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Growing Giant Pumpkins In The Home Garden
Topic Started: Mar 12 2018, 02:09 PM (21 Views)
Cerwin
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Growing Giant Pumpkins In The Home Garden
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General

Growing giant pumpkins can be a fascinating experience. Before you can master the art of growing a giant, however, you must be familiar with the basic principles of growing pumpkins. This information can be found in the Extension FactSheet entitled "Growing Squash and Pumpkins in the Home Garden" (HYG-1620). Once you have become familiar with this information, you are ready to try your hand at growing a GIANT!

Fertilizer and Lime
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Always apply lime and fertilizers based on soil test recommendations. Providing adequate nutrients throughout the growing season will insure healthy, vigorous vines, not to mention large pumpkins. Granular fertilizers should be applied as a broadcast application over the soil surface and incorporated into the soil 4 to 6 inches deep a few days ahead of setting out your transplants. Giant pumpkin vines require approximately 2 pounds nitrogen (N), 3 pounds phosphorous (P2O2) and 6 pounds potash (K2O) per 1,000 square feet of growing space. The addition of organic matter (manure, etc.) to the garden is important to establish good soil tilth.

A foliar feeding program should be started after pollination and fruit set have occurred. There are several foliar fertilizers available. Follow label directions and continue application throughout the growing season.

Planting and Space Requirements
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Growing giant pumpkins requires an early start. Seeds should be sown individually and started indoors in 12-inch peat pots about the end of April. A well balanced potting medium is recommended. Plants are ready for transplanting when the first true leaf is fully expanded. This is usually 10 to 14 days after seeding. Transplants can be protected from late spring frost using a floating row cover.

Growing space in the garden is important. Each plant should be allowed approximately 2,500 square feet. This area may sound quite large, but it is essential for vine growth. Pumpkins prefer long hours of sunlight, so select your garden site accordingly. Avoid shaded areas and select an area with good surface and internal drainage.

Irrigation
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Pumpkins are shallow rooted, so water slowly with at least one inch of water per week if rainfall is not adequate. More water may be required during hot, windy summer days. Water during morning or early afternoon hours so foliage dries by evening. This helps prevent the spread of leaf diseases.

Trickle irrigation is best, but soaker hoses also work well. Overhead sprinklers are effective; however, wet foliage increases the chance of disease, especially mildew.

Cultural
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If planting is done in a well-prepared bed, weeds will seldom be a problem and can be controlled by hand-weeding or hoeing. Continue to remove weeds until the vines cover the ground. At this time, the dense foliage will shade out most weeds.

Plastic mulches are very effective for controlling weeds. Plastic mulches also warm the soil, and can maintain good soil moisture levels. The plastic can be installed when the soil is in good planting condition, any time from a few days to 2 to 3 weeks before planting. If you do not use plastic, pumpkins will benefit from organic mulches applied in the summer after the soil has warmed.

When summer mulching materials are used, such as straw, additional nitrogen is recommended. Mix one tablespoon of ammonium sulfate, calcium nitrate, or nitrate of soda per one bushel of mulch. Apply once or twice during the early growing season. A complete fertilizer that is high in nitrogen may be substituted for any of the above. Apply the fertilizer when the mulch is moist.

Herbicides are also available for weed control. However, only a trained and licensed applicator should apply these materials.

Windbreaks
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Windbreaks are necessary to protect young plants that are not fully rooted. Windbreaks should be positioned on plants most susceptible to southwest winds until late June when side-runners are 3 to 4 feet long. The use of a snow fence and burlap can make an excellent windbreak. Covering the vines at each node with soil will help anchor vines down and promote secondary root development.

Insects and Diseases

The planting site of your plants should be rotated each year to reduce the incidence of insect and disease pressure. Without a regular spray program for insects and diseases, your success rate for producing a giant pumpkin can be significantly reduced. An insect and disease control program must be initiated at transplanting. Insects are the primary vectors for transmitting viruses. Once a viral infection has occurred, there is no way to stop it. There are several pesticides recommended for insect and disease control. Check with your local Extension agent for current rates and compounds. You may refer to Ohio Vegetable Production Guide (Bulletin 672) for current pesticide recommendations. The licensed pesticide applicator will have more options regarding insecticides and fungicides available to them.

Pollination

Although hand pollination is the preferred method to fruit setting, natural pollination by bees will work well. Hand pollination allows for a more controlled genetic cross. Do not begin pollinating until the plant has approximately 200 leaves. Initially it is recommended to allow only 4 to 6 pumpkins per plant. Once pumpkins reach volleyball size, trim back to one pumpkin. The more you reduce the competition for nutrients, the greater your success rate will be for achieving a giant size pumpkin.

