How to Grow Chestnut Pumpkin: Do Pumpkins Need Pollination? Controlling Pumpkin Powdery Mildew
To grow chestnut pumpkin, the seeds must first be sterilized, then kept warm to promote sprouting, then placed in a seedling pot filled with potting soil. Once the cotyledons and two true leaves have grown, they can be transplanted. They sprout in one week; plant them into a seedling pot, and after another week or so, transplant them into the soil. Compared with native pumpkins, chestnut pumpkin plants are indeed more delicate and tender.
1. When sown in winter, the weather is cold and they do not sprout easily. Before the seed coat sprouts, it is prone to mold infection. Although this does not affect sprouting, it is still best to sterilize the seeds to avoid it. Later I found that, in fact, there is no need for the tedious process of sterilizing and using seedling pots. For my second batch of seeds, I simply threw them into leaf mold soil, watered them, and covered them. Not only was there no mold, they sprouted as usual.
2. Because chestnut pumpkin seeds are much larger than ordinary native pumpkin seeds and have a thick seed coat, they do not sprout easily. People online say you can peel off the seed coat and they will sprout quickly. I have not tried it! Because I think this is the plant's natural mechanism. If you change the timing and shorten its awakening period so it sprouts, and it is abruptly woken to grow, could there be adverse effects? (Haha! I am overthinking it.)
3. Through observation, experimentation and comparison of the plants, upright two-vine cultivation gives better results. Because chestnut pumpkin rind is delicate, even if the fruit lies flat on the ground on a raised pad, there are still quite a few insect pests and small snails biting it (as shown in the picture below). Unlike upright cultivation, after pollination it can avoid ground pests and grow quickly.
4. Whether male or female, chestnut pumpkin flowers all open upward, so on rainy days they become a big cup filled with rainwater. Once the stamens or stigma are soaked, pollination fails. So on rainy days it is best to first cover the flowers that will open the next day with plastic bags to keep water out.
5. After pollination, the female flower must immediately be wrapped with the elastic mesh foam sleeve used for wrapping fruit (keep the bags from guavas and apples for this use!). Only then will fruit flies be unable to sting it and lay eggs. (Other mesh bags are too thin, and fruit flies can sting through them!) After the initial two-week growth period, once the mesh has been stretched and the shape has set, other protective measures can be taken.
6. Whether growing with a single vine or double vines, all other side vines must be removed. Keep 2-3 fruits on a single vine, and at most two fruits per vine on double vines. After the last fruit, pinch off the growing tip five nodes beyond it (this is what I tried; it may not be exact). After pollination is no longer needed, all the unopened male flower buds must also be removed so they do not waste nutrients. As shown in the picture below, double-vine cultivation on an upright trellis (Buddy, you seem to have kept a lot of vines!) (Hey, this way I have more leaves for photosynthesis!)
7. For the control of powdery mildew, if the disease appears when the plant is small, there is probably no saving it; even if it is cured, the plant will not be robust. If it appears in the middle to late flowering stage, organic fungicides can be applied, spraying Bordeaux mixture, neem oil, or lime sulfur mixture (calcium polysulfide), and appropriately remove 8. severely diseased leaves and old leaves. I bought calcium polysulfide at a chemical materials store. The effect is very good; it can sterilize and also control mites. You can also look up the preparation method online and boil it yourself.
9. Generally, gourds and fruits all place great importance on fertilizer, so as fruiting increases, additional fertilizer must be applied. Its root system is very developed, so simply digging and burying fertilizer in a ring 30 cm around it can achieve very good results. Upright cultivation makes fertilizing easier.
As for the growing season, it is still being tested. As for cultivation methods, I actually think it is easier to manage than native pumpkins. (Postscript: Winter is better for the growing season. Farmers all plant after autumn and harvest in spring, because once the weather turns hot in May, the fruits all stop growing.)
Although chestnut pumpkin is delicious, because it is an introduced species, it is not resistant to pests and diseases. I guess farmers must spray a lot of pesticides when growing it for it to possibly avoid pest damage. Especially since this pumpkin is eaten without peeling, one really should be cautious! If it is not guaranteed organic or you do not grow it yourself, it is better to eat native pumpkins.