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.

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
Do you live in climate zone 10? Here’s our guide to choosing the perfect climate zone 10 plants
What you need to know about caring for climate zone 10 plants
Stacey Nguyen
By Stacey Nguyen
December 28, 2022
Tomatillo plant

One part of the country that many gardeners envy is climate zone 10, a warm sanctuary for a variety of plants, thanks to its very long growing seasons and mild winters. Made up of the southernmost parts of the country, this region has a climate that's ideal for multiple rounds of harvests. While it has specific challenges with blisteringly hot summers, it’s an overall welcoming environment for plant life. Below, we’ve rounded up everything you need to know about zone 10 and all the plants that you can grow in it.

Where is climate zone 10?
Before we get into the specifics of climate zone 10, let’s talk about the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map. When shopping for plants, you may see labels indicating a zone range — that basically tells you where the plant will be hardy for more than just one growing season. Essentially, the United States Department of Agriculture has divided the country into 13 regions, or climate zones, based on annual minimum temperature ranges. Zone 1 faces the coldest winters, while zone 13 usually has the warmest ones. Bearing this in mind, inhabitants of zone 10 will often experience warmer winters.

Read more
What to do with an old Christmas tree: 6 ways to recycle your tree after the holidays
From making firewood to mulch, here are ways to recycle Christmas trees
Rebecca Wolken
By Rebecca Wolken
December 27, 2022
Ornament on a Christmas tree

Once all the Christmas festivities are over, it's time to take down holiday decorations and figure out what you're going to do with that huge Christmas tree. Unfortunately, every year a massive amount of Christmas trees end up in landfills where they don't have the opportunity to decompose and break down like they naturally would in a forest. This isn't good for the planet, and you'd be wasting a potential resource you could use for something else.

So if you're curious about what to do with an old Christmas tree and how to get the most out of it, here are some ways you can recycle it so it becomes a gift that keeps on giving.

Read more
Trying to beat the cold? Here are our favorite frost-resistant plants for any climate
Here's how to protect your plants from the cold this winter
Cayla Leonard
By Cayla Leonard
December 7, 2022
Three types of heuchera growing outdoors

You spent all spring and summer tending to your garden. Now the weather is turning colder and the first heavy frosts are here. How can you help your flowers survive the winter? Keep reading to find out what plants can resist the cold and if and how to protect your plants from the freezing weather.

Which plants can survive a frost?
Evergreens are known for their ability to survive winter, but they aren’t the only cold-tolerant, frost-resistant plants out there! Leafy vegetables like cabbage, lettuce, kale, collards, and chard can tolerate some frost. Early spring blooming flowers like crocus, snowdrop, and primrose can all survive the winter, and pansies are especially resilient. Violas, hostas, heuchera, irises, lily of the valley, cyclamen, and phlox also tolerate frost and provide some visual interest, as do catmint, baptista, sedum, and peonies.

Read more