Pumpkin
Also known as: Cucurbita pepo · Cucurbita maxima · Winter squash · Atlantic Giant Pumpkin · Big Max Pumpkin
8 types of pumpkin
Atlantic Giant
130 daysalso: Cucurbita pepo 'Atlantic Giant'
The state-fair pumpkin — routinely tops 500 lb; record-holders exceed 2,000 lb. Not for eating.
Baby Bear
105 daysAAS-winning miniature 1.5–2 lb pumpkin — perfect for kids, painting, and single-serving pies. Hulless seeds.
Big Max
120 daysalso: Cucurbita pepo 'Big Max', Big Max Pumpkin
Large pinkish-orange pumpkin often grown for exhibition and decoration. Thick flesh is edible but coarse.
Birdhouse / Bottle Gourd
100 daysalso: Cucurbita pepo 'Birdhouse/Bottle'
Dried hard-shelled gourds are carved into birdhouses, bottles, and crafts.
Cinderella
110 daysalso: Rouge Vif d'Étampes
French heirloom — flattened deep red-orange 20 lb pumpkin that looks straight out of a fairy tale. Excellent eating quality.
Jack O' Lantern
100 daysThe classic 10–15 lb orange carving pumpkin — thin walls, strong handle, uniform shape. Bred for jack-o'-lanterns.
Jarrahdale
110 daysAustralian heirloom with striking blue-gray rind and deep-orange flesh. Great keeper; excellent for baking.
Sugar Pie
100 daysalso: New England Pie
Small 4–8 lb sweet pumpkin with dense stringless orange flesh. The pumpkin for actual pumpkin pie.
When & where
Germination
Spacing & depth
How to plant
Plant in warm well-composted hills, 3 seeds per hill. Give vines enormous room to roam — a single vine can cover 100 sq ft. Harvest when the rind is fully hard and can't be dented with a fingernail, and the stem starts to cork. Cure in the sun for 1–2 weeks, then store cool (50–55°F) for months.
Grower's tip
For Halloween pumpkins, count back 100 days from October 31 and sow then. Never carry a pumpkin by the stem — a broken stem shortens storage life dramatically.
Soil preferences
Deep, rich, well-drained loam.
6.0–6.8
2–3 in of compost worked into the bed each spring; side-dress heavy feeders (tomato, squash, brassica) monthly with balanced organic fertilizer.
Watering
1–2 in per week — steady is more important than heavy.
Drip or soaker at the base. Mulch 2–3 in to hold moisture and suppress weeds.
Overwatered: yellowing lower leaves, cracked fruit, blossom-end rot from calcium disruption. Underwatered: wilting mid-day, bitter or misshapen fruit, blossom drop.
Prefers top-watering — Top-water at the soil line with drip. Powdery mildew loves wet leaves — keep water off the vines.
Temperature tolerance
70–85°F (21–29°C) for warm-season; 60–75°F (15–24°C) for cool-season
55–65°F (13–18°C)
Warm-season crops (tomato, pepper, squash, cucumber, bean) are frost-tender. Cool-season (brassica, pea, spinach, radish) tolerate light frost, some (kale, spinach) sweeten after one.
Container growing
Possible with the right cultivar
5+ gal (19 L) for tomato/pepper/eggplant; 3 gal for compact bush varieties; 8+ in deep for greens
Look for 'patio', 'bush', or 'compact' varieties. Water containers daily in heat — they dry out fast.
Succession planting
Bush beans, salad greens, radishes, carrots: sow every 2–3 weeks. Long-season crops (tomato, pepper): one sowing per season.
Detailed harvesting
Pick fruiting crops young and often — over-mature fruit signals the plant to stop producing. Cut, don't yank, with pruners to protect the stem.
Post-harvest storage & preservation
Cure winter squash and onions in a warm airy spot 2 weeks, then store cool. Freeze most vegetables blanched. Ferment or can surplus.
Culinary, medicinal & other uses
Fresh eating, cooking, preserving. Save the biggest and best specimens as seed stock, not for the table.
Medicinal or traditional uses are shared for interest only — this is not medical advice. Consult a qualified professional before using any plant medicinally.
Seed saving
Depends on species — tomato/pepper/bean/pea are self-pollinating; squash/cucumber/melon/brassica cross via insects.
Self-pollinators need little isolation (10 ft). Cross-pollinators need 1/4 mile, hand-pollination, or blossom bags.
Let one healthy plant fully ripen fruit or dry pods; ferment wet-seed fruits (tomato, cucumber, melon) 3 days to strip pulp before drying.
Your zone's planting calendar
Pick your USDA hardiness zone and we'll estimate the key dates for pumpkin in your area. These are regional averages — always check your own last-frost forecast before sowing.
From your kitchen — grow pumpkin from what you already have
The seeds inside a jack-o'-lantern or pie pumpkin will grow — as long as it was an open-pollinated variety.
- 1Scoop seeds when you carve or cook. Separate from pulp in a colander under running water.
- 2Spread flat on a plate and dry 1–2 weeks — stir daily so they don't stick.
- 3Toss any thin, flat, or discolored seeds — keep only the plump white-shelled ones.
- 4Store dry. Sow 2 weeks after last frost in warm soil.
Storage: 6+ years dry.
My Pumpkin notes
Pumpkin seeds on hand
Track packets and loose seeds you already have. Private to your account.
Par level — leave at 0 for no alert. Anything below par shows on Seed Starting and your shopping list.
Order more seeds
Running low? Reorder from one of these seed stores.
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