Pumpkins in the East Midlands

[Bloaterfish]

Hello, I was wondering if anyone has had any success growing pumpkins outside in the East Midlands? Am I being too optimistic in thinking they can grow in the not so clement weather we have here or do they only thrive in the greenhouse? Many thanks in advance. [/b]

[lizzie]

Hi Bloaterfish.

I'm in the North West and there's no problems growing them here. One of the blokes on the lottie does giant pumpkins in the region of half a ton in weight grown outside!!!

Start them off inside, plant out when all danger of frost has gone. They like loads and loads of manure, lots of feeding and watering.

That's as much as I know about them but I'm sure Peter of some of the others can help you further.

[mandylew]

yep, Grow fine here on the north east coast, have just sown mine in pots this week, in the propogator, will transfer to greenhouse asap and plant out in June.

Mandy

[Tigger]

Grow well (too well) here in Shropshire. Can't give them away in the autumn but still fall for them in the spring!! Pumpkin pie in a few months time anyone?????

[Chez]

Hello Bloaterfish - we are in Leicestershire (about 8 miles NE of Leicester) and have had great success with our pumpkins too.

Last year we grew Crown Prince and Halloween. Average of 3 pumpkins/plant, with an average weight of 3-3.5kg each. We are only interested in pumpkins with good flavour for culinary purposes, so are dispensing with Halloween (tasteless) this year and have others try instead. Much like Lizzie says, we start on in an unheated greenhouse, then into the ground with lots of manure. We don't feed them any extra after that, but do give them lots of water. We had the same problem as Tigger, with a surplus of pumpkins too. To help decide how many to plant, check each variety's storing qualities. Incidentally, CP stores extremely well. It was just starting to turn and was cooked up only two weeks ago. Still with great flavour too (but then I'm a real CP advocate) Ahem... I digress.

My final comment would be there is little advantage in sowing too early. Ours were planted on 26 May last year. This year, we are planting next weekend. Do let us know how you get on.

[Johnboy]

Hi Chez,
Can I please clarify with you that by planting out you mean the young plant and not the sowing of the seed.

[Chez]

Aha, yes that's what I meant. We 'sowed' on 26 May last year not planted out. That last sentence should also read 'sowing', not 'planting', i.e we will be sowing next weekend. Good spotting, Johnboy.

[jane E]

Also in Leics. Also grown pumpkins. But Chez is the expert. I've actually got small plants so maybe I'm a bit too early. Definitely go for Crown Prince. Chez gave me one last year and it was delicious. I've also grown Becky F1 this year. One tip - if you grow on an allotment don't go for the Halloween type unless you can hide them or pick them well before Halloween. They tend to get stolen.

[Bloaterfish]

Thanks to all who replied, my plants are quite big now but I shall wait until the end of the month to plant out. Much appreciated.

[Carrie]

I grew some outside last year and got a respectable crop. I wasn't growing for size but managed to get a couple that serviced as halloween pumpkins, and the rest were delicious to eat, and kept well too. I'm growing lots more this year.
The only feeding they got was a scattering of chicken manue pellets, and one feed with seaweed stuff.