

While some kitchen garden ideas (including radishes and salad leaves) can grow in as little as 25 days, pumpkins need notably longer to mature and can take between 80 and 120 days. Pumpkins needs quite a long time to grow. 'Also consider that a fall sown pumpkin seed may germinate with the first warm days of spring, only to be killed with a late frost.' How long do pumpkins need to grow? A pumpkin seed sown into a regular garden bed does not have a great chance of surviving a hard winter,' she adds. 'Most likely pumpkin seeds survive in a compost pile because of the heat that is generated from the pile. However, pumpkin seeds are quite cold sensitive so it is not guaranteed that they will overwinter. 'Anyone with a compost pile knows that pumpkin seeds will survive the winter and regrow in the summer – it is all too common to find a random pumpkin growing out of your compost pile in the spring,' explains Shannie McCabe.

(Image credit: Leigh Clapp) Will pumpkin seeds overwinter in the garden and come up in the spring? If your pumpkin has a growing season of 100 days, for instance, you will have to plant seeds in mid-July, at the latest, to have pumpkins ready for Halloween. Plant your pumpkin crop before or near that planting date, but after the last frost. Then count backwards from the time you would like to have pumpkins available. It takes pumpkins approximately 75 to 100 days without frost to grow, which is why it is so important to know when to plant pumpkins, so that you get them started early enough to guarantee a fall harvest.Ĭheck the seed packet for that pumpkin variety’s growing time in days. If you plant pumpkin seeds indoors, it is important to transplant them outside 'before they are three weeks old, as they will become stunted from being even the slightest bit pot bound,' says Shannie McCabe. 'Keep only the strongest plants,' he adds. If you want to give the pumpkin plants a bit of a head start, you could seed them indoors when planning greenhouse crops, 'but they will be ready to be transplanted after just a few weeks,' explains Matthew.Ĭhris Rusch, member of the Douglas County Master Gardeners program (opens in new tab) at Oregon State University, advises to start your plants in early April in a greenhouse or cold frame for transplanting out in May. (Image credit: Getty Images) When to plant pumpkins indoors 'At Baker Creek, we like to plant pumpkins in mid June to avoid the peak of squash bug season, which happens in late May to early June in the Missouri Ozarks.' 'Add on two additional weeks of buffer to account for the slower growing habit after the summer solstice,' she advises.
Pumpkin seedlings free#
'You can most certainly make later succession plantings as long as you do the math comparing the average days to maturity of the variety – listed on the back of the seed packet – and how many frost free days you have left until the average first frost date in your region,' explains Shannie McCabe. When it is too late to plant pumpkins depends on the growing time for that variety, and also where you live. The timing for when to plant pumpkins of both varieties is essentially the same. 'Growing pie pumpkins and carving pumpkins is very similar, as each likes the same types of soil and environmental conditions,' he adds. 'Pumpkin seeds are large enough and germinate quickly enough that they can be direct seeded into the soil with great success,' Matthew says. 'Pumpkin seeds are ideal for planting directly outside once the danger of frost has passed,' says Matthew Stevens, Agriculture Extension Agent at NC State University Extension-Nash County Center (opens in new tab) in North Carolina. (Image credit: Polly Eltes) When to plant pumpkin seeds outside?
