Pumpkin Seeds - Small Sugar

Minimum Seeds per Packet: 15

Packet Weight: 3g

Planting Season: After Last Frost

Sowing Method: Direct Seed or Transplant

Seed Depth: 1"

Direct Seed Spacing: 6"

Soil Temperature: 60-95 ℉

Days to Sprout: 5-10

Mature Spacing: 24-36"

Sun Requirement: Full Sun

Frost Tolerance: Frost Sensitive

Days to Harvest: 100

When to Seed Pumpkins

Pumpkins are warm season crops related to winter squash. They need warm weather, lots of sun, and room to grow and sprawl. You can direct seed your pumpkin seeds or start them indoors six to eight weeks before your last frost date. Either way, do not plant your pumpkins outdoors until all danger of frost has passed. 

Where to Plant Pumpkins

Choose a location with full sun and amend the soil with compost ahead of planting. Almost all pumpkin varieties are vining types so you’ll need to take this into account when choosing a location. Pumpkins can be planted slightly more closely together, and will save space, if being grown on a trellis! Utilizing vertical space saves square footage in the garden. 

Growing Pumpkins

Sow seeds ½ inch deep and, if direct seeding, six inches apart. Transplant or thin your seedlings to 24 to 36 inches as they germinate and grow. Allow for four to six feet of space between rows if growing on the ground. Pumpkins are pretty low maintenance once established, though there are a number of pests to watch out for. Pumpkin varieties should be left to fully mature and cure ahead of eating. Be sure that your pumpkin plants get at least one inch of water per week.

Harvesting Pumpkins

Harvest pumpkins once the fruit has turned a solid color and the rind is hard. Make sure to harvest before a hard freeze. Leave two inches of stem and more if possible. This will help prevent rot. Field cure your pumpkins in dry, sunny weather, or cure them indoors in a well-ventilated space. Curing allows for longer storage. Store pumpkins in a dry location around 55 degrees Fahrenheit. Ensure there is enough airflow around each fruit.

Squash (Cucurbita pepo, Cucurbita moschata, Cucurbita maxima, Cucurbita argyrosperma) and gourds (Cucurbita pepo, Luffa aegyptica, Lagenaria siceraria) are insect-pollinated annuals that produce separate male and female flowers on the same plant. In order to save pure seed, up to a half-mile of distance or some type of physical barrier between different varieties of the same species is required. Most seed savers either choose to grow only one variety of any given squash or gourd species, or they bag and hand-pollinate individual flowers to prevent cross-pollination. In order to hand-pollinate squash or gourd flowers, you must place a mesh or light fabric bag over the female flowers you want to pollinate before they open, so that no insects get to them before you do. Once a bagged blossom is open, transfer pollen from a male flower to the female flower using a cotton swab or paint brush, then replace the bag over the flower until the flower closes again and the fruit begins to form. Make sure to tag any hand-pollinated fruits that you intend to save for seed with ribbon or tape so you don’t lose track of them!

All squash and gourds must be grown to full botanical maturity in order to save viable seeds. For winter squash and gourds, this simply means harvesting the fruits the same way you normally would for food or crafting uses. For summer squash, this will mean leaving them on the plant much longer than you normally would for food use. Botanically mature summer squash will be much larger than when harvested for eating, and the rind will typically toughen and change color to yellow or orange, or become duller in appearance when the fruits are ripe. To harvest the seeds, simply scoop them out of the fruit and rinse off any flesh in a colander, then dry them spread out on screens or newspaper. Gourd seeds are typically harvested after the fruit is completely dry, and may not need any cleaning at all. Once the seeds are fully dry, store them in an airtight container in a cool, dark and dry location.