Pumpkin
Cucurbita maxima
Family: Cucurbitaceae · Genus: Cucurbita
Pumpkin is a large trailing plant in the gourd family with yellow bell-shaped flowers. Frost tender, most varieties take up considerable space. Includes butternut, buttercup, and large carving types. Native to the Americas.
Soil Temperature
20°C – 32°C
Spacing
90 – 120 cm
Harvest
15–20 weeks
Sowing
Easy to grow. Sow in garden.
Growing Schedule Zone 8b
Companions
Avoid Growing Near
Growing Notes
A large trailing plant with yellow, bell-shaped flowers, pumpkin is frost tender. Most varieties will take up a lot of room. Grow them at the edge of your garden patch so that they can spread away from other vegetables. Harvest when the vines die off and the pumpkins' stalks are dry. Leave a small piece of stalk attached to the fruit to prevent damp causing rot. The fruit can be stored for months in a cool airy place.
Culinary Hints
Cut up, remove the skin and roast with other vegetables or meat. Young crisp shoots with young leaves can be cooked and eaten.