Pumpkin plants out of control

[gardengrl3]

Hello,
Well I got crazy with planting several pumpkin plants throughout my garden-now two months later all of the plants are stretching out like long arms! I have one pumpkin plant that I managed to fit in my raised bed that is growing crazy and already has a small pumpking growing! Can anybody tell me if I should put anything under the pumpkin so it doesn't rot? Are the other pumpkin plants okay it they are stretching out out on the asphalt portion of my garden? Just want to prepare now so I can prevent any pumpkin damage later

[Kisal]

I would put something under the pumpkin that's on soil.

Some critter planted a pumpkin in one of my flower beds one year. It grew out onto the sidewalk by my front porch. It produced a whole bunch of those little pumpkins that are about the size of a cereal bowl. Cute! I gave them to a friend, who said they were delicious.

[mansgirl]

My hubby likes to do pumpkins. He'll snip some of the 'arms' off so that it only has 2 or 3 main shoots. He doesn't get as many pumpkins that way, but he can keep the plant "trained" to go where he wants it to go better, and the pumpkins he does get, get really big. I don't believe he puts anything under them though. However, they are just carving pumpkins.

[jal_ut]

You can carefully pick the pumpkin up and move a little toward the root end and then put some newspaper under it and place it on the blossom end. This will let the pumpkin grow nice and round. The reason for moving it is so there is some slack in the vine so as the pumpkin expands upwards the vine can lift up with it.

Pumpkin vines can get quite long. Up to 20 feet or more. You can chop it off at any length to keep it in bounds if you like. I wouldn't prune until you had a nice pumpkin growing though.

[mansgirl]

Jal ~ I'll have to let the hubby know about that moving trick! He loves trying to grow huge, perfect pumpkins.

[garden5]

Another reason to place something under the pumpkin is to prevent rot and insect infestation. I've heard of using a piece of plywood and also of using burlap.

[gardengrl3]

Thanks for everyones reply about my pumpkin overload. I have another question-How long does it take for the pumpkins to be full grown? They are the round Jack-o-lantern type.

[engineeredgarden]

gardengirl - it's about 6-7 weeks after fruitset.

EG

[SmallFrey Farms]

Trying my hand at pumkins this year. When should I seed if I want them in october???

[applestar]

Do you have your seeds already? What's the days to maturity?

[jal_ut]

Pumpkins take 95 to 120 days from planting, depending on variety. It also depends a bit on your climate. Here the Connecticut Field Pumpkins take 120 days and are advertised as 110 day pumpkins.

[rainbowgardener]

I.e. they probably should have been planted in April or as soon after that as danger of frost was past and soil warmed up a bit.

[SmallFrey Farms]

Variety I bought is called Jack-O-Lite. Says 100 days.
looks like I'm throwing them in the ground today!

[applestar]

You'll be fine. In this heat, the seeds will germinate in 3~5 days. Just keep the soil moist until then. Scattering a bit of grass clippings over the soil surface helps (don't worry the big seedlings will push their way out)

Typically, I can direct sow pumpkin seeds from mid May on and expect good germination, but the trick with pumpkins is to time their maturity for when you want them, hence the Days to Maturity (and a bit of experience as jal_ut pointed out). One year, I sowed my pumpkins as early as I could, just because I could, and ended up with bright orange pumpkins at the end of August.