When choosing to grow pumpkin in your garden with companion planting, there are a couple of things to be aware of to accommodate the way it grows. North America uses pumpkins to either carve at Halloween or eat them at Thanksgiving. I prefer to use pumpkins all year round.
Pumpkins are called cucurbits which means that they like warm weather and produce vigorous, fast growing vines. The group of cucubits include squash, melons and gourds.
When growing pumpkins with companion planting:
1. Know the reason for growing them. What do you want to do with them? Large sized are used to carve out designs for halloween or medium to small sized pumpkins to make pies/muffins or soup/stew.
2. This vegetable grows on a vine. It gets very bushy so make sure there is space for it to grow. In ideal conditions, the pumpkins vine will grow 12 inches in a day and produce a lot of flowers.
3. To prune and care for the pumpkin, limit 2-3 actual vegetables to grow per vine. This helps to direct the plants nutrients to all available vegetables growing.
4. When there are enough pumpkins growing from each plant, pick the pumpkin flower to add them to a salad. They can be eaten fresh off the vine or cut into a salad.
5. Turn the pumpkins once in a while, gently while it is growing to allow the bottom to get air and not to rot.
6. This vegetable is a companion with corn, squash, marigolds and nasturtium
How to Grow Pumpkins with Companion Planting?
Transplant a seedling into the soil. Plant them according to the instructions it gave on the package. What the distance is needed to allow the plant to grow comfortably.
Marigolds can be planted close by to help deters beetles from bothering the pumpkins. I have mulch growing around the edges of the pumpkin seedlings. This mixture of mulch is straw, buckwheat and clover will help the soil to stay cool when the temperate of the summer gets too hot for the plant.
I planted pumpkin seedlings on the right and green pepper seedlings on the left. There is mulch surrounding each seedling.
A couple of weeks later, the pumpkin plants on the right have grown 3x the size of the green pepper seedlings which are on the left
This is what a pumpkin plant looks like close up at their roots. That is one plant with many vines growing off the main stork.
The pumpkins leaves are now growing bigger and the vines are producing many leaves. The plants are now 9X the size of the green pepper which is growing on the right and in front of the pumpkins.
Here are the pumpkins growing very bushy with yellow flowers on the right. The buckwheat as mulch is now flowering with white flowers and the green pepper are being overgrown by the pumpkins which are on the left.
A close up of a pumpkin flower before it grows into a vegetable.
Identify the pumpkin by the shape of their leaves. They grow large and full.
A close up of pumpkin flowers growing on a pumpkin plant.
Pumpkins tend to grow abundantly so they need lots of room to expand as the vines grow. Expect to harvest 4 - 6 pumpkins from each plant.
Pumpkin plant growing tall with vegetable growing steadily. The green pepper is over shadowed by the pumpkin plant which is preventing the green pepper from developing
Close up on what a pumpkin looks like in the growing stage
The pumpkin is turning orange which means it is almost time to harvest.
Pumpkins are a rich orange color with a hard outer shell to protect and allow the vegetable to be stored for a period of time before eating it.
Close up of a mature pumpkin. Keep the stored in a cool and dry area. Do not store them in an unheated environment or on a cold cement floor.
The Flea Beetle is a small insect and hard to see. They have shiny round bodies but hide well under the leaves. They especially like the leaves of radish, arugula, kale and a selections of other plants. The Flea Beetle will eat and leave small, round or irregular holes everywhere. They are one of the more serious vegetable intruders that ate through all the leaves of my radish seedlings, kale arugula and some of my potato plants. I have an organic vegetable garden with companion planting so I had to find an organic solution.
I had a chat with Jeannine Davidoff, our Organic Garden Specialist. She recommended that I make a blend of grated garlic, chili or hot pepper and a piece of soap. Pour boiling water over the mixture. Cover it, let it cool down then strain the mixture. You're done. Put the mixture into a spray bottle (most importantly, is having a spray bottle that has not been used for chemicals before pouring the mixture into the bottle.) Spray it on the leaves of the vegetables to get rid of the Flea Beetles. Here is Jeannine Davidoff's recommended quick and easy recipe to a natural solution to get rid of the Flea Beetle. ....more on flea beetle
The Recipe To Get Rid of The Flea Beetle Naturally:
Grate Hot Pepper or Chilli
Grate Garlic Clove
Grate Soap
Boil Water
Pour Hot Water Over Grated Vegetables and Soap
Take a Plate or Cover
Put the Plate Over Mixture Until Cooled
Take a Bowl
Cover with a Light Cloth or J cloth with an elastic or string
Pour Mixture in Bowl to Separate Juice from pulp
With Clear Liquid Pour into Spray Bottle.
Recipe to Get Rid of The Flea Beetle Naturally
1 clove garlic
1 hot pepper or chili
1 piece of soap (natural soap, no perfume soap)
Use an equal amount of each ingredient. Grate them together. Pour 1 Liter of boiling water over the grated mixture. It is important to cover the mixture. Let is cool down. Separate the pulp from the liquid and pour it into a clean spray bottle. The liquid solution is ready to spray on the leaves of the vegetables that the flea beetles are eating. Spray the leaves after every watering for at least a week till they gone.
