The great pumpkin challenge.

arkonite_babe

HariboJunkie wrote: »

psst.... AB........This is the greenfingered board.

:doh::doh::doh:Thought I was still on Old Style

chunkymunky_3

Mrbadexample.....if youre worried about your plants being late and its not against the rules of your competion......find your local nursary.....mine stocks plug plants of dozens of different pumpkin varieties....plus you get the added benefit of being able to pick he brains of the experts!!!!!

Ive only put 3 atlantic giants in this year as i need to room to experiment with sweetcorn and sprouts!....but the three i have are coming along lovely

Trishh_2

Atlantic Giant are fairly common and you should be able to get them most places. As for sowing late ... yes you really should have sown earlier, under cover, for a head start, but it's not too late. Later plantings tend to catch up once the weather is warmer. Pumpkins, squash etc dislike the cold so by starting now, your plants will be ready to go out once the last frost risk has passed (about the 1st week in June for you, probably).. keep an eye on the weather for that though! Frost will kill them. Don't forget to harden off plants before setting them out either, so they don't wither & die. As has been advised, stop the vines, once they have about 2-3 fruits, for bigger pumpkins. They're hungry feeders, so well rotted manure is your best bet. Lift developing fruit off the ground to avoid rotting. Put an old tile, brick or some chicken wire under the fruit. One you plant them, mark the roots with a cane so you know where to water, coz you'll never find it otherwise once they take off
Now quick, get sowing & best of luck! Have fun!

JWF

and in order to get them fruiting early, make sure you pollinate the female flowers with the male ones, I found in the past that mine needed a little artificial help to make sure they fruited. If your short on space this is especially important as the flowers grow on the newer growth.

There are side shoots which you should remove and someone has already suggested nipping the tip out and placing stuff under the fruit. Also make sure your fruit is stood up the right way, as they get squished flat under their own weight if you leave them on their sides too long and go a funny shape (good for Hallowe'en, not good for a pumpkin competition!!)

And yes, they grow massive if you let em!

chunkymunky_3

one thing i do which i forgot to mention earlier, Trishh reminded me by mentioning marking the roots with a cane,.... I take a large plastic plant pot and drill holes in the sides and sink it near the roots of my pumpkins then its just a simple case of filling it with water, that way the water goes straight to the roots avoiding run off or evaporation in hot weather!

i also do this with my runner beans sinking a pot in the middle of my obelisk

mrbadexample

Game on! The seeds have arrived (I got 12 in my "pack of 8")



and I have now planted them.



I have, of course, spent more on the compost, pots, propagator and seeds than there is available in the kitty to win. :rolleyes: :rotfl:

oliveoyl

Hope you planted them the right way up :whistle:

mrbadexample

oliveoyl wrote: »

Hope you planted them the right way up :whistle:

So do I. However, since it wasn't completely obvious which way was up, some are one way, some t'other, and some sideways.

Lotus-eater

It doesn't matter, if the roots on some come out of the top of the pot, you have peat pots by the looks of it, so just turn the pot upside down and cut the bottom off, to make it the top.


Btw go and spend some more money and buy some fertiliser, they will need it if you didn't get any manure.

Swan_2

oliveoyl wrote: »

Hope you planted them the right way up :whistle:

lol, that was mean :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: