pumpkin variety growing to 20 lbs.?

Question

I'm planning next years garden - looking for Pumpkins growing to about 20 lbs.

Answer 1

Big Max is one of the better large pumpkin varieties. It's still available from many seed catalogues and nurseries. Unlike many of those that grow to enormous sizes - hundreds of pounds - Big Max is likely to actually look like a pumpkin at maturity. Most are in the 15-30 lb range. The biggest one I ever grew was about 55 pounds. The kids loved it.

I pinch back the stems just above where where the fruit sets (male flowers appear first, then the female) to get the full energy in the plant into fruit volume. Fertilize heavily with organic sources of food (pumpkins love to be planted in a pile of compost) and water deeply but infrequently (if your soil is on the clay side).

One cool thing you can do: take a nail and scratch the name of a child or grandchild into the rind of a pumpkin while it is still green and only about 8-10 inches in diameter. Write large with the letters not too close together. When the pumpkin is fully mature, the name will stand out as a grayish-white scar. The kids will think it's magic!

Answer 2

I've grown "Rock Star" from Johnny's Seeds (the catalog says they grow to about 25 pounds), and been very happy with them. Johnny's also has a lot of other pumpkin varieties -- I've grown several of the small ones, and have been quite happy with them.

Johnny's also has the super-giant ones like Atlantic, and there's a book he sells, too, about how to grow super-large pumpkins. I don't like those great big ones, though -- they just don't look like pumpkins. Too misshapen for me.