In short
- A different species from the courgette (Cucurbita pepo) — it bears huge, spherical fruits.
- Requires full sun, very fertile soil and plenty of room — several square metres.
- Very greedy and water-hungry; classically planted on the compost heap.
- For large fruits leave 1–2 fruit sets on the plant and remove the rest.
- Harvest before the first frosts, keeping the stalk.
Botanical data
- Family
- Cucurbitaceae (Cucurbitaceae)
- Height
- 0.4–0.8 m
- Width
- 2–5 m
- Habit
- Creeping
- Growth rate
- Fast
- Position
- Full sun
- Soil
- Humus-rich, Loamy
- pH reaction
- pH 6–7
- Moisture
- Moderate, Moist
- Bloom
- June–August
- Hardiness
- —
- Propagation
- From seed
Characteristics
A plant with long, trailing shoots reaching several metres, with large, softly hairy, heart-shaped leaves without deep lobes. The flowers are large, yellow-orange and unisexual — male and female borne separately on one plant, pollinated mainly by bumblebees and honeybees. The fruit is a berry of spherical, often flattened shape, with a soft stalk that is round in cross-section — this is the most reliable feature distinguishing it from the field pumpkin and the courgette, which have a hard and distinctly angular stalk. The flesh is orange, sweet and mealy.
Growing and care
Watering
The enormous mass of leaves transpires a great deal of water — in hot weather it needs abundant watering. Pour water at the root, not on the leaves, as wet blades favour mildew. Temporary wilting of the leaves at midday can be normal and passes by the evening.
Fertilizing
Very greedy — classically it is planted directly on the compost heap or in a hole filled with manure. Once the fruits have set, reduce nitrogen in favour of potassium.
Planting
A warm, sunny and sheltered site with plenty of room — one plant takes up several square metres. Fill the hole with compost or well-rotted manure; the pumpkin does splendidly planted directly on the compost heap.
Pruning
When growing for large fruits, leave 1–2 sets on the plant, remove the rest, and pinch out the main shoot a few leaves beyond the last fruit — all the plant's strength then goes into the chosen pumpkins.
Companion plants
Good companions
An element of the classic three sisters planting — the tall maize provides shelter and support, and the trailing pumpkin shades the soil beneath it.
The third element of the three sisters planting: the bean fixes atmospheric nitrogen, which the very greedy pumpkin makes use of.
A trap plant — it draws aphids onto itself, relieving the pumpkin's leaves.
The root exudates of the marigold limit the population of soil nematodes in the pumpkin's root zone.
Bad companions
Both vegetables are very demanding as to nutrients and compete for water and nutrients, and digging up potatoes destroys the shallow roots and spreading shoots of the pumpkin.
A close relative from the same genus — it shares pests and diseases, above all powdery mildew, which spreads at lightning speed among cucurbits in close proximity.
The pumpkin's shoots, spreading over several metres, simply cover and smother them, cutting off their light.
The evidence level indicates whether the relationship is backed by research, observation, or gardening tradition.
Diseases and pests
A white, powdery coating on leaves, shoots and buds. The leaves turn yellow, become deformed and drop prematurely. The coating develops on both sides of the leaf blade, is often clearly visible from above, and can easily be rubbed off with a finger — it is the superficial mycelium of an ectoparasite that draws nutrients from the epidermal cells by means of feeding structures (haustoria). At first single, round, white spots appear, which in time merge and cover the entire leaf surface and the young growth. Young leaves and the current season's shoots are the most susceptible; heavy infection causes them to pucker, stiffen and stop growing, and on buds it leads to deformation or death of the flowers. On the fruit of some species (gooseberry, apple, cucurbits) the coating leaves russeting or a corky skin. Towards the end of the season, small, dark fruiting bodies (chasmothecia, formerly called cleistothecia) — the pathogen's overwintering structures — appear within the coating. The disease affects many plants, including roses, oak, privet, lilac, cucurbits, cereals, grapevine, apple, gooseberry, phlox and coneflowers, with each of these hosts being infected by a specialised species of fungus.
