If you celebrate Halloween and would like to have pumpkins in time for the holiday, plant them in late July. If you want it in early July, plant in early March.
20 or 30 feet (6. 1 or 9. 1 m) of open space. Your pumpkin patch doesn’t have to take up your whole yard. You can plant it along the side of your house, or along the fence in your backyard. Full sun. Don’t choose a spot under a tree or in the shadow of a building. Make sure the pumpkins will get plenty of sun all day long. Soil with good drainage. Clay-based soils don’t absorb water quickly, and aren’t as conducive to growing pumpkins. Choose a spot that doesn’t have standing water after heavy rains. To give the pumpkins an extra boost, prepare your soil beforehand by composting it. Dig large holes where you plan to plant the pumpkins and fill them with a compost mixture one week before planting.
Pie pumpkins, which are meant to be eaten. Large decorative pumpkins that can be carved into jack o’lanterns. The seeds in these pumpkins are edible, but the flesh is not flavorful. Small decorative pumpkins, often called mini pumpkins.
Plant 2 or 3 seeds within a few inches of one another, in case one doesn’t sprout for some reason. It doesn’t matter which end of the seeds points up. If the seeds are viable, they will grow either way.
With proper care, the pumpkin plants should sprout within about a week.
When you do water the plant, use a lot of water and let it soak deep into the soil. Pumpkin plants’ roots run several inches or feet down, depending on the stage of growth, and it’s important that the water reaches them. Try not to get water on the pumpkin leaves. This encourages the growth of a fungus called powdery mildew, which can cause the leaves to wither and the plant to die. Water in the morning, rather than at night, so any water that gets on the leaves has time to dry in the sun. When the pumpkins themselves begin to grow and turn orange, decrease the amount of water you use. Stop watering entirely about a week before you plan to harvest the pumpkins.
Weed the patch often. Don’t let the growth of weeds crowd out the pumpkin plants or absorb the nutrients they need to thrive. Plan to weed a few times a week. Check the pumpkin leaves and blossoms for beetles, which eat plant tissue and ultimately kill the pumpkin plant. Scrape them off the plant a few times a week. Mulch around your pumpkins to keep weed pressure down and conserve soil moisture. Aphids are pests that threaten a lot of garden plants. They can be found on the undersides of the leaves, and if you don’t take care of them, they’ll kill the plants quickly. Spray them off with water in the morning so the leaves have time to dry. If necessary, use an organic pesticide to rid your plants of pests. Ask about products at your local nursery.
A mild chlorine rinse before storage can discourage mold and fungi. Use a mix of 1 cup (240 mL) household chlorine bleach and 5 gallons (18. 9 L) cold water. [3] X Research source
