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(Best months for planting Pumpkin in New Zealand - cool/mountain regions)

• Harvest in 105-140 days
• Sow in garden. Sow seed at a depth approximately three times the diameter of the seed.
• Best planted at soil temperatures between 20°C and 32°C.
• Space plants: 90-120cm

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. Butternut produces small to medium pear-shaped fruit with deep orange flesh . Buttercup are small to medium round pumpkins with dark green skin. There are a number of large pumpkins, some round and flattish - good for storage and eating - others will produce the "Cinderella coach" type giant round fruit which are not such good eating.

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. In some parts of New Zealand, they are stored on shed roofs.

Pumpkins sometimes need hand pollination if the fruit are not setting well.

Culinary hints - cooking and eating Pumpkin

Cut up, remove the skin and roast with other vegetables or meat.

Your comments and tips

19 Jan 10 aye Dawn (New Zealand - sub-tropical climate)

When should I stop watering pumpkins

20 Jan 10 Mark (New Zealand - sub-tropical climate)

I was told I should "pinch" the end off leaders once a few flowers have set. Is that a good idea? How do i do it? Thanks!

06 Feb 10 Gaynor (New Zealand - temperate climate)

Have just moved into a house in Hamilton. Have pumpkin growing and it is spreading over the rest of the garden, on to path, onto lawn. What is the process for trimming the leaders off. How do I identify which have the pumpkins on.Would value your comments as I have never grown pumpkins before.

16 Jan 11 carla (New Zealand - temperate climate)

I have a pumpkin plant that has grown one biggish pumpkin near the beginning of the plant but every other one that starts growning gets to about 5cm in diameter then goes yellow and rots... help, why is this happening???

18 Jan 11 Tim (New Zealand - temperate climate)

Carla... i have had the same thing happan to me this year, i just picked the rotting ones off and sniped off the ends of the plants, i have 2-3 good ones on each plant.

30 Jan 11 Fee (New Zealand - cool/mountain climate)

I have my pumkin plant growing up and along my fence, it had a good crop and i serport them with panty hoes,lol. works well

05 Mar 11 (New Zealand - temperate climate)

Can you pick pumpkins before the plant dies off? Some of my plants are starting to change colour, like they are rotting?

05 Mar 11 (New Zealand - temperate climate)

You can pick your pumpkins if they sound hollow when you rap them with your knuckles and look ripe. Make sure that you cut them with a piece of stem attached.

19 Mar 11 Zoe (New Zealand - temperate climate)

My first pumpkin of the season had a bitter taste when I made it into soup. What might cause this to happen?

29 Mar 11 Annette (New Zealand - cool/mountain climate)

Is it possible to store pumpkins in a chiller, temp. around 2-5C?