Planting Pumpkins [A Definitive Guide to Planning and Early Growth]
It’s really disappointing when you search for information on how to plant a pumpkin. Most websites tell you it’s so simple. Find a big space with plenty of sun and put some pumpkin seeds in the ground. I suppose that might work some of the time. Everyone’s got to win the lottery at some point right?
But there’s so much more to it than sun, space, and seeds. In this article, I’ll cover everything you need to know about planning and planting your pumpkin patch this year so you can enjoy endless pumpkin pies and decorating with your bountiful pumpkin harvest.
When to Plant Pumpkin Seeds
Depending on where you live, you may plant pumpkin seeds anywhere from late April to early September. The key is to plant when soil temperatures have reached at least 65 degrees Fahrenheit.
It’s also important to plan for excessive heat and slowed growth in cooler fall temperatures. Seed packets don’t account for these factors in my experience.
Pumpkins will stop growing in soil temperatures below 50 degrees and those above 100.
For a complete guide on when to plant pumpkins state by state, read the article When to Plant Pumpkins in the US.
Determine the Type of Pumpkins to Plant
Your first step in planning a pumpkin garden is to determine which variety you want to grow.
If you live in an area with short growing seasons, it may be best to grow quicker-maturing varieties or even start seeds indoors in peat pots.
If you have a long growing season like I do in Southern California, you can grow just about any type of pumpkin you want with relative ease. In fact, this year I’m testing to see if I can get a second fall harvest before it gets too cold for my plants to grow. I’ll update you all on how it went at the end of the fall season.
For a complete list of pumpkins I recommend, read the article: Types of Pumpkins. In this article I break down my favorite pumpkin varieties and what they are best used for. I’ll share my favorites for eating, baking, crafting, and decorating.
Once you have selected the type of pumpkins you wish to grow this year, you can then determine if you should grow them directly in the ground, in raised beds, or in containers. I’ll talk about each in the next section.
Can I Plant Different Varieties of Pumpkin Together
When I first started growing pumpkins I was worried about growing multiple varieties together because they may cross-pollinate and create hybrid pumpkins that wouldn’t be as good as what I intended. If you’re wondering the same thing, you can stop worrying.
Yes, you can grow multiple varieties of pumpkins together in the same raised bed or in-the-ground garden. They will most likely cross-pollinate; however, it won’t affect your pumpkin fruits (this year). Your pumpkins will come out the same, tasting just as good and looking like the pumpkin you intended to harvest.
However, if you are saving seeds for next year, those seeds may not produce the same pumpkins. While your existing pumpkins on the plant won’t be affected by cross-pollination, the seeds will contain that cross-pollinator’s DNA. So if you save your pumpkin seeds and plant them next year, you may be in for a surprise.
Just take a look at my sugar pie pumpkin that clearly was cross-pollinated with my Howden pumpkins that I planted in the raised bed next to them. I planted this from saved seeds from a pumpkin that was cross-pollinated.
Where to Plant Pumpkins
I’ve planted pumpkins in the ground, in raised beds, and in pots. I’ve even grown them indoors on a window sill. In this section, I want to cover spacing, sunlight, and deciding whether to grow in a raised bed, container, or directly in the ground. Some of my experiences are contradictory to common advice, so here we go!
How Much Space Do Pumpkins Need to Grow
The first question I had to ask myself as a suburban gardener was where am I going to plant my pumpkins? If you’ve ever been to a pumpkin patch, you know that these plants are sprawling and require a lot of space. Vines on some varieties can grow over 20 feet in length.
If you grow medium to larger varieties you will need to plan at least 15 to 20 square feet for the plants to vine out. For smaller pumpkin types you can get away with 5 to 10 square feet of space.
If you’re going to grow more than one plant you want to space your pumpkin hills at least 4 feet apart. Pumpkins not only have sprawling vines but also have extensive root systems.
How Much Sun Do Pumpkin Plants Need
Your pumpkins will need full sun which means at least 6 hours of direct sunlight per day. Keep in mind that they will vine out, so as long as those leaves along the main stem can access 6 hours of sunlight, you’ll be okay. I have some trellises and a peach tree that shades some of my garden, but my pumpkins have done fine because the vines will find sunlight and resources as nature intended.
