Pumpkins are sensitive to transplanting and cold weather, so it’s best to sow seeds directly outdoors well after the danger of frost is past and soil has warmed to around 65° to 95°F (18° to 35°C). Make sure to check seed packets for “days to harvest” information if you want to harvest pumpkins in time for Halloween. Different varieties mature at different rates; however, planting seeds by late May in northern climates or as late as early July in the deep south should ensure most varieties have enough time to mature before frost.

If you’re working with a very short growing season, you can also sow seeds indoors about 2 to 4 weeks before the last spring frost. Just make sure to use biodegradable pots to minimize root disturbance and harden the seedlings off before transplanting them outside when the weather warms.

Where to Plant Pumpkins

Compared to other crops, pumpkins are particularly demanding about space, so always ensure that you provide enough space for the varieties you’d like to grow. Ideally, you’ll want around 1,000 square feet per plant for giant types, 50 to 100 square feet for regular-size varieties, and about 15 to 36 square feet for miniature types. That said, you can keep small varieties like ‘Baby Boo’ or ‘Small Sugar’ in 20 to 25-gallon containers and use a small trelllis to train their trailing vines.

Aside from space constrants, full sun and fertile, moist, and well-draining soil is a must for growing pumpkins. I always recommend blending plenty of compost or aged manure about 12 to 15-inches deep into the soil before planting seeds. You can also plant pumpkins atop simple “melon pits” to fuel their growth.

How to Plant Pumpkins

Pumpkins can either be planted in rows, in hills, or solo in pots depending on your space.

In hills, plant 4 to 5 seeds per hill, space hills 4 feet apart, and thin the seedlings to 2 to 3 plants per hill once their true leaves form. If you’re short on space, direct the vines to the outer edge of the garden bed. Hills can either be mounded or flat, but mounding soil helps it warm up faster in spring and drain better!
In rows, sow seeds 6 to 12 inches apart and then thin the seedlings to one plant every 18 to 36 inches when they’re a few inches tall. Individual rows should be spaced 8 feet from each other.
In pots, select containers that are 20 to 25-gallons in size and small varieties of pie or miniature pumpkins. Installing a trellis at planting time can help you avoid damaging delicate vines later on.

To plant, set the seeds 1 inch deep in rich soil or seed starting mix and keep the seeds good and moist until they germinate.

In this video, Ben shows us his method for growing pumpkins!

Growing

Watering

Pumpkins need about 1-inch of water per week, either from your hose or rainfall. For best results, water plants deeply in the morning and on very hot afternoons — especially during fruit set — and do your best to direct water straight to the plant roots. Keeping pumpkins leaves dry is one of the best ways to avoid rot and common diseases like powdery mildew.

Fertilizing

Blending compost or aged manure into the soil before planting helps pumpkins grow better and encourages larger fruit production. After that, side-dress plants with additional aged manure or compost mixed with water as needed and feed with a high nitrogen fertilizer when the plants are about 1-foot tall and the vines are just about to run. When flower buds form, switch to a high phosphorus fertilizer to fuel rapid pumpkin growth.

Pruning or Maintenance

Covering pumpkins with row covers early in the season can reduce some pest problems, but covers need to be removed before flowering to allow for pollination. Bees and other pollinators are essential for pumpkin growth, so avoid using pesticides whenever possible and consider growing flowering companion plants near pumpkins to increase pollinator activity. Placing a bee house in your garden is an effective way to draw bees in too.

Careful pruning can reduce disease, increase fruit size, and is key if you want to grow prize winning pumpkins. To do this, pinch off the fuzzy ends of pumpkin vines after a few pumpkins form to stop vine growth and focus the plant’s energy on fruiting. Once the fruit develops, remove all but the best 1 to 3 pumpkins per plant as well as all late blooming flowers, prune the main and secondary vines to 10 to 15 feet, cut away the smaller, tertiary vines, and bury the cut vine tips in the soil to optimize fruit development.

As the fruit matures, turn pumpkins carefully to encourage even growth. Placing a thin board, stone, or piece of tile under pumpkins can protect fruit from rot and pest damage as well.

Tip: If your first flowers aren’t forming fruits, that’s normal. Both male and female blossoms need to open for pollination to occur. Patience is key!

Seasonal Care

Maintaining a regular watering and fertilizing regimen is essential if you want to grow the best pumpkins. It’s also a good idea to add mulch around plants to retain moisture and suppress weeds. When needed, weed carefully to avoid damaging delicate pumpkin roots and vines.

