How to Grow a Giant Pumpkin: Instructions & Tips

Good evening, Growers!

It's getting very close to that time. Yes, with the May 20th full moon planting date next Tuesday, I have begun germinating the seeds for my vine. I also thought that this might be a good opportunity to publish the instructions on how to grow a giant pumpkin:

How to Grow a Giant Pumpkin: Instructions & Tips

I) Selecting a planting site
1) Select a sunny place in your garden. Giant pumpkins thrive best in strong sunshine. The larger the area, the better (500-1,000 sq. ft.), but smaller areas have been successfully planted too. An area that receives 8-12+ hours of sunlight per day is ideal.

II) Preparing the soil and mound
1) The best pumpkins come from the best prepared soil. Dig a hole, 40”-48” deep, 3’-5’ in diameter, and mix the soil well with 6-8 bags (9-12 cubic feet) of soil amendments and/or other high organic content materials: well-aged steer or horse manure, compost, humus. More is better!
2) Put the mixed soil back in. You should have a mound, 2’-5’ in diameter, 16”-18” high at its center.
3) Allow 35’-50’ between individual mounds if you are planting more than one vine.

III) Germinating giant pumpkin seeds
1) Soak seeds overnight in warm water (8-12 hours.) This softens the pumpkin seed’s shell and accelerates germination. Start germinating seeds late April to early-mid May.
2) Plant seeds in a 4” minimum or larger peat pot, in a seed germinating mix, flat, 1”-1.5” deep.
3) Keep seeds moist and warm, 75-80 degrees F. range, is ideal.
4) Under these conditions, seeds should sprout in 4-7 days, sometimes even sooner!
5) After the seedling has developed 1-2 true leaves, it is ready to transplant into the mound.
6) Or, you may simply sow your seeds directly into the mound. Competitive giant pumpkin growers have successfully used both methods.

IV) Transplanting seedlings
1) Plant the seedling, peat pot and all, in the center of the mound. Peat pot should be well below the top surface of the mound. Soil surface should be just below the bottom leaves. Transplanting in the late afternoon/early evening will help reduce dehydration, initial sun and wind damage. Water thoroughly.
2) Protect the seedling from winds, strong sunlight, insects and other potential damage by placing an open cardboard box around the seedling until it gets fully established, usually, 7-10 days.

V) Watering, fertilizing & general care
1) Pumpkins are 90% water. Soil should be kept moist. Water daily, to once every 2-5 days, depending on your weather and soil conditions. Watering times should be consistent. Early mornings (5:00 a.m.-8:30 a.m.), late afternoons, and early evenings, in this order, are the best times to water.
2) Use an organic fertilizer every 5-10 days. Seaweed (kelp) and/or fish hydrolysate are some of the fertilizers currently being used by competitive giant pumpkin growers.
3) Mulch around the main stem with compost, straw, or well-aged manure, 3”-4” deep. Leave 9”-12” of clearance around the stem. Mulching will help regulate the soil temperature and retain moisture around the main stem and primary root system.
4) Place a wooden pallet underneath the pumpkin before it gets difficult to move (10-25 pounds) to keep the pumpkin’s bottom from rotting, and to facilitate lifting and transporting it later.
5) Shade the pumpkin once it reaches 24”-36” in diameter to help keep the pumpkin’s skin from hardening and cracking from the hot, mid-late summer/early fall sunshine.
For more information and ongoing growing tips, please visit: www.pumpkinmania.blogspot.com
If you have a giant pumpkin growing emergency, question, or discovery, please e-mail: sbs33@cornell.edu

Stuart Shim Copyright 2008 (All rights reserved, all inaccuracies denied.)

Three County Workshop Tour Week-end!

Good afternoon, Growers!

It's been quite a week-end. Yesterday morning, the tour continued at Island View Nursery, in Carpenteria, followed by the maiden workshop of Elegant Gardens Nursery, in Moorpark, just below the Reagan Presidential Library. Lisa Cullen, host of the 'Garden Gossip' radio show dropped by at Island View Nursery's workshop, and shared some of her own experiences with watering her vine last season.

This morning, Batavia Garden, in Orange, a long-time Pumpkinmania sponsor and supporter supplied the veteran and first-time attendees with cookies, coffee, and additional door-prizes!

Speaking of prizes, the remaining 2008 workshops will all feature 'pedigreed' giant pumpkin seedlings, hand-germinated, nurtured, and monitored by my father-in-law, Rixin Ge and me.

Have a great evening!

Stuart

(Hawaiian planting gourd photo by and in the collection of Stuart Shim)

Hawaiian Gourd (Pumpkin) Planting Chant and Ceremony

Aloha, Growers!

