# 2012 Pumpkin Growers Thread



## Hauntiholik (May 17, 2006)

I know it's only the 2nd day of spring but it's been such a warm winter maybe some of you are planning early.

Post your progress and pumpkin pics. Grow 'em if you got 'em!


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## Joiseygal (Sep 3, 2008)

I've tried the past couple of years, but no luck! I always enjoy checking this thread and seeing the progress of how other haunter's pumpkins come along.  Good Luck to all you pumpkin growers!


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## MapThePlanet (Nov 12, 2010)

Have got some started in pots.....Waiting.....Hoping.....


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## Blackrose1978 (Aug 13, 2011)

I started 6 seeds in January but only one plant spawned. I have very limited space since I moved into town but I am determined to have pumpkins this year!!


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## Halloween_Anna (Dec 13, 2011)

Last year I planted 2 packs of seeds, and got 2 vines, but only one usable pumpkin. Obviously the directions on the package are not complete. Anyone here know how to grow them?


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

What we often saw when growing pumpkins in our yard was that, even though more than one flower would start to generate a fruit, the first fruit to get ahead in size usually was the only one to survive on the vine. Anything else that had started would stop growing and rot off. I suspect there is an inhibition mechanism, at least with the big varieties of pumpkin - ensures no competition for water and nutrients.


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## Halloween_Anna (Dec 13, 2011)

just got 4 packs of seeds from Home Depot, different kinds - even one from Martha, and then if freezes here! I did view last year's thread on this, and noticed maybe I want to wait until later in the year so I don't have them too early. 

One place I bought them one year shared that the way they preserve them at garden shops for so long is they wipe them down with a bleach solution every few days to keep away the mold.


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## Ms. Wicked (Nov 14, 2006)

Sadly, I will not be growing pumpkins this year but for a good reason. The house is on the market. Next, yer.


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## tuck (Oct 27, 2007)

I did not plant any pumpkins this year either. I had to redo the entire garden area and finally got some tomatoes and cucumbers in. Next year I'll make some room for them. They just get sooooooo long. I have to run the vines behind my trellises!


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## Troll Wizard (May 3, 2012)

I haven't grown any pumpkins since my kids have gotten older. It's much easier to purchase them and a lot funner to go to a local pumpkin patch, they are a dime a dozen around where I live. Plus the fact with all the activities they do it makes it much more exciting than to just sell pumpkins anymore. We still go out as a family and everyone still gets their own pumpkin to decorate!


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## Ramonadona (Nov 4, 2011)

My husband is the vegetable garden man, and this year he made sure there was ample area for some pumpkins. Got about 16 plants coming up and hoping that at least 3 or 4 produce. Keeping my fingers crossed as we haven't had much luck in the past. The year before last however, I threw the old rotten pumpkins in the compost area and a vine took off and got about 3 little pumpkins off of it. LOL. Was an added surprise!


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## Blackrose1978 (Aug 13, 2011)

I've had a bit of interesting time this year. Out of my 6 seeds I planted in January in the house only one came up. When It came time to move seedlings outside it was looking like death warmed over, even worse so when It was finally transplanted into the garden. So I decided when green house hopping I would pick up another pumpkin plant just in case. Well now the new pumpkin plant had done nothing but stay the same size as the day I bought it(has not withered either) but my home grown seedling has taking off!! I now had teeny tiny pumpkins on the vine!!


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## highbury (Nov 5, 2009)

My pumpkin plants all got the rot and withered last year, but I just put 6 new plants in for 2012. Looking strong so far. Fingers crossed!!


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## Rdnek86 (Jun 18, 2012)

I had similar rotting problems last year with my pumpkins, planted over an acre of pumpkins and gourds, I had hundreds of gourds and about 3 pumpkins :/.


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## Troll Wizard (May 3, 2012)

So was it my imagination, but wasn't there talk of a pumpkin shortage last year? And didn't the prices of pumpkins go up? Has anyone heard if that is going to happen again this year?


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## TheOneAndOnlyKelly (May 7, 2009)

For the first time after 3 years of trying, I have at least 1 baby in my pumpkin patch. Will post a pix like a proud papa soon!


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## austenandrews (Aug 22, 2010)

We had great success with our first pumpkin patch last year. Definitely doing it again. I was (pleasantly) surprised last year when passersby would send their kids into the patch, which is next to the sidewalk, to take pictures. So this year we're laying out a brick path so they can do it more easily and not risk tromping over the other plants.

My wife wants to try training vines up the privacy fence and building shelves under the pumpkins.


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## Blackrose1978 (Aug 13, 2011)

I lost one of my pumpkin plants and the other one is not looking so good.


