Any tips for growing a giant pumpkin? We normally grown crown pumpkins by throwing seeds out on the dirt pile down the back and let them go for it and always end up with 30+ pumpkins to feed the neighborhood. This year my son wanted to enter the biggest pumpkin contest Mitre10 holds there is one pumpkin on it about the size of a soccer ball but the plant is massive!
lodgelocum,
Jan 18, 1:05pm
You wouldn't want me in your pumpkin growing group. like last year, three pumpkins in total off three plants? and now the vines are dying? the once large deep green leaves are withered up grey leaves, so my pumpkins probably won't fully develop and grow. They were so healthy to start with. Don't know what we are doing wrong!
accroul,
Jan 18, 1:14pm
My guess is powdery mildew. Common to pumpkins. I have it mildly on mine & am spraying a milk solution weekly. 40% milk to 60% water.
lodgelocum,
Jan 18, 1:19pm
OK thanks accroul, will try it.
dibble35,
Jan 18, 4:23pm
yeah i'm starting to get powdery mildew already on my zucchini plants and a very little on my butternut. I suppose I should do something about it as I also have watermelon and rockmelon plants growing. Oh well a job for tomorrow - I really don't like spraying. cant be bothered with the mucking round.
linda61,
Jan 19, 1:05pm
It seems we have the best crop ever this year, but sadly we move out in two weeks time so wont be able to enjoy them. All self seeded too from the compost we spread over the garden. Hope the new owners enjoy them as we have. Oh yes, HI!
catlover28,
Jan 19, 4:01pm
Thanks, Ill try that.
geesmum,
Jan 21, 11:08am
A few years ago I had a self seeded pumpkin (crown) plant which climbed up my 10 ft lemon tree! It looked classic, with three massive pumpkins peaking out of the lemon. I was amazed how strong its vines were to support it. The best one was blemish free as it was hanging, and was beautifully round! I ended up entering it in our local A & P show and it won first prize. My point is that like cucumbers, pumpkins can be trained to grow up a support. Mine was totally by accident though I going to see if I can find a pic to show.
dibble35,
Jan 21, 3:31pm
My butternut plant has turned into a trifid! Its huge. So many fruits on it, I was just going to leave it to do its thing and keep growing but am running out of room fast. Maybe i'll nail some wires up the fence and it can grow 'up' as it cant grow 'out' for much longer. What have we got. another 6-8 weeks of growing or is it shorter than that?
catlover28,
Jan 7, 7:55am
Lets talk about our pumpkin plants.
samanya,
Jan 7, 8:54am
OK. Mine are green with dark yellow flowers & are starting to get the wanderlust urge, but that's OK as I've planted them in one of my compost bins & it can wander as much as it wants. I hope it's as happy as last year's plants were, got around 15 & still have 3 left . they've kept well.
maccachic1,
Jan 7, 9:12am
I have 3 all self seeded think there are 5 pumpkins so far
catlover28,
Jan 7, 11:55am
My butter cup squash ones have flowered but the flowers have closed and dropped off.
lythande1,
Jan 7, 12:26pm
They grow for miles. LOL.
atlantis3,
Jan 7, 2:49pm
Planted my butter nut about 12 weeks ago (small plant then) and it has just in the last 3 weeks started to spread but no flowers as yet. When should I see flowers or did I plant it too late? At the same time we planted courgettes and they have been giving us a feed for the last 3 weeks. Many thanks in advance.
catlover28,
Jan 7, 2:53pm
Im not sure when you should expect flowers but foe some reason I don't think you have left the planting late. If its spreading theres hope.
summersunnz,
Jan 7, 3:20pm
I've got some that have grown from a handful of seeds I chucked beside the compost bin in early Spring, from a pumpkin that had great flavour. and some Buttercup that I've sown from a packet. so far the ones I chucked down are ahead in size, flower's, growth rate. memo to me, add some of my homemade comfrey fertiliser. :-)
pisces47,
Jan 8, 6:27am
Do you nip the end off when the plant gets to be quite long and has several small pumpkin forming
catlover28,
Jan 8, 3:31pm
To be honest Ive not done any nipping.
mark_g,
Jan 8, 4:36pm
Not growing Pumpkin here for the first time in 10 years. I'm kinda landscaping my backyard and between all the bordered gardens and gravel pathways there doesn't really seem to be anywhere to grow pumpkin and let it roam!
Clearly an oversight which should be remedied.
Yes. Nip out the terminal growth when a vine has 2 or more fruit on it - so long as the fruit are tennis ball size or bigger.
canz,
Jan 10, 2:38pm
I'm growing Maori Pumpkins Kamo kamo they have about 3 metre long main vine, and side vines started sprouting about a week ago, so are about a foot long. I have 5 kumo kamo set already, about 5cm's long, so will probably cut them in a week or so, I just checked, and out of 4 plants, I have 28 femal flowers at various preflower stages, so I should have them all cut by the end of the month, I'm glad i live near the delta foodbank, cause I can see I'm going to have heaps to spare.
books4nz,
Jan 10, 3:53pm
Says hello to the Group. I'm growing pumpkins too :-)
Canz - they taste wonderful cut into thickish slices and brushed with a little butter or oil and barbecued till golden - yum!
mark_g,
Jan 10, 7:21pm
Damn. I'm jealous. I used to grow kamo kamo and pumpkin. I'm gonna have to something next season - dunno what, but I want pumpkin and kamo kamo. Trouble with landscaping and developing the section in a suburban setting - no sunny wild areas left to grow that sort of thing and let it go for it.
catlover28,
Jan 10, 8:00pm
Saw a bee pollinating my Atlantic giant so the bees are doing their job. If my flowers die do new ones grow in their place?
mark_g,
Jan 10, 8:14pm
yip. Not exactly ware the unpollenated flower died - but there will be another female flower somewhere not far away on the same vine.
you can hand pollenate too if you think there aren't enough bees and other insects around.
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