F&Q

This page is for general Facts and Questions, if you have a question you would like answered about giant pumpkins, please scroll to the bottom to ask a question.

General Questions

1. Where does the word pumpkin come from?

   The word ‘pumpkin’ comes from the Greek word, ‘pepon’, which means a ‘large melon.’

2. Whats is the heaviest pumpkin?

   As of October 2009, the heaviest pumpkin weighs in at 782kg's.

3. Should I protect my pumpkin from the sun?

   Just like us, pumpkins don't like it if they are in the sun all the time. It can toughen the skin at the top of the pumpkin, and cause splitting if the growth is too fast for the pumpkin to handle. Shade cloth or something similar will help with this. I have previously used an old sun umbrella to provide some shade.

4. Can you eat a giant pumpkin?

   You could if you wanted to, but it probably wouldn't taste the best. Better to leave it for a cow or pig to eat.

5. What colour will my pumpkin be?

   Your pumpkin can range in colour from a pale green/white colour through to a shade of orange. It doesn't really matter what colour it is, as long as it grows large.

6. I've heard of something called Mycorrhizae, what is it?

   Mycorrhizae is a fungus that is added to the ground, and makes ultra fine roots come out off the plant. These are called Hyphae.

   A lot of of top growers around the world are now using Mycorrhizae.

   I will be writing a more detailed page about this in the near future.

Seedlings

1. What type of seeds do I need?

   The type of seed you need to grow a giant pumpkin is the Atlantic Giant variety, botanical name Cucurbita maxima.

2. Where do I get my giant pumpkin seeds?

   Pumpkin seeds can be brought from a few different places, Trademe, Kings Seeds, or maybe you know someone that has some seeds from a giant pumpkin.

3. Where do I get giant pumpkins seedlings from?

   You can either grow them yourself from seeds, or you can get these from garden centres, like Palmers

4. Is there anything I can do to help the seed?

   Pumpkin seeds are very hard, some people file the edges of the seed to help it grow faster, also soaking them in water overnight is said to soften them up.

5. How come some of my seeds haven't germinated?

   Pumpkin seeds can rot very easily, so it is best to make sure you don't over water them in the early stages. Because of this, it is best to plant more then one seed. You can easily get rid of the weaker looking plants once they are growing.

6. Can I use the seeds from this years giant pumpkin for growing next year? If so how do I prepare and store them?

   You can use your seeds from this year for next year. Read about saving them at this page.

Planting

1. When is the best time to plant?

   The best time to plant here in New Zealand is around October, as a rule try not to plant your seeds/seedlings any later then labour weekend.

Growing

1. How long does germination take?

   Germination of your seed can take from 3 to 10 days.

2. How long does it take to grow a giant pumpkin?

   On average it should take around 160 days to grow a giant pumpkin.

3. How come I don't have any female flowers on my plant?

   Female flowers always come to the party later then the male flowers, so be patient, and a female flower should appear, ready to be pollinated.

4. Do I need to use a fungicide?

   The potential of getting some sort of fungal growth on the leaves could be a problem. For this you will need some sort of fungicide to help combat this.

   It seems to be a big problem for overseas growers, but in my experience I haven't had to deal with it yet.

   Remember to not water too late in the evening, all this water could stay on the leaves and help the fungus grow over night. Always water early in the morning, or mid afternoon when it is sunny to make sure all the leaves dry off from any excess water.

5. Do I need to keep weeding my garden?

   In the very early stages, while you are waiting for your seed or seedling to grow, weeding the garden is very important.

   Once the plant is growing, and the big leaves are forming, weeding doesn't need to be done as the leaves will block out most of the sunlight the weeds need.

   If you do decide to weed your garden when the pumpkin plant is growing, be careful not to use any hand tools to rip the weeds out, as you might start pulling up some of the shallow pumpkins roots.

6. Why does my plant have yellow leaves?

   This is a hard one to answer, as there can be multiple answers depending on your location and ground type. A few of the common causes can be:

   * Lack of Iron in the soil
   * Can be a fungicide problem, especially if there is powdery substance on the leaves

   As well as those reasons, it could be just that they are the old leaves, and the pumpkin is ready to get rid of them, so they slowly die off.

7. Which way will my vines grow?

   Most people will tell you that the vine will grow in the opposite direction of the first true leaf (which can be the 2nd or 3rd leaf)

   Now if it doesn't go in the direction you want it too, or you are growing from a seed in the ground and have no real control over it, don't panic. You can always train the vine to go where you want it to.

