Pumpkins

[DavidofWales]

I have Hundred Weight pumpkin seeds and intend to try and grow some whoppers with the kids this year. Does anyone have any tips on growing giant pumpkins they'd like to share?

[mjciccarel]

No personal experience here but I have always heard that you pick one pumpkin early on and get rid of the rest.

[jellybean stonerfish]

Have a big yard.

[Bill who putters]

Some gardener in Pennsville watered his pumpkins with milk.

[DogDiesel]

'

I was going to try too. I had some home roasted pumpkin seeds last year that were coated in olive oil and roasted in the oven on aluminum foil until toasty. Awesome. Same person made a couple of pumpkin pies.

[Bill who putters]

Got folks know about lady godiva pumpkin seeds?

BTW to the OP with a large yard look at Tahitian Squash sort of a sweet carrot 2.5 feet long by 5 inch diameter that stores well at room temperature.

[Bill who putters]

I layer shelled pumpkin seed on in a toaster over. Light sprinkle of soy sauce. Then abour 400 F. till the snapping is almost done. Better to err on the early side. Addictive.

[David Hare-Scott]

Good deep soil with lots of manure, full sun, plenty of water especially when it is hot, mulch well, long hot growing season and keep the fungi at bay. Thin out the set fruit to only a small number.

David

[DogDiesel]

Guess what, The ones I ate were roasted shell on. I ate the shells. Didn't know.

[Bill who putters]

A common practice and labor intensive ;))). I used to eat them and they were white with salt. Fun to eat and spit out.

A good reason to grow your own below.

[Jim Elbrecht]

-snip-

'stores well' doesn't tell the whole story. These buggers are 10-15 pounds [or 8-30 if you believe these guys;

and are supposed to store 'on the counter' after you cut a couple pounds off. you Bill!! I just lost 100 sq feet of garden to a new 'experiment'.

Jim

[Thos]

I do know that the guys that grow the giant pumpkin contest winners feed them milk when they get big, for whatever that's worth.

[David Hare-Scott]

OK I will bite. How do you feed a pumpkin with milk?

D

[FarmI]

And take off the last foot of the vine when it reached 5 ft long as that encourages the vine to set fruit.

[David Hare-Scott]

Don't we want a big vine feeding only a few fruit? I would let the vine run and keep thinning as they set.

D

[FarmI]

There is that, but given that the OP is trying to grow these big things in the UK, I'd be trying to get a fruit on the vine as early in the season as possible.

[Thos]

[Gunner]

It is not the vine that feeds the plant, its the roots and manure is not going to supply the needed N for this growth. As for pruning I would follow this guy's advice:

[DavidofWales]

I've since found out, let the flowers form and remove all but the largest.

I read by Alan Titchmarsh if you bury the vine it will root and uptake even more nutrients for the fruit that have set.

Can't wait to try!

[David Hare-Scott]

Both of these statements are rather misleading.

The roots absorb water and minerals which is necessary but not sufficient for strong growth. The vine (stems, leaves) feed the fruit in the sense that for growth the leaves are required to do photosynthesis and the stems are required to carry the carbohydrates produced by the leaves to the fruit for them to grow. It actually makes more sense to speak of the manufactured carbohydates as food rather than fertiliser as food but both are common usage. With cucurbits you can also get nodal roots which are an asset as they supply water to a big vine along its length which helps to reduce wilting in full sun, thus allowing photosynthesis to continue longer on hot days before the stomata start to shut down.

Manure will supply sufficient nitrogen if you use the right sort. Bird manure and rabbit manure are high in N. I would use an appropriate mixture.

One could also use foliar sprays of chemferts if you wanted to go all out. I didn't mention this before as it is not my usual practice when growing pumpkins and it may be a little trickier to do for the novice. It's up to the OP.

David