Skip

Last edited by shiny on November 10, 2026. View history

pumpkin Pumpkin

Cucurbita spp. Cucurbita pepo var. pepo

A variety of Cucurbita pepo

How to sow pumpkin: Direct seed indoors (and transplant outside after seedlings are hardened off) or outdoors

Sun requirement for pumpkin: Plant in Full Sun

Pumpkins are squash cultivars that are round to oval in shape with thick, slightly ribbed skin that varies from deep yellow to orange in color. Their flesh ranges from yellow to gold and has large seeds. Like other members of the Cucurbitaceae family, they grow on sprawling vines. Different varieties of pumpkins are grown for food or decoration.

32
plantings
21
harvests
8
seed packets
Growstuff is a free, community-run site for people who grow food. Keep track of what you plant and harvest, find seeds to swap, and see what is growing near you. Join to record your own pumpkins.

Pumpkin facts

Lifespan

Annual living and reproducing in a single year or less
21 weeks median lifespan
First harvest expected 21 weeks after planting
Last harvest expected 22 weeks after planting

Days until maturity

110–140 days median of members' seed packets

Grown for

fruit harvested 21 times
Optimal temperature 20–30 °C
Absolute temperature 9–38 °C
FAO EcoCrop
Optimal rainfall 600–1000 mm/year
Absolute rainfall 450–2700 mm/year
FAO EcoCrop
Optimal soil pH 5.5–7.5
Absolute soil pH 5–8.5
FAO EcoCrop

Crop cycle

80–140 days
FAO EcoCrop

Max altitude

2000 m
FAO EcoCrop

Optimal light

very bright
FAO EcoCrop
What are growing degree days?

A plant grows with warmth, not with days. A growing degree day is one day's worth of useful warmth: how many degrees the day's average temperature is above the lowest temperature the crop grows at. Add them up from planting and you know how far along the crop is, whatever the calendar says.

Say that lowest temperature is 10°C. A day averaging 17°C gives 7 growing degree days. A day averaging 8°C gives none, as it is too cold for the crop to grow. That is why the same lettuce takes about 50 days in a summer and 90 in an autumn: it needs the same total warmth either way.

For pumpkin, the FAO EcoCrop database gives a lowest growing temperature of 9°C and a shortest growing cycle of 80 days at its best temperature, about 1280 growing degree days to a first harvest.

Where you've told us where your garden is, we use this and the weather there to predict when your pumpkin will be ready to harvest. We don't use it for how long a plant lives or when it finishes: we go by what members have logged for that.

Growing pumpkins

  1. Sow seeds in pots 4 weeks before planting out
  2. Dig a pit and fill it with compost 2 weeks before planting out
  3. Harden off the seedlings 1 week before planting out
  4. Set or refill beer traps for slugs and snails at planting out every week
  5. Water deeply at the base 1 week after planting out every week
  6. Mulch around the plants 3 weeks after planting out
  7. Hand pollinate the female flowers 6 weeks after planting out
  8. Pinch out the vine tips 10 weeks after planting out
  9. Lift fruit onto a tile or board 6 weeks before first harvest
  10. Check leaves for powdery mildew 8 weeks after planting out every 2 weeks
  11. Cut pumpkins with a long stalk at first harvest
  12. Cure the pumpkins in the sun 1 week after first harvest

How members grow pumpkins

Sunniness

Loading...

Planted from

Loading...

Harvested for

Loading...

