Want to Grow Giant Pumpkins? Have You Tried This Trick Yet?

There are SO many different types of pumpkins available to grow or decorate your pad. We are blessed in the Yakima Valley to get to enjoy pick your own pumpkin patches where I was introduced to goblin pumpkins, fairy tale pumpkins, and the mini variety but I've never tried growing my own until this year. Covid-19 for the win, the yard has been receiving the type of love it's been craving for years and I can't wait to see how big this pumpkin is going to be!

I didn't really have a game plan going in but knew that I was ready. When I went to the store the only one that was left was a dill pumpkin. Never heard of it and I would be lying if I ignored how big they would get. After showing it to my husband we started laughing. 300 - 400 pounds for a regular dill pumpkin but the record breakers have topped 1,1000 pounds! WHAT? OK! I am down to see what happens so I picked a nice sunny slope in the yard and have been watering it as much as I can (about 16 gallons a day) since the beginning of June.

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The fun part about watching this thing grow is how many times I THOUGHT I had a pumpkin and then it would shrivel. It happened a few times until finally, I noticed one that seemed to double in size every few days and hasn't stopped since! Three months later, there are now TWO bigger pumpkins with possibly another one coming up as well!

My Uncle visited this past weekend, his pumpkin adventures have been going on for years but have never had luck with the big ones. He even bought giant seeds from a farmer who grows them but alas they never took. The score for you and me though, he shared the secret of growing bigger, healthier pumpkins.

It has to do with those magical little twisty portions that come off the vines. Sometimes they wrap around things other times I have seen them shrivel and die but what you need to do is bury them! Every time a new one pops up bury it with dirt and it will give them energy back to the pumpkins that are thriving! It's a bit more work but if the goal is a giant pumpkin in your backyard come fall, I am game to try and bury any little twilly thing I find. You down? Let's grow!