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Pumpkins

Pumpkins
A sure sign that autumn is arriving is when you see piles of pumpkins in the stores. Large mounds of pumpkins arranged by size at the pumpkin farm allow children to pick the shape and size they want for Halloween. Today, this is probably the most popular use of Cucurbita pepo, Howden and Jack-O-Lantern a Connecticut field-type pumpkins.

pumpkins

Derived from the Greek word pepon meaning large melon, the word pumpkin went thru several changes. The French nasalized pepon into pompon, the English in turn pronounced it as pumpion and the American colonist (rebels that they were) changed it to pumpkin. Its long history dates back many centuries but originated in Central America.

There are many benefits to this Native American fruit (yes, it is considered a fruit). Pumpkins were used not only for food but medicine and other items. According to my HERBS book, the seeds were thought to expel worms and prevent prostate problems. The Native American used to roast seeds and strips of pumpkins on an open fire and eat them. They would also dry flattened strips and make mats out of them. Pumpkins were used for removing freckles and healing snake bites. The first pumpkins pie happened when Colonist cut the top off, removed the seeds, poured milk, spices and honey inside, then baked it in hot ashes. The pumpkin was then the crust, not the filling. Today, Pumpkins are still used as a vegetable, in soups, breads and pies. The flowers are edible and the seeds are still roasted and enjoyed as a delightful snack..

Pumpkins have come a long way; they vary in size, shape and color adding new avenues to creative decorations as well as culinary delights. Stemming from a large gene pool, some have been hybridized for unique shapes and coloration while others for their seeds, texture and flavor. Heirloom pumpkins seeds maintain the genetic bio-diversity that is important to future crops. Each unique variety that has been passed down for generations has developed some resistance to disease or pests which can be used to breed into modern varieties. The Seed Savers Exchange works diligently to preserve and save the genetic history of many crops from extinction. If you have some heirloom seeds to share, contact the Seed Exchange (seedsavers.org).

Need to know how to harvest & store your pumpkins?

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  3. Tale of Jack o’ Lantern Here is an interesting Irish folklore about a man named Stingy Jack....
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28 comments to Pumpkins

  • Nancy

    My kindergarten class wants to plant pumpkins for the fall. When do I start getting the soil ready and plant the seeds for beautiful pumpkins in the fall? Help!

    One option is to start them in a container. In cooler climates they can be started indoors one month before the frost-free date in your area and then planted outdoors when the weather permits (early June). Pumpkins are a warm weather crop and do not tolerate cold temps. Seeds can be planted directly in the garden after the frost-free date. Pumpkins like full sun (8-10 hrs) and well drained soil. Before planting, till the soil and add organic material or a 10-10-10 at a rate of 1 1/2 lbs per 100 sq. ft. of fertilizer. They need 100+days to produce pumpkins before the frost.

  • Boniery

    Im growing 3 small sugar pumpkins plant. i woke up this morning and all the leaves where gone. there are still some at the base of one of the plants. i think an animal got to them. my question is will i still be able to get any pumpkins or should I just dig them up and start again next year.

    If there are any healthy leaves left you might get something. The plant can send out more runners and pumpkins will come later in the season. But what’s to stop the critter from dining again?

  • Wade

    IF I PICK OFF THE FLOWERS THAT DON’T HAVE PUMPKINS STARTING, WILL THAT HELP THE OTHER ONES GROW FASTER AND BIGGER?

    The first flowers are males. It won’t make a difference if they are removed. Once the female flowers (the ones with the swelling at the base of the flower)to bloom, leave the male flower as they are needed for pollination. If you want bigger pumpkins, keep one or two and remove any subsequent flowers. By doing so, you will channel most of the nutrients and energy to the one pumpkin helping it grow faster and bigger.

  • valerie rembacki

    i have pumpkins growing and the leaves looked great until a week ago now they are slowly dying out. i have about 7 pumpkins and they look great they’re turning orange already are they suppose to do this and will they make it till Halloween this is only 3rd week in Aug . is there something i can do to save them?

