In the hobby garden, pumpkins are once again at the top of the popularity list. Find out here how you can easily grow the delicious and at the same time decorative fruit vegetables in your garden. So it will be a success across the board.
Growing indoors paves the way to gorgeous pumpkins
Experienced hobby gardeners favor growing indoors for a particularly convincing reason: the cultivation period is extended by a remarkable 3 weeks. In view of an impressive ripening time of 100 days on average, the arguments for direct sowing are therefore lost. In the Central European climate, the window for growing pumpkins is very early.
- roughen the seeds with sandpaper or a file
- soak in lukewarm water for 24 hours
- Plant 1-2 cm deep in seed soil and moisten
- Cover the seed pot with cling film or glass
- produce a germination temperature of 25 degrees Celsius in a partially shaded place
Sowing indoors should not take place before mid-April. In view of the short germination time of one week followed by a three-week growth phase, the young plants arrive outdoors at exactly the right time. The planting season begins in mid-May - no earlier and no later.
Transplant right with ease
The location requirements of pumpkins are limited to two central attributes: sunny and nutrient-rich. If properties such as permeable, fresh and humus are added, nothing stands in the way of lush growth. How to plant the young plants:
- enrich the loosened, weed-free bed soil with compost and horn meal
- Plant young pumpkin plants at least 100 cm apart
- Water carefully and cover with garden fleece to protect against the sheep's cold
Maintenance work is limited to regular weeding, watering and fertilizing. If you are aiming for particularly large pumpkins, limit the number of fruits per plant by deliberately cutting out. Experienced hobby gardeners also do not leave pollination to chance if they want to breed a certain type of pumpkin. With just a few movements, a selected female flower is pollinated with the male counterpart and tied with gauze.
tips and tricks
Pumpkin and corn form an ingenious plant juxtaposition. The high-growing corn plants serve as a natural climbing aid for pumpkin tendrils. At the same time, corn acts as an effective windbreak, while squash reduces soil erosion.