Cucurbita maxima
Pumpkin
Common names: Winter squash, Giant pumpkin
At a glance
- Light
- Full sun
- Spacing
- 120 cm, rows 150 cm
- Lifespan
- Annual
- Sowing
- Apr–May
- Harvest
- Sep–Oct
- Hardiness
- Cold damage below 2 °C
- Water need
- High
- For children
- Well suited
Photo: Francisco Manuel Blanco (1778 – 1845) (O.S.A.) · Public Domain · Source
Description
The pumpkin is the great spectacle of the autumn garden and delivers everything from soup fruit to giant. ‘Hokkaido’ tastes nutty and can be cooked with the skin on, ‘Atlantic Giant’ becomes a record attempt. It needs plenty of space, sun and nutrient-rich soil, preferably right on the compost heap.
Care instructions
Raise it from April (week 16) indoors or sow it after the ice saints (mid-May, week 20) directly into the warm bed. Water generously at the root, never over the leaves, because it is a thirsty heavy feeder. Lay ripening fruits on a board or straw so they do not rot from below, and harvest before the first frost.
The care notes were machine-translated from German.
Garden year
SowingApr–May
HarvestSep–Oct
Germination
- Soil temperature
- from 12 °C, ideally 28 °C
- Days to sprout
- 5 to 10 days
- Light
- Sprouts in light or dark
- Sowing depth
- 2 cm
- How to start
- Start indoors, then plant out
Soil & site
Soil pH
Soil type
humus-rich, well-drained, loamy, nutrient-rich, moist
Squash likes deep, loose, humus-rich soil with good drainage. A loamy garden soil with a high humus content is ideal. Avoid waterlogging at all costs; before planting, work in mature compost or well-matured manure shallowly to improve structure and nutrient supply.
Cucurbits (cucumber, squash, courgette) are heavy feeders; give them plenty of compost and about a 4-year break on the same bed.
Feeding
Heavy feeder
Months
Apr–Aug
In spring before planting, work mature compost and horn shavings shallowly into the soil. From fruit formation in June to August, top up regularly with organic feed, for example with nettle liquid feed or diluted compost tea. Planting directly on a compost heap gives the heavy feeder the best start.
Overwintering
Squash is an annual and not hardy. The plant dies after the first frost, and you raise it anew from seed every year. Harvest all fruits before the first frost and, after curing, store ripe winter squashes dry and airy at 10 to 15 °C in the cellar, not colder and not directly on cold concrete.
Propagation
Methods
- From seed
Squash is propagated exclusively by sowing. To start it indoors, from mid-April sow single seeds about 2 to 3 cm deep in pots (8 to 10 cm diameter) with nutrient-poor seed compost. Insert the seed with the tip pointing down and put the pots in a warm, bright place at 20 to 25 °C; at this temperature the seeds germinate within 5 to 10 days. Soaking the seeds overnight in lukewarm water speeds up germination. Once the seedlings are up, grow the young plants on cooler (about 16 to 18 °C) so they stay compact and sturdy. Do not prick out, because the roots are sensitive. Plant out after the Ice Saints in mid-May; an earlier date outdoors endangers the frost-tender plants. Direct sowing outdoors is possible from mid-May, when the soil is at least 10 to 15 °C. Then protect the seedlings from slugs. For saving your own seed for the following year, use open-pollinated (non-hybrid) varieties, because seed from F1 hybrids does not produce plants true to type. Choose a fully ripe fruit, wash out the seeds, dry them thoroughly and store them cool, dark and dry; well dried, they stay viable for about 3 to 4 years. Note that varieties within C. maxima can cross with one another. For seed that comes true, either keep enough distance from other squash plants or pollinate the flowers by hand in the morning and close them afterwards. Do not use seed where crossing with ornamental gourds was possible: such fruits can be bitter and poisonous because of cucurbitacin.
Companion planting
Good neighbors
legume family (Fabaceae)
Beans and peas enrich the soil with nitrogen, which cucurbits, as heavy feeders, can make good use of.
For example PeaPole beanBroad beanSnow peaWrinkled peaRunner bean and 32 more species in the catalogue
Source: classic companion planting (DACH-Gartenpraxis)
Rather not
nightshade family (Solanaceae)
You should avoid planting potato and cucumber together because they share disease pathogens such as leaf and brown rot and stand in each other's way as strong feeders.
For example TomatoSweet pepperCocktail tomatoEggplantCape gooseberryChili and 13 more species in the catalogue
Source: basic crop-rotation rule
Companion planting is partly traditional gardening lore. Where the reason is known, it is given.
Some of these explanations were machine-translated.
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Varieties
7 varieties‘Atlantic Giant’
You can grow the record variety ‚Atlantic Giant’ if you want a true giant; it comes from the hundred‑kilogram pumpkins of the weighing championships.
‘Blue Hubbard’
You will find ‚Blue Hubbard’ a venerable American giant with a thick, blue‑grey shell and massive, droplet‑shaped fruits that often weigh five to ten kilos.
‘Gelber Zentner’
You will find an old, sturdy landrace and the classic pickled and compote pumpkin of grandma's kitchen.
‘Muscade de Provence’
A magnificent French musk pumpkin with a flat, round shape and deep ribs that make the ripe fruit look as though it were cast in bronze.
‘Red Kuri’
Probably the most popular culinary squash in the home garden and a true all rounder.
‘Sweet Mama’
A high yielding F1 variety of the buttercup type with dark green, flattened fruit of one to two kilos.
‘Uchiki Kuri’
The original Japanese Hokkaido cultivar and the classic behind the name that many people simply use for the whole type.
Notes from real gardens
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From the magazine
Harvesting and Storing Pumpkins: The Right Time and the Three Ripeness Tests
When is a pumpkin truly ripe, how do you harvest without risking rot, and how do you keep the crop all winter? The fingernail test, the stem, and proper storage step by step.
Squash types explained: Hokkaido, butternut, spaghetti squash and pattypan
Three botanical species, four kitchen types, and why you must never eat a bitter squash. Which squash is good for what, how to grow it and harvest it ripe.
Keeping old vegetable varieties and farm seed alive
Open-pollinated instead of F1: why seed saved from a hybrid falls apart, how to get clean seed from tomato, bean, squash, cabbage and carrot, how many plants a variety really needs, and what seed law actually allows.
Canning and Preserving: The Basics Done Safely
Why acidity decides whether a jar is safe, and how to handle beans and squash the right way.
Feeding Heavy Feeders: How to Fertilise Fruiting Vegetables Right
Tomato, pepper, courgette and squash are the hungriest residents of the bed. How to feed them potassium instead of nitrogen and read leaf colour as your gauge.
September: Bringing In the Harvest and Preparing for Spring
September has two sides: you bring in the apples, squash and last of the summer vegetables, and at the same time you lay the groundwork for next year with flower bulbs and a green manure. Here's how to ease into autumn.