Something very exciting happened this summer. I started the process of growing my first pumpkins. Well, to be fair, the pumpkins starting growing themselves. They grew from the seeds of last year's pumpkins that sat outside all winter. Like many plants that start themselves, the vines grew heartily. At times a little too heartily.
I learned a lot about pumpkins this summer, like how to identify the gender of a pumpkin flower. I also learned how to pollinate the blooms myself, but I didn't end up needing that knowledge. There's no bee shortage around here and the bees loved the pumpkin blossoms! I also learned about how the plant starts "showing" as a little pumpkin bump grows under a female blossom.
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| Two female blossoms showing the start of two baby pumpkins. |
This was so interesting that I began charting the pumpkins' progress.
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| One clue that this is a male blossom is that there is no little bump at its base. Other signs can be found by looking inside the blossom. |
After noticing that one pumpkin was changing very rapidly, I decided to document the changes each week. Here is the process of a pumpkin's growth on the vine with the dates each photo was taken.
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| July 26 -You can see what's left of the blossom at the end of this little gourd. |
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| August 1 - Look how much it has grown in a few days! As you can see, the blossom has dropped off. |
Look at the cool stripes on the vine. If you enlarge this photo, you'll
see some little stickers coming off the vine. It's hard to see them from
far away, but you can sure feel them if you touch the vines or even the leaves!
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| August 5 - Look how fast it grew in 4 days! |
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At this point, I started photographing the pumpkin with a quarter on it. I did this so it would be clear how much it had grown in comparison to the coin.
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| August 12 - The pumpkin is much rounder at this point and a deeper green. |
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The pumpkin is covered in rain drops from that morning's rain.
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| August 19 - The pumpkin is starting to change colors. See the little orange stripe in the middle? |
I also got a shot of the pumpkin's bottom that day:
A close-up of the changing skin:
Just a few days later, the pumpkin started to turn somewhat orange all over:
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| August 21 - You can see a bit of a leaf there too. |
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| August 26 - The pumpkin is now entirely orange! |
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| September 4 - The pumpkin is a richer orange and getting ready to be harvested. |
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All through the pumpkin's growth, the mailman continued to come by and comment on its progress. He was really interested in how it was changing and worried that it might be too flat on one side from resting on the ground. He thought the pumpkin should be rotated. As it happened, the final harvest occurred just as he dropped by to deliver some mail! He got to be there for that cutting moment and he was happy to see that the pumpkin wasn't too flat on one side. For anyone who hasn't cut a pumpkin off a vine, here's a bit of advice: cut the vine at first, not the stem. The stem is really tough, even with a big, sharp knife!
So here are the two pumpkins, a big one and a medium sized one:
The larger one ended up being 41" around. I had thought it was a little larger than that before harvesting it. The smaller one is 35" around. To put that in perspective, the larger pumpkin is the equivalent of a ladies size 22 (US size according to some size charts I just found online). The medium one is about the same as a size 18. I'm comparing pumpkin circumference to waist size to show that these pumpkins are pretty adult sized.
Guess what I just noticed? A third pumpkin. Here it is as of today, September 29:
I'm thinking this pumpkin could be full size by Halloween!
Pumpkins can be bought, but I gained a lot of joy and some extra gardening knowledge from growing them. If you have some space to work with, I'd recommend trying this! You'll get an awesome feeling as you watch your pumpkins grow.
P.S. ~ Remember the Halloween music mix exchange from last year? If not, here's a link to last year's blog post:
Let's Trade Our Halloween Music Mixes
Now that it's nearly October, I'd like to give this another go! If you exchanged with me last year and have a second CD's worth of new music, let's trade. :) Just shoot me an email here:
contactartgirl@gmail.com with your address!
Wow, those are a couple of great looking pumpkins. Good job!
ReplyDeleteMantan ~ Thank you! I'm pretty happy with them too. They ended up being a nice, rich orange.
DeleteSo happy for you. It truly is an amazing process.
ReplyDeleteOld Fashion Halloween ~ Thanks! Isn't it? As you can tell, I learned a lot during this growing process. I don't think I'd given much thought to the stages of a pumpkin before growing my own.
DeleteThose are perfect pumpkins. They almost look fake they are so nice!
ReplyDeletewicKED ~ Thank you! I know what you mean. They are so bright and round without any blemishes. I really lucked out!
DeleteWhat Beauties! I think I have Pumpkin envy....
