Rat pumpkins must be brought forward from April

Grow pumpkins in the home garden

04/02/2015

Pumpkins can be excellently grown in the garden. To help them thrive until the autumn harvest, the consumer information service aid gives tips on pumpkin cultivation. Therefore, it is important to start with the preferring of vegetables as early as April.

First prefer pumpkins in a pot
Between the 15th and 25th of April is the right time to start pumping. The Consumer Information Service recommends initially swelling the seeds overnight in room temperature water. In a pot filled with Aussaaterde then two seeds are inserted about two inches deep into the ground. The pot should have a diameter of ten to twelve centimeters and reach the earth to about an inch below the edge of the pot.

The pot of pumpkin seeds is then placed in a bright place in the house where the temperature is between 20 and 25 degrees. Care should be taken that the earth is always moist but not wet. After just a few days, the seeds start to germinate. In the next step, the weaker plants are sorted out, so that only the stronger ones are raised further. The small seedlings should be brought into the open air in mid-May after the Eisheiligen. Again, only the stronger plants that have developed three leaves next to the cotyledons are selected. First of all, they get used to the new surroundings and temperature in a partially shaded place for a few days. Then the pumpkin plants can be planted in a sunny spot with a planting distance of 0.5 to 2.5 meters depending on the variety.

Pumpkins need nutrient-rich soils
Pumpkins develop best on nutrient-rich soils. In addition, according to the Consumer Information Service, good water retention is beneficial. Sandy loamy soil or loamy sandy soils with medium to high humus content are therefore optimal. On the other hand, very heavy soils, in which waterlogging often forms and which heat up only slowly, are not suitable. Those who fertilize regularly with compost, gives the pumpkins an extra dose of nutrients. Therefore, they are often planted directly on the compost pile. (Ag)

Image: Dorothea Jacob