How to Grow Pumpkins at Home

Introduction

in this article, I’m going to show you How to Grow Pumpkins at Home

• Botanical name – Cucurbita maxima
• Family – Cucurbitaceae

Cultivation

Soil

• Well-drained sandy loam with high organic matter content
• pH 5.5-7.5

Climate

• Can be grown in dry and intermediate zone
• It can be cultivated up to 500m from the mean sea level

Seed rate – 1kg/ha

Spacing – 3×3m

Fertilizer recommendation

	UREA	TSP	MOP
BD	75	200	60
TD1 (4WAP)	75		60
TD2 (8WAP)	75		60

Field establishment

• Select the suitable land for pumpkin cultivation
• Then clear the land by removing weeds
• Ploughing and Harrowing by selected land
• Make draining e system level the land and make plant beds
• Prepare planting holes according to the recommended spacing
• Size of hole –(30×30×30)cm
• Incorporate organic manure and basal dressing of chemical fertilizer mixture 2-3 days before planting
• Well mix with soil and fix the hole by making small heap
• Put 3-4 seeds per hole
• Thing out excess plant 2 weeks after germinating keep 2 healthy seedlings per hole

Pests and Diseases

Pests

Cucurbit fly/Melon fly

Control – pheromone trap, fruit covering, protein bate

Diseases

Mosaic virus – curling leaves, yellow and green leaves

Control – destroy affected plants, burning affected plants, destroy vector

Powdery Mildew

• Highly infected due to high temperature
• White colour fungal spores can be seen on both sides of the leaves

Control – apply fungicide, field sanitation, crop rotation, seed treatment

Downey mildew

• Highly spread during rainy seasons
• Yellow coloured conical shape patches appear on leaves later turn to brown colour

Control – apply fungicide

Soft rot

• Bacteria and Fungi
• Soft rot appear on fruit surface and colour region

Control

• Improve drainage conditions
• Improve aeration
• Apply recommendation fungicide

Harvesting and Post-Harvest Operations

• Harvesting should be done when powdery  texture appeared on the fruit surface
• Average yield 15-25 tons/ha

check out my other article:Cultivation of Cucumber (Complete Guide)