Big Fat Pumpkins

[ilex]

Hello I have been trying to grow pumkins for the past two years with little succes . Has anyone got any good seeds that they know of that they can recommend to me? I've seen Dill's Giant Atlantic but wondered if there were some other good ones around.

[shirlthegirl43]

What problem have you had Ilex?

[Dobby]

Hi I know you need to brake of some of the flowers if you wont biger pumpkins this way you will get less,
I am going to be doing both as the small ones have more flaviour
if you wont I can send you some pumpking seeds that were saved from last years big pumpkin
Pm me and let me know

[rustylady]

Is the problem that they don't grow big enough, or that they don't grow very well at all? Size can depend on variety, and also on growing conditions. If the plants are growing well, you can "stop" the plants just past a fruit, this limits the number of fruits per plant and can increase the size of the individual fruits.

[supersprout]

Hello Ilex, I was besotted with pumpkins in my yoof
Have you been googling?
If you haven't already found this link, might be some useful pointers here:
http://www.merebrow.com/home/mbgp/how_to_grow.html
Happy growing!

[ilex]

My problem has been that out of 4 plants i got a total of 2 pumpkins and they were the size of a well about 3ins diameter and didn't grow as was described on the packet! I'm beginning to think it is the position in the garden where i grow them.

[shirlthegirl43]

Maybe you didn't give them enough 'food'. I planted mine on a pile of well rotted manure which I covered with compost to make it look better. I was late in the year before I got seeds to germinate but they didn't half take off once I got them planted out!! Think it was late July before I got seeds to germinate and I had a big football size pumpkin on one plant by September! Will start them earlier this year