# Does Anybody In here Grow PUmpkinS?



## colinsuds (Aug 20, 2005)

Hey All,

Just wondering as spring gets closer to us in the great white north the first sign of halloween hope for me is the growing of a suburban pumpkin . Anyway I usually just grow normal sized pumpkins but last year i tried out an atlantic giant and it go sorta big i mean it was at leas 200 lbs but that s not really alot.

Does Anyone else i n here grow there own pumpkins for Halloween?


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## colinsuds (Aug 20, 2005)

kryptonoff said:


> i want to try but when i wanna start growing i dont have access to seeds ...know of a comany ? and in october when i see pumkins everywhere i dont think of getting one and saving seeds so.........need to start right when weather gets warm right? dont you have to keep rolling pumpkins also so they stay kinda round? also what do you use to keep diease and pest at bay? didnt try to hijack your thread ive just been curious about this for awhile or yeah get rid of discolored pumpkins and bad ones ...how many can you get a vine? sorry i know lots of ?'s


(I'm assuming your talking about atlantic Giants but this advice wqorks for all of them.) If you are really serious about groweing atlantic Giants you can order seeds off the internet but if your like me and you are just experimenting Home Depot (haunters Dreaam Depot to me) offers some seeds they usually dont grow as big but thats ok for a first timer. Not sure where you live but in ottawa i satrt my sdeeds indoors around mid may. Just be careful with the transition from indoors to outdoors or else bad thing s happen. as fdor keeping them round...WHAT EVER YOU DO D NOT ROLDE YOUR [email protected]!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is what kills pumpkins !!!! DOing this can cause tension in the vine and break it. Even a small break can lead to desease!! Your worst enemy with all squash is the squash bettle luckily its to short a season hear in canada but ive never had problems witht them. The best thing you can do to make your pumpkins more rounf is to make sure you keep vine tension to a minimum. This means cutting off those twirly green things the grow around the vine that connects to your pumpkin as well as the secondary roots. Another good thing to do is only have one fruit on each plant and keep the main fruit on the primary vine or sometimes the seconfdary vine is ok 2. keep the fruit that grows at least a few meters away from your main root. lol if you want to e-mail me you can [email protected]


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## Vlad (Aug 2, 2005)

I used to Colin. There's just something special about carving one you grow yourself. I still have an uncarved pumpkin in storage that hasn't spoiled yet, now would be a good time to harvest the seeds, bury them in the compost heap, and let nature take it's course.


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## colinsuds (Aug 20, 2005)

kryptonoff said:


> well im gonna start inside also any ferts. i need to know about for seedlings ?or just water dont start ferts till later .....seed starter .....root ferts.for transplant etc ?oh yeah can i leave on vine till october ....b/c im just gonna give away to neighbors for halloween not as a treat ...will they rot or just keep growing?


Last year i expermented with different methods to make the seeds germinate or whatever it is called. ONe method that kind of speeds things up i guess but is kind of a no brainer for pumpkin growers is to soak the seeds for a while (day or 2) or you can take off the shell of the seed. This is kind of hard to do without breaking the part of the seed thats easiest to break and most important. There are tons of different thing you can do just google it. Also ive joined alot of pumpkin yahoo forums and stuff.

AS for leaving them on the vine depends where you live and stuff. I know last year we had alot of problems with teenagers (yes my own kind sniff sniff) and animals alike. usually the smell of the pumpkins keeps animals away but sometimes those animals will stop at nothing. The worst part of this is they only take a bite out of it and leave.
But when your talking about october its ok to do it when you want a nice crisp orange. But i like to take mine out of the yard and just onto the deck to get the fruit compltly orange from maturing off the vine in september. I do this beacause most of the time the part on the ground is still yellowish and could easily start to rot if you leave it untill october because of rain (well this is what happens in Canada anyway) Most farmers actually harvest their pumpkins in mid september anyway so your bound to get the same result no matter what

lol i hope that helped i may suck at prop building but i know my pumpkins


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## Zombie-F (Apr 12, 2004)

I grow, though I always wind up with powdery mildew on my plants. I do everything you're supposed to do to avoid it, yet it still grows.  I do usually wind up with fruit, though it's usually a little smallish due to the disease.