If you live in the US or the northern hemisphere, planting on the south side of your home will provide the most sunlight for your pumpkin garden.
Protect Pumpkins From Wind
Another factor to consider when deciding where to plant your pumpkins is wind. Pumpkin leaves are easily ripped off in high winds and need to be sheltered as much as possible. I live on a hill and it gets really windy here sometimes. The wind typically blows in from the west (from the ocean breeze) so planting my pumpkins on the Southeast side of my house gives them the most protection.
If you have a fence that runs along your yard, that may also shelter them from the wind. Just be sure that it doesn’t block too much sunlight during the day.
Planting Pumpkins in Raised Beds
Every year I grow pumpkin in my raised beds with ease. I’ve never grown a giant pumpkin in a raised bed, but I’ve grown large pumpkin varieties such as Howden and Jack O’Lanterns.
One year, I had a row of raised beds in the ground and planted Howden and Sugar Pie Pumpkins in one of those beds. They did fine; however, the vines spread into my neighboring beds and started choking out my tomatoes, melons, and cucumbers. I wasn’t happy about that.
Since then I’ve experimented quite a bit and learned a few things. If you’re going to grow pumpkins in raised beds, make sure it is far enough away from your other beds so the vines have somewhere to go. I’ve also found that growing them vertically works well also if you don’t have a lot of room.
The below images show how close my beds used to be (not recommended) and my new raised bed garden made just for my pumpkins each year. (Yes, we love our pumpkins).
Old Pumpkin Raised Bed - Too Close to Other Beds
New Pumpkin Raised Bed - Vertical Growing & Spaced Correctly
I use 6 x 3 raised beds and I can comfortably grow 8 pumpkin plants in each bed. This ensures I have enough room for their roots to grow and for planting some companion plants as well.
If you don’t have a lot of space, I recommend growing pumpkins vertically in a raised bed. It will help you control the soil and control those wild pumpkin vines. They won’t be able to form new roots from the vines growing vertically, but I’ve never noticed an impact from this.
Planting Pumpkins in Containers
If you live somewhere with short growing seasons, you want to grow a pumpkin plant indoors, or you just love the look of plants growing in pots, growing pumpkins in containers can also work for you.
Growing pumpkins in pots works best when you select smaller types of pumpkins. Some pumpkin varieties I’ve grown well in containers are:
Jack Be Little Pumpkins
Black Kat Pumpkins
Casperita Pumpkins
Pumpkins on a Stick (not really a pumpkin, more of an eggplant, but it looks like a pumpkin)
All of these pumpkin varieties have smaller vines (less than 8 feet) which make them easier to grow in pots.
I recommend using at least a 5-gallon container so your pumpkin’s roots have room to develop.
If you decide to grow in containers, I would plant 3 seeds in the container and thin them to 1 once the seedlings emerge. I’ll talk more about planting and thinning in later sections.
You can also build a trellis for your container to help contain those vines. This year, I built a trellis out of bamboo stakes. I used 6 feet bamboo stakes to make it. This is in a pot that I plan to use indoors this winter to see if I can grow Jack Be Little Pumpkins indoors. Stay tuned for the results.
Planting Pumpkins in Mounds
The third option is to plant pumpkin seeds directly in the ground in mounds or hills. When people speak of pumpkin hills, they don’t necessarily mean that the soil has to be mounded.
A pumpkin hill or mound is simply a spot containing a group of plants in prepared soil. When planting in the ground, I’ve prepared hills by digging 12 to 15 feet and filling them with compost. It doesn’t always have a mound shape to it.
If you grow in rows, you want your rows to be 6 to 8 feet apart. Then space each pumpkin mound 4 feet apart.
For miniature pumpkins, you’ll want at least 5 to 10 square feet of growing space. For regular-sized pumpkins, 15 to 20 square feet should be enough. And for giant pumpkins, I’ve heard of people using up to nearly 1,000 square feet.
