Everyone loves a giant pumpkin, but did you know there are some easy gardening tips and tricks that can help you grow a massive pumpkin of your own! While many champion growers keep their best secrets and tips pretty close to the vest, there are some tried and true methods that can help you to grow your own giant gourd.
First, you need to make sure that you are picking seeds for a variety of pumpkin that can grow to become giants. There are several varieties readily available that have been specifically bred to produce these giant pumpkins.
Second, give your tender pumpkin plants some extra attention. These vines love to get lots of sun and a lot of water. However, they are quite sensitive to elements like wind and frost so be prepared to give your growing gourds a little extra protection when required according to your local weather forecast.
Next, make sure your soil is well fertilized so that your pumpkin can get sufficient nutrients to grow to its final giant size. In connection with good fertilization, make sure that the stem that supports all of the leaves and pumpkins themselves is healthy and well attended to. This is the lifeline of your giant pumpkin and the pathway that all of the nutrients and water that are absorbed by all the leaves and roots are traveling to feed your pumpkin – the bottom line is that healthy vines and stems produce healthy pumpkins.
Fourth, properly position your potential prize winning pumpkins! Optimally, the stem on your pumpkin should be perpendicular to the vine. If you need to move your pumpkin to achieve a good growing position, make sure to be very careful as the connection between the vine and stem is very fragile and easily breakable.
Finally, the plant itself can only absorb a certain among of nutrients and water. As the pumpkins get bigger their ‘appetites’ get bigger, so in order to achieve the biggest possible pumpkin with maximum growth you need to select a couple of promising candidates on each vine early on and remove the rest, thereby directing those precious nutrients to the single growth destination.
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