ReplyDeleteIsn't growing your own Pumpkins so fun?!? :0)
Jeanne ~ Thanks! :) Pumpkin envy! Did you grow any pumpkins this year? I feel like I remember you growing some in years past. Yes, it is a lot of fun! Every few days, you can look forward to seeing a changed pumpkin. You get pretty rapid results as gardening goes.
DeleteNice! Your the first person I've come across who hasn't had problems growing pumpkins. I wonder if it was because you started by accident? Are you going to carve all of them? Sell/give them away?
ReplyDeleteAli
Ali ~ I know what you mean. I've seen some pumpkin growing horror stories online. Everything from powdery mildew to vine borers. I had a bit of powdery mildew, but it didn't seem to bother my pumpkins. A couple pumpkins barely grew, turned yellow and fell off the vine. Of course I'm not going to complain much about that! I'm really happy to have a couple that made it and look good.
DeleteI think plants do grow stronger when they grow themselves. At least that's been my experience. The tomato plants that grew themselves are much heartier and taller than my purposely planted ones. Maybe it's that the plant has to be tough to start growing in our cold spring weather - more tough then the ones I plant in June.
As of now, I plan to dress these pumpkins up. I usually like putting hats and masks on them. I'm not sure if I'll be able to bring myself to carve them after babying and documenting them. Maybe if I had hundreds of pumpkins I'd be in the giving/selling mode, but these two are staying with me!
They look great!! I love the pumpkin growing process. I haven't bought a pumpkin for several years. It's so much fun.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I just checked your blog to see if you had some photos up of your pumpkins and there they are, relaxing on the porch. Great photo. This is my first year not buying a pumpkin, but I have to say these homegrown ones look pretty similar to the "parent" pumpkins they grew from!
DeleteThey're beautiful, Justine! really missed our pumpkins this year. The mailman must be cut from the same cloth as the spouse - he feels it's important to rotate our pumpkins so they don't have a flat side, too! :D
ReplyDeleteInsomniac's Attic ~ Thank you! So, you guys usually grow your own pumpkins? I guess that would be pretty impossible this year. By next year, you should be able to have some going!
DeleteEvery time the mailman said that, I wondered how on earth I could rotate a big pumpkin growing off of a vine. How do you manage to rotate them so that the vine doesn't twist? Maybe it's easier to do than I imagine. The stem itself is incredibly thick, so I guess no damage would be done to it.
Wow, they are two absolutely perfect pumpkins! Well done Justine! I'd love to have a go at growing my own someday, though I would probably feel quite guilty carving it after all that time nurturing it! XD
ReplyDeleteSandy ~ Thanks so much! :) Oh, I don't plan on carving these. After this much effort and checking in, I just don't think I could. You should give pumpkin growing a go! Now that you're in your new house, do you have some garden space?
DeleteThats great Justine! You really got some beauties there. watching the progress was cool. I really did not turn my pumpkins either. The root system spread and seemed to almost lock itself down to the ground around the pumpkin. When I did try to rotate it, I could feel the roots pulling and heard tearing sounds that made me stop in my tracks. Will keep my fingers crossed for your late bloomer as well!
ReplyDeleteThe October Boy ~ Thanks! Yeah, in case you missed any steps in your pumpkins' development, here's the process! :) Would you regularly have been able to turn your pumpkins? I don't think it would have been possible with mine. Like your roots, mine really knew where they wanted to be. Thanks for crossing your fingers. I just spotted another tiny one in addition to the late bloomer. I hope these little guys can grow fast and develop sometime before October 31!
DeleteI'm really impressed with the color and form of your pumpkins! And I'm sure it was exciting to grow your own. I like the idea of a do-it-yourself Halloween, it seems more organic that way. I can see why you don't want to carve them, I agree, they look to good to carve!
ReplyDeleteMatt ~ Thanks! I couldn't be more happy with how these turned out. It was definitely an exciting process for me! I enjoy gardening in general, but this was something new and ever-changing. I like DIY projects. You get a real sense of accomplishment when they work out. :) Yeah, I think these pumpkins will be decorated in a non-cut way. I'll have to post some pictures of them in their Halloween finery.
DeleteCongrats on your pumpkins. They look great!
ReplyDeleteJulie ~ Thank you! I'm pretty pleased with them. As of now, there are three additional babies on the vine. We'll see what happens. Hopefully they're fast growers!
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