If you’re growing pumpkins on a trellis, support developing fruit with a hammock or old nylon stocking to prevent vine breaks.

Harvesting

When to Harvest

Pumpkins should be harvested when they’re fully ripe and reach the mature size of the variety of pumpkin you’re growing. Most pumpkins take 90 to 120 days to mature; however, it’s best to use visual cues to determine if pumpkins are ready to pick or not.

Color. Pumpkin rinds should turn a deep, solid color as the fruit ripens. This is orange for most varieties, but can vary.
Stem. Stems will harden and take on a brown, woody appearance or detach from the vine all on their own.
Sound. Thump the pumpkin with a finger. If it sounds hollow, the pumpkin may be ready.
Fingernail test. Press a fingernail into the pumpkin’s skin. If it’s hard and resists puncturing, it’s ripe!

How to Harvest

Ideally, pumpkins should be harvested on a sunny day when the weather is dry.

To harvest, cut the fruit from the vine with a sharp knife or pair of pruners and leave about 3 to 4-inches of stem attached to each fruit. Handle pumpkins gently to reduce brusing and never carry them by their stems to avoid accidental falls.

Storage

Before storage, carving, or use, pumpkins should be cured by placing them in a protected, sunny spot for 10 days. During this time, temperatures should stay between 80º to 85ºF and humidity levels should hover around 80 to 85%. This process toughens pumpkin rinds so they store better, helps minor abraisions heal over, and intensifies pumpkin flavor.

After curing, store pumpkins in a cool, dry cellar or root cellar at 50º to 55ºF for 2 to 3 months. If you’re carving pumpkins, carve them no more than 3 days before Halloween or the pumpkin will begin to rot.

Check out this video for tips on curing and storing pumpkins.

Pests and Problems

Environmental factors like poor lighting, inclement weather, and reduced pollinator activity can result in poor fruit set and other issues. No matter what types of pumpkins you’re growing, here are some common problems to be on guard for and what to do about them.

Common Problems

Poor fruiting or flower drop may indicate pumpkin flowers aren’t being properly pollinated. Growing flowering companion plants and avoiding pesticides can naturally invite bees and other beneficial bugs in!
Blossom-end rot can produce sunken spots on the blossom end of developing fruit. This is usually caused by irregular watering, buy may also indicate pumpkins are craving extra calcium

Common Pests

Aphids are sap-sucking insects that can cause pumpkins to develop distorted leaves or coat plants with a sticky “honeydew” residue. Companion planting can naturally reduce aphid activity, while active infestations can be managed by spraying plants with your hose or regular applications of an organic insecticidal soap spray.
Cucumber beetles target plants in the Curcurbit family, and pumpkins are no exception. Installing row covers at the beginning of the season can help keep these wee, striped beetles from munching holes in pumpkin leaves, while hand-picking is the best way to reduce active problems.

Plant Diseases

Anthracnose is a fungal issue that causes spotting on pumpkin leaves and sunken lesions on fruit. The best way to control its spread is to destroy infected plants, purchase disease resistant varieties, and avoid overhead watering.
Powdery mildew and downy mildew are also caused by fungal spores and can cause spotting on pumpkin leaves or stunt pumpkin growth. Watering plants at the soil line and spacing pumpkins well apart should naturally reduce mildew issues, or you can preventatively spray plants with a mixture of 40% milk and 60% water.

Types

Pumpkins come in different sizes and colors and can be used for different purposes. Athough all pumpkins are technically edible, some are better for carving or display, while others are ideal for cooking. Knowing how you’d like to use pumpkins will help you select the very best varieties for your goals!

Miniature pumpkins like ‘Jack Be Little’ and ‘We-B-Little’ are great for ornamental use and small spaces. They’re also super productive and easy to grow.
Carving pumpkins like ‘Autumn Gold’ or ‘Merlin’ are the pumpkins you want for jack-o-lanterns.
Pie pumpkins like ‘Sugar Treat’ and ‘Peanut Pumpkin’ are prized for their sweet flesh and can be used for pies, soups, curries, and purees.

a green pumpkin turning orange on the vine — *Image: Arina P Habich/Shutterstock*

Vegetables

About The Author

Catherine Boeckmann

Executive Digital Editor and Master Gardener

Catherine Boeckmann loves nature, stargazing, and gardening so it’s not surprising that she and The Old Farmer’s Almanac found each other. She leads digital content for the Almanac website, and is also a certified master gardener in the state of Indiana.

