actually you need to get them out of pots and into the ground as no pot or bucket has the room for the root system that they need then in extreme heat they need to be soaked every day here where im at it was close to 100 for 10 days straight and i soaked them good every evening but 1 and that 1 evening i didnt the leaves drooped way down i had to water them mid day within an hour they were back to normal your leaves will get huge and your vines can be anywhere from 15-30 feet long wich best i have found is cut them to around 12 feet they wont last in a container for long even if you water them 10 times a day my vines grow 6" a day some days hope this helps

I would not be worried about them drooping during the day. I have yet to ever have pumpkin leaves not droop down a bit during the hotter days no matter how much I water them.

I water my pumpkins on average everyday, but that varies on the weather, location, and how lazy I am being. I am terrible about fertilizing, so I have no advice there.

Good luck with the garden, it really can be such a joy.

Hi! Thank you both for your replies! I appreciate your thoughts!! I think I am going to bump up the watering, esp since we have a forcast of temps in the 100's this weekend/next week. Boo!
The plants in the 30gallon totes are more for fun/experiment, so we'll see how long they last, I really care about the in ground plants. I want them to work. I planted quite a few to see which ones make it and why. ;)
I'll keep you all posted and post pics when I can!

Also I read in another thread that the vines will set roots also to secure themselves. I didn't realize that part, just thinking the vines would just roam...roots didn't occur to me!
I only ammended the trench I planted them in. Do you think they can take hold in the sand that they'll be vining on? Weeds do grow well in it! ;)

Thanks Again!!
Grace