Last edited by shiny on November 03, 2026. View history
Giant Pumpkin
A variety of pumpkin
How to sow giant pumpkin: Direct seed indoors (and transplant outside after seedlings are hardened off) or outdoors
Sun requirement for giant pumpkin: Plant in Full Sun
Pumpkins are squash cultivars that are round to oval in shape with thick, slightly ribbed skin that varies from deep yellow to orange in color. Their flesh ranges from yellow to gold and has large seeds. Like other members of the Cucurbitaceae family, they grow on sprawling vines. Different varieties of pumpkins are grown for food or decoration.
- 5
- plantings
- 3
- harvests
- 2
- seed packets
Giant pumpkin facts
Lifespan
Grown for
fruit harvested 3 timesCrop cycle
Max altitude
Optimal light
What are growing degree days?
A plant grows with warmth, not with days. A growing degree day is one day's worth of useful warmth: how many degrees the day's average temperature is above the lowest temperature the crop grows at. Add them up from planting and you know how far along the crop is, whatever the calendar says.
Say that lowest temperature is 10°C. A day averaging 17°C gives 7 growing degree days. A day averaging 8°C gives none, as it is too cold for the crop to grow. That is why the same lettuce takes about 50 days in a summer and 90 in an autumn: it needs the same total warmth either way.
For giant pumpkin, the FAO EcoCrop database gives a lowest growing temperature of 9°C and a shortest growing cycle of 80 days at its best temperature, about 1280 growing degree days to a first harvest.
Where you've told us where your garden is, we use this and the weather there to predict when your giant pumpkin will be ready to harvest. We don't use it for how long a plant lives or when it finishes: we go by what members have logged for that.
Growing giant pumpkins
- Sow seeds in pots 4 weeks before planting out
- Dig a pit and fill it with compost 2 weeks before planting out
- Harden off the seedlings 1 week before planting out
- Set or refill beer traps for slugs and snails at planting out every week
- Water deeply at the base 1 week after planting out every week
- Mulch around the plants 3 weeks after planting out
- Hand pollinate the female flowers 6 weeks after planting out
- Pinch out the vine tips 10 weeks after planting out
- Lift fruit onto a tile or board 6 weeks before first harvest
- Check leaves for powdery mildew 8 weeks after planting out every 2 weeks
- Cut pumpkins with a long stalk at first harvest
- Cure the pumpkins in the sun 1 week after first harvest
How members grow giant pumpkins
Sunniness
Planted from
Harvested for
Plant giant pumpkins with
chives
Photos
Photos
Giant pumpkin plantings
Giant pumpkin harvests
Giant pumpkin seeds
Video
Where giant pumpkins grow
Only plantings by members who have set their locations are shown.
What people are saying about giant pumpkins
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Who's planted giant pumpkins
- shiny Raised Bed One · Wellington, NZ
- milki Planter 3x8 · San Francisco Bay Area
shiny
Giant pumpkin harvests
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milki harvested 1, weighing 19.7 lb.
about 3 years ago
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shiny harvested 2.
over 6 years ago
-
shiny harvested 1.
over 8 years ago
milki harvested 1, weighing 19.7 lb.
View all giant pumpkin harvests
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View all giant pumpkin seeds
- Purchase seeds via Ebay
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Time to harvest
If sown now, expect a first harvest in about 80 to 140 days.
From the growing cycle in the FAO EcoCrop database, which is the same wherever it is grown.
Ecological requirements
Data from the FAO EcoCrop database for Cucurbita maxima Duchesne
| Family / Taxonomy | Magnoliopsida Dilleniidae Violales Cucurbitaceae |
|---|---|
| Life form | vine |
| Life span | annual |
| Habit | climber/scrambler/scadent |
| Optimal soil depth | deep (>>150 cm) |
| Optimal soil texture | heavy, medium, light, organic |
| Optimal soil fertility | high |
| Optimal soil drainage | well (dry spells) |
| Optimal soil salinity | low (<4 dS/m) |
| Photoperiod | short day (<12 hours), neutral day (12-14 hours), long day (>14 hours) |
Learn more about giant pumpkins
Resources outside Growstuff.
