It’s the start of the giant pumpkin growing season here in New Zealand, and I’m excited.
Why am I excited?
The Waiting is Over
The long gap between the end of last season and the start of this season is finally over. Sitting around through Winter is over. Seeing amazing pumpkins being grown in the Northern Hemisphere is over almost over.
For giant pumpkin growers the start of the growing season is exciting. You can start the seeds you have selected. You can try new things. If you’ve grown before you can chase the chance of beating your own personal best. You can chase other people’s records.
You Never Know How it Will Go
There is also a bit of the unknown when growing giant pumpkins. It’s something that makes it exciting. Last year my pumpkin stayed together, the year before it rotted from the inside. Last season Tim as on track to beat the NZ record again, but an unfortunate split ended that 🙁
You just never know what can happen, and I like that aspect of growing giants.
Starting Time
Everyone will have a different starting time. If you don’t have one yet make sure to look at this page on the time-line of a giant pumpkin. It explains how working backwards can help you decide when to start your seeds.
It looks like the 21st of October will be a good date for me, and that will be getting a seedling into the ground. I’m out of town from the 7th, so am going to start some seeds on that morning. I’ll see what they look like when I get back, and I’ll start backup seeds around the 14th.
I don’t want the seedling in the pot longer than it needs to be. I’ll pick the best looking seedling and go from there
With such a mild winter, and hopefully more great weather, getting the seedling into the ground early shouldn’t be a problem, but only time will tell.
Updates Through the Season
I don’t think I mentioned it before, but I’ve set myself a goal of publishing a blog post every Monday. For the last 14 or so weeks I’ve managed to stick to that. If you’d like to have the update delivered to your inbox, please sign up using the box below.
In upcoming blog posts I’ll be showing you what I’m up to, I’ll cover mistakes people make, talk about how to deal with holidays and much more.
If you still haven’t got your giant pumpkin seeds and you want to grow, make sure to head on over to the online shop and pick up some.
Growing giant pumpkins is a passion that I love sharing. 🎃 If you’ve found my content helpful or entertaining, why not say thanks with a coffee? ☕
It’ll fuel my next giant pumpkin adventure!
