July Giant Pumpkin Update

There has been some major changes in my pumpkin patch since my last pumpkin update!

Last time I shared an update my vine was only a few feet long. Now it is about 20 feet long and growing pumpkins! Growing giant pumpkins are for the die hard gardeners! I have been out in my pumpkin patch daily maintaining my plants. There have been several things that I have been doing that are working well and some that did not.

Let’s start with the things that have not been working so well. First I attempted to hand pollinate my pumpkins. I would watch for a female flower to open up and pollinate it with a male flower. It seemed like whenever I did this the pumpkin would end up aborting. I decided to leave pollination to the bees and that is working just fine so far. Next, I had an infestation of cucumber beetles and squash bugs. I could not figure out why my baby pumpkins were getting holes in them. It was the cucumber beetles eating them. I sprayed the vines with eight and that took care of them. I also took precautionary measures and spread beneficial nematodes around my vines to kill any beetle larvae in the ground. So far so good! I for sure planted my plants to close together. They are growing together, but not yet choking each other out. I guess I will see what happens down the road.

Once my pumpkins finally actually started growing pumpkins once I left the bees to pollinate I selected a few pumpkins on each plant then elevated them off the ground on foam to prevent rot. As they continue to grow I will select the best pumpkin on each plant to keep, so it has a chance to grow larger. I will need to purchase larger pieces of foam to place under them once they get larger. For fertilizing, I am watering in a fish emulsion fertilizer once per week. I also give a little bit of all purpose plant tone fertilizer once per week. I will be switching to a potassium rich fertilizer now that I have fruit. I will also be covering each pumpkin with a thin white sheet to protect the outer skin from the sun so it does not harden and prevent potential growth. Finally, I have been burying vines as they grow to protect from bugs, and promote more roots. This seems to be working good so far.

I can’t wait to share another update in another month. Hopefully I will have a giant on my hands by that time!