Topic: Confused about how to grow Pumpkins?

[gunnerbee]

Hi all, The year before last i grew some nice pumpkins, About football size and bigger, The children were overjoyed. Then last year i grew some and nothing happened only i plant gave me a tennis ball size fruit, load of rubbish and i felt i was a failiure, i grew them on a different area of my veg patch and didnt do anything particularly different in fact i probably looked after last years crop better!!!.
I must be doing something wrong?
also i dont understand about taking off certain growing tips etc, as i done this last year and the year before, and new ones grew??

Id appreciate a good bit of advice now for this year so i can grow a good crop,
Thanks in advance for any answers. Sarah.

[Doris_Pinks]

Sarah, they are very hungry and thirsty plants!  I dig a pocket of soil out and fill it with well rotted manure, then plant the pumpkin on top. Lots of other people grow them in their compost heaps, which is not an option for me as mine is always in use!

Make sure they have plenty of water during the growing season too.

I never bother to nip of any growing tips, being a lazy sort of person, but I am sure there are those out there that can give you advise on that, some remove fruits to encourage one large pumpkin, but I never have the heart to do it!

Hope this helps
Dottie P.

[supernan]

 :) Plenty of manure under soil and mushroom compost on top of soil to keep in moisture. Water daily in the evening. Then just sit back and watch them grow. Last year mine went over the neighbours fence, up the runner bean poles and up the sunflowers.

[Mrs Ava]

Pretty much agree with Dottie and Supernan, but just to add, I don't give mine any extra water other than a good soaking when I first plant them.  I have no onsite piped water and am far to lazy to trek from one plot to the other with watering can after watering can!  I plant mine in amongst my sweetcorn which shades them probably helping to keep the moisture there. I also don't pinch anything out, just plant them in a pile of hot horsey poo and leave them up to mother nature. 

[wardy]

I too have a long trek for water, and my wheelbarrow tyre has burst, so s o d
the watering.  Good tip about growing them with the sweetcorn EG  Ta  :)
Mine are going in poo too  ;D

[Andy H]

I am gonna try feeding mine with everything this year and plenty of water. Last years was on compo heap and was 80lb

This year in plot with loads of seaweed in soil and chicken pellets and the other one I am gonna plant tomorrow, I am going to dig big hole and put fresh manure in it and cover with soil(for heat I hope) and mulch with loads of grass when I borrow a mower and mow between all the plots :o and round the "old girls" plot(bless `em(93)) :o Interesting to see which one is best this year,gonna try training and pinching etc....... :-X

[MrsFrog]

Can I post a pumpkin site address here? My children organised a pumpkin growing competition last year with all the other kiddies in our close, and to get some tips I googled and found a great site, its www.bigpumpkins.com, hope this helps!

[wardy]

Andy H    I've got that Allotment DVD which shows a grower of huge pumpkins covering his with fleece to keep them warm.  He says they don't like it cold  :)

[Andy H]

Is that the fruit or whole thing?

Have seen them shading the fruit as in MrsFrogs link above.

Think I am too early again but have one more in pot to go out at some point.

[Doris_Pinks]

Cripes Mrs frog, if I grew them that size it would feed the family Pinks for a year! (Plus I would have to hire a forklift to get it home! ;D)

[Andy H]

Personally I don`t like to grow them that big because it is bad for my back when I have to move them :-\

[Doris_Pinks]

Last year had to roll mine to the car!! Was a performance to get it in the backseat, but then thats why I have an OH! ;D

[Andy H]

 :) Last year we entered ours in local competition and OH had to ask mate to help shift from car etc cos...oh dear! I was busy that day... had to go scuba diving :D
So couldn`t make it that day! :-X

[wardy]

Andy   they cover the fruits to keep them warm (if it gets cold) and also it keeps the flesh pale, eg stops the cream coloured varieties cream and stops them turning yellow which they lose marks for in shows  :)

[Andy H]

Does it stop the ripening proccess and skin hardening???
Therefore,maybe the fruit grows longer? Or am I completely off course as usual!!! :P

[the_snail]

Tip get a fresh muck heap while it is rotting down make a planting pocket at the top. Put a pumpkin in that planting pocket and leave it! You will have the best pumpkins on ya site :D and good muck the next year :D

PS if ya feed them then it will be like the day of the triffids :D

[wardy]

Andy   you are barking up the right fish there mate.  May your pumpkins always be big uns  ;D