There’s nothing quite as magical as growing pumpkins in the garden, It never stops amazing me how these giant orange globes come from seeds the size of a fingernail and having your own pumpkins to carve for the spooky holidays? Even better! Read on to learn how to grow pumpkins for Halloween.
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How To Grow Pumpkins For Halloween
Pumpkins are one of my favorite vegetables to grow. To me, they make the garden a little bit magical, like Cinderella and her pumpkin carriage, pumpkins carry us through winter by providing many meals. Pumpkins also made my Enchanting Heirlooms to Grow list more than once.
Pumpkins come in a huge variety of shapes, sizes and colors these days and that is certainly part of the fun in choosing varieties to grow! There’s sure to be a variety you want to try and grow from the giant vegetable competition variety Dill’s Atlantic Giant to the small and sweet Winter Luxury pie pumpkin and the warty Galeux D’eysines to the grey-blue hue of Jarrahdale and the snowy flat White Boer.
I buy my pumpkin seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds and you can take a look at their pumpkin selection here. I buy heirloom because I love the different flavors and textures which come with eating pumpkins and usually my carving pumpkins also need to hold up in the kitchen too!
Growing Pumpkins
Pumpkins are a frost tender plant which means that they will keel over and die with any frost so you need to wait until 2 weeks after your last frost date in Spring has passed to sow the seeds in your garden. You can start them indoors a little earlier but you must not let them get pot bound. Biodegradable plant pots
Find your last frost date here.
Pumpkins like a very fertile soil and do well if well rotted compost or aged manure is added. Prepare the area for planting by working in some well rotted compost or manure and add a small dusting of azomite rock dust
If you live in a colder area, cover your amended planting area with black plastic sheet mulch
Sowing Pumpkin Seeds
If you are sowing your pumpkin seeds directly into the soil, they do best in a small mound or hill. Make a mound by piling a shovel or two of soil in an area or rake up into a mound.
Sow the seeds pointed end down into the soil up to the first knuckle joint on your finger then cover with the soil and water well. Sow 2-3 seeds in a mound and cover the soil with mulch to suppress the weeds and to retain moisture.
Related post: Types and Benefits of Mulch
Seeds will sprout in about 7 days and will quickly grow long trailing vines.
In areas with short growing seasons, use cloches or low plastic polytunnel
Where To Grow Pumpkins
Pumpkins like to grow in a sunny location and will grow on the ground where they put down roots along the vine. Small varieties of pumpkin grow well up a sturdy trellis and are easy to harvest when they hang down. Some varieties may need support if they get bigger and strain the vine.
Care of Pumpkin Plants
Whilst your pumpkins grow, be sure to keep them well watered in the early morning to reduce the chance of mildew forming on the plant. Feed the plant as necessary with an organic fertilizer such as kelp 
Large yellow flowers will start to appear which are very attractive to bees, both male and female flowers form on a plant; female flowers have a swelling at the back of the plant. Once the flowers are pollinated, the swelling will get bigger and will form the pumpkin.
Pumpkins will set fruit which will ripen and change color, full sun helps to change the color to orange.
Pumpkins typically take 75 to 120 days to mature depending on the variety, select the varieties with the shorter days to maturity.
Common Problems With Pumpkins
Growing pumpkin vines can get a bit unruly, you may need to move the vines regularly to where you want them to grow and avoid them scampering across the lawn!
The vines are susceptible to mildew, plenty of air flow through appropriate plant spacing and watering in the early morning is recommended.
Check plants regularly for squash borers and squash bugs, collect them and drown in soapy water to control populations.
Aphids can be controlled with soapy water sprayed on the affected areas or use an organic alternative such as neem oil.
When To Harvest Pumpkins
Your pumpkins are ready to harvest when the skin is firm and does not get marked when a fingernail is pressed onto the skin. To harvest cut the stem where it joins the vine and allow the pumpkins to cure in the sun or in a warm dry place turning the squash daily until the skins are cured.
Pumpkins will keep in a cool dry place for a few months. Check them regularly for any soft spots forming on the fruit.
Summary: How To Grow Pumpkins
Start your pumpkin plants after all risk of frost has passed. Short growing season gardeners should use black plastic mulch and a faster maturing variety which is ready to harvest in 75-80 days. Small varieties of pumpkin may be grown over sturdy trellis whilst large varieties need plenty of room to let the long vines grow.
Add plenty of well rotted manure or compost to the soil you will be growing pumpkins in and dust with gypsum to add calcium to the soil to help ward off blossom end rot. Keep the soil around the plants moist and mulched. Water during the morning and check regularly for pests or signs of mildew.
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