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....I think I'll hunt here. ;)
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