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## hope369 (Sep 16, 2009)

*Pumpkin plants - Big Max*

We planted 24 seeds (big max seeds 100lb pumpkins) & 22 plants popped up!!! We have only had small successes with past plantings with a the variety of different seeds. This year after a little bit of research we found the seeds should be planted in groups, in a soil mound to allow for cross pollination otherwise the plants will grow but not produce pumpkins. We will thin at least half of the plants out to give the roots room to grow. Normally I carve 3 - 35-40lbs pumpkins but this year I wanted to go larger and have several more to use. We'll have to see what grows and what the neighborhood animals get to first between now and harvest time.


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## highbury (Nov 5, 2009)

It looks like my plants are getting powdery mildew again this year (white splotches on the leaves, starting at the base). I read about using a 40/60 mix of whole milk and water and spraying it on the leaves every seven days (don't want to use any chemicals, as they are in with the rest of my garden veggies), so we'll see if this works. Fingers crossed...


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## Horror Roots Productions (Jul 8, 2012)

Is it too late to start pumpkins? I finally have a bit of room that we can use for a garden and would like to grow our own pumpkins to carve... were in san diego and our summers last til nearly october.


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

HRP, most varieties of pumpkin take 4-7 days to sprout and about 120 days from germination of seed to final product. Giant varieties need up to 150 days. Pumpkins of any type generally need a lot of space for the vines since they can run several feet in length. If you're going to go for this, you'll likely be best off with a smaller variety, and the seeds will need to get planted now.


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## Blackrose1978 (Aug 13, 2011)

My poor pumpkins!! None survived!!! Between the high heat and over crowding they just didn't make it.


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## mysterymaiden (Aug 7, 2011)

I have always wanted to, and I think this year may be the year. When is the best time to start them?


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

^You are probably too late to start this year unless you can find a variety that will mature in 90 days or less. Typically the time to start the seeds, assuming you start them outdoors, is after all danger of frost is past for your area. Count back about 120-150 days from the time you want to have fully grown pumpkins, add about a week for germination, and that will give you an approximate date for planting.


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## TheOneAndOnlyKelly (May 7, 2009)

I only got one little baby so far, but she's already starting to turn orange... I'm so proud!


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

Awww, she's cute, Rob


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## QDance (Aug 16, 2011)

Sigh. I was very excited to see a female flower last week ready to open. But due to the rain, the flower never opened and the pumpkin fell right off. Oh well, just takes patience.


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## nixie (Sep 17, 2008)

I'm trying Jack-Be-Littles this year. Lots of buds, hoping for the best!!


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## austenandrews (Aug 22, 2010)

Our pumpkins aren't looking so hot right now. Our pie pumpkins went nuts last year so we planted mostly those. Most of our seedlings have died since we planted them into mounds. I'm not confident about the rest. We've also got a bunch of bigger JOL pumpkin plants, which aren't dying but aren't thriving.

Last year it was much hotter and dryer than this year, so we're not entirely sure what's going wrong this time out.


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## Spooky1 (Aug 25, 2008)

I have a mystery plant growing in one of our front beds. It's either a pumpkin or a squash of some kind. Lots of flowers and I just saw the first sign of a fruit today. I guess I'll find out what it is soon. There was nothing planted anywhere near that spot, so a squirrel must have planted it for us.


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## TheOneAndOnlyKelly (May 7, 2009)

My baby is fully orange now, but not much bigger. And she has maybe three little siblings. Any hints on how to fatten my girl up?


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## jackg (Aug 18, 2012)

*Pumpkins, OH yes!!!*

Hey, I stated with a semi-grown pumpkin jol plant "starter", AND...
BAM! The pumpkin vines are in FULL bloom.. Can't wait to pick!


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## Haunted Spider (Sep 6, 2010)

Huh, I didn't realize so many here tried to plant pumpkins. I decided this year I would try to plant them as well. I started 5 seeds a little later than I wanted in a little planter cup along with 5 seeds from acorn squash. I got 3 plants out of the mix, 2 in one and 1 in the other but I don't know which is which. I transfered them to a garden bed not expecting much as we hadn't tilled it or anything. Apparently it was designed for this kind of plant. They took off and became massive, stretching out leaves 20 feet by 10 feet. So far I have gotten 3 full acorn squash, twice as big as a store one, and there are several more there with it. And I have a pumpkin, that is about the size of a volleyball right now. Many more little guys started too. I will have to get a picture up of the pumpkin but right now I have one of the acorn squash.