Stem Stress

Because of the size and fast growth of these pumpkins, training vines and root pruning is important. This will prevent stem breakage and splitting. While the pumpkin is basketball size, curve the vine 80 to 90 degrees away from the fruit. About 3 feet out from the fruit, curve the vine back in the general direction it was headed. Clip roots 3 feet out on the vine. This will allow the vine to easily move upward as the pumpkin grows. Pumpkins long in shape tend to push the vine forward, resulting in a kink. If this happens, slide the pumpkin back about 4 to 5 inches - this is usually necessary when the pumpkin is about 300 pounds. Pumpkins round in shape are difficult to rotate without damaging the stem.

Shade

To protect the pumpkin from direct sunlight, construct a shade out of burlap or other lightweight material. This will prevent premature hardening of the outer skin and will allow the pumpkin to reach its full genetic potential in terms of physical size.

Cultivars

Be sure to select plant varieties that have the genetics to attain large size. Check seed catalogs and garden centers for possible giant pumpkin seed cultivars.

Harvest/Storing

Pumpkins should be harvested when they have a deep, solid color and the rind is hard. The vines are usually dying back at this time. Cover during a light frost and avoid leaving pumpkins out during a hard freeze to prevent softening.
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10 Steps to a Giant Pumpkin - by Don Langevin
Intrigued by these car-size, half-ton gourds? Start now for next season.
For many of us, fall means a bounty of pumpkins for pies and jack-o'-lanterns, along with a gathering in of the rest of the autumn harvest. But for thousands of backyard gardeners, fall is the time of reckoning and - for a lucky few - glory. These are the growers of the heavyweights. For them, pumpkin growing is a competitive sport. As recently as 16 years ago, the heaviest (official) pumpkin weighed a mere 403 pounds. Since then the world record has been broken nine times. Other than Howard Dill, who held the world record from 1979 to 1982, no one has ever won the world championship more than once. And almost all the world-record pumpkins since 1982 have been grown in small backyard gardens.

Well, not too small. To really appreciate the feat of growing these 800-, 900- or 1,000-pound behemoths, it's necessary to see one up close. Consider the measurements of the second-largest pumpkin grown in the world in 1994. Its girth was 176 inches (that's more than 14-1/2 feet around!). When carved, these beauties will hold a candle for light, as well as two or three members of the family. Or you can bake some 900 pumpkin pies from a single fruit. At the Topsfield Fair in Topsfield, Massachusetts, it took the strength of 12 adults to move a 914- pound pumpkin to the scale. I can't pass a Honda Civic anymore with- out thinking that 10 or 12 men could probably roll it onto a tarpaulin and cart it away, too.

Now, with this year's competition just past and predictions that the largest pumpkins are likely to surpass the benchmark half-ton next season, is a good time to review the latest techniques required to grow "the big ones." Believe it or not, you'll probably need to start now, in the fall, preparing the soil.

The guru of monster pumpkin growing is Howard Dill. His behemoths have won more world records than any other grower's. His Atlantic Giant is the variety of choice for anyone who wants to grow a big pumpkin.


How To Grow A Giant Pumpkin
If you ask 10 competitive pumpkin growers how to grow a giant pumpkin, you're likely to get 10 different answers. It seems everyone has his or her own way of coaxing the most weight out of these giants. But there is a thread of consistency that runs throughout all the instructions, and adhering to three basic tenets will get you well on the way to a world record. Above all else, you need good seed, good soil and good luck.

Good seed. If you want to grow a world-record pumpkin, you can forget about every variety of pumpkin out there except Howard Dill's patented Atlantic Giant. Since 1979, no other pumpkin variety has been a world champion. Good soil Pumpkins are large consumers of all the major plant nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium), as well as many minor nutrients like calcium and magnesium and other trace elements. The key for big growth is soil well amended with organic matter. In the fall or early spring, add two to five yards per plant of compost and rotted manures. Cow and horse manures are best. Use chicken manure sparingly and only in the fall. Cover crops of winter rye, plowed down in the spring, are fabulous. The soil pH should be between 6.5 and 6.8.

Good luck. If you can grow a good vegetable garden, you have the skill to grow a world-record pumpkin. I've seen newcomers grow 500-pound pumpkins their first year with good seed, some rudimentary help from an experienced grower and a lot of luck. With the right preparation and strategy now and in the spring (see the text on page 40 for tips on planning your assault on the world record), next year you might just be a contender for the world championship!

