How to Grow Big Pumpkins for Halloween Pumpkin Carving

A large pumpkin is needed for an impressive jack-o'-lantern.

Just putting a pumpkin seed in the ground does not guarantee you a pumpkin to carve at Halloween. Even when you do successfully produce one of the bright orange fruits, it is not always the best size for carving. To produce a pumpkin large enough to impress those trick-or-treaters, you need to take special care with your plants.

Things You'll Need

• Large cultivar pumpkin seeds
• Soil amendments
• Granular and water-soluble fertilizer
• Shovel
• 12-inch peat pots
• Potting soil

Instructions

1. Plant seeds of a cultivar bred to produce large fruit. The consistent world-record biggest pumpkin comes from Atlantic Giant seed, but if you're not trying to break records, the heirloom pumpkin seeds for the Cinderella-style Rouge vif d' Etampes can be another good choice.

2. Incorporate well-aged cow and horse manure into the soil to add nutrients and improve the soil's texture and drainage. Add granular fertilizer with plenty of phosphorus to a depth of 6 inches. Ensure the part of the garden you are devoting to pumpkins is big enough to support the growth of large pumpkins. According to Ohio State University Extension, a giant pumpkin draws nutrients and moisture from as much as 2,500 square feet of garden space. Pumpkins need lots of nutrients, so amend that soil really, really well so that you can grow big pumpkins.

3. Start seeds indoors in 12-inch peat pots filled with potting soil, so transplanting is less stressful. Starting pumpkins them indoors gives them plenty of time to develop. Take really good care of your seedlings while they're indoors. When the weather warms in your area, move them outdoors, keeping them protected for the first four to six weeks of their outdoors time. Storm windows propped on hay bales or cement block can make a temporary greenhouse.

4. Allow only a few pumpkins on each plant to develop. Once your plant has gone from pumpkin flowers to pumpkins, pinch off some of the young pumpkins. This helps the plant concentrate on a smaller number of pumpkins, which will let the plant grow big pumpkins instead of a lot of small pumpkins.

5. Spray on a water-soluble foliar fertilizer after fruit has set. Growing big pumpkins is taxing on the plant, so keep it well cared for and fertilize once or twice a week. Be careful, though, as too much fertilizer can make the pumpkins grow too fast and that's not good if you want to grow big pumpkins.

Tips & Warnings

• Take good care of your pumpkins through the summer and this fall you'll have big pumpkins for Halloween pumpkin carving. You might even have enough left over to give them to neighbors or share them at a local co-op.

• Put shade cloth over your largest pumpkins to delay the rind hardening. Once the rind hardens, it stops growing.

References

• Ohio State University Extension: Growing Giant Pumpkins
• University of Illinois Extension: Questions on Pumpkins