How to grow Pumpkin (Jack O'Lantern)

Cucurbita pepo

🥕 Vegetable 🌱 Grown each year

Jack O Lantern Pumpkins are the traditional Halloween style round shaped pumpkins with bright orange outer flesh that is perfect for carving out spooky faces. The carved out inside orange flesh is great for recipes in the kitchen too, from delicious homemade Pumpkin Pies or warming Curried Pumpkin Soup.

At a glance: Sow late April to mid May, harvest from late September.

When to sow, plant and harvest

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Sow outdoors

Harvest

Timed for a typical UK garden (last frost mid-April). The app uses your own town's frost dates.

Growing Pumpkin (Jack O'Lantern): what it needs

Light: Full sun · 6+ hours a day
Watering: Water regularly in dry weather
Soil: Fertile, well-drained soil
Spacing: 1.5 m
In pots: Best in the ground
Feeding: A general feed before sowing or planting
Harvest: About 70 days from sowing
Hardiness: USDA zones 3–9
Difficulty: Easy

Step by step

Late April – mid May · 2 weeks after the last spring frost
Sow Seeds Outdoors
Sow thinly in drills where they are to grow. Sow seeds on their edge, 2 cm deep.
5–10 days after “Sow Seeds Indoors” · Early May
Check Germination
Seedlings should appear in 5–10 days. If sown outdoors, thin to 1.5 m apart when big enough to handle.
21–35 days after “Plant Out” · Late May – early June
Water and Feed
Water generously at the base and give a tomato feed every two weeks once fruits set.
30–45 days after “Water and Feed” · Late June – early July
Lift Pumpkins off the Soil
Slip a tile or piece of wood under each pumpkin so it does not rot.
Late September – mid October · 3 weeks before the first autumn frost
Start Harvesting
Cut with a long stalk when the skin is hard and deep orange, before the first frost.
14–44 days after “Start Harvesting” · Mid October – mid November
Finish and Clear
Cure in the sun for 10 days; carve for Halloween or store somewhere cool and dry.