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Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
	S	S		P

(Best months for planting Pumpkin in USA - Zone 5a regions)

S = Plant undercover in seed trays. P = Plant direct in garden where they are to grow.

A large trailing plant with yellow, bell-shaped flowers, pumpkin is frost tender. Most varieties will take up a lot of room . Grow them at the edge of your garden patch so that they can spread away from other vegetables. Butternut produces small to medium pear-shaped fruit with deep orange flesh . Buttercup are small to medium round pumpkins with dark green skin. There are a number of large pumpkins, some round and flattish - good for storage and eating - others will produce the "Cinderella coach" type giant round fruit which are not such good eating.

Harvest when the vines die off and the pumpkins' stalks are dry. Leave a small piece of stalk attached to the fruit to prevent damp causing rot. The fruit can be stored for months in a cool airy place. In some parts of New Zealand, they are stored on shed roofs.

Pumpkins sometimes need hand pollination if the fruit are not setting well or die off after starting to grow.

Culinary hints - cooking and eating Pumpkin

Cut up, remove the skin and roast with other vegetables or meat.

Young crisp shoots with young leaves can be cooked and eaten - stewed in coconut milk they are popular in Melanesia. Remove any strings and tough parts and stew until tender, or cook as a vegetable in boiling water 3-5 minutes.

Your comments and tips

09 May 13, Diane (Australia - temperate climate)

When is the best time to plant pumpkins from seed on the south east coast of NSW

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11 May 13, Justine (Australia - temperate climate)

Its harvest time for pumpkins here Diane... you will have to wait till spring to get your pumpkin seeds growing

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11 May 13, Barb (Australia - temperate climate)

Hi Diane, I'm in the Shoalhaven and I plant mine Sept/Oct. We' have a bumper crop each year. I think once the frosts have finished in your area and the days are warming a bit is fine. Cover them compost and mulch to give them a bit of warmth to start with.

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02 May 13, Joan Adams (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

I tried growing pumpkin in composted soil and have 4 tiny pumpkins which stopped growing. How do I get larger fruits in future?

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24 Apr 13, Steve (Australia - temperate climate)

They are not getting pollinated, you need to get a feather and dip it in the flowers that don't have a pumpkin on them, then gently stick the feather into the ones that do.

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21 Apr 13, JanineW (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

It's nearly end of April & we had our 1st frost last night & my jap pumpkin plants have turned up their leaves we've only got 2 pumpkins but I don't believe they are ripe yet so do I leave them or take them off?

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24 Apr 13, Steve (Australia - temperate climate)

Put bricks or the like underneath them to get them off the ground, but don't pick them until the stalks turn brown, this is the sign they are ready. If the stalks are green they are still getting nutrient from the plant

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08 Apr 13, June (Australia - temperate climate)

Planted potkin & Qld Blue pumpkins. They all keep going yellow and dying when they first form. Does anybody know why this keeps happening please.

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06 Apr 13, Des Harrison (Australia - temperate climate)

My vines develop small green pumpkins and after a week they turn yellow and fall off the stem. What is the problem?

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07 Apr 13, Narelle (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

I've had the same problem this year so would be interested to hear from others!

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