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How to grow Pumpkins in the UK

Grow your own Halloween pumpkin! Needs lots of space.

• DifficultyA bit more care
• WhereBeds
• Grows to40cm
• Spacing150cm
• Time to first pickabout 18 weeks

When to sow, plant and harvest pumpkins

Dates are for central England. Sow about two weeks later in the north and Scotland, and up to two weeks earlier in the south and south west. Get the dates for your postcode.

Starting it indoors

1. Fill a small pot or tray with seed compost
2. Push the seeds in (2cm deep) - a couple per pot
3. Water gently, then put them on a bright windowsill
4. Keep the compost damp but not soggy - check it every day
5. When they have 2 proper leaves, give each seedling its own pot

Sowing it outdoors

1. Pull out any weeds and rake the top of your bed until it's crumbly, like cake crumbs
2. Make a little line in the soil (2cm deep) with your finger or a stick
3. Drop the seeds in, about 150cm apart each way
4. Gently cover them with soil and pat it down
5. Water with a watering can that has a sprinkler head
6. Push in a label so you remember what's there

Planting it out

1. Toughen them up ('hardening off'): put them outside in the day for a week, bring them in at night
2. Dig a hole a bit bigger than the pot
3. Tip the plant out gently, holding the leaves, not the stem
4. Pop it in the hole, firm the soil around it, and water well
5. Space the plants about 150cm apart each way

Top tips for growing pumpkins

• Plant on a mound of compost - they're very hungry.

Looking after pumpkins

• Week 2: Water well twice a week, at the bottom of the plant
• Week 10: Put a tile or piece of wood under each pumpkin so it doesn't rot

Soil and feeding

Rich, moist soil packed with goodness. These are hungry plants. Dig a hole (or make a mound) and fill it with manure or compost before planting, then feed every week or two once the fruit starts.

Pests and problems

• Slugs & snails: munch seedlings overnight, worst in wet weather

• Go on a slug hunt at dusk with a torch and move them far away
• Sink a jam jar into the soil with a little beer in it - slugs fall in
• Cut the bottom off a plastic bottle and pop it over each young plant, like a mini greenhouse

Harvesting and eating pumpkins

When the skin is hard and the stem cracks, cut it off with a bit of stem. Before the first frost!

How to eat them: Carve it, then roast the flesh for soup and the seeds with salt for a snack.

Storing pumpkins

Keeps 2-6 months once dried.

• Cut with a long bit of stalk - never carry it by the stalk!
• Dry it in the sun or a warm room for 1-2 weeks so the skin goes hard
• Keep somewhere cool and dry indoors

Cut into chunks, roast or boil until soft, cool and freeze. Great for soup.

Good varieties of pumpkins

• Jack O'Lantern: The Halloween pumpkin.
• Atlantic Giant: Grows the biggest pumpkins in the world - have a competition!
• Baby Bear: Small pumpkins - just right for pies and little hands.

Companion planting

Grows well with

• Sweetcorn: 'three sisters': big leaves shade out weeds under the corn
• Nasturtiums: nasturtiums bring in bees to pollinate pumpkin flowers
• Borage: bees for pollinating the flowers
• Phacelia: brings bees to pollinate
• Sunflowers: bring in bees to pollinate

Saving your own pumpkins seed

From a ripe fruit in autumn.

1. Bees mix pollen between courgettes, squash and pumpkins, so saved seeds can grow odd-looking fruit - that's half the fun!
2. Scoop the seeds from a fully ripe fruit (courgettes: leave one to grow into a huge marrow first)
3. Wash them, then dry on a plate for 2 weeks
4. Or roast them with a little salt - a tasty snack
5. Seeds from 'F1' varieties (it says on the packet) don't grow the same - save from ordinary ones.

Things to build for pumpkins

• Bottle cloches:
• Cold frame:

Where to buy pumpkins seeds

Thompson & Morgan · Suttons · Amazon

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Pumpkins questions

When should I sow pumpkins in the UK?

In the UK, sow pumpkins indoors from mid April to mid May or outdoors from early June to early June. These dates suit central England; sow about two weeks later in the north and Scotland and up to two weeks earlier in the mild south and south west.

When do I plant out pumpkins?

Plant pumpkins out from early June to mid June, once the last frost has passed.

When can I pick pumpkins?

Pumpkins is ready from mid September to late October. When the skin is hard and the stem cracks, cut it off with a bit of stem. Before the first frost!

How long do pumpkins take to grow?

Roughly 18 weeks from sowing or planting until the first harvest.

Are pumpkins easy to grow?

Pumpkins are rated 'a bit more care' for beginners, and can be grown in the ground or a raised bed.