Varieties of pumpkin

Image of blue Hubbard pumpkin

blue Hubbard pumpkin

Cucurbita maxima
Image of buttercup pumpkin

buttercup pumpkin

Cucurbita maxima
Image of butternut squash

butternut squash

Cucurbita moschata
Image of NZ heritage butternut pumpkin

NZ heritage butternut pumpkin

Cucurbita moschata
Image of Chuck's winter pumpkin

Chuck's winter pumpkin

Cucurbita moschata
Image of crown pumpkin

crown pumpkin

Cucurbita pepo
Image of cupola pumpkin

cupola pumpkin

Cucurbita moschata
Image of green chestnut pumpkin

green chestnut pumpkin

Cucurbita maxima
Image of Hopi grey pumpkin

Hopi grey pumpkin

Cucurbita maxima
Image of ironbark pumpkin

ironbark pumpkin

Cucurbita maxima
Image of kamokamo

kamokamo

Cucurbita pepo
Image of Papapa kamokamo

Papapa kamokamo

Cucurbita pepo
Image of Ruatoria kamokamo

Ruatoria kamokamo

Cucurbita pepo
Image of Tolaga Bay kamokamo

Tolaga Bay kamokamo

Cucurbita pepo
Image of Queensland blue pumpkin

Queensland blue pumpkin

Cucurbita maxima
Image of triamble pumpkin

triamble pumpkin

Cucurbita maxima

Plant pumpkins with

Photos

Pumpkin crops

Pumpkin plantings

2020-04-06_08-34-27
2020-04-06_08-34-27
by shiny
Kamokamo
Kamokamo
by shiny
IMG_20180207_140636
IMG_20180207_140636
by shiny
IMG_20180207_140620
IMG_20180207_140620
by shiny
IMG_20170319_112118
IMG_20170319_112118
by shiny

Pumpkin harvests

Butternut Squash
Butternut Squash
by cropbot
20230224_110645
20230224_110645
by shiny
2020-02-05_06-41-03
2020-02-05_06-41-03
by shiny
Kamokamo
Kamokamo
by shiny
IMG_20190406_222253
IMG_20190406_222253
by shiny

Pumpkin seeds

IMG_20190929_180620
IMG_20190929_180620
by shiny
IMG_20180721_130724
IMG_20180721_130724
by shiny

Video

Where pumpkins grow

Only plantings by members who have set their locations are shown.

What people are saying about pumpkins

time to compost

by shiny,

If you grow a pumpkin underneath your corn then now's a good time to shovel on some extra compost, or add fertilizer. Both these plants really like lots of fertilizer.

pumpkin pumpkins corn corn
Read more

How to save seeds

by shiny,

Beans, peas and corn: remove husks and allow seeds to dry out – this may take a couple of weeks, then remove casings and store.

Pumpkins and melons: seeds need to be washed and set aside to dry for a week or so before …

beans peas corn corn pumpkin pumpkins melon melons lettuce lettuces celery celery parsnip parsnips carrot carrots leek leeks onions radicchio radicchio cucumbers tomatoes zucchini zucchini capsicum capsica
Read more

Wanted (Australia): potimarron seeds

by Skud,

Potimarron is a small (1-2kg) pumpkin/squash that will grow up a trellis. It's available from Diggers but before I make an order for just one packet of seeds I was wondering whether anyone in Australia had …

pumpkin pumpkins
Read more

Another week, another heap of things planted

by Skud,

I really should've got started on winter planting sooner, I think. Everything in the garden is in a lull right now. Although people near me are still blogging about the last of their crops from summer, all we have still going are some chillis and some basil. Lots of things …

basils zucchini zucchini celeriac celeriac chives chives beans lavender pumpkin pumpkins
Read more
Image of pumpkin

Who's planted pumpkins

Sign in or sign up to track your pumpkin plantings.

Pumpkin harvests

View all pumpkin harvests

Sign in or sign up to track your pumpkin harvests.

Find pumpkin seeds

Ecological requirements

Data from the FAO EcoCrop database for Cucurbita maxima Duchesne

Family / Taxonomy Magnoliopsida
Dilleniidae
Violales
Cucurbitaceae
Life form vine
Life span annual
Habit climber/scrambler/scadent
Optimal soil depth deep (>>150 cm)
Optimal soil texture heavy, medium, light, organic
Optimal soil fertility high
Optimal soil drainage well (dry spells)
Optimal soil salinity low (<4 dS/m)
Photoperiod short day (<12 hours), neutral day (12-14 hours), long day (>14 hours)

Learn more about pumpkins

Resources outside Growstuff.