Pumpkins are arguably one of the best vegetables, as you can use them in many ways. You have Jack-o-lanterns! Pumpkin pie! and much more besides. While most pumpkins grow on enormous, sprawling vines, it is possible to grow pumpkins in small places if you have the suitable variety and the right tools.
Everyone enjoys eating wonderful pumpkins, so you might wonder if you can grow them in your container garden. In a pot, you can grow pumpkins, but they should be a small variety. They must be grown in a pot that can grow at least 10 liters of potting soil.
Summer is the best time to grow pumpkins and to provide them with the necessary water. A trellis is also required to support the vines. But growing pumpkins in a pot takes more work compared to other vegetables.
In our guide, you can learn more about growing pumpkins in containers and growing pumpkin vines in a pot. By the end, you’ll see what you need to know about pumpkins in containers or growing your pumpkins in pots and what you need and what you need to do. (Read Why Is My Norfolk Pine Turning Brown)
What Pumpkin Varieties Grow in Pots?
Small space for pumpkins will be your primary problem while growing them in a pot. Pumpkin vines can stretch out and grow up too many feet. The top of limited space gardening tips to grow pumpkins in containers or pots is to grow small or shrub pumpkin varieties that are more suited to these growing spaces.
You must select pumpkin pots that carry at least 10 gallons of potting soil, which should grow a plant
What Is The Best Time To Plant Pumpkins?
Because pumpkins are a warm-season plant, it is ideal for growing them in the spring and summer when the temperature is over 65 degrees Fahrenheit. The seeds won’t sprout if the temperature is too low. Additionally, the cold temperature will destroy seedlings if they are growing.
The ideal time to plant pumpkin seeds is two to three weeks after your area’s average last frost date. However, if your growing season is short, you can start pumpkin seeds indoors.
Plant seeds two to three weeks before your area’s last date of frost. You can transplant them outside as soon as the weather is suitable for growing them. The time to start seeds can also be reduced by purchasing seedlings from a nursery or garden center.
How long do pumpkins take to grow?
Depending on the variety, pumpkins can grow in 90 to 120 days. These days, you need to ensure they receive the proper temperature. The precise dates that the pumpkins will be ready for harvest can be found on the seed packs or seedling tags.
There will be several clues that the pumpkins are ready for harvest. The tendrils will turn color and become dry and brown, which is one indicator.
When the pumpkins have turned on, a deep yellow hue is another sign. Then, finally, the pumpkin can be tapped to see whether it is ready for harvest; if it makes a hollow sound, it is.
How Do I Choose A Pot To Grow Pumpkins?
Your choice of the pot will affect how well the pumpkin plant develops. It is advised to use a 24 inches wide and deep pot. To plant a small variety of pumpkin, it should be able to hold at least 10 gallons of potting soil. If you start your seeds indoors, you can use biodegradable pots, which can then be transferred into a larger pot when ready.
Any pot material is acceptable, including those made of plastic, terracotta, ceramic, or metal, so long as it is strong enough to hold the weight of the plant and the pumpkins. Compared to a material like terracotta, the plastic pot does not lose moisture as quickly.
Make sure the pot you select has drainage holes at the bottom. This ensures that any extra water may drain out via these holes and protect the plant from root rot when you water the plant. (Learn How Many Pepper Plants Per 5 Gallon Bucket)
How To Prepare Pots For Planting?
Now that you have the proper container for your pumpkin plant sanitize it before using it. This will assist in clearing the pot of any unwelcome pests and diseases. The pot can be cleaned most easily by soaking it in a solution of 1 part bleach and 9 parts water. After an hour in this solution, thoroughly rinse the pot with water. Before using the pot, you can let it dry in the sun.
Make sure the pot has drainage holes at the bottom to allow the extra water to drain out. If such holes are missing, you should drill some. You can now start filling the pot with soil. But first, put some newspaper in the pot’s bottom. This lessens the likelihood of soil spilling into the drainage holes.
Instead of utilizing garden soil, I advise buying high-quality potting soil. Pests, diseases, and chemicals may harm the pumpkin plant in the garden soil.
The garden soil may have too much sand or clay, even if clean. This will not help produce a suitable texture for growing a pumpkin plant. You may create your own potting soil by combining equal parts of coco coir, perlite, and vermiculite. For the plant to receive nutrients, mix some compost into this potting soil if you have any.
Until 2 inches of space is left from the rim, fill the container with the potting soil. This will stop soil from escaping during irrigation.
How Do I Support Pumpkin Growth?
You don’t need to bother about adding support if you’re growing pumpkins of the bush variety. However, you will require it if you grow the vine variety in your container gardening enterprise.
The support will enable the vines to develop vertically and keep the pumpkins from coming into contact with the soil. This will grow healthy plant growth and guard it against soil-borne pests and diseases.
Using a trellis is the most straightforward technique to support the pumpkin plant. You can make one on your own using a tomato cage, rope, and wooden stakes. Before planting the seeds, placing this trellis in the pot is best. This lessens the likelihood of upsetting or harming the plant or its roots.