   Gently move the vine over a period of 2 - 3 weeks. Taking care not to break or damage the vine, and you will get it going the way you want it to.

Readers Questions

1. Hi I was wondering if you could help me with the fertilizer. Our pumpkin is currently 110 cm in circumference. Its growth in this is between 2-3 cm per day. I got some of the nitrophos fertilizer and I was wondering how often and how much I should give

   Hiya, thanks for the question. To promote good fruit growth, it is best to wait until the pumpkin has fully set, this is around when the pumpkin reached the size of a basketball. I would apply the Nitrophos about once a week at the most.

   Once the pumpkin is this size you can change your fertilser to a good potassium rich fertilser like:

   This will promote pumpkin growth, and is best used with other type of fertilisers. It is also best to be careful when using this, as it may make the pumpkin grow faster then it can cope with, making the pumpkin split open.

2. I don't think its written anywhere on your site, but what temperatures do pumpkins need to grow properly? I live in Wellington so I'm not sure its the best place but Id like to know for certain :)

   Thanks for the question, and your correct I haven't got that information on the website, I will be adding it later.

   The general consensus for soil temperature is that it should be above 22c. You can get a temperature probe from most garden stores, bunnings etc

   I've found that as long as your not in freezing weather a lot, you should be ok. A couple of things can help though.

   Planting from a seed might be better as it will already be used to the ground temp, growing from a seedling may not work as the shock from pot to ground may be too much, and the plant will go into shock. The safest bet is to have a couple of seeds and seedling and see which one grow best.

   Mixing in manure and compost into the soil may also raise the temperature slightly, and for the ultra extreme in keeping the ground warm is to do what the americans do in some parts of the USA, and that is to put heating coils in the ground. I don't think many ppl in NZ would do that.

3. I growing four giant pumpkin.But I wonder to know it can be eat and how to make to it.

   Giant pumpkins don't make the best eating pumpkin, they are very watery and not very tasty at all. Plus if you have been using fertiliser on them, they may have some of this inside of them.

   Cows and pigs really like to eat them though.

4. Hi,my pumpkin puts on a good 4cm circumference in a day if sunny.Is this good ?Its 120cm at the moment. I don,t know if this is good or not. Would potassium food make a difference?. Thanks Johnathon in ChCh

   Thats pretty good growth, when the pumpkin is around 70-90 days old you should switch to pottasium based fertiliser, which will promote pumpkin growth.

5. When planting the seedinglings out, why does the hole have to be 1 metre deep?

   That was actually a typo on my part, sorry about that. They need to be placed around one inch below the soil (25mm) for a seed, and for a seedling placing it in the ground with all roots covered will be enough.

6. hi, my pumpkin seedling has started to go mad and is growing fast ( although still a long way from setting a pumpkin), But it has these small bright yellow dots on some of its leaves. what could they be and should be worried? also at this early stage what should i be feeding/ doing with it to get the best out of my pumpkin? Also FYI i have it on a mound with black polythene , ive been making sure it doesnt cook in the full sun recently but it seems to be loving it. Cheers

   If it is just small amount of yellow on some of the leaves, this is usually just a natural thing that occurs. Looking at my pumpkins I have small patches of yellow on some of the leaves, while the rest are a nice green colour. At the early stages yo should be applying a good Nitrogen based fertiliser, I recommend and use a product called Nitrophoska Blue, its small blue pellets, and is produced by a few different suppliers, the cheapest one is usually at Bunnings, and is made by Egmont. The nitrogen fertiliser helps with root, vine and leaf growth. And will make your plant a nice green colour (could help with the yellow spots) but......... it can also damage the plant if too much is used, try to avoid any getting on the leaves or vine as it can burn them. Also too much, and it can slow down the development of the flowers. So finding that fine line is a balancing act.

   For a bit more info on fertiliser and at what stage to use them, check out the howto page, and click on fertilising.

   As for the polythene, if you have a small amount on the mound that should be ok, but as the vines travel out, you really want to bury them, this allows the small vines to get a few more nutrients in the soil and help with evaporation loss from the sun, once your fruit is set and growing, this is when you should look at providing some sort of shelter for it.

7. hi , i was wondering would it be ok / a good idea to grow your pumpkin on top of a tarp or on a crate so when you do want to move it to the competition you can easily? or would the pumpkin hate it ?cheers

   This is a totally personal preference. To me it makes sense to have something underneath it to raise it up off the ground, where it may rot, or an animal might easily attack it. Last year mine grew on a paving stone, this year I might use some polystyrene sheeting. Which will be more flexible as the pumpkin grows.
   It's really up to you as there is no best practice for it. Let me know on what you decide, and how it works for you.