1. PREPARE THE SOIL. Start with a pH test in fall and adjust your pH to between 6.5 and 6.8 by adding sulfur to lower the pH or lime to raise it. Apply three to five yards of composted manure per 30-foot-diameter circle where you expect to plant next spring. Plant a cover crop of winter rye in fall to be turned under in early spring, broadcasting one to two pounds per 1,000-square-foot area.

2. SOW SEEDS. Start seed indoors in six-inch peat pots about four weeks before your last spring frost date. Plant the seed with the pointed end of the seed facing down. Keep the soil temperature at 85 to 90 degrees F. Most seeds will emerge within five days.

3. TRANSPLANT SEEDLINGS. Transplant seedlings into the garden once the first true leaves appear or when roots begin to grow through the peat pot (usually seven to 10 days after germination). Handle with care because pumpkins are easily set back during transplanting.

4. PROTECT SEEDLINGS. Place a "mini-greenhouse" over the seedlings for six weeks to shield plants from wind and frost. These mini-greenhouses can be as simple as two storm windows nailed together to form a teepee or as elaborate as a four- by four-foot wooden structure made from 1x2 lumber nailed together with 6-mil clear plastic stapled to cover the frame. Once seedlings outgrow the mini-greenhouse, use a temporary fence to screen wind. I use "conservation" fence, which is bought with wood end stakes attached and is commonly used at new construction sites. A 100-foot roll cut into three pieces is enough for three 11-foot-diameter areas.

5. POLLINATE FLOWERS. Eight to 10 weeks after seed starting, the first female flowers will appear. They're easy to distinguish because they have a small pumpkin at their base. If you want to get a jump on your rival, you'll need to hand-pollinate the flowers. In the early morning, locate a freshly opened male flower. Pick it and remove the outer flower petals, exposing the stamen and fresh pollen. Locate a newly opened female flower and gently swab the stigma (internal parts) of the female flower with the pollen-laden stamen.

Getting a pumpkin set as early as possible, preferably before July 10, is key. The earlier you set a pumpkin, the longer it has to grow until harvest. Since these monsters can gain 25 pounds a day, losing 10 days in the early part of the season could put you well down the list at your local pumpkin weigh-off.

6. REPOSITION SET PUMPKINS. Once a pumpkin has set, its position on the vine becomes extremely important. Most often the stem grows at a very acute angle to the vine. However, for optimal long-term growth, the best position is to have the stem perpendicular to the vine. If yours is not at right angles to the vine naturally, coax it gradually, over about a week's time, until it is in that position. Be careful, because at this early stage pumpkins may still abort or you may injure the fragile stem.

7. SELECT THE MOST PROMISING PUMPKIN. If one plant has three strong vines, you could have as many as seven or eight pumpkins set and growing by July 20. Now you must choose the best pumpkin and remove most of the rest. Measure each pumpkin's circumference at the widest point weekly or daily with a cloth measuring tape. Choose the one that's growing fastest. Also, keep an eye out for the optimum shape. Young pumpkins that are round and especially tall grow the largest.

8. PRUNE VINES. Begin pruning vines early in the season to discourage random growth and an out-of-control patch. Prune each main vine when it has reached 10 to 12 feet beyond a set fruit. If you have a pumpkin on a vine that is 10 feet from the main root, cut the end of that vine once it is 20 to 24 feet long. Let side shoots off the main vines get no longer than eight feet before cutting off tips. Train side shoots so they are perpendicular to the main vine to accommodate access to the vines and pumpkins. Bury the ends of cut vines to reduce water loss.
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9. FERTILIZE. During the growing season, most fertility needs of pumpkins can be met by applying water-soluble plant foods once or twice a week over the entire plant area. Give seedlings a fertilizer that stresses phosphorus, such as 15-30-15. Shift to a more balanced formula, such as 20-20-20, once fruits are set.

By late July, use a formula that stresses potassium, such as 15-11-29. I apply water-soluble fertilizer at the rate of one to two pounds per week per plant from fruit set until the end of the growing season. Some competitive growers will err on the side of overfertilization. But too much fertilizer can hurt more than help. If the pumpkins start growing too fast, they will literally tear themselves from the vine and explode. A very fine grower in New England told me, "Slow and easy wins the race." Remember this whenever you feel the urge to overfertilize.

10. KEEP TRACK. Measure your pumpkins at least weekly. Gains in circumference can average four to six inches in a 24 hour period. Measure the circumference of your pumpkins first parallel to the ground around the entire pumpkin, from blossom end to stem. Next, measure over the top in both directions: from ground to ground along the axis from stem to blossom end, then perpendicular to the stem-blossom-end axis. Add these three measurements together, then multiply by 1.9 to give an estimate of the pumpkin's weight.


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