Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Inspiration

Gardening 101: How to grow and care for pumpkins

Cayla Leonard
By

Fresh fall pumpkins are a treat like no other, and few things are better than an October trip to a pumpkin patch. Except, maybe, having your very own pumpkin patch in your garden! Whether you’re a big fan of pumpkin pie, have plans for an intricate jack-o-lantern display, or just enjoy the aesthetics of a pumpkin patch, you can achieve all your pumpkin-themed dreams. Here is everything you need to know about growing, caring, and harvesting pumpkins.

When and how to plant pumpkins

Start your pumpkins in early summer, especially if you’re starting from seeds and not seedlings. Pumpkins need warm soil, with lots of organic matter and a neutral or slightly acidic pH. Pumpkin vines grow quite long, so be sure you have plenty of room. If you want to conserve some space you can plant your pumpkins in mounds, roughly three feet across, which the vines can grow over before spreading out.

Recommended Videos

Mounds also warm more quickly in the sun and help prevent water buildup in the soil. Plant your pumpkins in full sun. Although some varieties are more tolerant of shade than others, full sun allows the pumpkin vines to reach their full potential. Too much shade leads to a smaller plant overall, with fewer pumpkins.

Related

Mature size and more specific care requirements can vary from variety to variety, so it’s important to double check what your specific variety’s needs are. There are plenty of varieties to choose from, too.

Here are a few varieties you might want to look at, organized by what they’re used for:

  • Pie pumpkins
    • Small Sugar
    • Baby Bear
    • Triple Treat
  • Carving pumpkins
    • Jack-O-Lantern
    • Kratos
    • Cronus
  • Unusual or Display pumpkins
    • Warty Goblin
    • Lumina
    • Fairy Tale
an assortment of colorful pumpkins

Basic pumpkin care

Apart from sun and soil, pumpkins need plenty of water. On average, pumpkins need roughly an inch of water each week. This can be given to them all at once, or spread out across the week, depending on your climate. In hotter, drier climates you may need to water your pumpkins more often. Mulch can be a great help in water retention, as it stops water from evaporating as quickly.

However, once your vines have spread out and developed their leaves, water evaporation will slow as well, as the leaves provide shade for the soil underneath. Just be careful not to get the leaves wet when watering your pumpkins, as this can lead to mildew, leaf rot, or sun scorching. Watering in the morning can also minimize the risk of sun scorching and give the water time to soak in before evaporating.

Pumpkin vines, while sprawling across your garden, will climb anything they can reach. You can minimize this by growing your pumpkins on a trellis. This gives your pumpkin something to climb, and limits the amount of space they take over, while also keeping the vines from climbing fences, bird baths, or even other plants. All you need is to set your trellis next to where the pumpkins are growing and gently weave the vines into the trellis as they emerge. The plant will do all the rest. If you plan on growing large pumpkins, be sure to give them a sling or hammock as extra support, or the pumpkins may break off the vine and fall.

Since pumpkin vines can grow so long, and produce such large fruits, it’s likely not a surprise that they need a lot of nutrients. Test your soil before planting if you plan on using fertilizers. Otherwise, mixing compost into your soil before planting and adding smaller amounts throughout the growing season can keep your pumpkins well fed.

Pumpkins in slings growing on trellis

Harvesting pumpkins

Your exact harvest date will depend on the variety of pumpkin and when exactly you planted them, but, on average, your pumpkins will be ready after three or four months. For an early October harvest, you should plan to plant in late May or early June. Pumpkins ready for harvest are firm and evenly colored. It can be difficult to tell if pumpkin varieties that are striped, spotted, or otherwise unusually colored are ripe based on color alone, so you may need to rely more on a texture test. Gently but firmly press your fingernail into the rind of the pumpkin. If it leaves an impression, the pumpkin is not yet ripe. A gentle flick or thump can also work as a suitable test.

Once you’re sure your pumpkin is ripe, it’s time to take it off the vine. Use sharp garden shears, scissors, or a knife and gently sever the vine at the top of the pumpkin. Be sure to leave yourself plenty of stem to give yourself a nice handle (although you should avoid carrying large pumpkins by only their stems, since the stems can break), and to avoid opening any accidental wounds on your pumpkin.

Now that you know all the basics for planting, raising, and harvesting pumpkins, you can have all the pie and jack-o-lanterns your heart desires. There’s nothing standing in your way, so why not start today? In three to four months, you’ll have all the pumpkins you want, and all it’ll take is some sun, soil, water, and patience.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Cayla Leonard
Cayla Leonard
Contributor
Cayla Leonard is a writer from North Carolina who is passionate about plants.  She enjoys reading and writing fiction and…
Everything you need to know about choosing the best rocks for landscaping
From pea gravel to cobblestones, find out which landscaping rocks will fit your outdoor space
Pathway made of flagstone rocks

Stonescaping is a very common, sleek, and clean approach to sprucing up a garden. Stones help create a different texture among the greenery in a garden, and they’re perfect if you want to create a drought-tolerant, low-maintenance outdoor space, because they can function as mulch for your foliage plants.

With a wide variety of rocks out there, you can build entire rock gardens (such as a serene zen garden), using stones to create focal points and provide accents. While you can place statement, stand-alone rocks, piles or blocks of stones can also be functional for walls, pathways, and seats in your garden. 

Read more
Focus on color: Bring some sunshine to your garden with these orange plants
Add color to your home with these orange garden plants
Potted marigolds

If you're looking for a way to add more color to your life and prep for the upcoming spring season, then a few warm, sunny orange plants might be just what you're after. From dark, burnt oranges to delicate pastels, orange flowers can match any aesthetic sense or style.

Plant them with red and yellow flowers to create a fiery gradient, or mix them with blue flowers for a lively arrangement. Whether it's creating a border of marigolds or hanging a charming goldfish plant inside, you have a wide range of options when it comes to incorporating orange into your space. For ideas on which plants to use, here are some of the most striking orange garden plants out there.

Read more
6 tips you should keep in mind when building your own drought-tolerant garden
Build a drought-tolerant garden to save water and money
Border garden planted with drought-tolerant flowers

Watering can be a grueling chore during the summer, and it’s no secret that your water bill can skyrocket if you have to tend to a lawn. Enter drought-tolerant gardening, also known as xeriscaping or water-smart gardening. The driving concept behind this gardening approach is simple: Create a plant space that thrives without too much water.

Designing a drought-tolerant garden is rewarding, but it can be difficult to begin. There's an upfront cost of time, energy, and money to consider. In addition to new, drought-tolerant plants, you may also need to get mulch, rocks, and tubes for an efficient watering system, and setting everything up can take a lot of time and effort. In the long run, though, your low-maintenance garden will be well worth it. You’ll have a garden that's friendlier for the environment and your budget!

Read more