Wayne, Al Eaton, slings and sand

Wayne and Al Eaton and anyone else....   

Al Eaton, I would be grateful if you would address this sand question...  
I've heard this is your technique.  Has it been successful and are you 
continuing to use sand under your set pumpkins?


Wayne, I was going back through the archives and saw a post where you 
mentioned growing a pumpkin in a sling to get a round bottom.  Well I 
don't care about a round bottom, but I am concerned about dampness and 
rot.  Also, I may have a unique set-up... my plants are started in an 8' 
x 12' raised garden, and the vines trail out over the grass.  I have 
topsoil mounded up from the grass to (and over) the edges of the garden 
so the vines can have a smooth transition out to the grass.   The raised 
garden drains very well, but some parts of the sloped yard tend to get 
waterlogged when we have a lot of rain.  I expect any pumpkins that set 
to be out on the grass somewhere.

Now one secondary is coming off the edge with a female blossom a little 
past the edge of the garden.  The garden at that spot is about a foot 
and a half high.  If this pumpkin sets, and if I could figure out how to 
support it and lower it bit by bit, the vine could stay level and the 
fruit could grow down instead of the other way around.  I was already 
thinking about some kind of sling, thinking that air circulation 
underneath might be better than having the pumpkin on the grass - this 
particular spot would stay pretty wet.

So, Wayne, please lend your voice of experience to this sling idea.  
I've considered sand, too, though we have zillions of ants, who always 
show up to carry sand away.  I guess I could soak it with diazinon...  
Actually a sand mountain might be perfect, if the ants would haul it 
away at the same rate that the pumpkin grew...  There's a thought. 

Then there are egg cartons and what are my other alternatives here, 
anyway?    Anybody??  Everybody??

Beth

p.s.  Has anyone else noticed that no matter what pumpkin idea you come 
up and no matter how crazy you think it is, Wayne has already tried it??  
I thought I had him a while back with the chromosome doubling thing, but 
nope!  He's ‘been there, done that,' too.

>
>Is  sand  the thing to do for under neath the pumpkins ?
> To day I put a very small mesh chicken wire layer and then
> a piece of 1inch thick styro down , right under where my tenis ball 
>size pumpkin will rest down as it grows ., My thinking was the wire 
>would prevent moles,mice what ever, and the styro I saw Bill use in 
>Medicine Hat . Thought that might prevent bugs, Is it  better to use 
>sand?
>


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