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Alabama

When do you start your pumpkins and do you start indoors or out?

2/21/2013 1:21:28 PM

Central Minnesota

Check in the New Growers forum, lots of information there. Short answer most start in April in our area and yes, we start indoors. Check out the new growers forum, lots of great info in you scroll back a few pages.

2/21/2013 1:25:32 PM

South East

Most serious growing attempts start indoors,,but you guys have been growing for a few years? you know all this stuff?

and when depend on when you need your fruit, if in Alabama it takes 70 to 90 days for a mature fruit then count back that many days from your your weigh off day. Thats your planting day. Then count back another 5 days from that for germing the seed, and then thats your germing day.

2/21/2013 7:47:41 PM

Home of happy lil plants

Im thinking April first for alabama weigh off. Looks we need to bother Trent on when he started last year :]

Deffinanly starting Indoors though, no question on that one. Yall need to try to take that record back from trent boyd!

2/21/2013 10:36:57 PM

Alabama

Frank and Tina we just wanted to know what everyone els did. Spence would like to know when Trent started his too we are hoping to break it(: hope you grow a big too.

2/22/2013 1:38:20 PM

Stanwood, Washington

Maybe things are different down south but 70-90 days doesn't sound right to me. The 70-90 days should be after polination. It takes 50-60 days from planting before you have females to polinate. I always try to plant 150 days before weighin.

2/22/2013 4:13:30 PM

Upa Creek, MO

Agreed with Captain, my ideal range is to germinate seed and grow inside from from 04/15 to 05/01. Then pollinate by end of June which is ~60 days total from germination. And then add another 60-90 to grow the pumpkin depending on the weighoff I will miss again.

2/22/2013 4:35:00 PM

South East

Down here it gets so hot that from polination-till fruit is ripe it only takes 70-90 days. Our fruits mature alot faster so we don't have that extra 20-30 days of growth. So timing can be tricky. We have full plants down here in 4-5 weeks. So we are pollinating at about day 35-40. (First polinations that is.)

Best of luck to you guys too Hope you grow a new State Record :)

2/22/2013 4:57:13 PM

South East

2011 we started May 1st
2012 we started April 23rd

Our WeighOff is the third week in Sept.
The first week in Sept we see very little growth and the last two almost none. So we are pretty much done by the end of Aug with growth. Hope this helps. :)

2/22/2013 5:06:13 PM

Upa Creek, MO

But how long does it take you to grow the plant out before pollination? That is another 50 to 60 days to add to the 70-90 you mentioned above?

Not trying to be difficult but just curious too. Good luck as well this year.

2/22/2013 5:32:53 PM

South East

Now this is in SC not in AL...It took us in 2011 only 39 days from plant in the ground till the first pollination. Plants were 5 days old when they went in.

So that would be the 5 day old plant + the 39 days till pollination + the 80 days for fruit growth EST..124 days from seed start till picking time... :)

Now are we all confused..lol...
Now May 23rd that year it was already 98 degrees here...:)

2/22/2013 6:08:20 PM

Alabama

Spence & Bell, I put the plants in the ground on April 23rd. I picked the 885 on August 9th with it still gaining. That was 113 days from seed in pot to picking. The 1057 that had a small hole was picked a couple weeks later. Hoping for a new state record here also.

2/22/2013 6:27:29 PM

Upa Creek, MO

Thanks for clearing that up Frank and Tina. We need 50 days at least from germination since our spring temps are cooler than yours. But it's small window since July pollinations are next to impossible.

2/22/2013 6:50:47 PM

Alabama

Trent do you know when you pollinated?

2/22/2013 7:13:39 PM

Alabama

Bell, first week of June.

2/22/2013 7:29:28 PM

South East

Its an intresting topic for southern growers for sure.

Normaly most growers start in the beginning of may, and that includes many of the northern growers. They germ and plant in may, or germ late april and plant in the beginning of may. Most of them have their weigh off in late september or early october.
A southern grower has to hold in account that his or her plant wil suffer more in the heat and that the fruit most probably will be ripe and done sooner then a fruit grown in a cooler climate.
So if it takes about 6 to 10 weeks to grow a plant ready for pollination. Let say 40 to 70 days. And it takes between 60 to 90 for our fruit to mature then a good pair of guide lines for southern climates would be from planting to picking beween 100 and 160 days. I guess anything in the middle like a 130 days, you could consider average.


To time this right for your weigh off is part of the growing experience. And personaly i,d rather try to nurse a fruit toward a weigh off, knowing that it has grown all that it could instead of picking it when its still gaining, if you have to do that then you know for sure that you haven reached its full potential.

It was actually an excellent question that we maybe should revisit every year to help our new growers.

2/22/2013 7:43:52 PM

Muddy Waters

If I were growing in the south I would have a pumpkin cave I would have shade barrier heavier then I have now.I would shade the plant from all that harsh sun & use my drip tape/fans to cool the soil.from noon to 4 pm.If the soil is wet it doesnt generate as much heat.I think shade & cooling with water,you could get a longer growth cycle.If you could grow by a river that would be huge as a cooling system.(pumping water& such)I learned a big thing last year.Dont set young plants out in the patch at 3 leaf stage.Im' very lucky they made it with out ground cables.I lost my 1381 Checkon to cool conditions,we had a cloudy week & cool nites are a given in May here.This year ground cables are going in & I'm starting 2 weeks earlier like mid April inside to set plants outside at like 3-5 true leaf stage.in warm soil.I will do something I have never done before.I will push these plants harder at early the stage.I will push them like a teenager who wont get off the couch & get a JOB!!lol Good Luck to awl in 2013

2/23/2013 7:22:52 AM

Home of happy lil plants

Thanks for the good info trent and finders! I like how when I mention the name trent boyd he is instantly summoned.

2/24/2013 5:54:09 PM

Partlow,Va

My first year tackling "the beast" was last year. I did not make a weigh-off due to my starting date.

My best plant of the 1st batch:
I seeded it(Faus1058) indoors on April 14th.
Moved out to the garden April 25th.
Pollinated on June 19th(day 55).
Growth slowed down to a crawl by Aug 10(pumpkin day 54)(plant day 122)Weighed 448lbs.
Pumpkin was done growing on Sept. 1
The plant was declared dead on Sept9(in my notes) and the pumpkin crashed right behind.The pumpkins final ott est weight was 487lbs on Sept 2nd.

FYI:
My shading only consisted of 6x8 tarps covering the pumpkin. Very little irrigation. I didnt use sprinklers until July 8 when I got home and the plants were folded up and wilted.I am making changes in these areas for the coming year.
Good luck to all in 2013 and thanks for all the helpful posts!
Get ER Done

2/24/2013 8:40:51 PM

Alabama

good info everyone grow em big in 2013(:

2/25/2013 2:56:32 AM