If you grow pumpkins vertically, you can get away with much less square footage because your vines won’t sprawl out, they’ll grow up.
Select Pumpkin Companion Plants
Plant invasive herbs in pots. I planted lavender in my soil with pumpkins, but the majoram I planted in a pot.
At this point, you’ve determined which pumpkin variety you will grow and where you will grow it. The next step is to choose which companion plants you should use in your pumpkin garden.
While you don’t have to companion plant with your pumpkins, I do because it helps with pollination, controls pests, and it can even help with the flavor of your pumpkins.
Some of my favorite companion plants for pumpkins include:
Buckwheat (attracts spiders and beetles keeping them away from your pumpkins)
Majoram (I swear that when I plant this with my pumpkins it improves the flavor)
Chamomile (attracts hoverflies and wasps which repeal certain beetles)
Spinach (It grows quickly and is a great use of space because you’ll harvest it before the pumpkins get big enough to crowd it out)
Lavender (attracts bees to pollinate your pumpkin flowers and you can use it with tea)
Marigolds (attracts bees for pollination and repel nematodes and other soil pests)
For a complete list of 22 pumpkin companion plants and 15 to avoid, read the article Pumpkin Companion Plants.
If you grow certain herbs like marjoram, mint, or oregano, I recommend planting them in pots and placing them in or near your pumpkins. These herbs are invasive and will take over your entire garden.
I learned this the hard way one year when they consumed an entire raised bed and then started spreading into neighboring beds.
Preparing Soil For Pumpkins
Now the exciting part begins. You’ve found a space, acquired your seeds, built any raised beds or trellises if you’ve decided to, and now it’s time to prepare the soil.
Best Soil For Pumpkins
Whether you are planting in containers, raised beds, or in pumpkin mounds, you’ll want to use loose sandy loam soil with plenty of compost. In fact, you could fill your entire planting area with compost if you want. I usually don’t have enough homemade compost to do that.
Using this type of soil and compost makes it easier for pumpkin roots to establish and the compost helps retain moisture and boost nutrients.
You can use the same soil each year to plant pumpkins in unless there are pathogens present. In other words, if you had an issue with fungus, you wouldn’t want to plant in the same soil next growing season. You’d probably want to replace the soil or solarize it. Otherwise, you can use the same soil.
Some people recommend replacing your soil every 3 years. I don’t. Instead, I only replace half of it every year. If growing in raised beds, I dig out my soil and add food scraps and everything else in my compost pile that hasn’t broken down yet to the bottom. I then fill it half with old soil and half with fresh compost. This has always done the trick for me every year.
While I do reuse part of my soil, I also practice crop rotation which helps me save on buying new soil every year.
Test The Soil pH
I always test my soil pH and NPK levels. I love the Rapitest from Luster Leaf. Within minutes I know my soil’s pH and NPK. NPK stands for nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.
Pumpkins like slightly acidic soil. Aim for your pH to be between 6 and 6.8.
If you need to amend your soil’s pH, I’ve used wood ash from a fire pit or baking soda which will both raise the pH level. Wood ash also has potassium and phosphorus in it (nutrients your pumpkins will need later in their growth cycle.
If you need to lower your pH levels, I use Espoma’s Soil Acidifier. It’s the same stuff I use for my blueberries, but it works. It’s made up of sulfur and gypsum.
Test Soil Nitrogen Levels
Included in the Luster Leaf test kit is a nitrogen test as well. If my nitrogen is deficient, I will add blood meal to the top 2 inches of soil and mix it in well. Blood meal has an NPK of 12-0-0. In other words, it is all nitrogen and this is really important for the early growth of your pumpkin plant.
You can learn more about blood meal and pumpkin fertilizers in my article about How To Use Pumpkin Fertilizers.
I buy this 17-pound bad and keep applying blood meal every couple of weeks after I plant. It will boost your plant’s health and development.
Build a Pumpkin Mound
Where I live, we have a very mild climate and a warm growing season so I don’t use the pumpkin mound technique. If you need your soil to warm faster to hasten seed germination, you can build small mounds and plant in them.
