Growing Pumpkin, Squash & Zucchini

Pumpkin, Squash & Zucchini are closely related and all part of the Cucurbitaceae family (Cucurbits for short). Because of this they all have very similar cultivation requirements, and can often be confused with eachother. They love a full sun position, moisture-retentive soil and somewhere out of cold winds. Here's our tips to get the most out of your crop.

Sowing

Sow 2-3 seeds 12mm deep from late August to November, April to July in tropical regions using the spacings recommended on your packet (each variety may have different measurements). The seeds require nice warm soil to germinate optimally and may struggle to sprout otherwise. If your outdoor temperatures are still dropping below 20C at night consider starting your seeds indoors on top of a heatpad for the best results. Once fully germinated thin seedlings to leave the strongest one.

Growing

• Most pumpkins have a sprawling habit so they need space to grow, we suggest planting pumpkins at one end of your patch so they can grow outwards. If you want to keep the plant more contained gently lift up the stems before they set roots and redirect it into the area that you want, along the bottom of your fence line is a great spot. For small gardens opt for varieties such as Small Sugar and Golden Nugget that have a smaller footprint.
• When growing pumpkins and marrows, support the fruit on top of a piece of tile. This is useful in wetter seasons if you don’t want the fruits to rot.
• For Zucchini and Squash sow crops in succession to provide produce throughout the spring and summer. Sow small plantings often, every month or two and discard old plantings once they are no longer productive.
• Keep the soil constantly moist by watering around the plants, not over them. This should help discourage some of the mildews that often spring up on these crops.
• For trailing varieties like pumpkin pinch out the tips of the main shoots when they are 60cm long to encourage branching.

Nutrient Requirements

Cucurbits are hungry crops and require plenty of food to thrive. If starting the seedlings in pots make sure you feed the young plants weekly with a liquid fertiliser so they have the best start to life, otherwise the leaves will show signs of deficiency quite quickly.  

Ensure you improve your garden soil with a mixture of compost and well-rotted manure before planting, incorporating it well and removing weeds as you go. A soil pH of around 6.0 to 7.5 is ideal for these types of crops.  

Throughout the growing season you will want to top dress the crops every 6 weeks or so with a slow release organic feed. Pelletised poultry manures formulated with trace elements are great and should keep the crop well fed. It can also be helpful to apply a potassium rich feed around the fruiting period, to promote fruit development. Apply this fortnightly, applied in a liquid solution around your plants.

Harvesting

Harvest squashes when the fruit is still quite small and tender, small fruits can be roasted whole in the oven. For pumpkins, harvest when the vines die off leaving as much stem as possible, this will extend the storage time of your pumpkins. Zucchini need to be picked very regularly during Spring and Summer, ideally when the fruits are small and less than 20-30cm in length.

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