pumpkin feed

[tracy]

just noticed have a few baby pumpkins how often should i feed and what do you recomend to use ?
i have had them in the past and not done too well with them even though i have followed what the books say and was watching a program on tv the other night this guy had huge pumkins and he said that it was only 6 weeks of growth eh am i going mad how do they get that big in just 6 weeks !!!
cheers tracy

[MaureenHall]

Mine are still only golf ball / tennis ball size, but I've started feeding them with comfrey and diluted juice from my bokashi bucket. Would love to know if there's anything else I can feed them to hopefully get humongous ones for Halloween
Also, as they're growing through holes cut into a tarpaulin cover, should I still try and keep the fruits off the ground? What's best to do this?

[tracy]

how often are you feeding them and also i know i have asked this before but where can you buy comfrey seed i have had a few suggestions on where to buy plants but they dont ship out of the uk
cheers tracy

[MaureenHall]

I've been feeding them about once a week, but I also put a large comfrey leaf at the base of each plant (sort of slow release food I think). Have a look on Ebay for seeds, or try Google for seed companies that post to the Canaries

[lynda66]

2 weeks ago, i was fed up of my pumpkins squash melons and courgettes plants looking really small and weedy, so i made up a nettle stew peed in it, then i sprinkled bonemeal round the plant (50p for a huge box, thought i'd try it) then poured a mugful of the nettle gunk, round the roots, and then added tomato feed to water and watered it all in, 2 days later there were loads of new leaves, and i had to stake the plants cos they had huge shoots, and all of them started producing flowers....... the courgettes have gone from a stem with a flower to a half sized courgette in less than a week, think they had just run out of nutrients, hopefully while i'm away, all the flowers will open and i might actually get something on them

so dunno which the most useful bit was but i'll definitely be repeating it when i get home, oh and i emptied a load of manky bottom of fish pond sludge round them the other day too ..... rotten smelling fish poo must be good for them ....... unless they are all dead when i get home.

[Demeter]

how often are you feeding them and also i know i have asked this before but where can you buy comfrey seed i have had a few suggestions on where to buy plants but they dont ship out of the uk
cheers tracy

I was going to get seeds but some shared experiences and strongly worded advice on here put me right off!! Trouble with growing it from seed is that comfrey is very invasive and self-seeds everywhere - the recommended variety (Bocking 14 or something like that) on the other hand does not produce viable seed, which makes it good for keeping under control - albeit obviously hard to propagate if you can't get plants or cuttings. Which puts you in a difficult position - perhaps a helpful grape will be able to let you have a root cutting? Wish I could offer but I've not organised any comfrey for my own plot yet!

EDIT The problem is obviously whether it will survive in the post - it would take several days to get to Spain from here. I wonder if there is a local supplier? Did a google search but my Spanish is a bit ropey, maybe yours is better!
Comfrey is consuelda - I did find one page where a chap called Joseph Scott seems to be selling it (Bocking 14) from Jaen. Someone on the thread who bought some said it turned up healthy and gre OK - worth a look?
http://www.infojardin.com/foro/showthread.php?t=32726

[tracy]

cheers for that i have got family coming here in 3 weeks and they are bringing me seed i didnt know about it being invasive or it self seeding i have ahad a quick look at the site you mentioned and i will definately get in contact with him .....the only thing with the self seeding problem is that it might actually benifit me here as greenery is hard to come by and i wil have a constant supply of feed as compost heaps just dont work (they just dry out ) so thanks for that info if you have any ideas about composting help let me know cheers tracy

[Demeter]

cheers for that i have got family coming here in 3 weeks and they are bringing me seed i didnt know about it being invasive or it self seeding i have ahad a quick look at the site you mentioned and i will definately get in contact with him .....the only thing with the self seeding problem is that it might actually benifit me here as greenery is hard to come by and i wil have a constant supply of feed as compost heaps just dont work (they just dry out ) so thanks for that info if you have any ideas about composting help let me know cheers tracy

An open compost heap will dry out, but what about if you keep the compost in an enclosed bin? You might have to put something on the bottom as well to reduce leakage into the soil. Either that or water the stuff!!

I will try and remember to ask my parents what they do about composting (in Costa blanca) - I know they often put "raw" seaweed directly onto the soil and that seems to work well, but I don't know about other compostibles.

[tracy]

have tried an enclosed compost bin but things tend to go mouldy rather than rot down am now leaving my enclosed bin covered and left alone to see what happens would love to know what your parents do cheers tracy

[Demeter]

Just talked to my Dad re composting in Spain.

Their heap is made of concrete blocks with a wooden cover i.e. breathable but not so the heap should dry out completely. They put their household waste* in daily, which they collect in a bucket that has water in the bottom, so a little water goes in every day. They also water the heap with the hosepipe now and then, but not frequently. In addition to household waste, they put in garden waste, seaweed, and wood shavings / sawdust. They chop up any large / woody items with secateurs before it goes in.

* All kinds, including things you aren't "supposed" to compost because apparently chicken bones and the like smell worse and grow maggots within a day or two if you put them in the bin. Eek.

Dad reckons it takes about 6 months to turn it into compost, Mum says (piping up in the background) that it would be quicker if it were turned. Dad says he's got enough to do in this heat without turning the bl***dy compost. So there you go

[tracy]

thanks for that could you do me one more favour and ask them what they put in the base are the concrete blocks just sitting on the soil or do they lay a membrane down i will definately give this a go as have blocks everywhere as renovating our house
cheers tracy

[Demeter]

It's straight on the ground.

Saying that, their soil is very shallow - and what there is is mostly what they've built up by adding their own compost, seaweed and other organic matter, cos most of it it was pretty close to bare rock when they moved in. It's one of those modern expat developments hewn out of a rocky hillside overlooking the sea. So the bin is for all intents and purposes on rock rather than actual soil (although the worms can still get in).

[tracy]

cheers we have very shallow soil here too so i think i will do the same as they have done
say thanks to your parents from me its been a great help cheers tracy