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Comments

Add a Comment

Cathy Sun, 04/24/2022 - 20:30

The Rouge Vif D’Etampes pumpkin is a gorgeous shape and color, is delicious and a keeper! And has been around a long time.

Shawn Ashkenasy Sun, 10/10/2021 - 15:29

Second year into gardening. Last year I used a Max seed which produced a strong vine and flowered but no fruit. This year thanks to some great tips from this site and learning about the Jarrahale pumpkin I planed and am still harvesting the pumpkins. The Jarrahale seems to be a great pumpkin to eat and it is decorative. Question: my first last frost should be Jan 12 or 21 cannot remember. Could I plant the seeds for next year in January? Would is matter about frowning a larger pumpkin?

<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Tue, 10/26/2021 - 09:16

Glad too hear things are going so well for you, Shawna. Here's where you can get your first/last frost dates: https://www.almanac.com/gardening/frostdates

If indeed your LAST frost date—the one that ends the winter—is Jan 12 or 21, then you have a long growing season. If when the time comes you think that indeed there would not be any frosts after that date it would seem like you could plant. BUT, you have to remember that the dates are not absolutes; they are estimates based on historical weather patterns...and we all know that those can shift. To be on the safe side, since it appears that you do have a long season, you could start seeds indoors or simply wait a while, based to a certain extent on the growth period to maturity that the pumpkin needs (which appears to be about 100 days). Would an early start produce a larger squash? Hard to tell. One source suggests that the seeds produce pumpkins of 6 to 10 pounds. But it could depend on numerous factors, from weather to soil to water and more. And, no small matter, rotating your crops. Try to avoid growing your pumps in the same spot you grew them in this year. Hope this helps!

A Rockwell Sun, 10/10/2021 - 10:34

Thanks for your Pumpkin Growing info; I have seen Halloween Pumpkins which leave the dried curly tendril on a longer stem; I see them on mini pumpkins; I like the Orange Pumpkin w dry stems too; (don't pick a pumpkin up by the stem; the stem won't hold the pumpkin);

<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Tue, 10/26/2021 - 09:17

Thanks for your comments!

Mj Tue, 09/21/2021 - 10:40

When you say pumpkins should be fed regularly, what does that mean? Every day? Every week? Every month? Beginners need more direction... Also, you recommend compost, old manure, (how old?) nitrogen and phosphorus as fertilizers. Just compost and manure or just a commercial fertilizer with nitrogen and phosphorus, or all those components together? Beginners need to know. Thanks.

<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Mon, 09/27/2021 - 10:46

Hello, MJ, "Regular" usually means once per week (e.g., regular watering usually means once per week), but it can depend to a certain extent on what ferilizer product you use, Consult the packaging for guidance first. Old or aged manure standardly means at least a year old. Anything younger/newer could be too "hot" and burn the plant/s. See here for more in manure: https://www.almanac.com/what-best-manure-compost-gardens and search this site for "manure," too. Compost and aged manure combined is best; one or the other may be adequate depending on your overall situation (soil quality, etc., the best measure of which is a soil test; see https://www.almanac.com/how-take-soil-test and search "soil test" on this web site for more info). For more in nitrogen and phosphorus, see this page, which explains their presence in commercial fertilzers: https://www.almanac.com/content/npk-ratio-what-do-numbers-fertilizer-mean

We hope this helps.

Diane Smith Thu, 06/24/2021 - 14:03

I planted several varieties of pumpkins. One of them was rouge vif d’etampes. Another was the Atlantic giant and the crinkle family. My rouge pumpkins are getting huge. Is that because I planted them with the other pumpkins? They are huge and still yellow. With green spots. Did I do something wrong? Thank you, Diane

Melissa Wed, 10/14/2020 - 18:22

I have a kind of weird question! Is it possible to grow pumpkins, anywhere in the US, out of season? Perhaps fully in a greenhouse? I am working on a project that would need Halloween style carving pumpkins in May and June. I have searched all over the internet and have found little to no information. I have been laughed at by pumpkin farms I've called. If anyone has any ideas or info on if this is even possible, I would LOVE to hear it! Thank you!

<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Thu, 10/15/2020 - 11:42

It depends where you live. In warm-winter regions,you can sow pumpkin seeds in midwinter for harvest in early summer.

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How to Plant and Grow Pumpkins