Pumpkin

About it

Kind

Vegetables · Annual

Family

Cucurbitaceae

Hardiness zones

Zones 3–11

Frost

Very tender — needs warm soil and nights

Sun

Full sun

Spacing

36 in apart, rows 96 in

Soil depth in a pot

At least 20 in

Soil pH

6–7.5

Water

About every 7 days

When to plant

Start indoors

3 weeks before planting out

Plant out

Plant out 2 weeks after the last frost

Sow outdoors

Sow 2 weeks after the last frost

Ready

About 100 days from sowing

Based on your last frost date. Outside the US, check local advice.

Varieties people grow

• Big Max— jumbo pumpkin grown for size, not for eating
• Connecticut Field— big traditional carving pumpkin
• Howden— the usual field pumpkin for carving; strong handle
• Jack Be Little— miniature ornamental pumpkin; palm sized
• Small Sugar— small sweet pumpkin grown for pies

Planting partners

What has been claimed about growing Pumpkin near other plants, grouped by how well it has been tested. Most companion planting advice has never been tested; the notes say which is which.

Tested in field trials

• With Green Beans Corn, climbing beans and squash grown together produced more per area of land than each alone in field trials, partly because their roots feed at different depths. PubMed Central ↗
• With Marigold In an Iowa study, marigolds planted with squash reduced damage from squash bugs and cucumber beetles. UMN Extension ↗
• With Nasturtium Nasturtiums planted with squash reduced squash bugs, and in an Iowa study reduced squash bug and cucumber beetle damage. UMN Extension ↗
• With Sweet Corn Corn, climbing beans and squash grown together produced more per area of land than each alone in field trials, partly because their roots feed at different depths. PubMed Central ↗

Traditional practice, not tested

• With Green Beans In the three sisters planting, beans add nitrogen and squash leaves shade the soil around them. UMN Extension ↗WSU Extension ↗
• With Sweet Corn In the three sisters planting, squash leaves shade the soil around the corn and the squash is said to put raccoons off the corn. UMN Extension ↗WSU Extension ↗

Safety for pets and children

• Cats Listed as non-toxic to cats (NC State Extension)
• Dogs Listed as non-toxic to dogs (NC State Extension)
• Horses Listed as non-toxic to horses (NC State Extension)
• Children No information in our sources

Read from NC State Extension ↗.

"No information" means our sources do not say, not that the plant is harmless. A non-toxic listing is not a reason to let anyone eat a plant.

Pests and diseases

• Powdery mildew Disease

  What you'll see. White powdery spots appear on the leaves in mid to late summer and can spread until whole leaves are covered, leaving fewer and smaller fruit.

  What helps. Choose resistant varieties, and give plants room and keep weeds down so air moves through the vines. Avoid heavy nitrogen feeding.

  Source: UMN Extension ↗

• Squash bug Insect

  Anasa tristis

  What you'll see. Flat grey-brown bugs and their nymphs feed in groups under the leaves, leaving yellow spots that turn brown, and young plants can wilt and die.

  What helps. Crush the bronze egg clusters on leaf undersides and drop bugs into a pail of soapy water. Lay boards on the ground, then collect and destroy the bugs sheltering under them in the morning, and clear plant debris in fall.

  Source: UMN Extension ↗

• Squash vine borer Insect

  What you'll see. A plant wilts, first in strong sun and then for good, and holes near the base of the stem are packed with sawdust-like droppings from the larvae feeding inside.

  What helps. Cover plants with row cover while the moths are laying eggs, take it off at flowering, and do not cover a bed where squash grew last year. Pull and destroy any plant a borer has killed, and grow squash-family crops in a different spot each year.

  Timings in the source are for Minnesota, where the moths fly from late June through July.

  Source: UMN Extension ↗

• Striped cucumber beetle Insect

  Acalymma vittatum

  What you'll see. Striped beetles chew the leaves of seedlings; pumpkins tolerate a lot of feeding once they have a few true leaves.

  What helps. Cover young plants with row cover and take it off when flowers open so bees can reach them. Clear weeds, and remove garden debris in fall where the beetles spend the winter.

  Source: UMN Extension ↗

Check the label and your local extension service before using any product.

Where this comes from

• direct sow weeks rel last frost cmg.extension.colostate.edu ↗ CSU #720 (Colorado) very tender class, a class-wide figure: typically 2+ weeks after the last frost. UNH (New Hampshire) times direct seeding by soil warming to 70°F instead
• family npgsweb.ars-grin.gov ↗ GRIN page: Cucurbita pepo L.
• frost hardiness cmg.extension.colostate.edu ↗ CSU #720 (Colorado) very tender class lists pumpkins
• indoor start weeks cmg.extension.colostate.edu ↗ UNH (New Hampshire) 3-4 weeks; CSU #720 (Colorado) says vine-crop transplants should be not more than 2-3 weeks from seeding: 3 is in both
• indoor start weeks extension.unh.edu ↗ UNH (New Hampshire) 3-4 weeks; CSU #720 (Colorado) says vine-crop transplants should be not more than 2-3 weeks from seeding: 3 is in both
• maturity counted from NC State Extension ↗ Row's 100 days (Almanac, 0024) is short of NC State (North Carolina) Table 16-4's 115-120, which has no transplant figure at all: a from-seed crop there
• Most facts The Old Farmer's Almanac ↗ Backfilled by 0041. Pre-0041 rows recorded one source for the whole row; per-field attribution was never captured and is not invented here.
• toxicity NC State Extension ↗ non_toxic for cat, dog, horse from its "non-toxic for" tags. Page matched to this row by its recorded species; not cited by the row before this batch.
• transplant weeks rel last frost cmg.extension.colostate.edu ↗ UNH (New Hampshire) table: pumpkin transplants 2 weeks after last frost; CSU #720 (Colorado) very tender class: typically 2+ weeks after. Agree
• transplant weeks rel last frost extension.unh.edu ↗ UNH (New Hampshire) table: pumpkin transplants 2 weeks after last frost; CSU #720 (Colorado) very tender class: typically 2+ weeks after. Agree
• water frequency days NC State Extension ↗ NC State Gardener Handbook ch. 16, "Watering": "On average, vegetable gardens need 1 inch of water per week; provide only what is not supplied by rain." This is the handbook's general guidance for a vegetable garden, not a figure published for this crop.