Giant Pumpkins NZ - Selecting and preparing your garden
Where to plant
One of the first things you need to do when growing a giant pumpkin is to sort out the garden where you are going to grow it.
You need a decent sized piece of ground to start with. This year the garden I am planting my seeds into is a lot smaller then the garden I had last year. I'm going to have to just deal with this, as my landlord probably won’t be happy if I start digging the lawn up.
2009/10's garden
As well as the immediate area where you are planting, you have to think about all the vines the plant will send out. A good sized pumpkin plant could take up to 50 square metres of space. So the bigger the area you can give them, the better.
When to start preparing the ground
The latest you really want to plant your seeds/plant is labour weekend. So with this in mind, doing the prep work a few months ahead of this, will give your giant pumpkins the best start. This year I was a bit slack with the prep work. There was already compost on the garden, but not much else. I started adding some fertiliser to the garden at the end of September.
The latest you really want to plant your seeds/plant is labour weekend. So with this in mind, doing the prep work a few months ahead of this, will give your giant pumpkins the best start. This year I was a bit slack with the prep work. There was already compost on the garden, but not much else. I started adding some fertiliser to the garden at the end of September.
Dig, add, dig
You need to dig up your garden, turn it all over and dig down to no more then 1 metre. This is the ideal time to add in manure and compost with the soil. Doing this makes it a nutrient rich growing platform for your giant pumpkins. This year and last year I used the product Yates Natures Way Bio-Gold Organic Fertiliser
which includes fishmeal, poultry manure, blood and bone, sheep manure and seaweed extracts, all good stuff to prepare the soil. Remember to try not to compact the soil too much while working in the garden, this allows the roots to easily travel through the dirt.
You need to dig up your garden, turn it all over and dig down to no more then 1 metre. This is the ideal time to add in manure and compost with the soil. Doing this makes it a nutrient rich growing platform for your giant pumpkins. This year and last year I used the product Yates Natures Way Bio-Gold Organic Fertiliser
which includes fishmeal, poultry manure, blood and bone, sheep manure and seaweed extracts, all good stuff to prepare the soil. Remember to try not to compact the soil too much while working in the garden, this allows the roots to easily travel through the dirt.Manure
Manure is anything that comes from an animal. The top four type of manure are Pig, chicken, cow and horse. So if you can easily get your hands on any of these chuck them into your garden.
Manure is anything that comes from an animal. The top four type of manure are Pig, chicken, cow and horse. So if you can easily get your hands on any of these chuck them into your garden.
Compost
Compost is made from anything that can decompose, old food, grass clippings, leaves etc. To help speed up the process, turning over your compost frequently and keeping it moist will help. If you don't turn it over and keep it moist, it will still decompose, it will just take longer.
Compost is made from anything that can decompose, old food, grass clippings, leaves etc. To help speed up the process, turning over your compost frequently and keeping it moist will help. If you don't turn it over and keep it moist, it will still decompose, it will just take longer.
DONT OVER WATER
If you water your compost, manure, fertiliser, or soil too much at this early stage, you can risk washing away a lot of the important nutrients.
