Growing pumpkins

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Hey everyone! Has anyone had success growing pumpkins? Also, how long do they generally take to grow. I thought this would be a fun project for me to start :) especially with autumn right around the corner.
 
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I have my very first two pie pumpkins ripening on the vine this year. But depending on where you live, you might be a little late to start pumpkins. I started my seeds (saved from some pie pumpkins I bought last year) indoors in March and planted them out in late May. I've got two small pumpkins, and a few flowers that may or may not have been pollinated yet. I imagine that they are probably a month or more away from ripening yet, but that is just a guess based on growing other large squash in previous years.

Hopefully they are going to be successful! ;)
 
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I have one large pumpkin plant growing from a pumpkin we tossed out last year after the fall holidays. It has (as of yesterday) 5 or 6 pumpkins growing on it. It's loads of fun to watch it as it takes over that section of my yard. I've done next to nothing to it to keep it growing, other than talk to it each day to tell it how cool I think it is. Time will tell if the pumpkins ripen (especially before some critter or other eats them!) They are just "babies" right now...even the largest one is only about 6-8" in diameter and still completely green.
 
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I've only grown a miniture pumpkin which averages about 4 inches, I've never grown a full pumpkin, which I find ironic because I have no problem growing other squash. I am trying again this year and hopefully it goes well. I would love to hear some tips too!!!
 
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For me this is kind of a lesson in nature being able to do a better job than I can. My pumpkin plant (14 pumpkins as of last count) is taking over that section of our yard! It's easily 12 feet across each way now. Perhaps the "secret" is that it's growing in composted material? Late last summer we started tossing our composting materials into this area, hoping to develop it more into a garden in the spring. That never happened, but the pumpkin plant (and several tomato plants) grew up from a pumpkin we tossed there in the fall. It has little competition and LOTS of good growing medium from all the other things we tossed there over the course of a few months.
 
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I bought some "Jack O'Lantern" seeds and planted them in late June/early July. So far I can't actually see any pumpkins on the plants but the plants have started to get pretty big. Hoping to see some soon and have them get at least relatively decent sized before halloween. Thought it would be fun for my son to carve a pumpkin he grew!
 
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While we were away on holidays our squash plants got decimated by dusty mildew. The pumpkin vine is pretty much dead, so I don't think my two little pumpkins are going to ripen somehow. :(
 
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While we were away on holidays our squash plants got decimated by dusty mildew. The pumpkin vine is pretty much dead, so I don't think my two little pumpkins are going to ripen somehow. :(

How frustrating! I'm sorry to hear that!! I do hope you have some other treats awaiting you!!!
 
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How frustrating! I'm sorry to hear that!! I do hope you have some other treats awaiting you!!!
Well, I googled, and apparently pumpkins can ripen off the vine if you keep them in full sun, and don't let them get cold at night. So I've got them on the deck, and I'm hoping for the best!
 
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I have grown many varieties with ease until 3 to 5 years ago. Now each crop rots off at the ground level just as small 'squash" are developing. Others have the same problem. We have changed seeds and varieties, altered fertilizer, lImed more heavily,and various levels of moisture have failed. Any new ideas?
 
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I have grown many varieties with ease until 3 to 5 years ago. Now each crop rots off at the ground level just as small 'squash" are developing. Others have the same problem. We have changed seeds and varieties, altered fertilizer, lImed more heavily,and various levels of moisture have failed. Any new ideas?
By rot do you mean the vine becomes soft and spongy? How far up the vine does the rot extend? What do the roots look like? Are they deformed in any way? What do the leaves look like as this rot developes?
 
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Growing pumpkins is one of my favourite past times. :) I once grew nearly 30 pumpkins in a small fertile patch of 4x4 metres. I planted 8 Jap pumpkin seedlings on this raised bed and built a simple chicken wire fence around it. The plants naturally trailed along the wire and just kept producing the most amazing pumpkins. All I did was to keep up with the mulch and water regularly. I love growing pumpkins. :)
 
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I have grown many varieties with ease until 3 to 5 years ago. Now each crop rots off at the ground level just as small 'squash" are developing. Others have the same problem. We have changed seeds and varieties, altered fertilizer, lImed more heavily,and various levels of moisture have failed. Any new ideas?
Not knowing your location, if these symptoms appeared here there would be two different things going on. The reason for the mushy stem would from the squash vine borer and the aborted fruit from lack of pollination.
 

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