Getting Started Growing Great Pumpkins

 

Getting Started Growing Great Pumpkins

 

Whether you’re growing jack-o-lanterns, warty pumpkins or 500 pounders, here are some growing tips to get you started. Great soil is essential for growing your pumpkins. Get a soil test done by Colorado State University or do one yourself using a Soil Test Kit, then bring us the results so we may help you get your soil ready for growing pumpkins. Pumpkins thrive in rich soils that drain well, something you can achieve by adding organic material such as Sheep, Peat and Compost. Work in some humic acid and Fox Farm Fruit & Flower – a great fertilizer which also contains calcium, magnesium and Mycorrizah fungi to help make your pumpkin’s root system bigger. You can start your pumpkins from seed or you can choose plants that are started.

In the compact, lighter weight plants, we’ve got Orange Smoothie, Small Sugar Pie, Wee Bee Little and Windsor.

In mid-size (12-25 lbs) we’ve got Knucklehead and Jack-O-Lantern. For bigger pumpkins (up to 500 lbs), select Dill’s Atlantic Giant. Select a site that receives full sun. Pumpkin plants need 6-8 hours of sunlight a day.

Pumpkins like and need a lot of water, so dig a moat around each plant to help hold water. Be consistent with watering. You’ll want to water in the early morning and often enough to keep the soil moist. Keeping your soil moist is important, so check your plant daily.

Pumpkins have two kinds of flowers, male and female. The males appear first, usually in early July followed by the females. The female flowers have a tiny pumpkin at their base.

New bud and growth will show a few weeks later.

Pumpkin’s nutrient requirements change, as your pumpkin grows. For the first few weeks, your pumpkin will feed on the Fox Farm’s Fruit and Flower which you mixed into your soil before planting. 

After about 3 weeks, switch to a higher Nitrogen fertilizer such as Fox Farm Tomato and Vegetable Food to encourage your pumpkin to produce vine and leaf growth. About week 6 or 7, switch back to 5-10-5, and periodically add some Potash. We’ll talk more about fertilizing in future blogs.

What a great way to get the kids involved with gardening. Start now to get ready for our Giant Pumpkin Contest, which will be held Saturday October 11^th, 2014 and stay tuned for more tips on growing great pumpkins.