Trim main vines and lateral vines as needed again later in the season. Some gardeners gently lift and move the vines to run in one direction to make access easier. Prune vines – After selecting your one fruit, pinch back the ends of your vines to direct the plant’s energy into the fruit.You may want to try rolling the pumpkin very gently into a new position each week to keep it from becoming lopsided. Place a piece of cardboard under your giant pumpkin to prevent soil rots. When they are 6-8 inches in diameter you should keep the largest and fastest-growing fruit and remove the others. Select one fruit: monitor the growth of the baby pumpkin fruits on your plant.When the plants have their second set of leaves keep the strongest plant and cut the others at ground level, rather than pulling, to prevent injury to the roots of the remaining plant. Mound up the soil in the middle of the planting area and plant 3-5 pumpkin seeds about ½ in.It will take 4 months to get these pumpkin varieties to produce pumpkins in the 100+ pound range. Check seed catalogs and garden centers for cultivars known to produce large fruit- such as ‘Atlantic Giant’, ‘Big Max’, or ‘Big Moon’.Weeding –Remove all young weed seedlings by hand or with a hoe and use a mulch around plants to keep weed seeds from germinating.Watering – Water deeply and regularly at the base of each plant, especially during hot, dry weather and once fruits start to form.Avoid using any pesticides during the bloom period to prevent poisoning pollinators. Poor fruit-set is common during rainy weather when bees are inactive. For a flower to develop into a fruit, pollen must be carried by bees from male flowers, on the same plant or on different plants, to the female flower (the one with the tiny fruit below the flower). This is a normal growth habit and varies with cultivars. Similar to other members of the squash family, pumpkins produce male flowers for 1 to 2 weeks before female flowers appear.Pumpkin seeds can also be cleaned, dried, and salted for eating.Some varieties are preferable for carving, some for making pies. Like other winter squash, it can be stored intact for carving and eating later in the season.It is harvested and eaten in the mature fruit stage, when its color has changed from green, usually well into the fall.Fruits grow on long vines and comes in many varieties and colors, but are mostly orange when ripe. Pumpkin is a member of the genus Cucurbita and the family Curcurbitaceae.Approximate yield: 10 to 20 pounds per 10-foot row.Refer to Fertilizing Vegetables for details. Fertilize prior to planting side-dress when fruits first develop. Fertilizer needs: High requirement for nutrients, either from soil organic matter or fertilizers.Plant the seeds about ½” deep in the soil. apart in rows that are about 8 to 12 feet apart after all danger of frost has passed and the soil has warmed. Spacing: Plant 2 to 3 seeds every 3 ft.Days to maturity: Most pumpkins require more than 100 days to ripen.Full sun requires direct light at least 6 hours/day prefers 8 - 10 hours/day. This crop will be harvested around the time of the first frost. A second crop can be planted between June 15 and July 1. Handle transplants gently and disturb the root system as little as possible. After seedlings emerge, pinch out all but the strongest seedling. Seed or transplants can be planted through black plastic or landscape fabric to hasten maturity. For transplants, sow seed indoors in 3-inch diameter containers 3 weeks before planting time (about mid-May). Planting: Mix compost into the soil before planting and plant on a level part of your garden.Frost will injure top growth needs warm weather to grow. Hardiness: Very tender warm-season annual.
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