Pumpkin ...

This May will be my first shot at trying to grow a pumkpkin for the kids.

I have pretty much jammed up my area for the vegetable garden, so here is my question.

I have this old terra cotta pot - maybe 5gal or so ....

Can I plant the ornamental pumpkin in this pot, and then when the plant gets long enough, place the actual pumpkin on a patch of ground near the pot and let it finish its deal there? I have this bare spot near the patio ... the patio would be ideal for the pot, and the bare patch of ground ideal to have the pumpkin sit on. Will this work?

Thanks
W Jones

Not sure about the pot. But one year we grew one in the front flower bed! Had to move the vine around some when mowing but had great success with it!!
I haven't grown the ornamental pumpkins-not sure how much space they need. If you give it a try, I would mulch the top of the container to keep it from drying out too fast. Never hurts to try new things!

I can't believe I missed your post re pumpkins and went straight to top of veg. list! Am new to this site obviously, anyway as you can see from this pic I have a sprawling pumpkin patch with plenty of setting fruit. Problem is the pumpkins become soft af they get to around 10 cm round, would our recent deluge here in Sydney be a possible cause? No other signs/symptoms that I can see. As for your query the tip about keeping the soil moist is a good one, also make sure any fruit don't lie on anything moist, if the dirt isn't bone dry try to get a thick wad of straw. I'm not sure where you are but they love sunlight and warmth, don't be put off by a little powdery mould on leaves if humidity is a problem - that is what ladybugs etc. are for! Would love a look at 'ornamental' pumpkins, are they edible?
Many thanks, Cheryl

p.s. that is dirt on the lower leaves, not a fungus! Here is another shot of flower and fertilized fruit,with a young pumpkin that's been in the shade a little too long! temps still around 25C and no lack of sun, as you can see the kids will be able to appreciate the colourful flowers and the bees will provide biology lessons in fertilization - if they're up for it!

How big of a pumpkin are you growing? I really don't know about growing them in a pot. I would imagine it would have to be a really big pot to give the roots enough room to grow. Once a pumpkin vine gets going, it can grow by leaps and bounds each day. Really amazing and fun to watch. Last year, I grew mini pumpkins and sugar pumpkins on the end of my raised bed and then trained the vines to grow up the fencing that encloses my garden. The minis did really well and I got lots of little pumpkins. The small sugar pumpkin vine didn't produce as much but I did get a perfect little pumpkin that was nice and round, no flat spot, because it was suspended from the fence. I made a little sling for it out of fabric to support it. I can't believe I didn't take a picture of it. But I have a picture from earlier in the summer before it really set fruit. This is the sugar pumpkin vine. This is a small vine by pumpkin standards. The smaller the pumpkin, the smaller the leaves and vine. The bigger pumpkins have huge leaves and very long vines.

The pot I am choosing is an old terra cotta pot that just sits in the garage.

It's about 5gal or so ... maybe 7.5.

The size of the pumpkin (or pumpkins) will probably rely on how often I can keep it watered (please don't ask about phase 4 watering restrictions in Texas).

W J

By the size of the pumpkin, I guess I meant, like jack-o-lantern size, or miniature size, etc.? Did you get seeds yet or still in the planning stage?

Bottom line, I wouldn't tell anyone not to try anything, especially growing pumpkins. But I think the smaller sized pumpkins are the way to go for this experiment. My jack-o-lantern vines were very, very long. I would think they would have a root system that's pretty large to sustain it.

Last year I grew Jack Be Little and Baby Boo for my smallest pumpkins. This year, I'm trying Baby Bear and Wee Be Little and I got both of those seeds from Johnny's Select Seeds, if you're interested in seeing what they look like.

http://www.johnnyseeds.com/catalog/subcategory.aspx?category=1&subcategory=467

I always say, it's worth the price of a packet of seeds to give it a try. If it works out, the kids sure would get a kick out of it.

There will be two pumpkin species this year

The first will be the cooking pumpkin for my wife's pies and the second will be a plant to sustain the kids. That is, grow a jack-o-lantern out of so that we can cut it.

The cooking plants will go in the garden along with my winter squash, etc.

But I wanted to try the large pot idea. That way, I get the pumpkin started and then move it over toward the patio as it grows ... the garden is out of sight from the house, but the girls would sure love to see them get larger.

You are 100% right. The pack of seeds is a small price to pay to play !!!

WJ