Planting, Growing, and Harvesting Pumpkins
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Growing
- Use row covers to protect plants early in the season and to prevent insect problems. However, remember to remove covers before flowering to allow pollination.
- Bees are essential for pollination, so be mindful when using insecticides to kill bugs or fungicides to control fungi. If you must use it, apply only in the late afternoon or early evening, when blossoms are closed for the day. To attract more bees, try placing a bee house in your garden. Or, grow colorful flowers near the patch.
- Pumpkins need 1 inch of water per week. Water deeply, in the morning and on very hot afternoons, especially during fruit set. Avoid watering foliage and fruit unless it’s a sunny day. Dampness invites rot and disease.
- Add mulch around your pumpkins to retain moisture, suppress weeds, and discourage pests.
- Weed gently; pumpkins have shallow roots that can be easily damaged. Also, take care not to damage the delicate vines; the quality of the fruit depends on them.
- Side-dress with aged manure or compost mixed with water.
- Small vine varieties can be trained to grow up a trellis. Larger varieties can be trained upward, too, to support the fruit, usually with netting or old stockings.
- Pumpkins are heavy feeders. Side-dress with aged manure or compost mixed with water. When plants are about 1 foot tall, just before vines begin to run, fertilize regularly with a high-nitrogen formula. Just before the blooming period, switch to a high-phosphorus formula fertilizer.
- If your first flowers aren’t forming fruits, that’s normal. Both male and female blossoms need to open. Be patient.
How to Grow a Bigger Pumpkin
- After a few pumpkins have formed, pinch off the fuzzy ends of each vine to stop vine growth and focus plant energy on the fruit.
- Pruning the vines may help with space and fruit formation. Pumpkins produce main vines (from the base/center of the plant), secondary vines from the main ones, and tertiary vines from the secondary vines. All may have flowers. Once the fruit has developed, prune the main and secondary vines to 10 to 15 feet and remove the tertiary vines, if desired. Bury the cut tips in the soil.
- Or, gardeners looking for a “prize for size” pumpkin might select 2 or 3 prime candidates and remove all other fruit and vines.
- As the fruit develops, turn them—with great care not to hurt the vine or stem—to encourage an even shape. Slip a thin board or stone or piece of plastic mesh under pumpkins to protect them from rotting on the soil.
- To grow a giant pumpkin, try ‘Dill’s Atlantic Giant’ jumbo variety. Fruit can grow to 200 pounds on 25-foot vines. Plants need 130 to 160 days to mature, so start seedlings indoors, then thin to the best 1 or 2 to plants.
- Feed heavily and cultivate shallowly.
- Remove the first two or three female flowers to generate more leaf surface before a plant sets fruit.
- Allow one fruit to develop. Remove all other female flowers.
- Ensure the vine does not root down near the joints to avoid breakage.
- Learn more about growing prize-winning pumpkins!
Every pumpkin has a best purpose. When choosing a pumpkin, think about what you want to do with it. All pumpkins are technically edible, but ornamentals are better for carving, and other pumpkins are best for cooking.
Miniature Pumpkins
Miniature pumpkins are very productive and easy to grow, sometimes producing up to a dozen fruits per plant.
- ‘Jack Be Little’, a miniature variety, is dual purpose. Store-bought shiny (painted) ones make an ideal decoration for a holiday table. Remove the seeds from farm- or home-grown specimens and then bake them for a tiny treat. Vine variety. Days to maturity: 90 to 100 days.
- ‘We-B-Little’ is an All-America Selection winner, and ‘Munchkin’ is another great miniature pumpkin.
Pumpkins for Carving
- ‘Autumn Gold’ is great for carving and decorating. All-America Selection winner. Vine variety. Excellent for Jack-o-Lanterns. Days to maturity are generally 100 to 120 days.
- The larger ‘Magic Lantern’ and ‘Merlin’ are great for carving and decorating.
