Pumpkin Growing Competition

Pickup your free pumpkin plant from Cedar Croft Nurseries now!

Its time for a little bit of friendly competition amongst friends, family and neighbours with our fantastic pumpkin growing competition. The heaviest pumpkin at the time of weigh in on Sunday 31st October will be this years "Champion of the Pumpkin Patch". The competition is open to everyone and so why not tell your friends and family for a bit of friendly competition. Win the bragging rights and better still, our widely acclaimed pumpkin cup' for your trophy cabinet.

Some basic facts about growing pumpkins

Pumpkins belong to the gourd family, which also includes marrows, courgettes and squashes. Most varieties grow very large and have trailing vines along which the fruit grows. They are not hardy and need a lot of sunshine and a lot of water to stay healthy and produce a decent crop. For most families, one or two plants will be more than adequate.

Pumpkins need protection from high winds, a sheltered warm spot is the best place to grow them, either allowing plenty of space for the vines to grow or providing some form of trellising and training them along it as they grow. Some people also use twine to train the vines into spirals, which not only takes up less space, but also looks pretty!

Pumpkins like:

• hot summers and lots of space
• lots of sunshine - choose a sunny spot but keep them well watered. Pumpkins get VERY thirsty!
• fertile, well-manured and humus rich soil with regular nitrogen feeds,
• nasturtiums and borage.

Pumpkins dislike:

• frost and cold, don't even try planting them before the frosts are way back in the past,
• limited root space - they have roots which go down deep,
• being planted too close together or near plants from the same family,
• calcified seaweed or lime.

Growing Advice- Getting Started

This fun vegetable requires a sizeable patch to grow in your garden. Technically, pumpkin is a fruit, although, it is most commonly referred to as a vegetable. It's vines can reach 20 feet in length (or more!). To grow huge pumpkins you need to start with the right seed. The plants we are supplying are appropriately called "100 weight" which are one of the largest pumpkin varieties you can grow. In April or May or as soon as the first true pumpkin leaf is expanded (the first two leaves are seed leaves, the first true leaf follows these) the pumpkin should be potted on into a much larger pot, which needs to be kept indoors until the start of June. If you have any problems, contact us straight away for some help.

The Perfect Home

Although you will not be planting your pumpkin out until June, you should try and get the bed ready for it as soon as you can. Pumpkins love hours of glorious sun with their roots wriggling with delight in well drained soil, rich with the finest manure. They hate, damp boggy soil and long hours of shade, so it's important to find the perfect spot to grow your pumpkin. Once you've found the right spot, you need to prepare it. This involves digging over the bed and working plenty of well rotted manure or compost into the soil. Pumpkins take up a lot of room, and will need to be planted about 1.5 to 1.8 metres apart so make sure you have enough room. Remember to make sure you wash your hands after digging in the garden or using manure.

Planting Out

The pumpkin plants should be ready to transplant into the garden after the last frost (late May or early June), but they should be ‘hardened-off’ first. To do this the pots can be covered with cloches outside. The pumpkins should be planted about 1.5 to 1.8 metres apart and watered in gently.

Watering & Feeding
Pumpkins are also very thirsty plants and during their growing season, should be watered daily. They will need up to 11 litres of water a week.

Pollination & Thinning
Pumpkins have male and female flowers. With luck they will both be in flower at the same time and as the bees and other insects move from flower to flower they will pollinate your pumpkin. At this time you need to look at your plants regularly. To grow large pumpkins, you should only allow two or three pumpkins to develop on each plant. Remove surplus fruits while still small. This means the plant will put all its energy into growing just a few really large pumpkins.

Harvesting (October)

Pumpkins are ready for harvesting when the stems start to dry and the skins harden. They should be carefully cut with a sharp knife, leaving as long a stalk as possible.