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## debbie5 (Mar 2, 2007)

I set out glue traps to catch the chipmunk who was nibbling my beans. he is NOT nibbling my pumpkins! I have 4 pumpkins now, one is too big for its britches: they are supposed to be 10-12 lb JOL's...this one is as wide as my desk! I'm bummed cuz it loks like they are going to mature at the end of September.


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## Haunted Spider (Sep 6, 2010)

Come on Debbie, We need a picture of the desk sized pumpkin


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

Here is the pumpkin plant we didn't plant ourselves


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## Haunted Spider (Sep 6, 2010)

So we have several pumpkins going now. I have 1 that is carving sized but still green and 2 that are trying their best to grow but something is hungry. It is slowly eating them alive. I will find it and kill it


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## Spooky1 (Aug 25, 2008)

Spiderclimber said:


> So we have several pumpkins going now. I have 1 that is carving sized but still green and 2 that are trying their best to grow but something is hungry. It is slowly eating them alive. I will find it and kill it


That looks either ground hog or bunny damage. I've had ground hogs chewing on my pumpkins in the past.


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

Put some chicken wire around your babies, Spider. We've had to do that when growing pumpkins in a yard visited by rabbits and groundhogs.


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## Haunted Spider (Sep 6, 2010)

I am going to have to. The damage is already done on this one. The big one will be protected soon. I do have a live trap out for the sucker and I will find him, hopefully before he kills another one.


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

You know, it's not a total loss. You could always incorporate the bite marks into the carving - add some dripping pumpkin blood and tell people it's a zombie pumpkin or something


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## GrimmEverafter (Feb 2, 2011)

My family planted a bunch of JOL, some of those white pumpkins, and a few Big Max's this year. Unfortunately, only two of the Big Max's survived out of all the pumpkins in one patch (damn persistent bugs ate them before they flowered, regardless of what we did), and one of them already has a watermelon-sized pumpkin on it. I'm aiming for as big as they will grow, because the bigger the pumpkin, the more guts to work with for a vomiting pumpkin face. We have a few smaller ones, but we can't tell if they are growing anything yet. They snuck into our tomato patch, which for some reason is growing out of control and making it hard to pick tomatoes, much less pumpkins!


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## Mr Rhee (Sep 1, 2012)

Hey folks. I'm new around these parts, came across this thread and thought I'd share my pumpkin story.

A friend gave me some leftover pumpkins in May and told me if I busted them open and threw them on the ground that they would grow. I didn't believe her so I did it and they grew... way out of control. I don't have much room so I started yanking vines out and doing research on the best way to grow pumpkins. Figured if I'm gonna do all the work I'd better get something for my effort. 

I transplanted some of the newer sprouts to mounds and built a trellis to allow the vines to grow vertically. Those pumpkins I busted open must have been on steroids! I was still pulling new sprouts a month later. Eventually the vines started climbing and I had the bug. 

I ran irrigation, threw up another trellis and planted sugar pie pumpkins, bought a package of 'Big Max' and planted a mound on the ground, also one mound of heirloom Cinderella pumpkins on the ground. I staggered the planting times and tried different methods since I never did this before and didn't know how fast they would grow. Fast it turns out. One month till the Hallowseason and I have a pile of pumpkins in my living room. Coolest place I could think of to store them. 

The experiment turned out well. So far I have one 'Big Max' that clocked in at 78 lbs, half a dozen of the sugar pie variety... gonna be lots of pumpkin pies and pumpkin butter in the house this year... and a bunch of near 20 pounders from the main trellis. The only problem with the trellis was I didn't know those would grow so big. The pumpkins I broke open were relatively small and that was what I was expecting. I was able to shore it up so it made it through. 

The Cinderella pumpkins, which I planted last, are still on the vines along with some of the late bloomers of the other varieties. Last weekend I culled all the ripe pumpkins and cut all the dead leaves and vines back. I'm hoping to get another round before Halloween. I still have plenty of new growth where the vines re-rooted and lots of male flowers but I'm not seeing many female flowers. 

I didn't have much problem with bugs. Lots of those little fruit flies or gnats or whatever they are. Don't know what effect they have on the flowers? I live in the city so no critters to worry about. Started getting the powdery mildew when the humidity went up but I made my own organic fungicide and that worked well. Ended up with a few squashkins because we planted everything so close together. I should have made the trellis about two feet narrower so the vines could make it back to the ground and re-root. Only one of them did so and I got two more pumpkins off of it. 

Things that worked? The trellis idea and using a slightly stretchy fabric to tie up the stems to keep the pumpkins from falling. Drip irrigation and soaker hoses worked awesome! Lots of flowers around the yard to bring in bees for pollination. I still did some by hand. The flowers also brought lady bugs and butterflies. Birdseed brought in birds. Basically, anything to eat the pests and slugs. 