8. I know you have answered a couple of questions regarding eating the giant pumpkin, I was just wondering if you harvest them before they get to big do they make good eating?

   Hiya, I've heard stories of them being used in hospital meals in Australia. And I guess the only way to find out is to try, the only thing I would suggest is to only use one grown organically without the use of chemicals or fertilisers. If you do try it, let me know how it tastes.

9. My pumpkin plants are young and growing strong, they don't have any pumpkins or flowers yet. However, they have been getting tiny holes surrounded by a slight yellow patch. What could be causing this and what can I do to prevent it?

   This could be from a lack of water, or any number of things. It's a hard one to pinpoint to one problem, the best idea is to keep an eye on it, and hope it doesn't get worse.

10. Hi My pumpkins are only geting to about 60cm dia and then drying off is there something I can do to stop this, and do I just let them creep all over the ground or should I prune them back. Just new at this

    Unfortunately they can be a bit like that, and stop growing for no apparent reason. Once they get to the size of a basketball, they are usually "set" and will grow until maturity, there isn't too much you can do, as a lot of it comes down to pure luck.
    With the vines, you can either let them grow if you have the room, letting them pick up any water and nutrients they may find. Or once the pumpkin is set, trim them back a little bit, so the plant puts it's energy in the pumpkin, and not into growing more vines.

11. HI, I was wondering how big should a good sized pumkin be by ealry January? mines currently 170cm in circumference and putting on 4-6cm a day. is this ok?

    Every single person will have a different size, and idea where they want their pumpkin to be at. To me that sounds like a goo size, and if it putting on that much, it is doing really well.

12. What causes giant pumpkins to rot underneath once they get to the size of a basketball.

    The most usual cause of this would be they are continually damp underneath, so taking care when watering is helpful. Also placing something underneath, like a piece of plywood, polystyrene or something similar will help keep it off the ground.

13. at what stage do you start triming the vines back and how far do you trim them back

    Once your pumpkins have set, and you have decided on which one, or ones you want to grow to maturity, you can start thinking about trimming back vines. There is a lot of opinion on what to do and what not to do. I personally don't trim back much of the vine, but do trim off all flowers that appear after my pumpkins are growing. Growing vines use energy that may be used to grow a pumpkin, but the vines are also a place where nutrients can be collected. Anything over 3 - 4m may be a waste, so pruning back should be fine.

14. Hi there, We have been growing pumpkins on our own until now, where I have discovered the 1st of two has rotted underneath (due to dampness as stated above I'm guessing) and the other has unfortunately been snapped completely off! I'm now trying to figure out what to do with it? Do I put it somewhere to mature or dry or something?

    Depending on how big the pumpkin was when it snapped off, if it was still little and yellowish, there probably isn't much you can do. It wouldn't have formed properly on the inside. If it was near maturity, and quite big, you might be able to store it in a cool dark place. All depending on what you want to do with it. If it is no longer connected to the vine at all, it will not mature anymore.

15. My pumpkin is around 40kg at the moment. It is growing at around 2kg a day. Will the pumpkin have exponential growth from now on? ie. 3kgs a day then 5kgs etc...? Or will it remain constant?

    Generally pumpkins have a big growth period, and yours might still have that period to come. As it grows, the weight increases will decreases, and slowly taper off.

    As with anything pumpkin related, everyone is different, and anything can happen, so while there is general ideas of what will happen, you just have to wait and see.

16. Hello, I have three main vines with one growing a pumpkin on it. Would you suggest removing the other two main vines? Or do they aid in the growth of the pumpkin on the other vine?

    Personally I would leave the three vines, as any small vines they put out can help pick up nutrients. Trim them when they get to the 2.5 - 3m length, and burying what is left can help.

17. We planted the normal crown pumpkins (not giant ones) The strangest thing has happened. Amongst the crown ones, we have giant yellowy orange ones growing. Four of them, the biggest is about 12kg. We do not know where it came from as the seeds are our own crowns from last year. How this happened we are at a loss. have you heard of anything like this happening.

    This is the first time someone has told me that this has happened, but I do know that it can occur. Pumpkins can self pollinate from the male to the female, or you can cross plants to produce the fruit (pumpkin). So what has probably happened, is that a bee has taken pollen from a different strain of pumpkin somewhere else, and deposited onto your pumpkin resulting in the different pumpkins, a very nice surprise indeed.

