Prolific pumpkins

Gardening is a constant learning experience, it's one of the many things I love about it. In the past I have had terrible luck growing pumpkins. I would get a scrawny vine, that if I was lucky would produce 1 pumpkin. My method was to add about 10 days to the days to produce, and plant then. My thinking was I wanted pumpkins for Halloween, and didn't want them to rot before then, so plant with just enough time.  This was where I think I went wrong.  This year I planted pumpkins at the same time I planted my melons, and all my heat loving plants, because my daughter needed pumpkin (she gives it to her 17 year old cat to help with digestion)
Wow what a huge difference a few weeks made.  My theory is I was starting the pumpkin when it was very hot, and those little seedlings were in survival mode, never having the chance to thrive.  
This year I got so many pumpkins. I wanted to pick them all and take a picture, but it didn't happen. There were pumpkin vines everywhere. We had record breaking heat this summer, and still they thrived.  We have been using them for a couple of months now, my daughter bakes them, and freeze's it for her cat. She has made bread, and pie, I I have given several to the chickens. I counted 30 out there the other day, I don't know what the total was, but it was way more than I could believe, from about 4 mounds of 3 seeds, pretty amazing. I have left them I'm the patch, so picked, some on the vine, and only one has rotted, and I think that was munched on by a critter, so my fear the heat would make them rot, was wrong. They seem to be fine.
I grew all but 1 group on new raised beds. They were over what used to be my hugelkultur, and filled with soil that was on and in the hugelkultur, with organic compost and organic soil on the top 4" to 6".  The other group I wanted to try "David the good style" in a compost pile. I dumped some unfinished compost, and some almost finished compost in a pile and planted in that. It did produce 3 or 4 pumpkins, but the ones planted in the raised beds did a lot better.
I learned a lot this year. Plant early, so they can thrive during the summer heat. Don't plan so many, at least not with melons. The melons did produce, but I think they would have done better if not being smothered by pumpkin vines.
I will probably plant more than I need next year, because I want to make mini raised boxes maybe 2'X 2'X6" to 8" and put them by my your fruit trees. They are small enough not to give any shade, but there's space there, so the vines can grow as much as they like, and not interfere with anything, while providing ground cover for the trees.  It could be a win, but  who knows, time will tell. I will plant a group in one of the raised beds in case the mini boxes don't work.
Growing pumpkins was a blast this year. It was so thrilling to find so many pumpkins.  They have so many great uses. We don't really enjoy them as a straight veggie, but they more than make up for it with their versatility. Just gotta love those plentiful pumpkins.

That's awesome Jen! I had a similar experience with pumpkins some years ago. planted them too late and the vines just didn’t thrive. I realized that planting them earlier, when the weather is really hot, helps them grow strong. This year, I planted mine alongside other heat-loving plants and got way more pumpkins than I expected. It's funny how small changes can make such a big difference! The mini raised beds idea by fruit trees sounds great too. Can't wait to see how it goes next year!

I did the opposite this year and tried early planting. Big fail. They were puny and weak and attracted bugs. I got a few.

Sort of a lesson here, I guess...

I have kind of changed my thinking on when I should plant both seeds and transplants. I used to go by time of when the seed pack would say as to the frost date. This spring I planted by temperature. I ended up planting a lot later than I would have planted in the past. We had a much cooler spring them normal.  I waited until the night time temps were 50 degrees.  I worried I wasn't going to get any veggies. To my surprise everything grew well and produced faster than ever before. It may have been a fluke, but I think the right temperature is more important than frost dates.  Unless it proves otherwise I will be planting when the temps are right from now on.

Sometimes you can plant early and harvest early, but usually if you wait until the temperature- in particular the soil temperature- warms up- the plants will grow better and be stronger and healthier. I'm growing five pumpkin varieties this year, including two varieties which will keep for two or three years no problem. The two varieties which did poorly last yar in my soil and conditions have been dropped.  And here in Australia, butternut is always considered a pumpkin, not a squash.

Jen Fulkerson wrote:... but I think the right temperature is more important than frost dates.  Unless it proves otherwise I will be planting when the temps are right from now on.

I think this is correct for warm-weather crops. I have planted squash early and late. Late caused no problems in my climate, but early was a bust. Same with beans.

For cool weather crops like lettuce, I can scatter seeds any time from fall through winter and spring and they will sprout and grow.

Good job on the pumpkins/squash guys and gals!

I really dropped the ball this season and while I seeded well over 100 for a fall/winter selection I lost every single one. It was super hot and dry and put my efforts elsewhere in the gardens and landscape after running my water bill way up and exhausting myself with an off-farm job on top of it.

I still manged to squeak out some garlic, onions, greens, cabbage, corn, beans, tomatoes, peppers, sweet potatoes etc so not a total fail and funny enuf, the only halfway decent pumpkin I DID get came from some I found on the side of the road last winter and set in a pile for the crows and critters to eat lol. They were closer to the house so they got some watering. Vine borers put the hurtin' on it tho so it could have developed a bit more for good seed production :/ We'll see if they sprout next year.

The good thing is yes I learned something, lots of things actually - mostly revolving around precious water... and hopefully next season I'll be able to report back with some good results. Thanks for the posts on this topic it's inspiring!

Cole sorry about your pumpkins, we all have those times.  Maybe things will be better next year.

Pumpkins and winter squash (in general) are my new favourites.  I had never had success, but I was growing in SK back then.  This year?  WOW!  I had so much fun and absolutely adored growing them.  My plants were huge and prolific, and I even took enormous cuttings off of them and transplanted into different garden areas.  I actually want to turn one of our pastures into a squash field - if I can figure out how farmers go about selling them.  LMAO  Working with them and tending them every day filled my heart in an enormous way... and the chickens and pigs loved the extra harvest treats as much as us humanish folx.

I grew up in Pumpkintown, SC. (yes its a real place with a four way flashing stop and a gas station that doesn't sell gas anymore but has a killer short order restaurant inside). I knew a few who grew pumpkins for a living and are well known for it. One of them explained to me that he had grown other crops but pumpkins were by far the hardest and most finicky. His reasoning wasn't because of the plant itself but because of the market. No one wants to buy pumpkins in August. He can't sell them at that time. He told me that if he could, they would be one of the easiest crops to grow, but because the market demands pumpkins in the month of October, he has to plant them later in the year when the heat (especially in SC) can be down right brutal. My dad's favorite way to grow them was to discard all of the carcasses of last years pumpkins and watermelons along with the seeds onto a large mulch pile we had. The next summer it'd be covered up with pumpkins and watermelons, and we never watered or touched them until harvest.

Rusty Ford wrote:My dad's favorite way to grow them was to discard all of the carcasses of last years pumpkins and watermelons along with the seeds onto a large mulch pile we had.  

OMG!  I love that.  LOL
Thanks for sharing.