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“We will harvest and take numbers of fruits and weights and see which ones
did well and which did poorly."
Joe Masabni
UK Cooperative Extension Fruit and Vegetable Specialist
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By Laura Skillman
PRINCETON, Ky., (Sept. 23, 2005) – The bright orange pumpkin is a popular accent
for autumn and Halloween decorating, and Kentucky pumpkin producers are working
hard to accommodate the growing demand.
As with many Kentucky crops, weed control in pumpkins presents an ongoing
management problem challenging grower efforts to meet consumer demand. Weeds
compete for water and sun and they are also host to insects and diseases that
can damage the pumpkin. At the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture
Research and Education Center, research is under way to help growers with this
task.
Joe Masabni, Extension fruit and vegetable specialist, said pumpkin and
vegetables in general don’t have a lot of herbicide options for weed control. To
assist growers in finding other options, Masabni is about to harvest his second
pumpkin crop from a no-till pumpkin experiment evaluating 10 different herbicide
treatments on two pumpkin varieties.
In the plots, wheat was seeded in the fall, killed in the spring and pumpkins
planted then herbicides applied. Masabni said growers would typically spray
before planting but with this research plot he is interested in trying a
different approach. Of the 10 treatments, herbicides used in two currently are
registered and labeled for pumpkins in Kentucky. The others are herbicides
available on the market but not currently labeled for pumpkins. Different
herbicide combinations and different rates were also used.
“We will harvest and take numbers of fruits and weights and see which ones did
well and which did poorly,” he said. “Some plots look weedy, but have lots of
fruit in them, some look clean but don’t have much fruits. Just because it looks
clean, doesn’t mean herbicides worked because there’s a lot of injury that we
haven’t measured yet.”
The two varieties selected for the tests are medium to small in size – Cotton
Candy and Hybrid Pam.
“There seems to be more interest in medium to small pumpkins so kids can carry
them when they go on school tours, so I used a couple of varieties that range
between 6 and 10 pounds, although dry weather has made them even smaller this
year.” Masabni said.
With 1,000 acres of pumpkins being grown in the state, Masabni said, he plans to
continue the research for another year. Information gleaned from the study will
be shared with chemical companies along with an organization that supports
registration of pesticides for minor crops. If they have good data from UK and
other locations, companies may be persuaded to add pumpkins to their label.
The ultimate goal is for farmers to have more options available. In Kentucky 10
herbicides are labeled for pumpkins, if one or two are lost, that’s 10 percent
to 20 percent of their arsenal, he said. With current trends, that could happen
at anytime.
Joe Williams, Extension associate for fruits and vegetables, assists Masabni in
his research efforts and also works with a group of growers with their
demonstration plots. This year he had one cooperator growing pumpkins, and next
year Williams is planning to do some evaluations of different pumpkin production
methods.
“Most pumpkins are grown on dry ground without irrigation,” he said. “There’s
been interest in no-till and plasticulture, but there hasn’t been sufficient
research comparing the yields in these different production methods.”
Williams plans to evaluate dry land production with and without irrigation,
no-till and plasticulture.
Williams is also a producer, and he and his family have increased pumpkin
production on their Caldwell County farm to five acres.
“So far, we haven’t reached the limit where we couldn’t sell them, which is why
we’ve been expanding,” he said. “The most popular are the largest pumpkins. The
white ones, such as Cotton Candy, are a good novelty to have to add selection.
If someone comes, they may buy five regular and two white ones.
“Every year more and more people are fall decorating,” Williams said. “Ten years
ago you’d see only a few, now it seems like nearly every yard has straw and
pumpkins out there.”
He’s seen grower interest increase each year as well.
“Where I sell my pumpkins, there are new growers each year that I haven’t seen
in previous years,” Williams said.
Writer: Laura Skillman
270-365-7541 ext. 278
Contact: Joe Masabni,
270-365-7541 ext. 247
Joe
Williams, 270-365-7541 ext. 262
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