If you’re someone that buys pumpkins regularly from the local grocery store you may be wondering whether it is possible to take the seeds from that pumpkin brought from the grocery store and plant them in the garden. Will actually grow and will you actually get pumpkins?
Pumpkin seeds that have been taken from a store-bought pumpkin will grow successfully in the garden and produce a subsequent crop, however, because most pumpkins grown commercially are hybrid varieties they cannot be 100% relied upon to produce precisely the same type of pumpkin but you’re definitely get something.
The reason for this is that hybrid seeds are genetically crossed with two other varieties to give desired features, however, because the seeds have only recently been crossed the genetic combination is unstable and will change substantially in the next generation. This will means that the properties of the pumpkin are likely to change as well.
If you are particularly picky about the quality of the pumpkins that you grow you are better off purchasing heirloom variety seeds which will produce a variety that is definitely true to type and will also allow the seeds to be collected in subsequent years.
If you need to purchase seeds I would highly recommend that you visit the company seeds now which specializes in heirloom variety seeds and is relatively cheap. Click on the link below to visit seeds now.
How Much Space Does A Pumpkin Need?
If you are planning to grow pumpkins in your backyard one of the most common questions that is asked is how much space a pumpkin actually need to grow. Generally, it is recommended that they are planted approximately 3 ft apart as the pumpkins will produce a relatively large vine that will scroll along the ground if you let it.
However, the other alternative to this is to allow the pumpkin to grow over a trellis or even over the top of a shed which will maximize the space that is available in your garden. However, it is important to note that some pumpkin varieties can weigh over 20ibs so it may be necessary to ensure that you have a very strong support structure and that you also support the individual fruit themselves as they can tear the vine.
The other alternative space-saving idea that is highly recommended is to plant corn and beans with the pumpkin which is an old Native American technique called the three sisters. This saves space and maximizes the output of our garden.
How Much Does A Pumpkin Produce?
Pumpkins will typically produce between 1 and 3 fruits per vine, however, this can vary significantly with some varieties producing lots of small individual fruits. In terms of the weight that is typically produced, this can also vary widely depending upon the size of the fruit that is produced with some fruits weight more than 40lbs.
A detailed trial of a range of heirloom variety pumpkins was conducted by the seed company diggers which is based in Australia the results of these trials were published in the Australian Vegetable Garden by Clive Blazely and are provided below to give you some indication of the degree of variation that may occur.
| Variety | Days to Fruit | Fruit Size (lb) | No. of Fruit | Total Yield (lb) |
| Ebony Acorn | 126 | 4.0 | 18.1 | 71.7 |
| Pink Banana | 119 | 20.7 | 2.9 | 60.5 |
| Queensland Blue | 152 | 13.6 | 3.3 | 44.7 |
| Turk’s Turban | 114 | 13.0 | 3.1 | 40.3 |
| Australian Butter | 119 | 12.1 | 3.3 | 39.4 |
| Jarradale | 131 | 10.1 | 3.5 | 35.4 |
| Spaghetti Squash | 123 | 4.1 | 5.4 | 22.0 |
| Bohemian | 119 | 11.2 | 1.8 | 20.2 |
| Iron Bark | 124 | 7.7 | 2.4 | 18.3 |
| Rouge vit d’Etampes | 96 | 16.3 | 1.0 | 16.3 |
| Butternut | 119 | 3.3 | 2.2 | 7.5 |
Which Are The Best Pumpkin Seeds To Save?
We recommend that you generally select seeds from pumpkins that are relatively small rather such as butternut pumpkins. The reason for this is that this will allow you to take full advantage of the pumpkins that you grow at your own house.
Pumpkin stores for an extremely long period of time, provided that you remove them from the vine leaving around 2 to 3 inches of stem on the fruit, typically lasting up to 12 months. This means that you should be able to eat all of the pumpkins that you grow over a period of a year.
However, as soon as the pumpkins are cut they will begin to deteriorate relatively quickly so if you grow a pumpkin with a large fruit it is highly likely that at least a portion of the pumpkin will be thrown away because you cannot eat it quickly enough before it goes off.
