We woke up and decided we would be planting pumpkins today. So we are going to walk you through starting a pumpkin patch, how long it takes to grow, and how much you can expect to harvest.

How to Grow a Pumpkin Patch

Planting pumpkins was not in the original plan, but we had seeds from last year and space to do it – so here we go! We decided to plant the pumpkins outside the deer-proof fencing that’s around the garden because we have not had trouble with deer in the pumpkin patch before. Getting the ground ready for planting pumpkins did not take long either!

The first thing we did was weed-eat the spot that was laid out for the patch. Then, we watered it all down to loosen up the hard, dry ground. After the ground was cleared and wet enough to work, we brought out the rototiller to prepare the ground for planting pumpkins. After we tilled the land, we laid down drip irrigation and covered it all with a plastic sheet to keep the weeds out of the pumpkin patch. Now everything is ready for planting pumpkins.

Planting pumpkins is best done directly into the soil. We put down the drip irrigation because pumpkins do well with slow watering so the water gets the chance to soak deep in the soil. If you are watering manually keep that in mind while you water. Remember when planting pumpkins, they are a vining plant and will spread where you let them or direct them.

How Long do Pumpkins Take to Grow?

We have a few varieties of pumpkins that we plan on planting. What type you choose will depend on why you are planting pumpkins. Some are better for eating, while others are more for show. We have an old-fashioned variety that is your classic pumpkin, a Cinderella pumpkin that is perfect for pies, and a tinny variety that makes the BEST decorations.

It takes about 85 to 130 days to go from seed to harvest, depending on the variety. The larger varieties will take longer than smaller ones is a good rule of thumb. You still have time to get get your pumpkin patch going if you are looking for decorations for Halloween or pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving! I have a recipe for homemade pumpkin pie in my recipe box that you will love with the pumpkins from your patch.

How Many Pumpkins per Plant?

Like any other question about planting pumpkins, it depends on the variety. The smaller the pumpkin, the greater the number of pumpkins per plant. It’s a good rule to keep the number of pumpkins at 3 per vine for the larger varieties, while the smaller ones can accommodate as many as 12.

When planting pumpkins you want to give them about 3 feet of space between plants. Once the vine has started to flower, you want to keep the strongest on the vine and prune the rest. If you know how much space you have, it is not that hard to calculate how much you plan to harvest after planting pumpkins.

We plan to show updates on how our pumpkin patch is doing as the season continues. I would love to hear from you guys! If you have any questions about our pumpkin patch, just leave a comment in the comment section below.

This is what the pumpkin patch looks like when we first planted it!

Here is a 3 week update on our pumpkin patch! Check for seedlings under the plastic and make bigger holes if needed. They are looking amazing and getting me so excited for fall.

Leave a comment below to let us know what you think of the latest addition to our garden!

Hugs,

Christina & Trevor