I planted 10 pumpkins a month ago. Only 3 sprouted, and I think their growth may be stunted. The plants look healthy but they're still just little clusters of leaves. Germination also took longer than listed on the packet. Probably because of the extended cold this year.
Will plants behaving like this 'take off' eventually? If not I just cut my losses and replace them with something else.
What kind of pumpkins did you plant, and where are you located? Where I live we have a very long and late growing season, so I could wait and see what they do. But since pumpkins are a late season harvest, it might just take time. Have you tried any kind of fertilizer yet, or are you waiting to see what happens? Have you grown pumpkins before, or is this a new one for you? I know, it's a lot of questions, LOL
Ah, so you HAVE to harvest by September. What kind of pests do you have there? I know some bugs like katydids, will eat sprouts completely, before you even know there was anything green there. rats mice and squirrels eat sprouts too. I had an entire plot of carrots disappear because of katydids that I did not know we had here! I would try replanting in your empty spaces and let the other plants ride it out. Did you work any compost into the soil before you planted? Might try that in the empty spaces before replanting. You also might try starting your seeds indoors before transferring them outside. That could also tell you if it might be a problem with your soil outside, or if you ended up with a bad batch of seeds with an unusually high sterility. As for the pumpkin plants staying small, they might just be putting their energy into rooting right now instead of making big foliage. If you wait, they might take off in a few weeks or so.
That sounds like a good idea. I will put some faster growing watermelons in now and kill off whatever isn't going to end up producing in time once its clear. I'd rather have giant pumpkins if they're just putting energy into root production right now.
I didn't put compost in but weeds seemed to like that soil enough before I planted. I don't really care if I get 100 lbs pumpkins 20 lbs would be fine.
I didn't put compost in but weeds seemed to like that soil enough before I planted. I don't really care if I get 100 lbs pumpkins 20 lbs would be fine.
Also if you have hard soil, clay and compacted, they might need some extra time to push their roots through it. Some of my soil is like that, so I added some compost in the soil before I planted there. I think you'll have an answer in a couple weeks or so. Happy growing! Hope those pumpkins get a move on for you! 
