10/02/2009

OSU Extension to Hold Pumpkin Field Day

Writer:

Julie Strawser
strawser.35@cfaes.osu.edu
(740) 289-2071

PIKETON, Ohio -- Learn the tricks of the trade for growing quality pumpkins during Ohio State University Extension's Pumpkin Twilight Tour.

The event will take place Oct. 15 from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. at OSU South Centers at Piketon. Registration is $5 per person. The tour is part of OSU South Centers' Third Thursday Horticulture and Business Training Series.

OSU Extension horticulturist Brad Bergefurd will walk attendees through pumpkin fields and provide tips and techniques for growing and managing pumpkins. The tour will also include discussions on new pumpkin varieties, downy and powdery mildew disease management and control, cucumber beetle identification and control methods, Yellow Vine Decline disease and prevention techniques, growing your own nitrogen, and timing applications of drip irrigation.

The drip irrigation training and demonstration unit will be on display and will be the first stop of the tour and then it will be off to the pumpkin patch. The results of the Indian corn trials will also be presented.

Weather permitting, this workshop will be held in the fields, so participants should come prepared to walk and spend the evening outside. If you require special accommodations, please make that aware when you register.

OSU South Centers is located at 1864 Shyville Road in Piketon, Ohio. For more information, contact Beth Rigsby at (740) 289-2071, ext. 110 or e-mail rigsby.22@osu.edu.