Pumpkins will grow here. The vines need a fair bit of room to spread, plenty of sun, good soil, and water regularly. I grew Dills Atlantic giant one year at my parents property near Lac du Bonnet. Our biggest was about 137 pounds. Supposedly one way to get huge pumpkins (besides using the right seed) is to only let one or two pumpkins develop per vine. Thus all the plants energy is put into only one or two fruits. The big ones can get quite misshaped though but make interesting jack o lanterns. Also tried the smaller Âpie pumpkins, which have better pulp and are better for pies. They make nice size pumpkins, not huge, but just right for carving. They also have varieties geared to shorter seasons.

We tried two methods of growing pumpkins. The first was to start early in a pot, about the last week of April, first week of May. Put outside during the day for best sunlight. The other method was just to direct sow the seed into the garden around the May long weekend. There wasnÂt much of a difference in the two because I always found the one started in a pot had a bit of a setback when transplanted in the garden (they dislike transplanting and just sat there for a bit). I know they say one way around this is to start them early in peat pots, but even then I think when transplanted they sometimes donÂt do a lot until the nights and days are consistently warmer.

Ah, to think of spring, when days and average highs are getting warmer, lol.

Glen

I grew the 'Baby Bear' pumpkins this year, and they turned out fine. Direct sowed and got a late start. These are very small. My mom grows medium size ones every year, direct sowed as well. Why not give it a try?

A word of advice - don't let the pumpkin vines climb anything when they are young. If they grow through a fence or something you can't remove them from when they get big, the pumpkins will break the vines when they start to mature. This happened to my neighbour, she was so disappointed. Let them sprawl on the ground. And yes, what Glen said about cutting off all but a few is necessary.

If you want dual-purpose pumpkins (say, for Halloween AND cooking), I'd recommend growing pie pumpkins. You won't get any giants, as they are smallish pumpkins, but the flavor and texture of the flesh is so much better. The regular pumpkins have very watery, mild-tasting flesh, and aren't near as good for cooking, IMO.

We grow 'em big:
This at this year's state fair, the record was broken:
Pumpkin
942 lbs.
J.D. Megchelson, Nikiski

Like ABgardeneer said, it probably wasn't the most tasty pumpkin, but I bet it made alot of pies!

Nman: sure we can grow pumpkins here on the northern prairies! This is how I plant mine on a dryland field garden zone 2b (that means that I canÂt water and only rely on the rain for the most part). Dig as large a hole as you can, then fill with waterÂuse 5 gallons if you have to; add well rotted manure; add a handful of compost and water again so that the manure-compost mixture is wet. Cover with fresh earth so as not to burn the seeds. Plant about 8 seeds in a large circle just over the diameter of the hole you have filled with manure; cover with soil once again and tamp down really well. Water until the seedlings emerge. Since I cannot water, I use an empty 1 gallon milk jug with a few pinholes on the bottom so that when filled with water there is a slow trickle (it should last until the next day). Fill the jug with pebbles as a strong wind will carry them away. I usually put this in the center of my ring of pumpkin seedlings and fill the container daily. As the pumpkins spread out you will know where the center of the ring is in case you should decide to remove the jug and water with a hose. I ALWAYS pollinate my pumpkins by hand as the bees do not seem to do this task in my field garden. One year I let my children sell the pumpkins if they helped me carry all the pumpkins to the house. They sold them for 2.00 any size, and they made about 50.00. It would have been more except that I found a whole lot more that they didnÂt carry out. Many of these pumpkins where large enough for a jack-o-lantern but they were the pumpkin pie type of seeds.

You grow pumpkins.... I'm so excited, I have always wanted to grow them but with such a short season just figured I couldn't. Don't want anything huge but a nice size would be nice... So varities please....

How about cantalope - any successes??? I've tried these but probably got the wrong type....

Just wanted to mention I like the sounds of virgilia's method of watering. Excellent idea.

I only grew pumpkins once a few years ago, and the main reason was to cover a large area of bare soil for the summer. Pumpkin vines did the trick, and I did get quite a few fruit but had to pick them green and let them ripen inside (much like very often the case with tomatoes).

I have had some success with cantaloupe. My Mom has had great success. Look for shorter season varieties (which are often smaller than the grocery store types). This year I tried one called "Fast break".

I am starting to realize how much difference good soil can make. I started 3 cataloupes from seed, in peat pots, and gave two to my Mom. Kept one for myself. She has much better soil, loose and loamy and harvested 5 melons off those two plants.

My one vine did okay, it grew, but for some reason I only got one melon. Well, at least it probably paid for the package of seeds.

My theory is that our growing season is short enough as it is, so any advantage such as decent soil, sunny sheltered spot, adequate watering probably does make a difference in speeding up growth.

The clincher was that the 'fast break' cantaloupe said it produces in 75 days so I thought I would be overloaded with lots of melons in a 120 day growing season.

Glen

Wow! Thanks you for all the great tips. Growing a pumpkin is just a fun experiment for next year. I'm going to let the vine invade my back yard. I'm trying to grow them big just for jack o lanterns. I just need 3 big pumpkins lol.

Yes they will invade it LOL. I'm sure you will get your jack o lanterns if you cut all the others off.

My mom also grows cantaloupes, just with seedlings that grow out of her compost pile. She transplants them if necessary and they usually grow pretty well. The fruits are quite small, like grapefruit sized, but they taste great.

Re size: Many moons ago when I was a kid pumpkins were anywhere from vollyball to basketball size...mostly the former. Now I collect a couple hundred pumpkins after Hallowe'en for composting and most are bigger than basketballs. Bigger size is great for me and composting but seems a bit 'too much' for most kids' needs. It's fun to try and grow a big pumpkin but even a modest pumpkin is more 'special' if grown in your own garden.