    Leave the pumpkins on the vine for as long as you can. Protect the bottom of your pumpkin from rot & insects by placing a liner such as a board, newspaper or landscape fabric. If you are forced to pick them, store them in a cool,(50-55) dark place. My pumpkins are doing the same thing and I have a squash bug and squash vine borer-a double whammie. To see if you have squash vine borer split open one of the dying vines and check at the node (where leaf comes out) you’ll see a fat,cream colored larva.

  • Eddie Moffatt

    Hi, I grew pumpkins for my son last year but only 1 came, then the leaves went powdery white, the stem eventually black and the pumpkin died. Moved patch and have had more success this year with three pumpkins and one a good size (but still black). However, leaves are powdery white and stiff again and stems going black. Help! Don’t want to disappoint son for a second year. It’ll put him off gardening for good. Great site but please help Eddie

    Sounds like you have powdery mildew Depending on the severity, try spraying it with a baking soda formula that is more effective as a preventative when applied on a regular basis. Add 1 Tbsp each of baking soda and horticultural oil (dormant oil spray) to 1 gallon of water. Spray weekly making a new mix each time. I also heard of 1 tbsp of pine sol to 1 gal of water as a spray. You can also try Benomyl (systemic fungicide), sulfur/fungicidal soap. Once the disease takes hold it is difficult to control. Some cultural things that can be done are to remove the infected leaves, do not crowd the plants, provide good air circulation and keep plants well watered and stress free

  • Chris

    How do you tell a male flower from a female flower in melons in order to aid fertilization?

    The initial flowers that appear are usually male flowers which have slender stems and are smaller than the female flowers. Female flowers have a tiny melon below the flower. Bees pollinate the flowers, if for some reason that does not happen, you can hand pollinate by clipping the male flower (with pollen on their anthers) and dusting it on the pistils of the female flower.

  • Tim

    Should I use hay or some other kind of straw to keep pumpkins off the ground when growing to avoid rot?

    Yes, straw or hay not only helps avoid rot but keeps insects from drilling into the pumpkin. Another method is to place a board, under developing pumpkins to raise it off the ground. Be sure to turn them periodically to get a nice round shape.

  • Nan

    Storing pumpkins
    It’s early June, my pumpkins sprouted and grew just from leaving last years (store bought) pumpkins in the garden. I now have 3 beautiful orange pumpkins. When do I pick them? How do I keep them until fall? I live in Louisiana where it’s quite warm. Will they keep in my house?

    Pick the pumpkins when the vines are dry, and fruit is an even orange color. Cut a 3-6 inch stem. The pumpkin needs to cure @ 80 degrees and 80% humidity for 10 days. After curing, store in a dry, cool place with temperatures around 50-55 degrees and relative humidity of 50-70%. Don’t store with apples, hard surfaces like concrete or stack them on top of each other. Pumpkins should be free of cuts, scratches or bruises, otherwise it will invite disease. After all that they can last 2-3 months. If you want pumpkins for Halloween its still not to late to start new ones.

  • Kris

    Can I plant pumpkins in a container? If so, when should I transplant it?

    Yes, you can start them in a container. In the cooler climate they should be started indoors around May and then planted outdoors when the weather permits (early June). Pumpkins are a warm weather crop and do not tolerate cold temps. This time of year, you can plant seeds directly into the ground. It may be too late for the cooler regions because they need 100+days to develop and produce pumpkins before the frost. In warmer climates you may still have a chance as the growing season is longer.

    can i grow my pumpkins in a large pot?

    Yes, you can but just make sure you keep it well watered during the hot weather and fertilize regularly with a 10-10-10 especially after they set fruit.. You can also add a time-release fertilizer to the soil. Because pumpkins make long vines and need lots of space, grow the smaller varieties or bush types to accommodate your container

  • Kris

    I have planted crooked neck squash. The plants look healthy but when the fruit starts to develop the squash turns a dark orange as if it is old and the fruit is hollow. I figure it is a worm of some type, but what and how do I get rid of it. I use seven dust on plants.