Due to tremendous interest and demand, I am happy to post the Hawaiian gourd planting chant and ceremony details, from the classic work by Ernest S. Dodge, Hawaiian And Other Polynesian Gourds, Ku Pa'a Publishing Incorporated, Honolulu, Hawaii, ISBN 0-914916-34-3, page 15:

"It was believed that a pot-bellied man should plant gourds and that before he planted he should eat a large meal, so that his gourds would fill out like his stomach (opu). He should stoop as he carried his seed, holding his arms bowed out as though embracing a huge gourd (ipu), struggle along and puff. Coming to the hole he had dug and dropping the seed suddenly with an outward motion of his hands, palms up (not twisting and turning down the palms, which would make the gourd crooked and shriveled), he should say:

He ipu nui!

O hiki ku mauna,

O hiki kua,

Nui maoli keia ipu!

Translation:

A huge gourd!

Growing like a mountain

To be carried on the back

Really huge is this gourd!

Encouraged by this little drama, the plant was certain to produce huge fruit. This rite was doubtless addressed only to the giant gourd seed (ipu nui)."

There are ongoing discussions that may result in a traditional Hawaiian giant pumpkin seedling transplanting ceremony being conducted May 20th, in the late afternoon or early evening followed by a human sacrifice (just kidding), at the Centennial Heritage Museum, http://www.centennialmuseum.org/ Should the discussions prove fruitful, I will confirm the specific transplanting time, details, costumes, and other requirements for attendees. If not, please feel free to use or adapt this information and chant for your own planting ceremony. If you do, please send me any images that you'd like posted to this website. Mahalo!

Aloha!

Stuart

Pacific Northwest Tour, April 26-27, 2008

Myra Gold, Molbak's, Gretchen Taylor, Kellogg Garden Products,

Lauren Bullock, Molbak's

Gretchen Taylor, Kellogg Garden Products, Ken Smith, Owner of Bellevue Nursery

Clare Argast and Deb Russell, Drake's 7 Dees

Todd Slinde, Regional Manager, Kellogg Garden Products!

Great poster by Tom Feller, Larsen Farm Nursery

Celebrity sighting! Cindy & Jim Sherwood of The Pacific Giant Vegetable Growers

(Back row in blue and orange baseball cap.)

Erika Hohman, Event Manager, Shorty's Garden & Home

Cedros Gardens 2008 Workshop: The Brave and The Fearless!

Good afternoon, Growers!

The hardiest of growers braved the unseasonable cool 60-degree F. weather yesterday morning to attend this season's workshop at Cedros Gardens in Solana Beach! The great news is that all attendees received giant pumpkin seedlings from this week's featured first batch of the season. In fact, Karl Schaeffer, pictured in the cap in the first row, will be recruiting his mother this season.

That's Mia McCarville, owner of Cedros Gardens, standing next to the horse statue in the third picture from the top. She's a very happy person and a pleasure to work with.

Have a great week!

Stuart

Germination!

Good evening, Pumpkinistas!

The first giant pumpkin seeds of the season have sprouted!

You can see from the pictures that the seeds were soaked starting Saturday evening, 8:45 p.m., April 12th, planted 12 hours later, at 8:45 a.m, Sunday, April 13th. These pictures were taken at 4:40 p.m., Thursday, April 17th. That's roughly 4 days and 7 hours for germination. I used heated seedling mats from HydroFarm to help provide consistent bottom heat.

Finally, I'll be a guest on the "Garden Gossip" radio program tomorrow morning at around 11:15 a.m., as a guest of Lisa Cullen, radio station, KZSB-AM 1290 kHz Santa Barbara, California "Santa Barbara News Press".

Have a great evening!

Stuart

A Visit from Lauren's Parents!

Good evening, Growers!

Yes, the rumors are true. Lauren's parents arrived from Chengdu, China last Sunday, April 6th. Since then, we've visited The Sherman Library & Garden, The Getty Center, (that's where the above video images were taken from an installation called "Please Be Seated") and even had a chance to visit Ruby's at the end of the Huntington Beach pier.

I've enlisted Lauren's dad to assist me with this year's seedlings, and he's been very diligent monitoring the soil temperature on an hourly basis.

So, you'll have Mr. Ge to thank if you're one of the lucky seedling winners this season!

Have a pleasant evening!

Stuart

The Seedling Season Begins!

Good evening, Growers!

Due to overwhelming demand, I am proud to show you the first seedlings of the 2008 season! I'll be germinating these over the next few days in order to have them ready for this Saturday's workshop, April 19th, 10:00 a.m., at Cedros Gardens, Solana Beach. There are even a couple of them from 800+-pound mothers...

Hope to see you then!

Stuart

A Great Saturday Morning at Blue Hills Nursery!

Good morning, Growers!

