Our ‘Big Max‘ pumpkin vine is enjoying the recent heat. The smaller varieties are leafing out and looking healthy too, but ‘ol Max steals the show. Max re-seeded from last summer, so had a bit of a head start. I’m definitely planting directly into the beds next year. I don’t think the indoor starter plants paid off in the end. So many of them wilted and died within 24 hours of transplanting.
Will you look at this happy pumpkin vine?!
The Happy Gardener and her Platter-Sized Pumpkin Leaves
Female Flower Setting Fruit
A Squirrel Stopped by for Lunch
Male Flower: Pollinating Bee
Female Flower: Pollinated
Curly Tendrils
It’s a Wrap: The Power of the Vine
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Gardening Nirvana 
Terrific photo blog. And you are so cute in that first photo.
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Awww. Thank you. Thank you so much!
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Wow, that is big! I didn’t have much luck with my pumpkins last year but I had never grown them before so I’m hoping to have more success this year. They seemed to pollinate and set fruit but then died off, should I have removed some of the flowers so they can concentrate on just a few fruits?
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Did the fruit die off or was it the entire plant? There are so many variables to their success. I know the serious pumpkin growers (the ones trying to grow thousand-pound gourds) remove smaller fruit to allow all the plants energy to go to one fruit on the vine. But under normal conditions, I don’t think that is necessary. I wonder if your plants are getting enough sun?
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It was just the fruits that died off. The plants get plenty of sun but I suppose it’s possible they didn’t have enough water? Thanks for clarifying about the flower removal. I’ve used different seed this year and changed the varieties from last years to see if I have more luck!
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Let me know how your crops do this season. Because they are annuals with shallow roots, I think they need frequent watering, but not deep watering. With daily watering, mine will still wilt at the end of a hot day. We have a drip line around the base of the plants, so they get slow, steady water at the roots.
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The pumpkin flowers are so great in your pics-but do you ever use them,like fried or stuffed ore specialty?
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You know, I never think to use the flowers in that way. Do you have a recipe to try? Have you eaten them yourself?
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I’ve eaten them-delicious,I will find a recipe for you !
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Thank you!!!!
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Here it comes-basically there are two methods of preparation:
1)wash and dry-paper towel will do it-flowers,then wet them with milk, put them in flour and dip them in beaten egg-NOW FRY
2)wash the flowers as above,then stuff them with some mozzarella mixed with sour cream and spring herbs and salt,then prepare as before(instead of mozzarella stuffing try just a piece of cheese)
BON APETIT!
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You are awesome!!! Thank you for this.
I’ll let you know when I give it a try. 🙂
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Can’t wait!
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Those leaves are so big, I think it’d be fun to grow one of those mega pumkins but alas our growing period is too short here. Your garden looks like a jungle.
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The recent heat gave it a kick start. It’s amazing how large this vine is this early in the season. The growers that produce the enormous, contest-winning pumpkins have to be pretty dedicated. We will be so happy if we get one 50 pounder. We’ll see!
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Holy Crackers, 50 lbs..can’t wait to see
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I hope I can deliver. We are off to a great start.
These are the seeds: http://www.greenhousemegastore.com/product/pumpkin-big-max-huge/seed-starting
They say 75-100 pounds, but I don’t think we can pull that off. That would be awesome if we did though.
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