Giant Pumpkins
- ‘Dill’s Atlantic Giant’ jumbo variety can grow to 200 pounds. Great for those who want to grow a giant pumpkin. Vines will spread to 25 feet, so space is a must. Days to maturity are 130 to 160 days, so plant early! Thin to the best one or two plants. Feed heavily but keep cultivation shallow. Remove the first 2 or 3 female flowers after the plants start to bloom so that the plants grow larger with more leaf surface before setting fruit. Allow a single fruit to develop and pick off all female flowers that develop after this fruit has been set on the plant. Take care that the vine doesn’t root down near the joints to avoid breakage.
- ‘Big Max’, ‘Big Moon’, ‘Jack O’ Lantern’, and ‘Funny Face’ are some of the best giant pumpkins for carving.
Perfect Pumpkins for Pies
- ‘Sugar Treat’ is excellent for cooking and baking. Days to maturity are generally 100 to 120 days. ‘Hijinks’ and ‘Baby Bear’ are both All-America Selection winners and have sweet flesh for pumpkin pie.
- ‘Cinderella’s Carriage’ is also perfect for pies or soups.
- ‘Peanut Pumpkin’ also produces very sweet flesh and can be great in pumpkin pie or pumpkin puree.
Colorful Decorative Pumpkins
- ‘Jarrahdale’ has blue-green skin and makes for great decorations.
- ‘Pepitas Pumpkin’ is orange and green.
- ‘Super Moon’ is a large white pumpkin.
Cooking Notes
- See how to clean a pumpkin for cooking.
- Don’t forget about the seeds! Roast them with salt or cinnamon for a tasty treat.
Catherine Boeckmann
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Try adding a high-phosphorus fertilizer to increase bloom production. Some pros say that if plants are too close the competition between plants can reduce the number of female flowers; could this be it?
Would like to know the appropriate type of soil for pumpkin
Pumpkins love fertile soil. Before planting, spade the soil about a foot deep and mix in some compost, manure, or well-balanced fertilizer. Then plant two or three seeds in a group about an inch apart in moist soil.
I was wondering what would be the best hybrids to grow in Sarpy/Douglas County Nebraska? If you have a top three.
For such a specific location, we would encourage you to ask your Nebraska county extension: http://epd.unl.edu/
Love this article! Do you know if there is a book specifically on growing Pumpkins? About to start growing them. Thank You
I’m not familiar with any books on growing just pumpkins, but a quick search online does list a few on growing pumpkins in general, or the huge record-breaking kind. For example, “The Perfect Pumpkin: Growing/Cooking/Carving” by Gail Damerow (1997) and “Gardener’s Guide to the Pumpkin and Winter Squash” by Paul R. Wonning (2016). Hope this helps!
I planted my pumpkin seeds in a big pot this month. Do you think they will survive?
Jacob, I planted my very first pumpkin in a wooden pot a few years ago. It was one of those wooden crate looking pots from Lowe's. The soil where I live is horrible but I can't dig down deeply enough because of the granite running below my house.
I kept an eye on the pot (it was a 2' in diameter pot, about 12" deep) and made sure it was well-drained and watered when needed. The vine grew very well and very long. The only issue I had was not enough pollination. All of my pretty flowering plants were on the other side of my house. I know better now!
So yes! Pots DO work for pumpkins. Just keep an eye on it for moisture balance.
I live in Zone 6A, by the way, in case that means anything for you.
Wow, Jacob, there are so many ways to answer your question. Will your seeds survive? For one thing, it depends on where you are. Is it summer there? If there is any risk of frost, see here for when that might be: http://www.almanac.com/gardening/frostdates/zipcode/03444 You have to be wary of a late frost that might kill your plants.
Even a big pot may not be enough for a pumpkin. Plus, pots heat up (and dry out) faster than the ground soil does. So while that may seem advantageous, it means you need to be ready to water more often. You have not mentioned the type of soil you used; we will presume it is good quality compost.
lease understand that we are not trying to discourage you; we just do not have enough information on your particular situation. With time and your careful attention, you might have a bumper crop of pumpkins! We are just trying to point out a few considerations.
Good luck and let us know how it turns out!
