How to Grow Pumpkins at Home

Photos of families posing at the pumpkin patch this fall are likely flooding your social media feeds, which is all good and well, but the gardening experts at Garden Savvy are here to tell you that going to the pumpkin patch for photo ops is no longer a requirement – it is possible to grow pumpkins in your very own backyard.

Pumpkins are a symbol of the fall season, and they are at the center of many fall activities. Whether growing pumpkins is on your radar for fall decor uses or you want to bake some delicious pumpkin treats using home grown pumpkins, let’s explore how to grow pumpkins at home.

Growing Pumpkins: A Quick Guide

It’s important to note that your home pumpkin growing journey should start at the beginning of the summer to have pumpkins in time for the fall season. Another crucial tip for growing pumpkins is knowing where to plant them. Pumpkins take up a lot of garden real estate and grow aggressively, so it’s best to plant them at the edge of your garden so the vines don’t take over the rest of your plants or vegetables.

From there, the first step in growing pumpkins at home is choosing the type of pumpkin seed. Choose your seed depending on the use for your pumpkins; which could be for eating, decoration, or for pumpkin carving. You can plan out the type of pumpkin seed based on the size and color pumpkin you prefer.

The ideal growing conditions for pumpkins are fertile, well-drained soil and a lot of moisture. They thrive in warm and sunny locations. Adequate space between each seedling is required for them to spread out and have room to grow.

When watering your pumpkins, use a soaker hose or drip system at the base of the pumpkin and be careful not to wet the foliage to avoid fungus growth. Like we mentioned, pumpkins love moisture, so they need at least one inch of water per week to grow successfully.

How Long Does it Take for a Pumpkin to Grow?

Each pumpkin variety is different, but it generally takes a few months for pumpkins to grow. The general rule of thumb is to leave about 90-120 days before using them in the fall. How do you know if your pumpkins are ripe enough to use? They’re ready when they are fully colored and their rind is hard.

Carving Jack-O-Lanterns from Home Grown Pumpkins

Once your home grown pumpkins are ready, there are many uses for them for fall activities. One of the most fun uses for them is to carve your own jack-o-lanterns. There’s something different about carving pumpkins you’ve grown at home. Have a pumpkin carving contest to see who can carve the best jack-o-lantern face or spooky Halloween design, then send your friends home with pumpkins grown in your very own backyard.

Using a Garden Planner to Grow Pumpkins at Home

Garden Savvy’s Hortisketch garden planner can set you up for success when growing pumpkins at home. Hortisketch has all the tools needed to successfully plan out growing enough pumpkins to use for any fall activity you wish to use it for, including carving jack-o-lanterns with the family, using them for patio décor, or baking delicious pumpkin pies for fall get togethers with friends.

Using Hortisketch, you can lay out your garden so that you can visualize where your pumpkins will go, and you can also layout your entire property so that you can see the full picture and how your pumpkins fit into it. Hortiskech allows you to properly scale your garden based on the specific growing conditions of pumpkins. The garden planner will even provide you with accurate spacing for your pumpkins, including growing space, row space and planting depth.

The personalized growing calendar will then tell you the perfect time to sow, grow, and harvest your pumpkins for ultimate pumpkin growing success.

Gardeners grow at Garden Savvy! We provide gardeners with the best tools to plan a garden, organize a garden, and research a garden, with Hortisketch, our Garden Manager and our catalog of gardening Suppliers. Get started on your dream garden today.