To build a pumpkin mound, dig 12 inches deep and 12 inches wide and replace the soil with compost or a sandy loam. Then mound a small hill on top that is about 12 inches tall. This will help warm your soil faster and germinate your seeds.
If you’re planting in a container or raised bed, you don’t need to build pumpkin mounds. The raised nature of the bed or pot will have the same effect.
Set Up Irrigation
Now that you’ve got your soil built up with the right pH and nutrients, let’s talk about water.
You have quite a few options on how to water your pumpkins. Many people I know water by hand with a hose and that works fine. If you live somewhere with humidity, I suggest installing a drip line or ollas to help control powdery mildew outbreaks.
Drip lines and ollas can help automate your watering so you don’t have to worry about your plants when you go on vacation this summer. But it’s up to you. You could always find a friend to come water your plants too.
I used to use drip lines, but they require a bit more work to set up and I had issues with water pressure that drove me mad. This year I decided to switch to the ancient watering technique that uses ollas. If you live in the South, this is something you should check out. So far it’s saved me a ton of money and water.
Regardless of what you decide, you’ll want to make sure you keep your plants (or seeds I should say) well-watered for the first two weeks. Pumpkins need warm soil to germinate and water helps keep them warmer (Michigan State University).
For the first two weeks, I hand water my pumpkins until the seeds start to germinate and I see seedlings of at least 2 inches above the soil.
Decide on how you will water your pumpkins this year and set up your irrigation system before planting.
You can buy drip line supplies or ollas from Gardener's Supply Company and they'll ship it all right to you.
You can also make your own ollas out of terracotta pots. They’re not as efficient as the store-bought ones, but they work. Here’s a picture of my homemade ollas in my garden.
How to Plant Pumpkin Seeds
By now you have a complete pumpkin garden ready for planting. You have rich soil, a defined space, trellises for vertical gardening, and an irrigation system. Now it’s time to plant.
If you’re planting seeds in mounds, directly in the ground, each hill should be approximately 4 feet apart. In each mound, I plant 3 seeds. I will thin these out later, but you never know if every seed is going to germinate, so planting 3 is a safe way for me to know that I will have a pumpkin plant.
If you’re growing in raised beds, I plant my pumpkin seeds about 1.5 feet apart from one another. You can see my layout and design in the image below. This is a 6 x 3 feet raised bed. Again I plant 3 seeds in each location indicated below.
If you’re growing pumpkins in a container, plant 3 seeds in the center of the container.
How Deep to Plant Pumpkin Seeds
To plant your seeds in the soil, dig out a small hole that is 1 inch deep. I often use my hands with garden gloves on or a small stick. Your soil should be loose so digging an inch in will be easy.
Place three seeds in the small hole and cover it up with soil.
Soak Pumpkin Seeds Before Planting?
Ok, I’ve read this many times before too. There are many big-name websites that will tell you to soak your pumpkin seeds in warm water for 24 hours before planting.
I’ve never read this advice from any agricultural extension or university. It’s always bloggers suggesting it so I’m a bit weary of the advice.
I’ve also never soaked my seeds and my pumpkin seeds always germinate in the soil outside. I also have a very mild winter and warm summer being in Southern California which could impact my success.
If you’re experiencing problems with your seed germinating (they haven’t sprouted after 2 weeks), then try soaking them in warm water before you plant them.
Planting Pumpkin Seeds Indoors
Most people agree it’s best to sow pumpkin seed directly in your garden outside. But that’s not always possible for people with short growing seasons.
If you have a short growing season and you’re concerned about having 100 to 150 days of warm temperatures, you can start seeds indoors 2 to 4 weeks before your last frost.
I’ve experimented with this and found that it is best to grow them in peat pots because they are biodegradable. This means you can plant the entire pot in your garden when you transplant them which will reduce the risk of damaging their fragile roots.
Best Mulch for Pumpkins
After I’ve planted my seeds, I mulch my raised beds on top of the seeds. This helps insulate them which provides the warmth needed for germination. It will also help control weeds and retain moisture.
