Giant Pumpkin Seed

Why Grow Giant Pumpkins?

Grow a Monster! These are not your average giant pumpkin seeds. These are the offspring of monsters that weighed anywhere from 800 to 1,200 lbs! Competitively grown by our friend Ryan Cook in West Virginia, these open-pollinated seeds have some giant genes! Giant pumpkins are a blast to grow, especially if you have kids.

800 lbs or More! These seeds have the genetic potential to grow 800 lbs or more. Even if you've never grown giant pumpkins in the past, you should easily be able to get a 200 - 500 lb pumpkin from these seeds. To grow a true giant, you'll want to remove all the fruits except one from the plant so that it can devote all its energy to that one pumpkin.

Giant Pumpkin Growing Tips

• When to Plant Pumpkins

Pumpkins are a "warm season" vegetable that can be started indoors and transplanted, or directly sewn in the garden once the risk of frost has passed in the early spring months. Pumpkins typically take 110 days or more to mature, so be sure to plant early enough if you live in a climate with milder summers. You'll need at least 110 days of warm weather to produce a nice harvest of pumpkins.

Pumpkin plants can get quite large and will require a significant of space in your backyard garden. We don't recommend planting pumpkins near other vegetables because the pumpkin vines will cover and smother nearby plants. If possible, dedicate a separate garden plot to pumpkins.

• How to Fertilize Pumpkins

It's always a good idea to apply some pre-plant fertilizer to the soil when planting pumpkins. We like to add  Coop Gro organic fertilizer in the planting furrow or over an entire garden plot before planting. This ensures the plants have the right nutrients to put down roots in their new soil.

Fruiting vegetables like pumpkins will benefit from something called "spoon feeding." This process involves frequent fertilizations at lower concentrations, as compared to fertilizing them heavily once.

Once your pumpkin plants start to develop vines, feed them again with a relatively balanced fertilizer. We like to sprinkle Coop Gro around the plants or make a liquid solution of AgroThrive Fruit & Flower and pour that alongside the plants. Healthy, dark green pumpkin plants will be more tolerant of pest and disease pressure as they grow. It's important to feed them well early, because they're tough to fertilize once the vines have covered the soil.

*To learn more about growing pumpkins, watch this video.

• Harvesting Pumpkins

Pumpkins are ready to harvest when you see the following signs. The plants will usually start to die back as they reach or exceed their listed maturity date. The pumpkins will also turn from green to their final color. The skins should be tough and unable to be scratched with your fingernail. Lastly, the stems will harden to the point where you need pruning shears to cut and harvest the pumpkins.

Wait until a vast majority of the pumpkins in your plot have matured, then harvest them all at one time. Store pumpkins in a cool dry place where they can be enjoyed for many months to come!