Next year? I'll start at least a month later. Need to figure out something else to use one the trellis so the pumpkins don't get so scarred rubbing against the wire. I'll actually prepare the soil. Only thing I did this year was add some worm castings to break up the hard soil. I'm thinking of spreading some seeds down by the river next year, in areas were people don't tread. See what pops up. Maybe I'll go down in history as some sort of Johnny Pumpkinseed? 

Here are a few pics. Click on them to go to an album with some more. If you sort by oldest first some of them will be out of order. I didn't catch that the date was wrong on my camera. The Sam figurine in the pictures is 5½" tall, as a reference to the size of the pumpkins.



My haul so far. Still have a few that aren't ripe yet.


​


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## Haunted Spider (Sep 6, 2010)

very nice pumpkins there. I have never seen growing pumpkins elevated like you do. Also, what did you use as a recipe to get rid of the powdery mildew. The website had several suggestions. I am just curious what worked for you.


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## Copchick (Apr 10, 2012)

Wow! Those are some nice looking gourds you have there!


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## Spooky1 (Aug 25, 2008)

The latest for our volunteer pumpkin. Almost 12 inches tall so far.


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## Mr Rhee (Sep 1, 2012)

Spiderclimber said:


> very nice pumpkins there. I have never seen growing pumpkins elevated like you do. Also, what did you use as a recipe to get rid of the powdery mildew. The website had several suggestions. I am just curious what worked for you.


This was my first attempt at growing pumpkins and I didn't have much room. I'd seen enough pictures of pumpkins growing in unusual places so I thought why not.

For the fungicide, I did 3 tablespoons of baking soda, a couple of drops of organic olive oil, and a couple drops of liquid soap to a gallon of water. Make sure the soap is environmentally friendly, doesn't contain detergents, degreasers, skin moisturizers or other synthetic chemicals. I think I'm using Ivory liquid soap.

I suggest adding the water to the sprayer first, then adding the ingredients. Shake it up well before pumping the handle. If you add the water afterwards the mix tends to overflow the container... a lot!


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## scarrycher (May 30, 2012)

I had several flowers last year but none took, so the next time and every time after that when I saw a female flower I took a Qtip and took the pollen from the males and rubbed it inside the female..had pumpkins every where..problum was the package said to plant in june so by sept they had rotted...it is hot here so I will plant some this weekend, first week in sept..they may not get huge but at least the vine wont die from the heat and should have some jol's by end of oct


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## Mr Rhee (Sep 1, 2012)

I decided to throw in some more seeds a couple of days ago as well. I really wanted a pumpkin patch for our pumpkin carving party and most of my vines are dead. The 'jack-o-lantern' vines I planted a couple months ago are doing well so I used the rest of those seeds.

I actually got a female bloom on my 'Big Max' vine so I pollinated that from the available male blooms. Don't know if it will develop because I only have about a six foot section of healthy leaves and I cracked the main vine when I moved it over to the where the drip line is. Sure would like to get another giant pumpkin before the big day.


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## Spooky1 (Aug 25, 2008)

Mr Rhee, that's a nice job with the pumpkin trellis. Since the pumpkins aren't touching the ground did they have rounded bottoms or are they flat enough to sit upright on a hard surface?


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## Saturday8pm (Sep 5, 2012)

Reading this thread yields good information ... THANKS!

1) Plant seeds in groups to ensure pollination

2) Organic fungicide


Our main prob is plenty o' flowers, no fruit. Will be more liberal with plantings next time. Catch that black fungus before it takes root.


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## Fester (Sep 17, 2006)

If anybody us fighting with Squash Bugs (as I always am) I came across a good tip the other day on removing the eggs from the leaves. Use a piece of duct tape to pull them off without damaging the leaves. Just throw the used tape in the trash after. Works great so far.


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## Saturday8pm (Sep 5, 2012)

Anybody use Dr Brommer's Peppermint Soap to control critters? It works on certain beetle larva, caterpillars, but dunno 'bout squash eaters.


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## Spooky1 (Aug 25, 2008)

Here's the one pumpkin I got from our volunteer plant.


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## Mr Rhee (Sep 1, 2012)

Spooky1 said:


> Mr Rhee, that's a nice job with the pumpkin trellis. Since the pumpkins aren't touching the ground did they have rounded bottoms or are they flat enough to sit upright on a hard surface?