18. Hi, we are growing a giant pumpkin for a primary school competition, and until now it has been growing well, we have trimmed off any other sprouting pumpkins to allow this one to grow to its 'biggest' potential. The pumpkin is now showing signs of black mold, the top quarter of it is soft and significantly black. Reading your other F&Q's it appears to be suffering from dampness (we do water in the evening) or similarly sunburn (we are in Nelson and it is in the sun most of the day, wish we had read up on both of these potential issues before now). The bottom is clear and healthy. Is there anything we can do to avoid it spreading or further damaging the pumpkin in the hope that it will grow bigger and survive for the compition in April? The rest of the plant is thriving and continues to overun the vege patch! Any suggestions or advice would be much appreciated!

    Hiya, unfortunately from what you have described you might not be able to do anything :( the sun shouldn't cause it, as the sun will just slow its growth, or may contribute to a split. Pumpkins are a very fickle plant and can easily start to rot at any time. I would wait and see how it goes, but I don't think there is a solution, and I'm not sure if it would last until April. Hopefully it can hold together, good luck.

19. We are growing two giant pumpkin plants for our local A and P show competition. Both plants have three pumpkins each. Do we take off the smaller pumpkins and let the biggest one on each plant grow?

    This is a personal choice, most people will take off the smaller ones and let one big one, but the new thinking is the plant can support multiple pumpkins.

20. Hi there. My pumkin had been doing well, but now has two issues! Firstly it hasn't been growing in a good spot and has grown onto it's own stem on the side away from the main root. The pumpkin is still connected to the main stem by a small segment. It seems to be growing still, so I'm hoping to keep it going a bit longer. The main problem though is that it has developed a white patch on the top where it had contacted the black shade cloth. I've raised the cloth, but some mould spots have developed. The white patch is otherwise firm. Can I treat the mould at all? The pumpkin is around 60kg, by far the biggest I've ever grown. I don't want to give up on it if I can keep it going. Thanks, Pete.

    Hopefully the mould spots haven't become too bad, you can gently brush out the mould with a soft toothbrush. And then apply a fungicide, hopefully it can help.

21. Hi Sam, Help our stem started to go soggy so we have just cut off the pumpkin but the underside of the pumpkin is slightly soggy. My 9 yr old son the owner of the pumpkins is devastated can we do anything to it to make it last to our local comp. he so wanted to enter it. I have the soggy side lying face to the sun now. perhaps we could wash it with something. Thanks

    Hiya, I think the best option is leaving it in the sun, and hopefully it will dry out. If it was just the stem I would say gently brush it with a soft toothbrush and then apply some fungicide. Hope everything goes ok for you guys, if not, there is always next year.

22. Hi! Some of our pumpkins when cut open have a very hard white patches in them. On the outside of the skin where this is happening there is a blotch also. What is this from do you think? Thanks

    Interesting question, off the top of my head I'm not too sure, it might just be something genetic specific to that plant.

23. its the start of sept and I have just plantedseed for our family competition I hope to plant out intoprepared sites mid to the endof october we arejust north of christ church , what do you think of my timeing ?? our last years best was 97 kg.

    Hiya

    Your timing might be a little bit early, but it shouldn't cause too many problems. Once the plant emerges, two weeks from that date is usually around when it is time to move to the planting location. Make sure the seedling has 3 fully developed leaves formed, when transplanting the look for the first fully formed leaf, usually the 2nd or 3rd one, the vine will travel in the opposite direction of this.

    My two concerns would be leaving the seedlings in the pots too long where they might get root bound, which would cause problems as they wouldn't have the best start to growing, so once they looking good, put them in the ground.

    The other thing you need to watch, especially due to your location. Is the temperature of the soil, and the potential of frost. As they might be in the ground a little earlier then expected, make sure you have something to help protect them during the nights. It can be a simple home made green house, or as something as simple as a cardboard box, which I used a couple of years ago.

24. Hi there, just getting my seeds started now and aim to have them in the ground by labour weekend. My question for you is, last year I had some of them vines split along the length. My biggest pumpkin grew on this vine so it wasnt terminal, but I would like to know why it would have done that so I can avoid it this time. Thanks Tahl

    Hi Tahl, thanks for getting in touch. I too have had a split vine, so have tried finding answers, this is what I have found.

    The three main causes are from too much fertiliser, inconsistent watering, or genetics. It's not an exact science, and it just seems to happen randomly.

    The main thing to do is make sure it stays dry, and heals up. As to how much this can effect the growth on a pumpkin is unsure, with various theories. I think if you have it happen again, you will just have to live with it, and make sure you don't get any stem split, as this can be fatal.

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