The persistent and faithful were out in force at yesterday morning's workshop! It was great to see the Boeing contingent and to chat with Mr. & Mrs. Alex Morales! Good news! Jen Van Diest, the marketing manager of Blue Hills, pictured in the blue shirt, in the back row in the first workshop attendees photo above, will be growing a giant pumpkin vine on-site this season! So, you'll have yet another reason to visit Blue Hills over the next 4-5 months! I'll be delivering Jen her seedling(s) mid-May.

Have a relaxing Sunday!

Stuart

Interest from around the World!

Good evening, Growers!

One of the web statistics that I find fascinating is where people have recently visited from. So, here are some of the countries that visitors have visited the Pumpkinmania blog from:

Algeria

Australia

Canada

England

France

Germany

Hungary

Indonesia

Jamaica

Japan

Peru

Spain

Sweden

Turkey

Venezuela

So, it appears that giant vegetable cultivation is becoming a global trend.

Have a great evening!

Stuart

Laguna Hills Nursery's Workshop: Great attendance and attention!

Good afternoon, Growers,

The first workshop in Southern California for 2008 was given this morning at Laguna Hills Nursery http://www.lagunahillsnursery.com/ (at their new temporary location) at 71 Auto Center Drive, Foothill Ranch, 92610. It was great to see the Mc Faddens, Diane and Jack, and the Lycettes, Bill, Val and their daughter Carol, all the way from Seattle, and Farmer John sporting the bright orange, limited-edition, 2007 Pumpkinmania T-shirt in the pictures above. (It's a great-looking and eye-catching T-shirt, no?)

The enthusiastic, overflow workshop attendees asked some excellent questions and shared some of their own growing experiences. Gary Matsuoka, the owner of Laguna Hills Nursery, even granted a 10% discount on soil amendments, fertilizer, seed germinating mix, and any other supplies the workshop attendees thought they might need.

Next week is the next workshop, Saturday, April 12, 10:00 a.m., Blue Hills Nursery, http://www.bluehills.com/, 16440 Whittier Boulevard, Whittier, 90603!

A Great Opportunity...

Good evening, Pumpkinistas!

I've been a member of the Pacific Giant Vegetable Growers www.pgvg.org for a few years. It's a great organization that supports giant vegetable cultivation with a particular focus on giant pumpkins.

So, I was very pleased to receive this year's giant pumpkin seed distribution in my mailbox a couple of days ago. They're pictured above, a broad assortment of seeds from the low 300s to 1,000+ pounders. Enclosed with the seeds was a letter letting current members know that some additional seeds packets were reserved for new members. Membership is $35.00/year, and includes a newsletter, and the opportunity to participate in their annual competition. It's an excellent value and a very worthy organization: www.pgvg.org

I am sure you'll find some contenders for your patch!

Good luck!

Stuart

The 2008 Giant Pumpkin Full Moon Planting Dates

Good afternoon, Pumpkinistas!

I've been receiving some inquiries about when to plant their seedlings/seeds this season. Here are the full moon planting dates and times from April to August. Ideally, May 20th is the optimum date this season in my opinion. But, I also think that June 18th is still a reasonable planting date in warmer areas.

Apr 20 10:27 Sunday

May 20 02:13 Tuesday

Jun 18 17:32 Wednesday


Jul 18 08:00 Friday

Aug 16 21:18 Saturday Full Moon Party and Patch Tour! Save the date!

Photo by Carolyn Villa-Scott

Banners greeted the soon-to-become Pumpkinistas!

People arrived early to meet and ask San Francisco garden radio host Bob Tanem questions. That's Bob's hand on the left, and a close-up

of his wife, Bev's head, in the middle.

Before the workshop

After the workshop

A Great Day at Yamagami's Nursery!

Good evening, Growers!

I thought I'd send a long some of the images of yesterday's workshops at Yamagami's Nursery http://www.yamagamisnursery.com/ in Cupertino. It was a lot of fun, and I hopefully planted the seeds for a new crop of giant pumpkin growers. The management and staff at Yamagami's did a great job! I may even be back to be a judge at their weigh-off October 11th!

Fun was had by all!

Have a great evening!

Stuart

Charlie Keutmann, owner of The Garden Company in Santa Cruz

announces the winners of the drawing!

Saturday, March 29, 2008 in Santa Cruz and San Jose

The truly devoted braved the wet and cool weather to attend workshops last Saturday in Santa Cruz at The Garden Company and Almaden Valley Nursery in San Jose. Those that attended were rewarded with excellent odds at the door-prize drawings and plenty of opportunity to have their questions answered.

Update from Michelle Lofthouse in Monrovia!

Good evening, Growers!

I've had a few requests from curious growers about Michelle Lofthouse, winner of last year's weigh-off, and how she prepares her patch. So, without further ado, here's Michelle's patch dispatch from this afternoon:

"Hi Stuart!

