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Last edited by shiny on November 11, 2026. View history

crown pumpkin Crown Pumpkin

A variety of pumpkin

How to sow crown pumpkin: Direct seed indoors (and transplant outside after seedlings are hardened off) or outdoors

Sun requirement for crown 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.

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Growstuff is a free, community-run site for people who grow food. Keep track of what you plant and harvest, find seeds to swap, and see what is growing near you. Join to record your own crown pumpkins.

Crown pumpkin facts

Lifespan

Annual living and reproducing in a single year or less
22 weeks median lifespan
First harvest expected 15 weeks after planting
Last harvest expected 19 weeks after planting

Grown for

fruit harvested 8 times
Optimal temperature 20–30 °C
Absolute temperature 9–38 °C
FAO EcoCrop
Optimal rainfall 600–1000 mm/year
Absolute rainfall 450–2700 mm/year
FAO EcoCrop
Optimal soil pH 5.5–7.5
Absolute soil pH 5–8.5
FAO EcoCrop

Crop cycle

80–140 days
FAO EcoCrop

Max altitude

2000 m
FAO EcoCrop

Optimal light

very bright
FAO EcoCrop
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 crown 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 crown 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 crown pumpkins

  1. Sow seeds in pots 4 weeks before planting out
  2. Dig a pit and fill it with compost 2 weeks before planting out
  3. Harden off the seedlings 1 week before planting out
  4. Set or refill beer traps for slugs and snails at planting out every week
  5. Water deeply at the base 1 week after planting out every week
  6. Mulch around the plants 3 weeks after planting out
  7. Hand pollinate the female flowers 6 weeks after planting out
  8. Pinch out the vine tips 10 weeks after planting out
  9. Lift fruit onto a tile or board 6 weeks before first harvest
  10. Check leaves for powdery mildew 8 weeks after planting out every 2 weeks
  11. Cut pumpkins with a long stalk at first harvest
  12. Cure the pumpkins in the sun 1 week after first harvest

How members grow crown pumpkins

Sunniness

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Planted from

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Harvested for

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Plant crown pumpkins with

Photos

Crown pumpkin plantings

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IMG_20180207_140636
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IMG_20180207_140620
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20230316_112725
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20230306_115437
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20230219_100151
by shiny

Crown pumpkin harvests

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20230224_110645
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IMG_20180212_184949
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20230308_110511
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20230322_203643
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IMG_20180314_145519
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Video

Where crown pumpkins grow

Only plantings by members who have set their locations are shown.

What people are saying about crown pumpkins

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Who's planted crown pumpkins

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Crown pumpkin harvests

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Find crown pumpkin seeds

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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 crown pumpkins

Resources outside Growstuff.