Mosaic (viral disease)A characteristic mosaic appears on the leaves — irregular, interweaving light and dark green or yellow patches and streaks. The leaves are often deformed, wrinkled, curled and smaller, and whole plants become stunted and fruit poorly. The symptoms are most visible on young leaves, and the fruit of cucumber, courgette or tomato may be blotchy and misshapen. The disease affects many vegetables, perennials and ornamental plants. The disease picture depends on the specific virus, the host species and the temperature — the same pathogen produces different symptoms on different plants. A distinguishing feature is that the mosaic is systemic (it affects the whole plant and develops from the youngest leaves) rather than localised like fungal leaf spots — there are no clearly delimited spots with a margin, no mycelial coating and no fruiting bodies. Besides the mosaic, there is vein clearing (a lightening of the tissue along the veins), striping and blister-like bulges of the leaf blade. Severe narrowing and thread-like tomato leaves (the so-called 'shoestring' symptom) is associated mainly with CMV (cucumber mosaic virus), occasionally with tobamoviruses, whereas TMV/ToMV mostly produce mosaic and mottling of the leaves. On the fruit you can observe blotching, concentric rings, wart-like bulges (cucumber) and uneven ripening (tomato), and on the flowers of ornamental plants — colour breaking, i.e. streaks and flecks of discolouration on the petals. In high temperatures (above ~28–30°C) the symptoms may become masked and temporarily disappear, only to return once it cools down — this does not mean the plant has recovered.
AphidsSmall (1–3 mm) soft-bodied insects, green, black or pink, feeding in clusters on young shoots and the underside of leaves. They excrete sticky honeydew. The diagnostic feature that distinguishes aphids from other small sucking insects is the pair of siphunculi (tubular projections) at the rear of the abdomen together with a tail-like cauda; a single colony usually holds wingless forms (parthenogenetic females) alongside winged migrants that fly onto new plants in summer. In summer aphids reproduce parthenogenetically and viviparously over many generations, so the population builds up explosively; in autumn many species produce a sexual generation that lays overwintering eggs on the host, and host-alternating species move between a winter host (often a tree or shrub) and a summer host (a herbaceous plant). Feeding symptoms include curling, crinkling and distortion of young leaves, stunted growth, yellowing, and the shedding of buds and fruitlets. Abundant honeydew coats the leaves, and the sooty mould fungus that develops on it forms a black film which limits photosynthesis; the honeydew is fed on by ants, which in return defend the colony against predators. Aphids are also important vectors of plant viruses (mosaics among them), transmitting them from plant to plant even during a brief probing puncture.
Toxicity
| For whom | Level | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Humans | None | The flesh and seeds are edible. The exception are ornamental gourds and specimens from seed collected from crosses — they may contain bitter cucurbitacins; always discard distinctly bitter flesh. |
| Dogs | None | Cooked flesh is safe and is sometimes given to dogs. |
| Cats | None | — |
History and origin
The giant pumpkin was domesticated in South America, at the foot of the Andes, over four thousand years ago, and reached Europe after the voyages of Columbus. The division of the American pumpkins into separate species was only sorted out by modern botany — today it is known that Cucurbita maxima, Cucurbita pepo (courgette, field pumpkin, patty pan) and Cucurbita moschata (butternut squash) were domesticated independently of one another, in different regions of the two Americas.
Uses
A vegetable for large gardens and allotments, rewarding also as a display plant for children because of the spectacular rate at which the fruits grow. The flesh is suitable for soups, preserves and roasting, the seeds for toasting. Hard-skinned varieties, harvested with the stalk, keep in a cool and dry place for even several months.
Trivia
- This is the species that produces the largest fruits in the plant world — record pumpkins weigh over 1000 kg, and records fall at competitions almost every year. No other cultivated plant comes close to this result.
- A record specimen puts on as much as 20 kg a day at the peak of the season, which means it grows at a rate visible from one day to the next.
- The popular Hokkaido pumpkin is precisely a variety of the giant pumpkin — despite its small fruits it belongs to the same species as the record holders from the competitions.
Frequently asked questions
How does the giant pumpkin differ from the courgette?
They are two different species: the giant pumpkin is Cucurbita maxima, and the courgette is Cucurbita pepo. The giant pumpkin bears huge, spherical fruits with a soft stalk that is round in cross-section, and it is harvested ripe, in autumn, for storage. The courgette has elongated fruits, a hard, angular stalk, and is harvested unripe, continuously all summer. Since they are different species, planted next to each other they practically do not cross.
How do you grow a really large pumpkin?
Four things are key: a variety intended for large fruits, a very fertile site (best a hole with manure or a compost heap), abundant and regular watering, and limiting the number of fruits. After the fruits set, leave one, at most two of the finest sets on the plant and remove the rest — all the energy produced by the leaves will then go into the chosen fruit.
When to harvest the pumpkin and how to store it?
Harvest before the first frosts, when the skin has hardened enough that it cannot be scratched with a fingernail and the stalk begins to cork over. Cut the fruit with a few centimetres of stalk attached — a pumpkin without a stalk rots from the point where it broke off. After harvest it is worth curing it for a week in a warm, dry place, and then storing it in a dry room at about 10–15°C.
Sources
- Plants of the World Online (POWO)Database (GBIF, POWO…)
- Missouri Botanical Garden — Cucurbita maximaInstitution / botanical garden
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