How To Grow Pumpkins
How to Grow Pumpkins for Halloween and Beyond
It doesn't take a genius to explain to you how to grow pumpkins. There is an old saying that states “to be a successful gardener, grow pumpkins”. They're easy to grow, so all you really need are pumpkin seeds. Of course, it takes more than sticking a seed in the ground to grow a pumpkin. Here is some helpful information:
What types of pumpkins are the easiest to grow? Nearly any pumpkin seed planted will eventually produce pumpkins. So you will want to consider what type to grow.
The good old Jack-o-lantern is actually one specific type of pumpkin, called Connecticut Field. In this variety, they usually range between five and twenty pounds, although occasional specimens have topped out at fifty pounds. They have the pumpkin shape we always think of, and are a bright color of orange. This is the pumpkin most often produced by professional growers. You will want to know how to grow pumpkins as healthy as theirs.
If you're growing something other than the jack-o-lantern pumpkin, you may want to look at pumpkins with more flavor. Connecticut Fields actually taste very plain and not as sweet as other types, and its insides are usually too watery for pie. But fear not, there are lots of other kinds of pumpkins you can grow. Some of their names are very unusual: Atlantic Giant, Lumina, Cinderella, Big Max, Spooktacular, Munchkin and Baby Boo, to name a few.
Pumpkins can be a few ounces in weight to over five hundred pounds. You'll want something closer to the former, probably. There are even different colors, like red and pink and white. If you want to learn how to grow pumpkins, you'll want to choose a few “normal” sized varieties and try your hand at them. So you'll need to know when, where and how to plant the seeds you select.
Pumpkins really love direct sun, so that's the first requisite. Select a place that gets six hours or more of direct sunlight each day.
You can plant seeds in your garden as soon as the temperatures during the day are reaching the low seventies consistently. Wait until any hard spring rains have let up. If you reside in a colder area, you can start your pumpkin seeds indoors and then transplant them when the weather gets warmer. Most pumpkins grow best in areas with 110-140 frost-free days a year. The time it takes them to sprout will depend on the type of seed you planted, the climate of the area you live in, and the number of sunlit hours in the summer days.
In learning how to grow pumpkins, you'll find that seeds are usually planted midway up small mounds or hills that are three feet or so across. Dig a moat around each plant hill, about four inches deep and four inches wide. Plant four or five seeds in a circular shape in the hill, with seven or so inches between them.
Cover the seeds with an inch or so of soil, so the birds don't get them. Keep the soil moist, but not waterlogged. After a week to fourteen days, the seed sprout will crack through the soil, and then will start to grow leaves within the next couple of days. They will generally stay low to the ground, and can get along with nearly any other plants you might be growing. Enjoy your growing pumpkins!