FIMBY: How to get the most out of your pumpkin patch

This is another installment in our weekly Food in My Back Yard series, dedicated to edible gardening.

Halloween may still be weeks away, but many gardeners now are focused on one favorite fall crop: Pumpkins.

When it comes to pumpkins, warm weather – including these waning days of summer – helps them put on the pounds. For the gardeners and farmers dedicated to producing mammoth pumpkins, a good September growth spurt is key to success.

According to experts, giant pumpkins will add 25 pounds or more a day during hot summer days. Contest pumpkins, such as those competing at Elk Grove’s annual Giant Pumpkin Festival, can add 40 to 60 pounds a day this month.

Potential contenders need to be up in the half-ton range by September for this year’s festival, set for Oct. 4 and 5 (https://www.yourcsd.com/392/Elk-Grove-Giant-Pumpkin-Festival). If your goal is a 20-pound jack-o-lantern, you still need to watch your pumpkin patch carefully. This month is make or break time.

What does it take to grow a giant pumpkin? Time, space, good soil, fertilizer, luck and lots of water. To produce that rapid weight gain, one giant pumpkin plant can suck up 500 gallons a day.

Most pumpkin plants need far less water to produce their harvest, about a gallon a day. Too much water can lead to cracking on the maturing pumpkins, too little to blossom end rot.

Pumpkins are heavy feeders as well as drinkers. They need fertilizer. While vines are developing, serious growers feed them once a week with diluted fish emulsion or other high-nitrogen fertilizer before switching to a high phosphate fertilizer when blooms appear.

Pumpkin vines can get very large very quickly. It’s tempting to prune them way back. But the developing fruit need those leaves. The foliage provides the energy for that growth as well as a little shade to protect the pumpkins’ tender skin. Pumpkins prefer full sun, but will also produce fruit in partial shade if the vines still can get four to six hours of sun a day.

Unless growing for competition, gardeners tend to aim their pumpkin harvest closer to Halloween. Planted too early, most pumpkins will rot if left on the vine in October. Planted in June or transplanted in July, these big squash will mature right on time for decorating and fall dishes.

When to pick?

As pumpkins near maturity, cut back irrigation to a trickle, if any at all. As long as the stem is green and flexible, the pumpkin is pulling in nutrients (and growing). It’s ready to pick when the stem is dry and brittle (and most of the vine looks brown and withered, too).

Always cut the pumpkin from the stem (with a sharp knife or pruners); never pull the fruit from the vine. Don’t carry a pumpkin by the stem either. If the stem breaks off, it speeds the demise of that gourd.

Other signs of a mature pumpkin: Look at the color. It should be consistent, deep and rich. Unripe pumpkins tend to have green streaks or light patches.

Also, check the hardness of the skin. Near the top of the pumpkin, gently press the skin with your thumbnail; if your nail goes in, leave the pumpkin a few more days to harden.

Which pumpkins are best for carving?

Pumpkins are now rolling into local nurseries and stores, tempting Jack-o-lantern carvers of all ages.

Expert carvers prefer pumpkins with smooth skin and thick walls (the better for intricate designs). Thick-walled pumpkins also tend to last longer off the vine.

Most preferred carving pumpkins are easy to grow, too. Some varieties to consider planting for next Halloween (or shopping for now):

* Connecticut Field: Burpee’s best seller, this classic produces 12- to 20-inch pumpkins with flat bottoms and round shape. These pumpkins not only make good carvers, they taste good, too, making them an excellent all-around choice for home pumpkin growers.

* Gladiator: A near-perfect round pumpkin with smooth dark skin; mildew-resistant vines can produce multiple 20-pounders, each 12 inches across and tall.

* Harvest Jack: A prolific pumpkin, this oval-shaped gourd boasts thick walls and disease resistance.

* Howden: A descent of Connecticut Field, Howden has been popular for almost 50 years. It produces a very oval, very large pumpkin.

* Jack O Lantern: Another favorite from Burpee, this heirloom variety produces tall, medium-sized pumpkins that are perfect for carving as well as eating.

For more tips on pumpkins: http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/GARDEN/VEGES/pumpkin.html.