Pumpkin advice required!

[Elaine]

We have decided to grow pumpkins this year for the first time and would like your advice please.

I have sown Mars F1 hybrid, (which are just germinating now) and the blurb on the seed packet promises "6lb fruits, ideal for Halloween carving". We don't want to try for record breaking huge pumpkins but would like to produce a decent one for our Grandson's lantern....we begged one from our allotment neighbour last year and thought it high time to have a go ourselves!

I have good results with courgettes and plan on planting the pumpkins out in the same way, plenty of well rotted manure in the hole and making a raised mound to plant the pumpkin in. I also intend to sink a bottle beside the roots to ensure adequate watering/feeding and I am assuming the plant will produce more than one fruit.

Is it advisable to remove some of the female flowers to produce one or two fruits per plant? Is tomato food good enough to keep the plant healthy? I plan on planting them out first week in June if all goes to plan...

I would like your advice please!

Cheers.

[Geoff]

It looks like you are struggling for a reply. I would say your approach is perfect. When you prepare the soil give it a good dose of balanced fertiliser (Growmore or BFB), if you want to feed them start with a balanced fertiliser but when fruit has developed Tomato fertiliser will be fine. I'm not sure how many fruits this variety will stand on each plant, probably 4 or 6. Here is a link with a bit of information http://www.backyardgardener.com/wcgp/ti ... tml.backup

[Elaine]

Thank you Geoff.

[Geoff]

Please let us know how you get on. I have just sowed the last of my packet of Triple Treat that I have been using for a few years (it has to be said with not spectacular results) so I shall be looking for a new variety for next year.

[Elaine]

Well so far, only one of the four seeds I sowed, has germinated....it is romping away. If there is no sign over the weekend I will have to have a poke around in the compost to see what's going on with the others. I might just sow some more to be on the safe side. They are in a heated propagator too. I hope it isn't going to be "one of those years"!!
Cheers.

[John]

Hello Elaine
Just a few more wrinkles on how get the best pumpkins.
I wouldn't remove any of the flowers. Wait until some of the female flowers have set and formed several small fruits, about the size of a grapefruit, then take stock of what you've got, how big the plant has become and finally remove unwanted fruits. Plants in this family first produce male flowers then female flowers appear later but the first flowers to set often abort so wait until you have a good set before removing anything.
Once the chosen fruits are on their way try to carefully lift the vine and get the fruit into an upright position, resting on something that gets it off the soil, (I use straw). If you don't do this large fruits grow into a lopsided shape, distorted by their own weight.
As fruits reach maturity remove any nearby leaves so that they are not shaded and colour up evenly.
If the young plant does not start to branch naturally then remove the growing tip at about 5-6 leaves to encourage this - you should try to get four branches to form and grow outwards at about 90 deg to each other.
Finally if growth is a bit slow in the early stages give a high N feed such as dried blood or better still calcium nitrate (Chempak Calcium) which is very quick acting.

Happy pumpkin growing

John

PS Keep the plants well watered all the time easing off finally as the fruits finish maturing

[Elaine]

Thank you John....I was a bit doubtful about removing any flowers.
Another seed has germinated this morning. Is it usual for pumpkin seeds to germinate at such differing lengths of time?
Cheers.

[John]

Hello again Elaine
As Mars is an F1 variety I would have expected them to all come up at more or less the same time but don't worry if they are bit erratic.
I forgot to say that once you have a mature plant and your selected fruits are on their way then it is a good idea to remove any new female flowers as these will only waste your plant's energy on a few more small unwanted fruits.
Also put a cane as a marker near each plant when you plant them out in the soil. This will tell you where to water later on - once you have a mass of rambling vines everywhere its often difficult to tell where the main plant began and where water will do the most good.

John

[Geoff]

I put the label on that tall stick as well so it gives me a chance of knowing what's what when they all get mixed up.

[Johnboy]

I haven't grow any Pumpkins for quite a while now but when I had determined how many I was to keep on the plant I used to trim back the runners beyond that point about two or maybe three leaves after the last fruit on the vine. I found that with some varieties they made yards of unwanted vine which has a toll on any feeding you may do.
JB.

[peter]

Don't just shove a tall cane in!

Get a big plastic bottle, at least 2L, throw away the screw on lid, cut off the bottom (just the curved half-globe).
Bury this to half its height, cap end down and put the cane through the neck into the ground.
Easily found watering point next to the plant roots, nice and quick too as you fill 2L from the spout of the watering can and move to the next plant.

[Geoff]

Peter : You probably water this way to save water but I don't have that issue. I have always thought Tomatoes and Cucumbers do best if you can keep the foliage dry, do you think this direct watering method is better for these plants than overhead watering? I am particularly interested to know if you think it reduces mildew.

[peter]

I do it this way to be efficient.

Horse trough, watering can, bad back and evaporation from soil surface are all addressed by the technique at the allotment. Given I also carpet/woven-membrane mulch it gets the water in the soil rather than the mulch, which massively cuts evaporation and warms the soil.

[Elaine]

Morning everyone...what a beautiful day too.
Thank you for all the helpful advice regarding pumpkin growing. Seed number 4 has just emerged...it must have heard the threats of being binned.

Cheers!