Pumpkin Sowing Time

Young Pumpkin Plants

Pumpkin Seedlings

Now is the time of year to sow Pumpkin and Squash seeds.

We usually do a lot for planting on the allotments and they store very well during Winter in a cool dry place, usually indoors somewhere. Easy to grow too.  You just put a seed, which are quite large, into a pot of compost with some perlite added for drainage, planted on its edge, so it does not rot off. In a couple of weeks they should emerge given plenty of light in a warm location under glass. Protect from frosts and do not plant them out till late May or early June in the UK.

Plant apart about a metre away from each other, as they do spread a lot. Keep well watered especially in drier weather.

Then usually in early October they are ready to gather, when the plants are dying off. Always best to keep pumpkins and squashes off the soil, by placing some wood or something flat under them, to stop them going rotten.