You can buy mulch, but the best mulch I’ve found for my pumpkin garden is from my own yard. I have a 40 x 20 plot of grass that I mow every couple of weeks. I dry that grass out in my compost bins and then use the dried clippings as mulch. It’s free and it’s sustainable.
I toss grass clipping in my compost bins and let them dry before using them as mulch for my pumpkin garden beds.
Just be sure that you dry your grass trimmings first otherwise they can mat down and prevent oxygen and moisture from getting into the soil. Wet grass also puts off gas and heat as it dries which can harm young pumpkin seedlings. For most climates, it will only take a few days to dry out your grass clippings. Then you can use them as mulch.
How Long Does It Take For Pumpkin Seeds to Germinate
Pumpkin seeds will germinate within a week in warm soil temperatures. If your soil is cooler, it can take up to two weeks to germinate. When my soil is between 75 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit, I start to notice the ground pushing upward after about 5 days and see seedlings at around 7 days.
If planted following this guide with the right soil, water, and temperature, your pumpkin seeds should germinate within 2 weeks. Once they emerge they grow fast. Take a look at this picture. Look at how fast it grew. These two images are only 1 day apart.
Thinning Pumpkin Seedlings
If you planted 3 pumpkin seeds in each location like I recommended, you will want to thin your seedlings when they reach 2 to 3 inches tall.
This will be painful the first couple of times you do it because there is nothing wrong with the plants you’re about to trim, but if you don’t trim them down, they will compete with each other for nutrients. And that will result in fewer, smaller pumpkins.
When they get to be 2 to 3 inches tall, select which plant you will keep and which ones you will not. I only keep one pumpkin plant per mound or location as indicated in my raised bed diagram earlier. You can keep two if you like, but three will definitely be too much.
As close to the soil as you can, take a pair of clean garden shears and cut the plant’s main stem. It’s really important that you use clean shears or you transmit diseases into your garden. I may or may not have learned this the hard way one year.
Also, do not rip out your plants. This will shock the roots of the other plants you are keeping and can kill them.
Here’s a short, but complete guide on How to Thin Pumpkin Seedlings.
What if I Plant Pumpkin Seeds And It Gets Cold Again?
I’ve noticed a change in climate in the past few years here in Southern California. With climate change comes less predictability which is not good for growing food. Last year I planted my pumpkin seeds and out of nowhere came a cold snap. Yes, even here in Southern California. It’s wild times out there.
Luckily I was able to save my pumpkin plants by utilizing garden blankets. These fabrics are made out of cloth and create a greenhouse-like effect. I always keep a few on hand for situations like this.
Here’s the one I use. I didn’t even buy hoops for it because my seedlings were so small. I simply spread it out over my raised bed and put some rocks on the outside to hold it down.
Can You Plant Pumpkin Seeds Straight From the Pumpkin
Technically, yes, you can. But if you’re saving your pumpkin seeds for planting next season you need to prepare them first by separating the pulp, washing them, and drying them appropriately.
Planting Pumpkins Conclusion
Plant pumpkin seeds when the soil temperature is at least 65 degrees Fahrenheit.
Determine the type of pumpkin you want to grow and plan appropriately.
Plant pumpkins on the South side of your house with full sun and at least 10 square feet of space for the vines to sprawl out.
You can plant pumpkins in raised beds or in pumpkin hills. You can even plant small pumpkins in containers.
Plan what companion plants you want to plant with your pumpkins. These will help ward off pests and attract pollinators.
Test your soil and make sure your pH is between 6 and 6.8, and your nitrogen levels are sufficient.
Come up with an irrigation plan before you plant pumpkin seeds.
Plant pumpkin seeds in a 1-inch hole, 3 per hole, and space them apart at least 1.5 feet for raised beds or 3 to 4 feet for pumpkin mounds.
Mulch over your pumpkin seeds to keep moisture in the soil and insulate it.
In a couple of weeks, you’ll see pumpkin plants start to sprout. When they are 2 to 3 inches tall, trim them back to one plant per mound.