Newbie needs pumpkin advice and sharpish !! ;)

[dominicf]

My family are having a competition as to who can grow the largest pumpkin for halloween its fun and good for us BUT we are all competitive and I wanted to beat my mum and baby bro ( Even at 43 im still competitive with the family ) .

We all started with f1 racer ( alan titchmarch) packet . We got 10 of the 12 seeds to germinate and then have transferred them to grow bags But the little blighter are going mad .

How much space do they need ? they are about a foot tall each and about 2 foot wide in a week and are fighting each other - we have limited space and a few small pots we could use but these things are triffids !

Noticed black eggs under leaves so am brushing them off - assume sawflies.

We have a healthy bee population so im not worried about pollination - I am worried about the plants killing each other .

Pots ? Buckets ? dustbins ? A new house ? Guidance and help would be appreciated and it isnt cheating as baby bro has his father in laws allotment and his father in law ( a keen retired gardener "helping") and Mother has some professional gardeners as friends .

TIA !

[sam82smith]

Hi dominicf. I grew 2 pumpkins last year. I ended up planting them both in the ground as the grew massive, they ended up climbing up a brick wall to our old coal sheds and covering it. This wall is approx 4m x 3m. When you start getting fruits on them remove them but leave 1 or 2, this way the plant can put all the goodness in producing a couple of big fruits rather than lots of smaller ones

[sam82smith]

I forgot to say good luck with your competition ;-)

[dominicf]

Thanks Sam - No ground left in the garden - I have rasberrys loganberrys blackcurrant and blackberry that are taking up 6 foot high on one side and the strawberry expanse has given us pounds so far adn taken over the only other area we have .

[sam82smith]

You could just let them grow on the ground and let them find whatever space they can, they will probably climb up ontop of itself then when they fruit, pull the fruits out to sit on the floor. Just put straw or a board under the fruits so they don't rot (not that you'll have that problem if this lovely weather keeps up)

[Chuffedas]

Lol, yes they really are triffids.
They can get huge.
They are very greedy too.... really feed them to help win.
As previously said, take off any other fruits and just keep a couple.
As a suggestion for a compromise:
How about making a teepee for the leaves out of old fence posts or something?

Oh and keep feeding!!!!

[veggiechicken]

It was so urgent the OP hasn't returned to read the advice

[Feral007]

That's cynical VC. I'm betting the plants ate him. Someone call............well it's 000 here and 911 in USA, you must know what the emergency triffid vegetable number is surely?

[veggiechicken]

I'm sure you're right Feral. Pumpkins thrive on blood & bone

[leonmc0708]

Feed em and loads of water to plump em up. Get them on a tile to stop rotting and remove some leaves early October to help ripen.

Old guy by me gives his beer