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## mrklaw (Nov 11, 2005)

I grow pumpkins too. We ended up with about 16 pie pumpkins last year. Zombie-F, do you water in the evening? I have heard that watering in the evening lets moisture stay on the pumpkin all night and leads to mildew. I water in the early morning now (love them automatic sprinkler systems).


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## Zombie-F (Apr 12, 2004)

I water first thing in the morning as well. I think the problem I'm having is in July/August, it's soooo humid out that when it rains, the rain stays on the leaves a lot longer and that may be contributing to it. I'd use a spray to kill it, but I'm not too keen on using chemicals. Though, I only grow enough to carve, so maybe I could use a spray. Stuff to think about.


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## colinsuds (Aug 20, 2005)

I htink everyone is screwed no matter what with the mildew especially with humid weather like you said ZF. But yah watering in the evening doesnt help. The best thing you can do is to just let the plant keep growing with infinate room that way your fruit is still gaining some nutrients. Alot of people when they are growing the big ones have a small tent structure that covers the fruit and where the stem is. 

Word to the wise the more fruit on the vine the smaller the fruit.

Another word to the wise lol (but only really a personal preference) dont let fruit start growing until you have atleast 100+ leaves or else your screwed (200+ if you want a big one). When you cut off a fruit or vine try and cover it with soil of some kind so that it can grow secondary roots instead of being susseptable to deseease.


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## colinsuds (Aug 20, 2005)

I have actually never heard of treated seeds but im assuming they have something to do with genetic motification which i am complelty against and alot of peopel in the pumpkin world are 2. Yah big max are my favorite variety they give you a nice sized pumpkin with a nice orange colour and strong skin. Usually what your everyday pumpkin varieties are.


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## Bone Dancer (Oct 7, 2005)

HGTV comes to unpleasant st. who knew


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## colinsuds (Aug 20, 2005)

What can I say it comes with the farmer roots. lol no punn intended...lol actually it was lol


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## Rocky (May 4, 2004)

I grew my own pumpkins once. I can't remember exactly when... maybe 10 years ago. I didn't have any problem whatsoever. I just watered them once in a while and I ended up with 40-50 nice pumpkins in September!! I gave some away, kept some for Halloween, and my mother cooked some nice pumpkin pies. mmm I love pumpkin pies!! :jol:


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## gmacted (Jan 18, 2006)

I have never grown the very large pumpkins, but here's my experieince with regular pumpkins. I take all the pumpkins I do not carve for Halloween and bury them in the ground (1 to 1 1/2 feet) before the ground freezes. In the spring, the ground thaws and the pumpkin plants start growing when they're ready. I have had very good success with this method. Here are the advanages. You don't have to worry about when to bring them outside. I figure mother nature will take care of that. The other bonus is that the rotting pumpkin will provide nourishment for the plant in the spring. The first year I used this method I got ~30 pumpkins from one plant. I had so many I started to give them away to my neighbors. The only bad thing about growing pumpkins is that you need a lot of space. My plants get so big that they start growing out into the road. Fortunately, I live on a "dead" end road.


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## Frighteners Entertainment (Jan 24, 2006)

From what I remember, if you want larger pumpkins, you need the proper seeds, usually hybrids, and you need to clip some of the pumpkins off the vines to let the other grow larger.

Jeff


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## colinsuds (Aug 20, 2005)

Frighteners Entertainment said:


> From what I remember, if you want larger pumpkins, you need the proper seeds, usually hybrids, and you need to clip some of the pumpkins off the vines to let the other grow larger.
> 
> Jeff


Well if you want the real big ones you have to go with a compleltyl different breed of pumpkins to get the ultimate squash! but you have to be REALLY careful with clipping vines because to many clipped vines that arnt being taken care properly can result in desease. I usually dont start clipping my giant ones until they started escaping from the yard by way of my fence in september. But the most important thing is deciding where you want to grow your giant pumpkn (best a good distance from the root starting point) and only allow one or maybe a second one (just in case) so that all nutrients are being delivered to the pumpkin.


