Growing Pumpkin

Cucurbita sp. : Cucurbitaceae / the gourd family

Jan F M A M J J A S O N Dec
                  P P P

(Best months for growing Pumpkin in New Zealand - cool/mountain regions)

  • P = Sow seed
  • Easy to grow. Sow in garden. Sow seed at a depth approximately three times the diameter of the seed. Best planted at soil temperatures between 68°F and 90°F. (Show °C/cm)
  • Space plants: 35 - 47 inches apart
  • Harvest in 15-20 weeks.
  • Compatible with (can grow beside): Sweet Corn
  • Avoid growing close to: Potatoes

Your comments and tips

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02 Nov 14, Simon (Australia - temperate climate)
How many pumpkins does one vine optimally produce?
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29 Oct 14, Cheryl (Australia - temperate climate)
My mother has had diificlty getting her pumpkins to produce female flowers. She gets lots of leaves and male flowers, but no female. Any idea why, and what she can do to get pumpkins this year?
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08 Aug 14, Richard (South Africa - Summer rainfall climate)
A question can you grow pumpkin on the same soil again
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02 Aug 14, Laurie Thompson (Australia - temperate climate)
Have there been any memos on the Windsor Black Pumpkin lately . Laurie
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29 Jul 14, Garry (Australia - temperate climate)
Hey Pete, Reckon someones pulling your leg. Pumpkins produce male and female flowers on the same vine, but only the female flowers produce fruit.
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15 Nov 14, Hank (Australia - temperate climate)
Hi Pete, I am aware of that but don't you have to manually pollinate them and if so, what is the best way?
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27 Jul 14, Pete (Australia - temperate climate)
I am told by a number of people around my area that I should only plant seed from a 'female' pumpkin. I understand each plant has both male and female flowers needed to produce fruit. Am I being fed a myth? All my efforts to find out the facts lead nowhere. Question-- can you sex a pumpkin?
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02 Aug 14, Roz (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
Hi Pete, Garry is totally correct. The same plant produce both male and femail flowers.
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16 Aug 14, Sally (Australia - temperate climate)
Female pumpkins have a large circle formation an the base (finger tip and thumb tip to make a circle size) and the males have a small circle( 20 cent coin size)
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06 Oct 14, Karen (Australia - temperate climate)
All fruit is sort of "female". Like all species only the female produces offspring. So you can't get a male or female fruit for that matter. Male flower, yes, but not male fruit. It's the female flower that develops into a fruit after pollination by a male. As Gary said, someone was pulling your leg.
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Showing 541 - 550 of 825 comments
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I am just south of Townsville and planted Qld Blue pumpkin seeds in early April in good soil with correct PH levels. Plenty of space to run and good sunshine and watered daily. The plants grew well for about 6 weeks producing masses of mostly male flowers?? I had plenty of bees doing their job, but still only got two pumpkins that didn't reach maturity before the plants died off about 2-3 weeks ago. We did have a couple of 6deg nights but nothing lower. Any advice would be very much appreciated. Cheers

- LynnStinten

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This planting guide is a general reference intended for home gardeners. We recommend that you take into account your local conditions in making planting decisions. GardenGrow is not a farming or commercial advisory service. For specific advice, please contact your local plant suppliers, gardening groups, or agricultural department. The information on this site is presented in good faith, but we take no responsibility as to the accuracy of the information provided.
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