Pumpkin Plants
All About Pumpkin Plants
Pumpkin plants are easy to grow, whether you're an adult experimenting with a new crop, or a child planting his first seeds. Here are some tips to help any gardener grow a large jack-o-lantern type pumpkin, or a small pumpkin for pies.
The pumpkin prefers a lot of sun, and does best in good soil. Pick a sunny spot in your yard, and put a little compost in the hole before you plant. You will also need to decide whether you will be growing from seeds or from smaller seedlings. Growing from a seedling is generally easier. But you can start seeds inside and then transplant them outside where they can grow into pumpkin plants. Let them grow to several inches in height before you plant them outside.
You can find pumpkin seedlings at garden centers or home improvement stores. If you plant in July, you should have a good amount to harvest in the early autumn. Talk to the friendly experts at the garden center to determine what type of pumpkin plants you would do best with. If you want jack-o-lanterns, the Connecticut Field is a good variety. If you want pumpkins for pies, then the sugar pumpkin may be your best bet.
If you are buying seedlings, purchase two, at least. Pumpkin plants have to be pollinated to produce fruit, and if you only plant one seedling, this might not happen. If you plant at least two seedlings, you should see fruit on one of them.
Now you will want to form the soil into a mound. Make a little hill about four inches high. This will give your pumpkin plants more room to expand their roots. Plant the seedlings about one inch deep in the mound.
Your seedlings should be planted about a foot apart from each other. In this way, honeybees will pollinate them for you. The more seedlings you plant, the greater the chance of pollination. Don't use any pesticides on your plants, because they can kill the honeybees.
You need to water your pumpkin plants every two or three days, but make sure that you don't over-water them. If the weather is very hot and dry, you may need more water, but otherwise, every other day is fine for watering.
If you want to grow larger pumpkins, you will need to pick off all but one of the pumpkin fruits when they appear. Pick the best-looking one to keep, and clip off the others. Check the vines, and make sure the one you will keep gets adequate sunlight. If the vine doesn't look healthy, choose a different pumpkin to concentrate on. If you wish to grow smaller pumpkin plants, you don't need to trim any off, since each plant can produce four or five pumpkins.
Keep up the watering and let the pumpkin plants establish themselves, and you'll have a good harvest this fall.