Compost Mounds and No-Till for Pumpkins

View the project final report

Commodities

• Vegetables: cucurbits

Practices

• Crop Production: no-till, conservation tillage
• Education and Training: farmer to farmer, on-farm/ranch research
• Farm Business Management: budgets/cost and returns
• Pest Management: chemical control, field monitoring/scouting, integrated pest management, physical control
• Production Systems: agroecosystems
• Soil Management: organic matter

Wet soils and unpredictable spring weather can delay the planting of pumpkins and other vine crops. Last spring, the farmer tested a small plot of pumpkin directly seeded into mounds of compost. He observed that the seeds germinated faster and more reliably, that the mounds drained better, weed control was improved, and that there was no erosion associated with tillage. He will repeat the trial on a larger plot, track his results, and compare the plot with pumpkins grown conventionally. Outreach will be through an extension field day, extension newsletter, and grower meetings.