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.
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.
Comments
It could be that the little pumpkins aborted because they were not adequately pollinated. Cool or rainy weather will slow pollinators (was it cool during the day, too?), which can lead to inadequately pollinated flowers, and small, sometimes misshapen fruit that might drop off before they mature. Some more flowers might develop, in which case, you might try hand pollinating them (transferring pollen from the male flower to the female flower, which has a tiny bulge at its base). Also check the health of the plant--stress, insects, disease, extreme temperatures, not enough nutrients, too much or too little water, etc may cause developing fruit to drop off. The plant should recover from a brief burst of cold in the 50s/60s. When it dips to 40s and 30s, it will affect the plant, slowing it down and stunting growth. When you expect cold weather overnight, provide row covers or blankets during the evening to help keep their environment a little warmer.
The short answer is: Don't fool with them! We really don't advise moving pumpkins at this late stage. Pumpkins do not like to be cultivated and are quite sensitive to any interaction.
You've already got your pumpkins off to a good start by applying higher concentrations of Nitrogen (but not too much) in the early growth stage. Before starting fertilizer, I hope your soil was prepared with generous amounts of organic matter such as manure and compost as pumpkins are big feeders.
Switch to a formula higher in phosphorus when the flowers appear--and through the flowering and fruit stage--such as 5-10-5 or 5-15-5.
After fruit set, you can add more potassium for fruit growth. Either switch to a higher potassium formula or just supplement your 5-10-5 or 5-15-5 with extra potassium.
If the pumpkin is growing well leave it in the raised bed. We suggest that you move the hot pepper plant to a different location. The big pumpkin leaves would shade it too much.
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Congrats. Your pumpkins are off to a good start. Pumpkins, once they get going, can not be disturbed or cultivated. You can't move them. Once you dig them up, they are where they are.