Growing Pumpkins in North Florida

GROWING VEGETABLES, BERRIES & FRUIT TREES IN NORTH FLORIDA

NOW IS THE TIME TO START TOMATO SEEDS, PLANT PUMPKINS FOR THE FALL
POSTED JUNE 30, 2009

Fall may seem like a long way off but now is the time for North Florida’s front-yard and back-yard farmers to begin preparing their fall vegetable gardens. Now is the time to work the soil. And if you plan on growing tomatoes from seed, or you are going to give Halloween pumpkins a go, now is the time to get those seeds started.

I know. It’s hot and miserable outside. Some years it takes tremendous dedication to be ready for planting come the first of August. Nonetheless, now is the time to work in some compost, or a mess of dried grass clippings and leaves. With the summer heat and a bit of water, that yard trash worked into the soil will break down quickly and provide many of the natural nutrients your veggies need to thrive.

Beginning in August, we can plant many of the same warm weather vegetables that we planted in the spring, such as sweet corn, snap beans, summer squash and winter squash, to name but a few. We can also begin planting cool season vegetables such as broccoli, collards, turnips and cauliflower. By September, we can mix in many other cool season vegetables, like lettuce, beets, cabbage and carrots.

Amelia tomatoes grown in my Niceville garden.

Plant your tomato seeds now in starter pots so they will be ready to go out in the garden in early August. Select a disease resistant variety. The Amelia tomatoes that I tried this year have been great. They are still producing tasty, big fruit – 13 ounces or more. Big yields, too. And the plants are still strong and healthy. I am going to try and propagate new plants using cuttings from the healthy plants in the garden.

No one appreciates a pumpkin patch more than I do. I first grew pumpkins at a very early age and have enjoyed it ever since. Nothing says “fall” like pumpkins ripening in the garden.

Success does not come easy for pumpkin growers in North Florida. The summer heat, disease and pressure from pests stand in the way.

The best advice that I can give is this:

1. Plant them in full sun (shade contributes to powdery mildew).
2. Plant them in such a way that you don’t have to water them overhead but instead can flood irrigate (overhead watering washes away fungicides, as well as pollen from the blooms).
3. Spray regularly with a fungicide to control disease and Sevin to control squash borers (never spray it on open blooms; Sevin is deadly to bees).
4. Hand pollinate (otherwise you will have little fruit set).
5. Keep evenly watered; never let the plants dry out (among other things, it makes them weak and more susceptible to pests and disease).

If you have had success growing pumpkins in North Florida, please share your tips with us!

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