Growing Your Halloween Pumpkin
August 9, 2009 by Jennifer Chait
Filed under Fall, Gardening
If you’re excited about growing your own Halloween pumpkins this year, and haven’t gotten started, it’s time now. And by now I mean yesterday. Most types of pumpkins can take anywhere from 4 months + to grow to full size. IF you haven’t planted already you can possibly still grow an average sized pumpkin though, you’ll just need to give your plants a better head start – i.e. allow seedlings to grow inside for a bit longer before transplanting or snag some already growing plants from a local nursery. See an amazing pumpkin growing guide for more tips.
Which type to grow:
Pumpkins are cool because you have a ton of choices available. Because it’s late in the season, you’ll want a pumpkin that’s an average not giant size, but other than that you’ll still have a lot of nice picks.
Jack O’ Light Organic Pumpkin (90 days to maturity)
Gorgeous Rouge Vif d’Etampes Pumpkin (130+ days to grow, so maybe too late for Halloween, but great for Thanksgiving) – an heirloom variety and too lovely not to show.
Did you mean to post this last May? It is far, far too late for gardeners in most parts of the country to start a pumpkin, as average time from sowing to harvest is 120 days.
Also, in summertime there is no advantage to keeping seedlings indoors — you’re not giving them a “head start”, you’re depriving them of light and promoting weak growth.
Dang, you know I calculated in an extra month somehow. For some reason I was thinking four mos to Halloween but it’s three. Hmmm. Yeah, so you’re only going to get a thanksgiving pumpkin, unless you plant a super fast variety – some now have a sow to harvest of 80 days. I do still start some seeds inside in the summer though because of variable NW summer weather. That depends on where you live and if you use a grow light though.
It’s not even 3 months to Halloween — more like 2-1/2.