    You may be the victim of squash vine borer. An olive brown moth will lay is eggs on the stems near the base of the plant. When the eggs hatch they bore their way inside the vines. It is a difficult pest to control. You can vigilantly spray the base of the plant with rotenone or pyrethrins to kill the larvae before they enter the vines. Cover the plants with floating row cover early in the season (you would need to hand pollinate the flowers). Another method is to wrap the base of the plant is panting hose to keep the larvae out. The problem is as the season progresses and the vines get longer the larvae enter at other sections of the vine. You can try to save infested vines by digging out the borer with a knife and heaping soil over the vines to induce rooting. Rotate your plantings each year.

  • luloma

    My friend and i are growing atlantic giants,, his vines are 3/4′ in diameter and yellowish,, mine are 1-1/4′ in diameter and green is there problem,, we started at the same time and the plants are 2 acres apart from one another.. ty..

    It sounds as if your vine is much healthier than the yellowing vine. Barring disease and insects the yellowish vine may need more nutrients. Pumpkins are heavy feeders and your soil may have more nutrients. On the other hand, it may be an insect problem such as squash vine borer which will cause the plant to suddenly wilt and upon further inspection you would find a hole or chewed stem at the soil line.

  • BETHANY

    IM GROWING PUMKINS FOR THE FIRST TIME AND JUST PLANTED MY SEEDLINGS INTO THE GROUND-THEY ARE ABOUT 6IN LONG- AND THE NEXT DAY THEY ALL WILTED- IVE GIVEN THEM PLENTY OF WATER AFTER I PLANTED THEM AND IM WONDERING IF ITS TO HOT- DO THEY USUALLY NEED SHADE- OR DO I JUST NEED TO WATER THEM ALOT MORE-I JUST DONT WANT TO OVER WATER- IT JUST SEEMS LIKE THEY NEED SHADE TO ME–WHAT SHOULD I DO!!!

    They do need shade until the roots get acclimated to the new site. It’s best to transplant on cloudy, cool days. Right now there aren’t enough roots to carry enough water to the leaves, thereby causing them to wilt. Eventually, they should adjust a keep putting out new growth.

  • Carey

    As soon as my pumkins get about 2″ in diameter they turn soft and yellow then die. I have one pumpkin doing well (about 7″ dia.) but all the rest have died. Any ideas - the vines are super healthy with big green leaves and hundreds of big orange male blooms???

    If the young pumpkins start to rot from the blossom end on healthy vines, they may not have been pollinated well. This is caused either by hot or cool weather or low bee activity. Wait for temperatures to cool down or if it is a bee problem - hand pollinate the flowers.see above comment of 7-9-06 for hand pollination.

  • J.P.

    hi this is the first time i have ever tried to grow any pumpkins i planted my pumpkins the last week or 2 of june i live in new England i was wondering if i will get fruit from my plants and also i was wondering how long it takes for the baby pumpkins to start growing big once the female flower closed…i have 7 females that have babies and 2 of the 7 the females have done opened and closed so now what?????

    Pumpkins should be planted 100+ days before the first frost to allow enough time for them to ripen. Once the female flower has been pollinated (withered and dries up) the small pumpkin should start to grow quickly. If pollination did not occur the “small pumpkin” will shrivel and die. If you want bigger pumpkins, keep one or two and remove the others. By doing so, you will channel most of the nutrients and energy to the one pumpkin helping it grow faster and bigger. If there is a chance of an upcoming frost and your plants are still healthy cover them to extend the growing season.

  • Barbara Christie

    Can seeds from winter squash like butternut and acorn be roasted and
    eaten like roasted pumpking seeds? Thanks for any tips.

    Yes they can be eaten and are very tasty. . They are a bit smaller and will require less roasting time.
    Enjoy!

  • Carolyn F

    I have 3 female blossoms open on my pumpkin vine, but NO male blossoms have opened yet. Is there a product available to pollinate pumpkin blossoms. I use a spray to set my tomatoes and thought there might be something similar for pumpkins.