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## Hella (Feb 6, 2006)

I have to say this has actually been a really informative thread, I think I might grow some this year, or more likely next year..lol


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## colinsuds (Aug 20, 2005)

YAY PUmpkins!!!!!! I really hope everyone who has room to grow these beautiful things does so right awaY!!!!!!!!!!!!! As soon as april somes around i hope everyone goes out to buy some seeds! (there not that expensive...well the water that i use to water them does add up sometimes )


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## HibLaGrande (Sep 25, 2005)

I don't want to sound like a total traitor, but the "Wimpnet Halloween" site has a very good tutorial on growing pumpkins. Me I just throw all my leftover pumpkin goo out back in the "garden" area and say "good bye and good luck" I got one pumpkin last year it was about the size of a coke can. LOL we have enough farms around here that have nice pumpkins that it really is not worth the time and yard space to grow our own. 

If you find a white pumpkin get it and roast the seeds. the seeds are larger,tatse better and the husks are soft and more edible. plus they look cool kind of a silky pearly white.


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## Frighteners Entertainment (Jan 24, 2006)

HibLaGrande said:


> I don't want to sound like a total traitor, but the "Wimpnet Halloween" site has a very good tutorial on growing pumpkins.


 You did! 

Jeff


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## colinsuds (Aug 20, 2005)

TRAITOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BURN HIM AT THE STAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
lol jk....hey FE have you seen any matches anywhere.....


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## Frighteners Entertainment (Jan 24, 2006)

colinsuds said:


> TRAITOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BURN HIM AT THE STAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
> lol jk....hey FE have you seen any matches anywhere.....


I think this time a tourch is needed. I want to make sure everything burns

Jeff


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## Zombie-F (Apr 12, 2004)

colinsuds said:


> TRAITOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BURN HIM AT THE STAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
> lol jk....hey FE have you seen any matches anywhere.....


Burning at the stake is too cruel a punishment... that's why I do stonings here.


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## Frighteners Entertainment (Jan 24, 2006)

I'll ship you a pallet of stones then! LOL
He who cast the first stone, be first!

Jeff


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## krypt (Oct 25, 2005)

the way i understood it is treated seeds used ferts. and non treated is organic ......


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## HibLaGrande (Sep 25, 2005)

Zombie-F said:


> Burning at the stake is too cruel a punishment... that's why I do stonings here.


Man I can really feel the love.

"I sat down and had a lovely dinner with my wife and all I said was that the halibut was good enough for Jehovah" ((!THUD!)) "OOWW!"


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## HibLaGrande (Sep 25, 2005)

Frighteners Entertainment said:


> You did!
> 
> Jeff


Well...THEY DOOOO!


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## Frighteners Entertainment (Jan 24, 2006)

HibLaGrande said:


> Man I can really feel the love.
> 
> "I sat down and had a lovely dinner with my wife and all I said was that the halibut was good enough for Jehovah" ((!THUD!)) "OOWW!"


Boy, I gotta say, I feel out of my chair!

Jeff

ps sorry about the "BIG" rock, I was just trying to make a point, didn't mean to give you one . LOL


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## krypt (Oct 25, 2005)

i started my seedlings yesterday i know i know tooooo soon. My ? is i keep hearing pick them in august how are the pumpkins still gonna be good in October?
and August is still a good growing month around here even into September. When do i pick i want lots of pumpkins for halloween.


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## morgan8586 (Aug 30, 2006)

depends on the weather conditions. Here in Ohio, I pick mine late Sept.


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## krypt (Oct 25, 2005)

progress : 6th day


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## Zombie-F (Apr 12, 2004)

krypt, where are you going to put them once they're too big for the pots? The vines will grow to be over 25 feet long and I imagine you probably live where it's too cold outside to plant them.

