ABOUT PUMPKINS
(Page 3 of 7)
For the unusual, try the large, buff-colored, box-shaped
Large Cheese (its sweet meat keeps extremely well), the
white-skinned Little Boo or the Green Striped Cushaw, whose
long, curved neck is full of fine-tasting flesh. (This
cushaw does best in warm climates.)
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When and How to Plant
Since many pumpkins are slow to mature, gardeners with
short growing seasons should pick a 90-day variety or start
plants indoors in April or May. For early starts, place two
seeds each in three-inch containers or peat pots. (There
are 100 pumpkinseeds to an ounce, and the seeds remain
viable for five years.) Push the blunt end of the seed into
the growing medium. When the seedlings are big enough to
handle, cull the weakest of the two. Harden off the young
plants by exposing them gradually to the outdoors before
planting them in the garden. Four to six weeks after the
last frost, transplant the seedlings without disturbing
their easily damaged roots. Seeds can also be started
earlier outdoors by simply sowing them where they are to
grow and placing upturned glass jars over them.
To sow seeds directly in the garden otherwise, wait until
mid to late spring (about the same time you'd plant beans)
when the soil has warmed to 65°F. (Cold-area gardeners
sometimes speed up the soil-warming process by covering the
pumpkin patch with black plastic.) Crops planted in early
May will mature around the end of August. If you want a
later crop, plant during the first week in June.
Pumpkins can be grown in hills by sowing four to five seeds
per mound, then thinning to two plants; or in rows, by
planting two or three seeds together, keeping only the
strongest seedling. Space pumpkins according to the
directions for the variety grown. Generally speaking, allow
10 to 12 feet between hills of vining types. Hills of bush
varieties are usually spaced at a distance of four to six
feet. Vining types planted in rows should be three to four
feet apart with eight to 12 feet between rows. Plant bush
types on two- to three-foot centers with rows set four to
six feet apart. (Bush types usually do best in rows.) When
sowing vining pumpkins in the corn patch, plant in every
third row of corn, allowing eight to 10 feet between the
vines in the row. Once the corn is harvested, knock down
the stalks to allow the pumpkins to bask in full sun.
(Pumpkin yields in the corn patch might not be as high as
they are when the vines are given a private spot of their
own, but such intercropping saves a lot of space. And space
can be critically important to a gardener.)
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