    I pruned my vines about 7-10 days ago and perhaps cut off the male blossoms that would have opened this week. Should I not prune excess vines before the fruit sets? This is my first try growing pumpkins, as you may have guessed.
    Thanks for your help.

    Hi Carolyn
    The first flowers are male and they are there to attract bees. Once the female flowers bloom, you should get more male flowers. Your female blossoms are pollinated when the swelling at the base of the flower start to get larger. When pumpkins don’t pollinate because of too hot temperatures (above 85
    F), too cold (below 55F), heavy rain, overhead watering on the blossoms, no bees or insects. You can hand pollinate in the morning by clipping the male flower (with pollen on their anthers) and dusting it on the pistils of the female flower.
    I would wait until fruit set before pruning the vines. Unless you want to grow one giant pumpkin, pruning reduces the number of flowers and leaves, thereby resulting in less pumpkin production. more info http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/pumpkins/qa.html

  • karrie-ann dale

    I have 3 big pumpkin plants. On 2 of the plants the female flowers have opened but the males haven’t……what do i do??

    Hi Karrie
    The male flowers open for a few hours in the morning. If you have other vines with opened males flowers try hand-pollinating in the morining.

  • Heather

    My pumpkin vines are dying (some I have pruned because of powdery mildew) will the pumpkins I have growing on those vines live? Most are fairly large and turning orange not orange. Should I cure them and store them like you said above? Thank you so much!

    Hi Heather
    Once the pumpkins start to turn color they should be fine. Better to leave them on the vine until they mature (turn orange) and then cure and store them.

  • Rhonda

    How do you keep worms from eating your pumpkins?

    Hi Rhonda
    Any kind of barrier from the soil surface such as a boards or newspapers will keep the worms off your pumpkins. Check periodically underneath the pumpkins to make sure.

  • Phil

    Well, our first attempt at growing pumpkins failed miserably. We had beautiful male flowers opening up almost every day of the summer, and periodically female buds would appear.

    We would monitor them closely each and every day so that when they opened up, we could hand pollinate them to assure pollination. But EVERY time a female bud would appear, it would never open. It went from looking like it would open at any moment to suddenly shriveling and dropping off, almost over night.
    Any help would be appreciated because we do want to try again next year.

    Hi Phil
    There are several factors which can affect the female flower from pollination-too hot temperatures ( 90degrees), not enough sun, too much nitrogen during pollination time, lack of insect pollinators . Avoid spraying the plants with insecticide during this time as it will also deter the ” good” insects. The flower opens in early morning so that’s when pollination should occur .
    source: http://www.pumpkinnook.com/howto/pollenfaq.htm

  • Chris

    It looks like something has eaten some of my baby pumpkins from the inside out. They are no larger than a cherry tomato at this point and I noticed some of them have been reduce to a skin only state with small “lacey” holes in the skin. I have noticed tiny black - possibly winged- insects crawling in and around the blossoms. Not sure if they are the cause. Any idea what this is and how to get rid of it?

    Hi Chris
    I have also had that same problem. One day, I noticed some sawdust like debrise at base of the stem on my sugar baby pumpkin. It looked like something drilled into it. A few days later, I decided to pick the pumpkin and found that it had a soft spot and rotting. So I cut it open to see what was going on. I found a fat cream colored borer inside. Needless to say, I threw out the rotting pumpkin. You should remove the infected pumpkins and discard them.
    Are your plants healthy or wilting during the day?
    I wouldn’t worry about the winged insects around the blossoms as they may aid in polinating the flowers.

  • Anne Briese

    It is early september. I woke this morning to see that the majority of my pumpkin leaves turned black and shriveled up. The temperature got into the low 40’s last night, and I am assuming that that had something to do with it. What caused this to happen? Will my pumpkins be okay? What can i do to help?