Visit Seeds Now For A Wide Range Of Low-Cost Seeds
How To Save Pumpkin Seeds
Saving pumpkin seeds is extremely easy to do and will only take a few minutes of your time. When you have purchased the pumpkin and are preparing to cook it scrape out all of the seeds and remove any of the pulp surrounding these seeds before rinsing them with water.
The seeds can then be laid on a paper towel to dry before being stored away. However, if you are in a hurry to put the seeds into the garden you can take them directly from the pulp in the pumpkin and plant them in the garden. The only disadvantage of doing this is many frees contain chemicals within the pulp that retarded the rate of germination which means planting them straight from the pulp without washing them will mean that the germination rate will be much slower.
How To Grow Pumpkins?
Pumpkins are a member of the cucurbit family and are very frost sensitive which means that the best time to plant the seeds is ideally indoors a few weeks before the last frost in seed trays or alternatively directly into the ground once any risk of frost has passed.
I personally recommend that you always plant the seeds into a seed tray simply because it is easier to control the climatic conditions in which the plant grows. Additionally, it reduces the amount of time that the pumpkin spends in the garden which will provide opportunities to grow other vegetables.
If you are planting pumpkin seeds in a seed tray we recommend that you use a seed tray with relatively large individual cells to allow the pumpkin roots to become established. Once the seed tray has been selected fill it up with good quality seed raising mix, firming the mixture into the cells to form solid plugs as this will make it easier to transplant the pumpkins into the garden later on.
When planting the pumpkin seeds you should put in two seeds per cell at a depth of approximately 1 inch. It is then important to ensure that the soil remains moist and warm to accelerate the rate of growth. Pumpkins will typically take anywhere between 7 and 14 days to appear and will produce relatively large seedlings quickly.
Typically, the seedlings will need to spend approximately 4 to 6 weeks in the seed tray before they can be planted out into the garden. As the plant is frost sensitive, it is important to ensure that the weather is starting to warm up before you put the seedlings out into the garden.
In terms of location, pumpkins need to be planted in a warm sunny location that gets at least 6 to 8 hours of sun per day and has good quality soil. Ideally, the soil should be rich, moist, and free-draining with plenty of nutrients to fuel the plants’ growth. If your soil is lacking nutrients it is advisable to add an additional bag of compost before planting it.
When planting the pumpkins out into the garden it is important to ensure that they are provided with adequate space and that soil around them has a thick layer of mulch on top of it, ideally, 2 to 4 inches is thick. As the pumpkins are relatively susceptible to attack from slugs and snails it is also important to sprinkle snail bait around the plants to protect them in the short term. However, once they get to a reasonable size slugs and snails do not affect them significantly.
Once the plants have been established they typically do not require a great deal of maintenance other than to ensure that the plants remain moist. Pumpkin vines are extremely vigorous and will start to grow rapidly before producing both male and female flowers.
The female flowers will produce fruit that initially will be lime green in color and relatively small, however, over time that small fruit quickly swells to the full size of a pumpkin. The pumpkins should be allowed to grow throughout the summer and into autumn when the vine will start to die back.
At this point, you typically see that the pumpkins have changed color but it is best not to pick them until such time as the vine has died back completely as this will ensure that the pumpkins are completely ripe.
As mentioned earlier in the article, it is also important when removing the pumpkins from the vine to leave 2 to 3 inches of stem on the pumpkins as this will make them last longer when in storage. The reason for this is that the point at which the bacteria enters the pumpkin first is around the stem. Leaving the stem in place provides a physical barrier that prevents this from happening.
In addition to doing this, it is also important to store the pumpkins in a cool dark location as that will extend their life as long as possible.
Relevant Articles
Do You Need To Plant Pumpkin Seeds Every Year? Do They Grow Back?
Is It Possible To Plant Mustard Seeds From The Grocery Store?
Is Spinach A Type Of Lettuce Or Something Completely Different?
What Are The Advantages And Disadvantages Of Growing Your Own Food?
Comments are closed