A Guide to Growing Pumpkins and How It’s So Easy a Child Could Do It

Every October, the supermarkets stock up with hundreds of pumpkins destined to be carved up and converted into jack-o-lanterns. Halloween just isn’t Halloween without one. Sometimes several. And, of course, those supermarket specimens are just fine.

However, growing pumpkins, even those large jack-o-lantern-sized pumpkins, is easy to do at home, and it can add a lot of fun to the tradition. For those with children, this is the perfect way to get the kids into gardening.

With that in mind, here’s a little guide for growing jack-o-lanterns at home, everything from making a quick mulch bed to planting them to when to pick them. Plus, those pumpkins that don’t become decorations can potentially become pumpkin pies for the holidays and delicious dishes on chilly evenings.

Building a Simple Garden Bed Perfect for Growing Pumpkins

First things first, we need a good place to grow pumpkins. It’s important to realize that the plants are huge, much too large for basic raised garden beds if you hope to grow anything else. They’ll work much better in a sunny corner or against a south-facing wall/fence.

Luckily, pumpkin plants don’t easily fall victim to garden pests like raccoons and deer. Animals tend to steer clear of the spiky leaves, so they’ll be safe out of enclosures.

Once a good location is chosen, it’s easy to make a great garden bed for growing pumpkins. Cut any grass or weeds growing in the area and lay down a few layers of newspaper. Cover that newspaper with about a foot of organic material like leaves, kitchen scraps, and garden trimmings. Then, mulch that organic material with something that looks nice, like straw or grass clippings.

When it comes time to plant (give it at least a couple of weeks), clear out a hole about six inches across and fill it with good compost or topsoil. As the organic materials beside the soil break down, it’ll provide nutrients for the pumpkin plants, no further fertilizing needed.

What to Know about Sowing & Growing Pumpkins

Pumpkins and squash, in general, are amongst the easier plants to grow. They like a lot of nutrients, water, and sun, but beyond that, they just do their thing, almost weed-like in their determination to grow. There are some important things to keep in mind:

1. A pumpkin plant can easily spread out 15-20 feet or climb up something just as high, so it’s important to give them space to roam and/or a trellis to climb.
2. Keeping the size of the plant and fruit in mind, remember that it’ll take these plants about four months to provide mature pumpkins, particularly for pumpkins sizeable enough to be jack-o-lanterns.
3. Lots of gardeners like to directly sow the seeds, putting two or three in each location and thinning them out to one once they’ve reached a few inches tall. Pumpkin plants should be about three feet apart.
4. Thus, they’ll need to be planted long before jack-o-lanterns are relevant. June is probably the best time to plant them unless you live in a very cold place, then they might need to be started indoors a month early and planted out in June.
5. The pumpkins will change into their lovely orange color as they near maturity. Their rind will also harden such that fingernails don’t easily dig into them. Even so, the best time to pick pumpkins is when the plant dies back and the stem hardens.

There are lots of varieties to choose from. A good place to start is looking for pumpkin plants that produce fruits between 15-25 pounds. Then, choose a shade of orange that appeals to you. Some can be bright orange, others a duskier hue.

Make the Most of All the Pumpkins

Likely, a pumpkin plant will provide more than one pumpkin, and a few plants will put out more than most families can handle. Of course, they make great decorations for the fall, but don’t forget that they are delicious and very nutritious, including those delectable pumpkin seeds.

Related Content:

• Pumpkin Seeds: Health Benefits, Tips, and Recipes!
• 5 Things to Do with Pumpkins After Halloween
• 15 Perfect Vegan Pumpkin Pie Recipes For Fall!
• 15 Fall-Tastic Pumpkin Spice Recipes
• Pumpkin Doesn’t Just Taste Great, This Fall Superfood Can Make You Healthy!

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