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Has anybody ever grown atlantic giant pumpkins? How do you care for them?

I'm a little late, while I havn't grown alantic dill pumpkins I have started growing the "Big Moon" variety from RH Shumway. My biggest last year was 120 lbs, while most were 80-100lb range. We did have a few months of drought so that doesn't help. At least our 1 year old son fit inside them nicely for pictures.

I like the Big Moon variety because most of the pumpkins get the true orange of the smaller pumpkins and they keep a nice shape. To each there own.

Regardless of type to get them big I've found you need to try providing the following:

Good soil with lots of compost in the spring.

Good spacing-big moons seem best at 18'x24', we prune them after they set a few good pumpkins to keep them in the size space listed.

Try not to compact the soil a lot in the area were they will grow-the vines constantly send down roots as they grow. I put a marker(3' fence post) at the main root and use the same path to it as much as possible.

I put the transplant in a shallow recessed hole about a 1' circle when planting. This helps collect the water later on.

If it doesn't rain much, water on a regular schedule. I try to maintain a 5 gallon pail full to each main root every 2 days if it doens't rain. Watch the giant leaves on the vines, their the best indicator. But also these large pumpkins are lots of water at harvest you can hear it slosh inside. So to grow them big you really need to keep them watered.

Once a week each main root would get a 5 gallon pail mixed with Miracle grow bloom booster. I'm not sure how important the brand of fertilzer is, but we have a large container of it on hand for flowers so thats why I use it.

Put a 2'x2' square of the pink or blue 2"thick stryofoam under the pumpkins when they are small. It helps prevent bugs from burrowing into the back side. I've been told for larger pumpkins a small pallet then the styrofoam is a big plus in safely moving the pumpkin at harvest time. I've never had any so big I needed a bobcat to lift it, so I skip the pallet.

I don't have much time invested since I'm out doing other garden chores. The leaves end up choking out weeds as they grow, so that saves a lot of time later in the season. The leaves end up being past my knees in height so it blocks most weeds.


Hope this helps & good luck!

it does help. i totally didn't think of the pallet thing. If the pumpkin gets big that will be a major help when moving it haha. this year i just wanna plant them and work with them and see how they do. get a feel for them you know? and hopefully i'll get a nice sized one just to make me happy Okay is this true. i heard that injecting milk into the pumpkins boosts growth? any knowledge on that anyone?

Pumpkin princess,

I've read in several different sources about the injected milk practice. All the sources I read used raw milk supposedly. I've never tried it, one I don't have a dairy farm and two when I prune our vines they always are hollow inside. I think it would take a lot of injected milk to do a decent benefit to the plant. To each their own, but I personally think your time and efforts are best spent on the consitantly maintaining the basics a pumpkin vine needs. At least the first year for sure.

yeah i am having trouble finding a good source online of the injectd milk practice. i don't mean to be a pain, but do you know any sites that have good info on it?

That may be useful, or it may not. Lots of information can be goofy, but maybe it wouldn't hurt. I guarantee you that those people who have grown giant pumpkins that win contests haven't used this method.

dave's right. if you want to grow pumpkins for contests, you don't want to do anything "artificial" to your plants. i personally had never heard of it, and honestly would think the injury caused by the needle would impede good growth.

i'm sure dave remembers the member we had that grew giant pumpkins. that person is no longer a member, but had some phenomenal pumpkins, most grown from heirloom seeds.

yeah seeing as to i have never really grown a garden before i am gonna concentrate more on keeping the plants alive rather than getting them to be huge contest winners just yet lol but thanks for the info. By the way, what exactly are heirloom seeds?

heirloom seeds are from plants that have stood the test of time. usually, they are open pollinated, like if grandpa grew watermelon you really liked, and got seeds from it, and got new seeds every year from melons you grew yourself. not hybrid or genetically engineered.

certain plants (both edible and ornamental) have been altered by science to create traits that are considered desirable. like larger melons, redder tomatoes, long stem roses, stronger smelling flowers, whatever.

heirloom refers to the plants that nature created.

ahh i see. yes i am going to be ordering seeds soon so i will have to look for some heirloom seeds.

I can't grow giant pumpkins;I can't afford all that water.