Harvesting in august depends on when you planted them. I plant mine later in the season so they are done in mid-to-late September. I believe (off the top of my head) the amount of time from seed to ripened fruit is 90 - 100 days.


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## krypt (Oct 25, 2005)

Zombie-F said:


> krypt, where are you going to put them once they're too big for the pots? The vines will grow to be over 25 feet long and I imagine you probably live where it's too cold outside to plant them.
> 
> Harvesting in august depends on when you planted them. I plant mine later in the season so they are done in mid-to-late September. I believe (off the top of my head) the amount of time from seed to ripened fruit is 90 - 100 days.


yeah indoors till June i have no idea i think i am going to prune a lot and use 5 gallon paint buckets only thing i can think of at the moment. The pumpkins im growing are 120 days trying to grow some 300 pounder calabaza's can i just keep trimming the vines till i plant in june?


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## krypt (Oct 25, 2005)

ooops calabaza is not english these are prize winner hybrids i believe calabaza means pumpkin lol


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## Zombie-F (Apr 12, 2004)

kryptonoff said:


> yeah indoors till June i have no idea i think i am going to prune a lot and use 5 gallon paint buckets only thing i can think of at the moment. The pumpkins im growing are 120 days trying to grow some 300 pounder calabaza's can i just keep trimming the vines till i plant in june?


I'd say probably not. The plant won't develop flowers that way. The plant needs to flower to develop fruit, and at that you need a method of pollinating the female flower with pollen from the male flower... unless of course you have bees in your house.

An important part of the growth process is the plants necessity to take in nutrients through it's secondary root system. These roots grow off of the main vine over the entire length of the vine, and I imagine trimming them will also hamper proper growth.

Basically, wait until the right time of year to grow. It's waaaaaay too early for this.


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## krypt (Oct 25, 2005)

Zombie-F said:


> I'd say probably not. The plant won't develop flowers that way. The plant needs to flower to develop fruit, and at that you need a method of pollinating the female flower with pollen from the male flower... unless of course you have bees in your house.
> 
> An important part of the growth process is the plants necessity to take in nutrients through it's secondary root system. These roots grow off of the main vine over the entire length of the vine, and I imagine trimming them will also hamper proper growth.
> 
> Basically, wait until the right time of year to grow. It's waaaaaay too early for this.


well on the pollinating thing i read that you can take the male flower and pollinate the female. Im gonna try the bigger pot thing and if it does not work thats ok i sure am learning a lot about growing pumpkins maybe the stunting growth would be a good thing so the vines dont take over my yard.


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## krypt (Oct 25, 2005)

well i have just been informed that April is not a bad time to plant around here so if they can hang on for 2 months and not act like they are on roid fertilizer i might just be ok.


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## NATUREPIXIE (Jan 15, 2007)

I have to black thumbs..lol I can't grow anything.....wish I could...


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## CerysCrow (Jan 22, 2007)

We tried to grow pumpkins one year and failed. We're at a new house now - maybe we'll try again.


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## Lauriebeast (Feb 27, 2007)

I love to grow 'em.....they grow fast and big and are so much fun to watch. Here it is, the end of Feb and I still have some of the pumpkins that I harvested last Sept. sittin on my back patio. I don't toss 'em till they start rottin. :jol: Here's a pic of my harvest


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## Zombie-F (Apr 12, 2004)

Lauriebeast said:


> I love to grow 'em.....they grow fast and big and are so much fun to watch. Here it is, the end of Feb and I still have some of the pumpkins that I harvested last Sept. sittin on my back patio. I don't toss 'em till they start rottin. :jol:


My goodness... the squirrels tore into mine way back in November! Once that happens, they rot away on me.

I hope I can grow my own this year. Last year we had such a rainy spring that the part of my yard I grow in was too "soupy" to harbor any kind of plant life other than weeds.


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