🎃 Pumpkin
How to grow
Direct sow after soil hits 65°F+ — pumpkins grow fast and transplant badly. Plant 1 inch deep in hills (4–5 seeds, thin to 2–3 plants). Give them SPACE; a pumpkin vine is a land claim. In short-season zones, start indoors 3–4 weeks early in peat pots and choose varieties under 100 days.
Florida: plant July for October harvest — pumpkins love heat and the timing works perfectly for fall. Everywhere: rich soil is everything; pumpkins are the heavyweight feeders of the garden. Old-timers planted on compost piles, which tells you all you need to know. For giant pumpkins, limit to one fruit per vine and prepare for a part-time job.
Water & feeding
Deep, consistent water — 1–2 inches per week, at the base (wet leaves invite mildew). Reduce slightly as fruit ripens to harden skins. Feed heavily: worm castings in the planting hill (generous — a shovelful per hill), side-dress with castings or compost at flowering. Pumpkins convert fertility into size like nothing else.
Common problems
- Squash vine borers: the arch-nemesis. Row cover until flowering, wrap stems with foil at the base, or inject Bt into stems. Check for frass (sawdust-like poop) at stem bases.
- Squash bugs: hand-pick, scrape bronze egg clusters off leaf undersides, lay boards as traps and check underneath each morning.
- Powdery mildew: resistant varieties, airflow, water at soil level. Usually arrives late; early varieties outrun it.
Harvest
Wait until rinds are hard (fingernail doesn't dent), stems are dry and brown, and color is fully developed — usually after a light frost kills the vines (but harvest BEFORE a hard freeze). Cut with 3–4 inches of stem (never carry by the stem — it breaks and invites rot). Cure 10 days in sun or a warm spot to harden; store cool and dry for months.