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Sun, Wind, Hail and Heat Protection!

While Pumpkins are easy to grow, they are susceptible to the occasional extremes of Mother Nature. In addition, while they can be grown in most of the U.S., some areas require extra care and protection from nature.

• Sun
• Frost
• Wind
• Hail
• Heat

Sun protection is a vital part of your plant protection program . Then again, everything is a vital part of the process. To promote maximum growth of the fruit, you want to protect the skin of the fruit from prematurely drying due to direct exposure to the sun. As the skin matures, it hardens, limiting the ability of the skin to expand as the plant grows ,and increasing the risk of splitting.

The fruit of a giant pumpkin begins as a a soft yellow fruit, similar to it's cousin, a yellow summer squash. The skin is soft and almost moist. Because of these characteristics, it can expand rapidly as the fruit grows, rather than act as a limiter to growth. The fruit should be shaded from the sun to help the skin to maintain it's soft, pliant texture as long as possible ,and to slow the maturing process. Plan to construct a sun shade, and make sure it is helping your fruit, not harming it. Before describing some shade cover methods, here's some of this authors' early errors(it's funny now):

Year one: I was just learning about growing. Being a creature of higher intelligence, I layed a piece of screen on top of the fruit. My theory was the mesh would let through cool air and the screen would offer some shade. Quick, easy, intelligent and cheap. The top of the fruit cooked and hardened.

Year two: Bound and determined to keep every bit of sun from the fruit, I put four stakes in ground and used duct tape to hang a black plastic sheet a several inches over the young fruit. Quick, easy, cheap and much more intelligent. Result: The top of the fruit cooked as soon as it reached a couple of inches from the black plastic.

Year 3: Same as year two, but I used white plastic to reflect most of the sun's rays. The result: successful cover for most of the fruit. But, around the edges, it turned to orange a little earlier than I had hoped. No real harm, but still not perfect.

The conclusion from this is:

• We all have a lot to learn
• There is always something new to learn
• We learn from experience

This winter when the snow flies and the seed catalogs come in the mail, I plan and design a shade cover for the upcoming season. Dutifully gather the materials in advance with things you have at home, or go out and buy them. You can even cut and prepare the materials to help make the winter go a little bit quicker.

TIPS:

• Make the structure strong enough to withstand the environment
• Check the direction of the sun as it moves towards the south as the season progresses, affecting the placement of the shade cover.
• Do not enclose all the sides and create an "oven" effect
• The cover should be either porous or poke numerous holes through it to allow water to pass so it does not sag.
• Allow air flow. I recommend a loose sheet of plastic draped halfway to the ground, stapled to the top on the west and east sides to shade the fruit during a greater portion of the day. Leave it open north and south.
• Be careful not to drop any tools on the fruit....been there, done that.

Here are a couple of sun shades you can construct, from simple and cheap(my favorites) to elaborate and pricey.

1. Real quick, real cheap:

• Take four stakes and drive them into the ground around the fruit.
• Tie two pieces of rope or twine diagonally across all four stakes.
• Tie a piece of white(not black) plastic(garbage bags will suffice) across the rope and secure each end to the stakes with Duct Tape.
• Poke small holes into the plastic to allow water to drain.
• Total Cost: Next to nothing.

2. Building on the cheap, but effective(my style)

1. Materials: Four furring strips, eight wood screws, an old white bedsheet(or plastic sheeting optional), string or rope.
2. Cut two Furring strips in half. Two of these are your horizontal bars. The other two are bridges across the top of the frame and will support the cover.
3. Cut two Furring strips at the center with a diagonal cut(pointed ends will be pounded into the ground). These will be your vertical poles.
4. Place the vertical poles on the ground. Lay the horizontal pole across the top of the vertical poles.
5. Drill holes into the top of each vertical pole and through the vertical pole. Use a drill bit smaller than the diameter of the screws you will use. Optionally, bolts can be used.
6. Repeat Steps 4 and 5 for the second set.
7. Pound Vertical poles into the ground. Each stake will be four feet apart.
8. Assemble the horizontal bars to the vertical stakes using wood screws.
9. Add the two bridges across the horizontal poles and screw them into the horizontal bars. Note, be careful, as you are screwing them into the narrow side of a furring strip.
10. Add the cover. If your use a plastic sheet which is non-porous, you need to cut numerous holes or slots to allow water to drain.
11. The cover is secured with a staple gun, and you should re-enforce it with Duct Tape as a heavy wind can pull it off.
12. Total Time: 1/2 to 1 hour.
13. Total Cost: Under $5.00, assuming the cover is a plastic sheet or an otherwise useless bedsheet.
14. At the end of the season, the structure can be dis-assembled in minutes and stored in minimal space for next year.

Note: This design is good to about five to six hundred pounds. If you anticipate a bigger pumpkin, plan about a foot higher, wider and longer.

3. Simple and Quick

• Materials: An old Card Table and 2-3 heavy rocks
• Simply place the card table over the fruit.
• Make sure you add a heavy rock or two so the wind does not knock it over.
• Total Time: Minutes

Count pumpkins among the most tender of annuals. They do not even like cold weather. Pumpkins will die from frost. As the temperature drops below fifty into the forties then thirties, they will slow down, stunt ,and cease growing and producing fruit.

Protect your plants from spring and fall frosts. A cold frame or covering is important in the spring. In the fall, if they are still growing, you can get additional days of growth if your cover them with plastic or floating row covers during cold nights.

Giant pumpkins leaves are.....BIG!! The leaves often surpasses 20 by 20 inches. Leaves of this size on thin stems are susceptible to wind damage, especially if the plant is in an open field, or on a hill. In an afternoon thunderstorm, leaves can be damaged or break, reducing the food production to the fruit.

Many growers provide wind protection for their plants. The easiest and most common approach is to erect a snowfence along the western side of the patch at a minimum. You may opt to fence the northern side or even the whole garden if you choose. Make sure to place the fence close enough to afford protection, but not so close as to shade the plant for prolonged periods of the day.

If your area is susceptible to damaging hail storms, a hail screen is recommended. This is particularly true in the mid-west and south, where hailstorms are more common, and the size of the hail is large (golf ball to baseball in size). Some areas of the country see few hailstorms, and when they do occur, the hail is only pea sized or smaller. In these areas, it is probably and acceptable risk, and hail screens are not used.

I never thought much about the damage heat could cause to pumpkin leaves and vines until a grower from Colorado Springs told me about his problems dealing with 100 degree heat. He suggests that he is from "Pumpkin Death Valley", yet he successfully grows them.

This gardener purchased and installed a shade cover for his entire backyard garden. The purpose of the cover in this area is literally plant survival. As temperatures soar, pumpkin vines and leaves are burned by a combination of heat and sun. The covers cools the temperature around the plant and protects it from the sun during the hottest periods of the day. Without it, pumpkins (and many other plants) could not be grown in this environment.

If you are located in southern areas of the country and have a strong desire to grow pumpkins, give this method a try one season. Your extra efforts may produce fruit!