It was great hearing from you as well. I think the Patch Tour and Full Moon Party sounds great! Let me know if you would be interested in using Autumnleaf Farm as the place where the eats are!I apologize for not being more computer savy but I wasn't sure how to email pics, etc. to your blog so if it's ok I'll send along my patch update and photos right here....So far this season I've been able to add roughly 12 yards of composted horse manure to the 26X48 foot patch area. I have just enough room here to grow two giant pumpkin plants giving each one just over 600 sq feet of growing space. There are two horses on the property and I make all of my compost from their manure. It was aged over a period of months before it was added to the patch. Because of the high amount of salts in horse manure I added 23 bags of Gypsum before tilling in the compost. Gypsum also has a high calcium content which benefits the pumpkin with stronger walls.Right now a cover crop consisting of Peaceful Valley's "Organic Soil Builder", Austrian Winter Peas and Annual Rye Grass Seed is just emerging. After about a month of growing the cover crop I will till that in as green manure and then cover the entire patch with plastic to 'solar fumigate' the top few inches of the soil which helps to eliminate harmfull pathogens. This has made a huge difference in the health of the plants. A few seasons ago I had a problem with Mosaic Virus which is very difficult to get rid of and after using this method I haven't seen any evidence of it since. Here are some pictures of my good friend, Tony, operating my new tractor with a rototiller on the back that has three speeds. I had used a 5hp Craftsman rear-tine tiller up until now and that was quite a chore in an area this size. Also pictured are the bags of gypsum waiting to be spread. Incidentally I placed two telescoping sprinklers about 15 feet apart to water the cover crop. I will probably put these back after the final till and use them for my principal watering source. They not only water but provide overhead cooling for the plants for when the temperatures get into the nineties and above."

So there you have it!

More on details on The Patch Tour and Full Moon Party later. But, please save the date: Saturday, August 16th!

Have a great evening,

Stuart

The 2008 Mound and Patch Preparations are Finished!

Good evening, Growers!

I am very pleased to announce that my patch and mound preparation were completed this early evening AND I am alive to tell you about it!

As I emphasize in the workshops, the biggest pumpkins come from the best prepared soils and mounds. This season, I made a special effort to document the steps that I took to prepare my growing area. As you can see, I used roughly 16 cubic feet of various soil amendments, gypsum, steer manure, and 2 Advils for this year's effort. I also tried to keep hydrated. Even with the late winter rains that have kept the normally very heavy clay soil of Huntington Beach relatively soft, it was a strenuous couple of hours as always.

That's the reason I'm so happy in the final picture. The heavy lifting is done for the season and I know that it will be another year before I do this again!

I look forward to hearing from you and how your mound and patch preparations are progressing!

Stuart

Ecobuild America coming to Anaheim!

Good afternoon, Growers!

In the spirit of World Water Day, I thought you might find this upcoming event of interest. It's called EcobuildAmerica and it also includes Science & Technology for Architecture, Engineering and Construction. It will be held May 21-22, at the Anaheim Convention Center.

If you go to the show website http://www.ecobuildamerica.com/ and use HSEOC for the promotion code, admission, normally $25.00 will be free for exhibits and the keynote speeches.

The show organizers were kind enough to issue media credentials to me because of this website, so I told them that I'd help people learn about the show.

It sounds very interesting and will cover green building, sustainable design, renewable energy, construction technology and building information modeling.

I try to visit as many trade shows that I can because I always learn something useful, and I can often identify trends occurring across seemingly unrelated industries and interests.

I hope you're having a pleasant week-end!

Sincerely,

Stuart

Saturday, March 22, 2008

World Water Day!

Good afternoon, Growers!

Yes, tomorrow is World Water Day. I thought it would be a good idea to review some very basic tips to save water as they relate to giant pumpkin and general vegetable cultivation:

• Use a soaker hose. It directs the water exactly where it's needed, reduces water loss by evaporation, and many of them are made from recycled tires. I normally create a spiral around my mound, just like the first picture above. Then, as the season progresses, I expand the spiral so it covers more area as the vine and the vine's roots grow out.

• Water in the early morning. This allows water to be fully absorbed by the vine by the early/late afternoon when the sun's the hottest and the stress on the vine is the greatest. I normally set my timer for 6:00 a.m. to water for 30-45 minutes, depending on the weather, and the requirements of the vine.

• Mulch around your vine. This will reduce water evaporation, moderate the soil temperature, and also reduce weeds. A mulch depth of 3"-4" should be plenty, and remember to leave 6"-9" clearance around the vine where it comes out of the ground/mound to prevent mold, fungus, or rotting.

Hope that these tips will help you reduce your water usage and still grow a monster this season!

Have a great week-end!

Stuart