Place the tomato cage inverted into the pot. To make a teepee shape, tie the tomato cage’s top. After that, you can interweave the wooden stakes throughout the tomato cage. Afterward, bury the stakes’ lower end in the potting soil. Use 2-4 stakes and interlace them through the tomato cage’s various edges.
How Do I Plant Pumpkin Seeds In My Pot?
The pumpkin seeds are available online, at nurseries, and in garden centers. If you can, I suggest placing the seeds right in the pot. That’s because the sensitive pumpkin roots don’t like to be disturbed.
However, if your growing season is short, you must start the seeds indoors two to three weeks before the last frost date. Because you can move the peat pot into the larger pot without upsetting the roots, I advise using a peat pot to start seeds.
The seeds must soak in warm water for at least 8 hours before planting. Since the pumpkin seeds are tough, you can also slightly file the long edge. The seeds germinate more readily as a result.
In the pot, bury the seeds approximately an inch deep. To keep the potting soil moist until the seeds, germinate, you must spray it with water. Ensure the seeds receive at least 6 to 8 hours of uninterrupted sunlight to germinate.
After 8–10 days, the pumpkin seedlings will sprout, and you may keep giving the seedlings the necessary water. If the seedlings were cultivated in a peat pot, you might move them outdoors once they formed leaves and grew 2-4 inches.
The procedure is the same if you buy seedlings from a garden center. Before bringing them outside, you need to make sure they have hardened. During the hardening process, seedlings are left outside for a few hours each day to become accustomed to the outside environment. (Learn How Long To Run Soaker Hose For Tomatoes)
After a week, the seedlings will have hardened if you continue doing this every day. Next, you can make a hole in the potting soil to cover the roots and place the peat pot.
Water the potting soil thoroughly until the water runs out of the drainage holes at the bottom.
How Much Light Do Pumpkins Need?
The pumpkin is a warm-season plant; full sun is what it needs to grow at its finest. Therefore, you must place the pot where it receives at least 6 to 8 hours of daily direct sunlight. You must watch out that the temperature does not rise above what the plant can tolerate. Otherwise, the pumpkins will become mushy, and the leaves will fade.
You must move the pot to a spot that gets a little more shade if the temperature gets too hot, especially in the afternoon. If the pot is too heavy, you can make about placing it on a moveable tray so you can move it around more easily.
How to water the pumpkin plant in the pot?
The most common problem when growing vegetables can be underwatering or overwatering. Both can cause your pumpkin plants to suffer, as pumpkins are naturally thirsty plants. However, this doesn’t mean keeping the soil saturated, instead, having moist soil that drains well into your pots. (Read Can You Use Succulent Fertilizer On Other Plants)
Underwatering will stunt the plant’s growth, and the pumpkins won’t grow. Overwatering will cause the roots to drown and invite fungal issues like root rot. It is advisable to water pumpkins in the morning as late watering can cause rot and powdery mildew to set in.
Stick your finger 1-2 inches in the potting soil to determine its moisture. If the tip of your finger does not feel moist, it’s time to water the plant. When you water the potting soil, make sure to do it well. You want to keep watering the soil till the water flows out from the drainage holes at the bottom.
That indicates that the water has reached all areas of the potting soil, and your pumpkin plant roots get the required moisture they need. You can use a watering can water the potting soil. Just make sure not to splash water on the foliage. Otherwise, it may create a humid environment that attracts fungal diseases.
You should also add a layer of mulch to the potting soil using materials like grass clippings, dried leaves, hay, or wood chips. The mulch will insulate the potting soil and keep it moist for longer.
How You Thin Pumpkin Seedlings?
When we plant pumpkin seeds in the pot, we wish to plant more than one. Therefore, we suggest sowing 1-2 seeds in the pot so one will sprout. They may germinate, and you’ll get 2-3 seedlings. As they grow, they’ll compete for nutrition.
Cut out unattractive ones and maintain one per pot. It’s called thinning. Keep the healthiest seedling. Pick one at random while you cut the rest. Garden center seedlings don’t need thinning. They’ve grown well and should become robust pumpkin plants.
Fertilize Pumpkin Plants
Compost is the ideal fertilizer to incorporate into potting soil. When preparing the container, put it in with the potting soil if you can find some high-quality organic compost. The compost will supply the nutrients the pumpkin plant needs to grow. It will also improve the texture of the potting soil and assist in increasing nutrients by adding beneficial microbes.
As the pumpkin plant develops, you can grow to add a layer of compost to the potting soil each month. Using organic fertilizer is the next best solution if you don’t have access to compost for container gardening. (Read Why Are Grape Vine Leaves Turning Brown)
When preparing the potting soil, you can incorporate a slow-release granular fertilizer. The N-P-K ratio of this fertilizer can be balanced to be 10-10-10. Once the seedlings have developed well, you can keep fertilizing the potting soil every month.
However, when growing pumpkins in containers, adding one with low nitrogen fertilizer is wise, such as an N-P-K value of 5-10-10. As a result, add more phosphate and potassium and less nitrogen. This will encourage the plant to grow on growing flowers and pumpkins rather than too much foliage.
