Growing Pumpkin

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09 Sep 20 Trish (Australia - temperate climate)
Hi, I'm in temperate climate Melbourne and wish to grown pumpkins in a grow bag due to limited space, any advice on bag size to buy, was looking at the rectangle grow bags would 60 x 30 x 20 be suitable ? Thanks Trish
11 Sep 20 Anonymous (USA - Zone 10b climate)
How limited is your space (is it just the root/ground space that's limited, but you have lots of vertical space)? I ask because pumpkin vines can get SO long. I've grown smaller varieties (lil goblin, sugar pumpkin) in grow bags and they did pretty well, but it was hard to keep the bag from drying out in my hot climate. My fault, I should have mulched. My bags were ~25 gallons...I'm not sure how many square cm that is. I've also had good results with a self-watering container made from a big Rubbermaid storage tote (got instructions on the internet). I think the key thing is, in a container, feed heavily and keep the soil moist with mulch, or else you'll be watering 2x+ a day on hot days.
14 Sep 20 Trish Geradts (Australia - temperate climate)
Thanks for your response. my space is limited to grow pumpkins as they take up alot of room so the idea of vertical seemed good. Yes I agree I am bit concerned about the grow bag being sufficient as yes agree need to keep water & feed up which I am used to as have had lots of pots. This is a little bit of an experiment for me so will see how it goes the seed were from another pumpkin so I will try & hope for the best.
10 Sep 20 Anon (Australia - tropical climate)
There are probably pumpkins that require a smallish area but most pumpkins require an area about 4m square. You could try a grow bag but I would never do it. I watched a TV show, Garden Gurus last weekend, show how to grow tomatoes in one. They planted 3 plants in a bag about your size or a little bigger. They planted them 15-20cm apart. ONE tomato plant needs an area approx. 60cm radius and 40-50cm deep. I plant 4 tomatoes along a 2.5m trellis. My suggest is if you have a small area then plant smallish crops. At home I have 13m x 2.5m and I do not plant any vine crops.
11 Sep 20 Trish (Australia - temperate climate)
Thanks for your reply, I was thinking the grow bag and then using a frame for the vine to grow up and do understand the points you made. I was thinking of it as a bit of an experiment as I have some seeds which have sprouted and was thinking of planting just 2 of the seedlings. Some sites gave differing opinions on them being a shallow rooted plant vs a deep rooted which confused me so i wasn't sure if the grow bag would be deep enough. Appreciate your response
15 Sep 20 (Australia - temperate climate)
Good luck, gardening is all about trying new things. My daughter has me growing sun flowers, first time in 40+years.

How limited is your space (is it just the root/ground space that's limited, but you have lots of vertical space)? I ask because pumpkin vines can get SO long. I've grown smaller varieties (lil goblin, sugar pumpkin) in grow bags and they did pretty well, but it was hard to keep the bag from drying out in my hot climate. My fault, I should have mulched. My bags were ~25 gallons...I'm not sure how many square cm that is. I've also had good results with a self-watering container made from a big Rubbermaid storage tote (got instructions on the internet). I think the key thing is, in a container, feed heavily and keep the soil moist with mulch, or else you'll be watering 2x+ a day on hot days.

- Anonymous

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