Yeah, the trellis worked out well. Allowed me to grow a bunch of vines in a small place. It ended up yielding 9 pumpkins, all around 20 lbs, and they were mostly perfectly shaped with flat bottoms. A few came out long and tall. I think those got crossbred with the squash. I was calling them squashkins.

Only problem I had was that I used metal wire mesh for the vines to grab onto and when the pumpkins started growing they rubbed against it and got a bit of scarring.

I planted more seeds last week and now have more sprouts at the trellis. I'm hoping it's once again covered with vines in time for our carving party next month. Don't know what I'll do with any pumpkins I get from those since it'll be after the big day. Pumpkin chucking?

The giant pumpkin I pollinated last week died off. Just not enough support from the remaining vine. Got 3 baby pumpkins on the other vines though! Those 'Jack O Lantern' variety vines are hardy as heck.


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## Saturday8pm (Sep 5, 2012)

I'm in New England ... think it's worth trying once more in time for Halloween?


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## austenandrews (Aug 22, 2010)

Our original seedlings all died. We mixed some native dirt into the mounds, on the theory that we used too much compost, and planted seeds again. We've got fresh seedlings now. But I have my doubts they'll be much to look at in time for Halloween.

We do have a volunteer zucchini that's going absolutely crazy, though. It looks like a pumpkin vine, so I can fool myself at a glance.


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## debbie5 (Mar 2, 2007)

I had a great year using PlantTone at doubled the amount you are supposed to apply. VERY dry summer, but I watered once, if not twice a day. Had many stolen, but 3 more will ripen in time...one is a nice size for carving, the others will be bwoling ball sized or smaller. This was my 1st time growing pumpkins and I found it very rewarding, as they grow SO fast. It's like having children you tend to each day. 

I used an organic spray from Target for the squash beetles..it was by..umm...I cant remember..I think it was Ortho. Every time I have tried to control bugs using soap or garlic oils, it burns the plants enough that they lose several weeks of growing and fall behind schedule. I won't use soaps again. I use my fingernail on the eggs. I grew my cucurbits in a community garden, and soon realized that my fight against the bugs was fruitless, as no one else was controlling the bugs except me...so their bugs were coming over to my plants. The varieties I used were strong enough to with stand some chewing, so it was all right.


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## austenandrews (Aug 22, 2010)

Heh, so I am a lame gardener and happy to be so. Turns out the "zucchini vine that looks like a pumpkin vine" is, in fact, a pumpkin vine. I'm not sure what kind, because the baby gourds were long and narrow like zucchini, and we didn't have any that looked like that last year. But there are at least two now that look like green, striped tailor's hams. Looks like our Halloween patch won't be entirely bare this year.


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## LittleBlueBMW (Nov 4, 2010)

So I am going to try this for next season. I invested in some great pumpkins from the area I ride in. I was hoping to germinate the seeds from them and grow on the patio above the garage since we do not use the space. I planned on using some earth boxes to see if it would work. Will me general plan give me a shot? Also what is a good online reference for growing pumpkins from scratch?


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## [email protected] (Aug 25, 2012)

This thread is really tempting me to grow pumpkins. I love planting things and working in the yard (mainly flowers), but I've been hesitant to introduce pumpkins because I'm afraid they'll run amok and take over. My yard is very small, so the vines would need to behave and play nice with the other plants. Is this a valid concern, or am I depriving myself of all the pumpkin excitement for no reason?


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

Stari, pumpkin vines get very long - expect anything from 15 to 30 feet or more in length, depending on the variety. One way to save space is to direct them into a coil. They also put out tendrils that will curl around and attach to anything handy, including other plants.

When we've grown plants from seed, we started with a half dozen seeds (give or take) in pots, then culled down to the two or three healthiest looking seedlings for transplanting into the garden.

LBB, you can Google "growing pumpkins" and find many a reference. You'll also find more than one recommended way to grow them - some folks plant in mounds, some start seeds in containers and then transplant them (with and without mounds). One thing they do need once the fruits start appearing is frequent watering and feeding, especially if they're one of the larger varieties. Also don't be surprised if you only get one pumpkin per vine. Someohow once one gets a head start, any others on the vine tend to die off.

Having said that, the one pumpkin we have this year came from a volunteer plant that showed up in a front flowerbed at our house. It got watered and was pretty much left alone, and we got a nice little pumpkin for almost no effort


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## [email protected] (Aug 25, 2012)

Thanks for the feedback Roxy. My little backyard is probably not the place for a pumpkin patch. Too many other plants competing for the tiny spoonful of dirt back there. When I make my next million, remind me to buy a bigger piece of property.


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## LittleBlueBMW (Nov 4, 2010)

good info!


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