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Pumpkin Patch Pests
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Posted by kskent z5b KS (My Page) on Tue, May 30, 06 at 12:06
| I planted my first rows of pumpkins two weeks ago tomorrow. This morning I noticed turkeys in the patch for the first time. I counted 77 plants up about two inches in the first 7 rows. I noticed many damaged hulls in the seed bed. If I had 100% germination there should be about 1264 plant in those first seven rows. I have planted approximately 3600 seeds in 16 rows now, with the latest planted last Friday. The rows planted more recently show similar damage. I blame the turkeys, but there may be mice or voles helping them. What can I do? Is there some way to treat the seed or the seedbed to prevent this disaster? I have only planted about half of my seed. What should I do? |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Pumpkin Patch Pests
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| Put a fence up to keep the turkeys out and encourage snakes, birds of prey and other hunters to go after the voles. Mouse traps work okay too. You could put poisioned bait out for the rodents but if you have cats and dogs you will likely poison them if they hunt the poisoned vole/mice. |
RE: Pumpkin Patch Pests
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| when is turkey hunting season. get some hunters over there to fix the problem legally. turkey hunters are all looking for a good spot to hunt. |
RE: Pumpkin Patch Pests
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| Pumpkins tend to grow out of this vulnerable stage within a few weeks. With that in mind you could spread a band of cheap corn or cereal grain around the edge of the area to feed the critters until your crop is growing well. Kansas is the corn state so there must be a farmer or mill nearby where you can purchace elevator screenings cheaply for this purpose. We used to use this practice to keep hundreds of ring-necked pheasants from digging up newly planted corn in fields that were within city limits. Those were the days before Furidan came on the market for nematode control. |
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