A healthy, vibrant plant with a fast growing vine, produces bigger pumpkins. Stressed pumpkin plants, or a small, slow-growing plant, are less capable of producing and supporting the “Big One”. It’s important to get your pumpkin plants off to a good start, and keep them growing fast and strong all season long.
Pumpkin plants need different fertilizer mixtures, at different points in the growing season.
It is essential to give your pumpkin plants plenty of nourishment. During the early part of the season, before the pollination period, plants need regular feedings of high in nitrogen fertilizer. Nitrogen helps your plant to grow fast and strong, producing lush, green foliage.
Just in advance of the pollination period, usually early July, switch over to a fertilizer high in Phosphorous, which promotes blooming and fruit set.
After pumpkin fruit has set, switch to a fertilizer high in potassium.
How to Grow Tip: Planning on storing your pumpkins? Too much nitrogen in the soil, will significantly reduce storage times.
Here’s the basics for getting your pumpkin patch growing fast and strong:
Planting Pumpkins, Early Season Care – How to get your plants off to a good start.
Promoting Secondary Roots – This one technique will add lots of pounds to your fruit.
Fertilizers – Learn what to apply, when and how often.
Foliar Feeding – It gives your plants a big boost, and helps to keep leaves lush and healthy.
Insects – The battle begins early, and lasts all season.
Pests – Learn how to protect plants from garden pests….there’s plenty of them.
Plant Disease – Protect your plants early… “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”.
Pruning – It’s what the giant growers do to train their plants to focus upon growing fruit, not leaves.
How to Grow Pumpkins – By The Gardener’s Network
