News Article for July 14, 2014

Cucurbits are a family of vegetables that will grow well in the summer heat. We sometimes refer to those vegetables as members of the gourd family but you will know some of the most popular members as cucumbers, squash, watermelons, cantaloupes and pumpkins.

If you have some idle space in the garden you might want to consider pumpkins as your next planting. Pumpkins that are planted in mid to late-July will produce pumpkins for Halloween and your other fall festivities.

Pumpkins are ideal for getting a younger gardener interested in growing a garden. There is a lot of excitement with watching a pumpkin grow knowing that it will be carved for Halloween. It is also very intriguing for young gardeners to try to grow a large pumpkin to see just how big they can get and report the daily progress to the family.

In south Louisiana with our heat and humidity (and rain) I doubt that you will eclipse the world record at over 1800 pounds but a 50 to 70 pound pumpkin is very impressive and a 25 to 30 pounder is not an everyday occurrence.

I would try to get pumpkins planted by the end of July if you want them ready for Halloween and the third week of July would be better. Pumpkin vines can spread out so they will need some room. Usually pumpkins are grown on 40 inch rows and then you will skip planting every other row. This will make your planted rows about 7 feet apart and then space your seeds 4 to 5 feet apart within the row for vining varieties and 3 to 4 feet apart for semi-vining or bush varieties. Plant 4 to 5 seed per hill and then thin down to 2 to 3 plants after they emerge. The seeds should be planted ¾ to 1 inch deep.

When you start thinking about which varieties to grow, think about the intended use. Pumpkins can be grown for the decorations which would be less than 1 pound each up through the giant varieties which could compete for the largest pumpkin contest.

Giant pumpkins are the largest varieties and can produce some impressive sizes though they are usually rated at 25 to 80 pounds. Recommended varieties of giant pumpkins are really squash types but they grow very large and would include Atlantic Giant, Big Max, Big Moon and Prize Winner. You might want to limit the number of pumpkins per vine to one or two pumpkins to increase the size of those few as opposed to having more pumpkins of a smaller size.

Large pumpkin varieties are typically 10 to 30 pounds and are ideal for carving. Recommended large pumpkin varieties include Connecticut Field, Cinderella, Big Autumn, Gold Medal, Gold Rush, Sorcerer and Spirit. White skinned varieties to try are Lumina or New Moon.

It is important to note that all pumpkin varieties are edible but the medium sized pumpkins weighing 5 to 10 pounds are very popular for pies and are also used as small carving pumpkins. Varieties to try would be Orange Smoothie, Small Sugar and Autumn Gold.

The very small pumpkins are usually 1 pound or less and grown for fall decorations. Varieties include Baby Bear, Jack –Be-Little, Baby Boo and Gooligan, which is white.

Pumpkins will generally be ready to harvest when the vines start to yellow, and the color is fully developed. You will also find that the rind will be hard to penetrate with your thumb nail. When cutting the pumpkins from the vine leave 3-5 inches of stem attached to the pumpkin to increase the storage life and it adds to the attractiveness.

For more information on these or related topics contact Kenny at 225-686-3020 or visit our website at www.lsuagcenter.com/livingston.