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Here are some basic facts about pumpkins that you should have should you decide to grow some.
Standard Orange (Small)
All 2 to 5 pounds, 100 to 110 days to harvest
Baby Bear (small, flattened shape; fine stem)
Baby Pam; Oz (hybrid, semi-bush; very smooth skin, heavy stem, immature yellow color)
Small Sugar or New England Pie (the standard pie type)
Spooktacular (hybrid; bright orange; ribbed; strong stem)
Sugar Treat (hybrid; semi- bush; bright color)
Winter Luxury (old variety, good for cooking; unique netted skin)
Standard Orange (Intermediate)
All 8 to 15 pounds, 100 to 110 days to harvest
Autumn Gold (hybrid, yellow when immature)
Bushkin (hybrid, bush type)
Frosty (hybrid; smooth-textured skin)
Funny Face (hybrid)
Harvest Moon (hybrid)
Jack-o-Lantern
Spirit (hybrid, semi-bush)
Young's Beauty
Standard Orange (Large)
All 15 to 25 pounds, 100 to 110 days to harvest
Aspen (hybrid, deep orange, uniformly large)
Big Autumn (hybrid, yellow when mature)
Big Tom (selection of Connecticut Field)
Connecticut Field (the old standard, continually reselected)
Ghost Rider (dark orange; very dark green handle)
Happy Jack (uniform, dark orange; good handle)
Howden Field (the industry standard for the last 20 years)
Jackpot (hybrid; round; compact vine habit)
Jumpin' Jack (large, dark orange, heavy, tall fruit)
Pankow's Field (large, variable pumpkins with exceptionally large, long handles).
Rouge Vif d'Estampes is a C. maxima type that is deep red-orange, flattened, heavily sutured. It was the prototype for Cinderella's carriage pumpkin and is sometimes sold as "Cinderella" pumpkin.
All C. maxima, 50 to 100 pounds, or much more; 120 days to harvest
Atlantic Giant (most true giants come from selections of this variety)
Big Max
Big Moon
Mammoth Gold
Prizewinner (hybrid; most uniform size, shape, orange color; not the largest, but the most dependable)
White Painting
Casper, Lumina and Snowball (all C. maxima)
Little Boo (C. Pepo)
Cushaw group
Green-Striped Cushaw, Sweet Potato, Tennessee, and White Cushaw (all C. mixta)
Golden Cushaw (C. moschata)
Naked-Seeded
This just gives you a small inkling of what varieties are available in the United States alone. I found at least 50 more!
Pumpkins are good for you. The bright orange color of pumpkin is a dead giveaway that pumpkin is loaded with an important antioxidant, beta-carotene. Beta-carotene is one of the plant carotenoids converted to vitamin A in the body. In the conversion to vitamin A, beta carotene performs many important functions in overall health.
Current research indicates that a diet rich in foods containing beta-carotene may reduce the risk of developing certain types of cancer and offers protect against heart disease. Beta-carotene offers protection against other diseases as well as some degenerative aspects of aging.
Here are some pumpkin nutrition facts:
(1 cup cooked, boiled, drained, without salt) Calories 49,
Protein 2 grams
Carbohydrate 12 grams
Dietary Fiber 3 grams
Calcium 37 mg
Iron 1.4 mg
Magnesium 22 mg
Potassium 564 mg
Zinc 1 mg
Selenium .50 mg
Vitamin C 12 mg
Niacin 1 mg
Folate 21 mcg
Vitamin A 2650 IU
Vitamin E 3 mg
I have never been successful in growing a pumpkin and I think because I put about 4 hills, each with about 5 or 6 seeds and then the birds come along and help themselves.
Many people grow them in their gardens, successfully.
Pumpkin is a very tender vegetable. The seeds do not germinate in cold soil, and the seedlings are injured by frost. Do not plant until all danger of frost has passed, and the soil has thoroughly warmed. Plant pumpkins for Halloween from late May in northern locations, to early July in extremely southern sites. If pumpkins are planted too early, they may soften and rot before Halloween.
