Help growing Pumpkins

The project: I wanted to grow some pumpkins, gourds and squash from seeds to use as Fall decorations for my yard and maybe enough to give to friends and family.

The start: I planted X-Large, Large, Baby and White Pumpkin seeds, Mixed Ornamental Gourd seeds and Lakota and Patty Pan Squash. Everything was well marked and laid out. Due to a home improvement the seed trays got moved, moved, and moved again. Some of the seeds didn’t germinate. Some got spider mite by the time I got the plants in the garden I wasn’t quite sure what I had planted.

The growing: Some plants didn’t make it and some really took off. I had vines everywhere. It was so much fun waiting to see what I would actually end up with. I laid down old pieces of scrap carpet to grow everything on. It keeps down the weeds but lets the rain though. I think it worked well but am not sure if it affected the end result.

The result: Not as good as I wanted but not bad either. There aren’t enough to give away but enough to decorate my yard. I have 3 really X-Large Pumpkins, several Large Pumpkins and a couple of the White Lumina Pumpkins. Here is a sample of what I grew.



This message was edited Sep 20, 2006 9:19 AM

The problems: Almost all them have a flat green side where they laid on the carpet and some type of damage split or hole. I’ve heard that you should turn them. But when do you start, how often and how do you do it. I did try to roll a few but the large ones were very heavy and I just ended up with a larger flat green spot from rolling them over and couldn’t move them very far without breaking the stems. Are the split / hole from laying on their side or insect damage? It is mostly on the side that was down.

The future: I really need some guidance here because I can’t wait to do this again next year. It was so much fun

Holly Ann,

This year I raised some Big Moon pumpkins along with some Jack Be Little and some large gourds like Speckled Swan, Large Apple, and Extra long Handled Dippers.

One early Big Moon died, but the other 2 or 3 are doing well. The first large pumpkins are on their side and were too big to upright after a while. I put 2x4s under them to get them off the ground. Later ones I lifted them to an upright position earlier and put boards under them also. You need to up right them early as the vines attach themselves to the ground wherever they can [which is good].
As far as insect damage goes I used some Sevin to keep the squash vine borer, stink bugs, and cucumber/corn root worm beetles from doing much damage. I believe you have got to do something whether organic or not.

The Big Moons are about 60 or so pounders for the most part. and have a nice color.

I turn mine about once a week or whenever I see a light/white green spot developing. You are right that you can't turn them very far. I like the idea of setting them upright. That would keep the un-uniform side on the bottom where you won't see it. Your pics are pretty yucky looking. I'm wondering if the carpet didn't cause some of that. I allow mine just to sit on the grass and haven't had the extreme blemishes you show. Pumpkin farms sure don't put anything special under theirs.

Yes, I like the idea of setting them upright. Most of my ugly part is on the side and closer to the stem at the top. My husband put in a garden years ago he actually knows what he is doing.but we haven’t done anything much with it for a very very long time. The things I’m interested in growing are different than what he has grown. What success I’ve had was mostly accidental. I had a great crop of Jack be Little one year after I dumped them in the garden after I was done with them and they volunteered the next year. I’ve had other pumpkins do that too. But they just grew in the weeds without any help from me. The carpet looks a little strange but mostly works well. It keeps all the weeds down just cut an X and put your plants in very little weeding, easy to water and keeps the soil damp. At the end of the season we just roll up the carpets and store them in the barn. When they get too bad we trash them and look for used carpets people are throwing away. Years ago we planted watermelons and cantaloupe on them. Worked very well easy to see exactly where the vines and fruit were and no weeding. But you may be right that it does have something to do with the problem. Maybe the carpet stayed too damp. I’m open to any suggestions.

Indy,
Some of my vines grew roots that could not attach because of the carpets. Which also made me wonder if it was a good idea for pumpkins. I wonder if those roots had attached would I have gotten more or larger pumpkins. Thanks for the idea of setting them upright I really hadn't though of that.