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Tractor Talk Discussion Forum

Pumpkins in corn??

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Dave from MN

12-30-2006 13:30:30




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Also, posted in "using your tractor by accident

Well, being the look at every option guy that I am, I wonder if any of you all have ever planted pumpkins in your cornfeilds to shade the soil to retain moisture and coke off weeds, as option as to not have to spray. My 94 year old farmer neighbor, who I swear is the most respectable gentlemen I have ever known in my life, told me they did this in the old days. Would the pumpkins rob a lot of the Nitrogen? Would they hurt the corn? I know the pumkins in the wifes negleted garden pretty much choked everything out and spread like crazy. Any one here ever dne it. Just may try an acre for sht's and giggles.

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davpal

12-30-2006 18:41:24




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 Re: Pumpkins in corn?? in reply to Dave from MN, 12-30-2006 13:30:30  
I have done it many times myself and can tell you from experience that weed control is not a perk of planting pumpkins in your corn or soybean fields. For one thing you shut off the sprayer when you go over them and it makes it a very weedy mess. Round up ready crops are wonderful but round up ready pumpkins don't exist as far as I know. I tell dad to shut off the sprayer by the pumpkins and you end up with a huge patch of weeds. They do seem to do pretty well as undergrowth though and it is always nice to go out and get them. You usually have more than you thought after all the leaves fall of the soys or corn dries up.

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jdemaris

12-30-2006 16:12:26




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 Re: Pumpkins in corn?? in reply to Dave from MN, 12-30-2006 13:30:30  
I've done if a few times, so have a few living-history museums in my area. The original "Three Sisters" approach, as Bob mentioned was done by the Iroquois, Hurons (Wendat), et. al. The Huron - in New York, Michigan, Canada were known as the "farmers of the north" at one time. It is suspected that the North American Indians that we usually hear about - got their knowledge of such farming from earlier cultures - perhaps the Mexican direction. Their systems does not work on a full-time every-year scale. The Indians got to use new land every couple of years. Once nutrients got low, they moved on a bit. No land to buy, or taxes to pay - just other Indians to fight with. Also, there was no row-cropping. Just hills built around tree-stumps in new and partially cleared land. Also their corn was very short - nothing like today's corn. So, a modern day approach - done every year needs other soil suppliments. It also requires good timing - all must grow the right rate at the right time or the system does not work.

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Bob N.Y.

12-30-2006 15:25:37




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 Re: Pumpkins in corn?? in reply to Dave from MN, 12-30-2006 13:30:30  
The Iroquois Indians of Central New York had a cropping program known as the "Three Sisters". It consisted of maize, pumpkins and pole beans. The beans provided nitrogen for the corn. The corn served as a trelis for the beans, and the pumpkins choked out the weeds. When you think about it, those 3 crops along with some fish, deer and wild turkey makes a pretty good diet.



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jwal10

12-30-2006 14:46:20




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 Re: Pumpkins in corn?? in reply to Dave from MN, 12-30-2006 13:30:30  
Yes, we grew pumpkins in the corn fields. Havested the corn for silage then turned cows and hogs in to eat pumpkins. Just remember this was a long time ago it was wide rows, more exposed ground. WE used tool bar planter, 2 row but put pumpkin planter in center. Planted corn in 36" row, pumpkin 6'apart and tried to plant 2 seeds every 6'.Never tried narrower rows but did try closer spacing on pumpkins, it cut corn tonage when planted closer or more seeds per hill.

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BillD1

12-30-2006 14:16:59




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 Re: Pumpkins in corn?? in reply to Dave from MN, 12-30-2006 13:30:30  
I was probably 17 or 18 years old before I ever got a pie or Halloween pumpkin from any where other than a corn field and that is nearly 60 years ago. The pumpkins planted that way were also used for hog and cattle feed



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Sharon Mannering

12-30-2006 13:40:59




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 Re: Pumpkins in corn?? in reply to Dave from MN, 12-30-2006 13:30:30  
Underplanting pumpkins in the cornfield was quite common in the "old days" according to my father. It served a couple of purposes:
-the growing pumpkins would be shaded by the corn
-the pumpkins don't take up the space in the "good" garden
-the vines of the pumpkins in the cornfield discourages racoons from raiding the field.

As for robbing the soil of nitrogen, a good fertilizer will help.

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RayP(MI)

12-30-2006 16:51:34




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 Re: Pumpkins in corn?? in reply to Sharon Mannering, 12-30-2006 13:40:59  
My dad used to plant a few pumpkins in the corn - said it was for the protection of the pumpkins. He said it kept the insects from getting the pumpkins. I"ve been raising mine in a pumpkin patch, in an open area, and there have been problems with insects!



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Mark

12-30-2006 13:48:47




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 Re: Pumpkins in corn?? in reply to Sharon Mannering, 12-30-2006 13:40:59  
You know..... I think about a lot of things the old-timers did....and why they did it. Those folks relied on what worked and they knew lots of tricks from trial and error and so much of this basic knowledge has been lost or neglected as foolishness by the newer generations.

Take cultivating crops for example. I like to cultivate my corn. Now if I had 100 acres or 3,000 acres...it wouldn't be too practical because of the labor/time involved and the fuel expense. BUT, I like the way cultivated crops grow and as much a benefit as chemicals have been to the farmer...I'd just as soon do with as few of them as I can. So, cultivating is 'old-time' method I like. Pumpkins in the corn is an excellent way to get a double crop too.....feed the punkins to the hogs or sell them for Halloween.

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