Pumpkin is a warm-season vegetable that can be grown throughout much of the United States. Besides being used as jack-o'-lanterns at Halloween, pumpkins are used to make pumpkin butter, pies, custard, bread, cookies and soup.
Vining pumpkins require a minimum of 50 to 100 square feet per hill. Plant seeds one inch deep (four or five seeds per hill). Allow 5 to 6 feet between hills, spaced in rows 10 to 15 feet apart. When the young plants are well-established, thin each hill to the best two or three plants.
Plant semi-bush varieties one inch deep (four or five seeds per hill) and thin to the best two plants per hill. Allow 4 feet between hills and 8 feet between rows.
Plant miniature varieties one inch deep, with two or three seeds every 2 feet in the row. Rows should be 6 to 8 feet apart, with seedlings thinned to the best plant every 2 feet when they have their first true leaves.
Plant bush varieties one inch deep (1 or 2 seeds per foot of row) and thin to a single plant every 3 feet. Allow 4 to 6 feet between rows.
Pumpkin plants should be kept free from weeds by hoeing and shallow cultivation. Irrigate if an extended dry period occurs in early summer. Pumpkins tolerate short periods of hot, dry weather pretty well.
Bees, that are necessary for pollinating squash and pumpkins, may be killed by insecticides. When insecticides are used, they should be applied only in late afternoon or early evening when the blossoms have closed for the day and bees are no longer visiting the blossoms. As new blossoms open each day and bees land only inside the open blossoms, these pollinating insects should be safe from contact with any potentially deadly sprays.
Pumpkins can be harvested whenever they are a deep, solid color (orange for most varieties) and the rind is hard. If vines remain healthy, harvest in late September or early October, before heavy frosts. If vines die prematurely from disease or other causes, harvest the mature fruit and store them in a moderately warm, dry place until Halloween. Cut pumpkins from the vines carefully, using pruning shears or a sharp knife and leave 3 to 4 inches of stem attached. Snapping the stems from the vines results in many broken or missing "handles." Pumpkins without stems usually do not keep well. Wear gloves when harvesting fruit because many varieties have sharp prickles on their stems.
Avoid cutting and bruising the pumpkins when handling them. Fruits that are not fully mature or that have been injured or subjected to heavy frost do not keep. Store in a dry building where the temperature is between 50 and 55°F.
Powdery mildew causes a white, powdery mold growth on the upper surfaces of the leaves. The growth can kill the leaves prematurely and interfere with proper ripening.
Cucumber beetles and squash bugs attack seedlings, vines and both immature and mature fruits. Be alert for an infestation of cucumber beetles and squash bugs, as populations build in late summer, because these insects can damage the mature fruits, marring their appearance and making them less likely to keep properly.
If one wants to grow giant pumpkins use only one of the jumbo varieties. Plant in early June and allow 150 square feet per hill. Thin to the best one or two plants. High fertility, proper insect control and shallow cultivation are essential. Remove the first two or three female flowers after the plants start to bloom so that the plants grow larger with more leaf surface before setting fruit. Allow a single fruit to develop and pick off all female flowers that develop after this fruit has set on the plant. Do not allow the vine to root down at the joints near this developing fruit because these varieties develop so quickly and so large that they may actually break from the vine as they expand on a vine anchored to the ground.
Here are some basic rules to growing a really, really large pumpkin…
Follow them and you might be able to pose with a picture like this one.
Fertilizer and Lime
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 tilt.
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.
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Author Bio Box: Arlene Wright Correll
 Resources: Excerpted from “Food For Thought Series” by Arlene Wright-Correll
For more gardening or cooking information click http://www.learn-america.com/ and click on Arlene’s Books you can download or buy my gardening & cook books. All my royalties from the sale of my books go to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and we thank you for your attention to this site.
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