How to Grow Pumpkins: The Latest Planting Techniques and Methods Tutorial

Pumpkin, also known as wogua, fangua, fangua, and fan nangua, is a plant of the Cucurbitaceae family and the Cucurbita genus. It is an annual trailing herb; the stems often root at the nodes and extend 2-5 m, densely covered with short white bristles. The petioles are stout. It originated in the region from Mexico to Central America and is widely cultivated around the world. It was introduced to China during the Ming Dynasty and is now widely grown throughout the north and south. The tender fruit is sweet and palatable and is one of the melon vegetables of summer and autumn.

Building the Pumpkin Planting Plot

Choose a plot with higher terrain, good drainage, loose soil and good aeration, preferably sandy loam or light loam; low-lying, easily waterlogged plots are not suitable for growing pumpkins. The soil should be slightly acidic, with a pH between 5.5 and 6.8, and pumpkins should not be planted after or alongside Cucurbitaceae and Solanaceae crops in succession or as adjacent crops, to avoid severe soil-borne diseases. Land preparation must be thorough; before preparing the land, apply 3000 to 5000 kg of high-quality farmyard manure and 20 kg of diammonium phosphate per 667 sq m, and if conditions permit, biological bacterial fertilizer can also be applied.

Sowing Time for Pumpkins

The sowing period depends on the specific conditions of the year and locality. The basic principle is to let the seedlings emerge after the last frost, and sprouted seeds are sown. In the Yangtze River basin, this is generally from February to April. For early sowing, use a hotbed or cold frame to raise seedlings, and after mid to late March, sprouted seeds can be sown directly in the field. In South China, sowing can be done from February to September. It is mainly divided into spring sowing in February to March and autumn sowing in August to September. The specific method is: soak the seeds in hot water at 55 to 60°C for 15 minutes to kill the bacteria on the seed coat surface, then pour in cool water to cool down to 30°C, and soak for another 4 to 6 hours. After removing them, wrap them in wet gauze or a towel and keep them at 25 to 30°C to sprout until the sprout is about 0.3 cm, then they can be sown. Dig holes at a plant spacing of 50 cm, digging one ridge and leaving one ridge empty, so that the plant and row spacing is 50×120 cm, which helps ventilation, light penetration and disease prevention. First water the holes, and after the water seeps in, place 2 seeds flat in each hole with the sprouts facing down, cover with 2 to 3 cm of fine soil, and if conditions permit, cover with plastic film. In practice, because pumpkin planting has a large row spacing, not much film is used, costing only a bit more than 10 yuan per mu. However, when covering with film, clods must be broken up so that the film fits tightly against the ridge surface, is stretched tight on all sides, and is pressed into the soil; otherwise the film's effect will not be obvious. Generally, no watering is needed during the seedling stage. When the seedlings grow to 3 true leaves, select vigorous plants with intact cotyledons, keep one plant per hole, and cut the rest off at ground level.

Chemical Weeding in the Planting Plot

Carry out pre-emergence closed treatment before the weeds emerge. Relatively ideal herbicides include 33% pendimethalin, with a mu dosage of 100 g mixed with 60 kg of water; or 25% oxadiazon emulsifiable concentrate, with a mu dosage of 150 g mixed with 60 kg of water for even spraying. If weeds have already emerged before sowing, a non-selective herbicide such as 41% Chunduoduo (glyphosate) can be used to kill the weeds including their roots before sowing, with a mu dosage of 200 to 300 ml mixed with 30 to 40 kg of water sprayed on the stems and leaves of the weeds, generally taking effect in 6 to 7 days. This agent leaves no residue in the soil and will not cause any adverse effect on crops transplanted in the current season or sown in the next crop. To improve the weed-prevention and weed-killing effect of the herbicide, several points should be noted when spraying: spray evenly and do not miss any spots; especially for pre-emergence weeding, spray while walking backward to prevent footprints from damaging the herbicide film and reducing the effect. Second, in dry conditions, water first or spray after rain, as this gives a better weeding effect; for non-selective herbicides, increase the dosage in dry weather.