When using a balanced fertilizer, adhere to the manufacturer’s instructions. What fertilizer to use when and in what amounts will it be suitable for you? You may be advised to alter the amount according to the size of your pumpkins. However, it is likely your mini pumpkins will use less.
Organic gardening methods can help as you’ll have naturally rich soil as part of your potting mix, where you’ll grow lots of healthy foliage. One thing to remember when growing pumpkins in containers is that your pumpkins grow better with a soil temperature of at least 70F; thus, they have a head start on pumpkin seeds directly in the ground.
Pollinating Pumpkin Plants?
Both male and female flowers can appear on the pumpkin plant. One week before the female ones, the male ones begin to grow. They are a little bit longer as well. Beneficial insects that visit your container garden, like bees, are the most acceptable way to pollinate the pumpkin flowers. They make it simple by doing the job for you. (Read When To Plant Tiger Lilies)
You might grow native plants and flowers in your garden to draw these helpful insects. However, it’s possible that these insects won’t visit your garden. And after that, growing pumpkins will be difficult. The flowers on pumpkin plants can be manually pollinated, which is a positive thing. Before attempting this, ensure that the male and female flowers are fully open.
Either pluck the male flower or use it to pollinate the female flower. You might also disperse the pollen inside the female flower using a paintbrush to gather it. Once the male flower has been plucked, the petals should be removed to reveal the stamen. Then, brush the stamen into the stigma or opening to pollinate the female flower.
Hand Pollinate Flowers
Pollination is necessary for planting fruit. Bees and other pollinators are needed, but you may need to hand pollinate when growing pumpkins in containers. Female flowers have an ovary, or pumpkin start, at the base of the flower and appear after male flowers. Male flowers pollinate female flowers with pollen. Again, this can work for any pumpkin variety.
Pruning Pumpkin Vines
To keep your pumpkin plants healthy and help them develop pumpkins, pruning is a crucial step. To promote further growth, you cut off a portion of the plant. The pieces you remove could be branches, pumpkins, or sick and dead leaves. Another possibility is that you cut the plant’s healthy parts.
When growing pumpkins, prune part of the leaves and branches as the seedlings grow into a vigorous plant. The plant will be encouraged to grow additional foliage and produce larger and healthier pumpkins.
You can do this for any pumpkin variety, from mini pumpkins to miniature pumpkins, or when growing pumpkins in huge containers. Pruning the foliage when the plant is in the flowering stage will encourage the plant to produce more flowers. (Read What Kind Of Mushrooms Grow In Mulch)
When the plant produces pumpkins, inspect them and remove any infected or malformed. This enables the plant to grow its energy to develop healthy pumpkins.
I advise you to examine your pumpkin plant each morning to see if any unwanted parts need to be removed. Then, you can prune the plant every two weeks to encourage development.
Just ensure you don’t prune more off the plant at once, or the plant will experience stress and could cease growing or die away. Use a bypass pruner as well because it will minimize the wound when you prune. As a result, the plant will recover more quickly, which lowers the risk of contracting a disease.
You may see signs of squash mosaic at these times, which causes mottled leaves, blisters, and ring marks. Infected plants grow slowly and produce deformed fruits. Cucumber beetles propagate squash mosaic virus through infected seeds.
How To Support Pumpkins?
You’ll need to support the vine and the pumpkins if you decide to grow a pumpkin variety that grows on vines. We already learned how to build an A shape trellis out of rope, wooden stakes, and an upside-down tomato cage to support pumpkins growing large. You will need to entwine the vine with the wooden stakes as it grows so that it can grow vertically.
For growing plants, you need to ensure the growing plants’ pumpkin rind doesn’t touch soggy soil or organic matter, as this could allow pests and diseases to develop it. On a shingle, you can place the pumpkins. Alternately, you might place a sling out of a flexible material, like a T-shirt or pair of pantyhose, and sling the pumpkin within. For your container-grown pumpkins, let them grow in this sling until the pumpkin is ready to be harvested.
Harvesting Pumpkins From The Pot?
Growing pumpkins in containers should be picked as soon as they are ready since that is ideal. You can determine when this occurs in several ways, and it can be the same for miniature or large pumpkins. The simplest method is to check the pumpkin color, which should have turned dark orange.
The pumpkins can be tapped to check whether they are ready by listening for a hollow sound. Then, instead of being soft, the pumpkins will be solid. You can check the tendrils close to the pumpkins to see if they are dry and colored brown or yellow. This is a further sign that the pumpkins are prepared for picking.
A bypass pruner can cut the pumpkin from the vine. The stem that connects the pumpkin to the vine needs to be cut by 2 to 4 inches using a sharp knife. The pumpkin will stay solid and fresh for a longer time if you do this.
When you have finished harvesting pumpkins, you can keep them for several months if they are kept in a cool, dry place. Throughout this stage, you can use them for lanterns, the insides for baking pies, etc.