    Hi Anne
    It may be the cold temperatures that blackened the leaves. There is a bacterial wilt that can also wilt and darken the leaves but the plant usually recovers by night. If your pumpkins are orange - pick them. If they are still green, leave them on the vine and let them color and harden. Put some cardboard or a board under the pumpkin to keep insects from drilling into the pumpkin. Wash your picked pumpkins with a light chlorine solution. They need to cure @ 80 degrees and 80% humidity for 10 days. After curing, store in a dry, cool place with temperatures around 50-55 degrees and relative humidity of 50-70%. Don’t store with apples, hard surfaces like concrete or stack them on top of each other.

  • vanessa

    I am growing pumpkins and I have one good sized one so far and its green, when will it change?

    Hi Vanessa
    It will green up when its ready. I’m not trying to be Miss Smarty Pants but that’s how it is. Some pumpkins mature later (later variety). Too much nitrogen can also delay maturing. Hopefully, it will start to change soon. I have more suggestions on storing and harvesting pumpkins if your pumpkins doesn’t turn by October. see the last Q&A.

  • Allison

    hi, what if you cut all of your pumpkins at the same time(cause some are going bad) through they are some that are still green…will they eventually turn orange?

    Hi Allison
    When you harvest pumpkins from the patch, place them in a sunny warm spot on a patio, deck, window or a greenhouse. Pumpkins need sunlight to color, expose the green side to the sun and rotate periodically to expose all other green parts. If it gets too cold(freezing) overnight bring them inside. The pumpkins may not color evenly especially when exposed to chilling temperatures below 50F.

  • julie

    Can pumpkin plants make it through the winter. If they can what is the best way to protect the plant.

    Hi Julie
    Pumpkins are a warm weather crop and are easily killed by cold temperatures. They are also grown as an annual, once they produce fruit they are finished, if the insects don’t get them first. I’m afraid you will have to start new plants in spring.

  • dorothy

    My pumpkin fruit are also forming turning yellow and then rotting and falling off. They are - well watered - well feed - well pollinated (I saw the bees at work right now!)
    Do I keep the plant in or give up and pull it out.
    Otherwise a little powdery mildew *but this started before that did* but other wise big healthy spreading plant.
    Help!

    HI Dorothy
    I am assuming your plants are healthy and disease free. If so, your pumpkins may not have been pollinated well because of hot or cool weather and/or slow bee activity. When the weather moderates you should get more pumpkins, if not help by hand-pollinating the flowers. Flowers open in the morning and close by noon and sooner if its hot. Bee activity also slows in cooler temperatures. For adequate bee activity observe your plants. Bees should visit a flower every 15 minutes.
    Hand-pollinate in the morning, take a small brush and transfer pollen from the male flower (stamen) to the female flower part (pistil). The female has a small swelling below the flower and if it is not pollinated then it will fall off. Another easier method is to take the male flower’s stamen and rub it in the pistil of the female flower.
    If the plants are healthy keep the plant and wait for more flowers to polllinate.

    Also be on the look out for squash vine borer. Are the leaves wilting on a sunny day? Check the vine close to the base and see if there is some sawdust like material-squash vine borer. Its difficult for the plant to maintain fruit when it is under attack.

  • Charlie of Danbury

    Very, very interesting…Thank you all! However, I wonder if the sunlight required for continuing to mature pumpkins once the vine dies can be full spectrum grow lights? Any experience on this? Great learning experience sharing going on here!

  • Bridget

    My son and I planted three pumpkin seeds, in April I believe, and they have taken off quite nicely. The problem is that the female flowers won’t open up. I know that heat has a lot to do with it and being the fact that I live in Florida and the temperature is unusually high for this time of year, we’re talking high 90’s with feels like temps in the 100’s. And we are watering it everyday due to the fact that it starts to wilt by early afternoon. It gets a full days worth of sunlight everyday. It’s in a huge pot as well. Should we move the pot to a spot where it gets more shade then sunlight to help reduce some of the heat? And as soon as I can get the female flowers to open I plan on hand pollenating them since the bee activity is low.

    Hi Bridget
    Moving it to a shadier spot may help until it cools down a bit. Plants will stop blooming when temperatures get too hot.

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