The pumpkin gardener's constant companions are secateurs and a sharp knife. There are many reasons for pruning to optimize pumpkin growth and yield. The skilful cutting also guarantees carefree consumption and artistic carving. You can read instructions for common cutting variations in this tutorial.
Why and how should you cut pumpkins?
Pruning pumpkins is important to optimize growth and crop yield. This includes removing excess flowers, cutting back vines and shoots, and harvesting. Remember to leave a piece of the stem and then trim the pumpkin for consumption or decoration.
Cutting types and dates
As the flowering period begins, the pumpkin plant confronts the gardener for the first time with the question: to prune or not? Another reason to use scissors is in summer, when the long tendrils bear numerous fruit sets. The exotic plant is left to rest for a few weeks while it grows, until the harvest window opens in autumn. The season finale marks an expert cut for the preparation of the delicious pulp or the artful transformation into the spooky Halloween face. This table provides an overview of all cutting types and dates:
| Cut style | Goal/Occasion | best date |
|---|---|---|
| Removing flowers | Improve crop quality | after the flowering period begins |
| Cut back, thin out | Optimize fruit size | June and July |
| Harvest cutting | harvest ripe fruits | Autumn (after knock test) |
| Crop | Cutting for consumption and decoration | after harvest |
Break out excess flowers
Thenumber of flowersdetermines thefruit sizeandharvest quantity voluminous pumpkin varieties, such as garden pumpkin, Hokkaido or Atlantic Giant, deliver the desired fruit sizes if you only leave one flower per tendril. Remove excess flowers. Choose a time for the measure when the first fruit sets are already forming. It would be a shame if the only flower withered without being pollinated and there were no reserve flowers available.
The measure does not apply to pumpkin varieties with small fruits, such as 'Baby Bear' or 'Small Wonder'. The same applies to popular ornamental pumpkins, which naturally grow with small fruits. Bursting of flowers does not make a significant contribution to fruit size, but simply reduces crop yield.
Cut off male flowers
The only duty of male flowers is to provide sufficient material for the pollination of female flowers. You can then cut the flowers from the pumpkin plant. Male squash blossoms can be identified by the fact that they wiltwithout forming a fruit set. Since these flowers do not require any significant energy, you can take your time cutting until you are absolutely sure about the floral gender.
Tip
If there is uncertainty about the correct number of female flowers that should turn into fruits, experience can help. It has been proven in gardening practice that 6 to 8 fruiting flowers per plant, each with 2 to 4 leaves, are just right for a rich pumpkin harvest.
Pruning optimizes fruit size
Pruning pumpkin vines is not absolutely necessary. It depends on your assessment and the individual growth of the plant whether and how much you cut off. The most common reason for cutting is the desire for larger berries. Pumpkin gardeners also often use scissors because the metre-long shoots spread boldly throughout the garden. To ensure that a fruit set is not damaged by pruning, please follow this procedure:
- Best time is in June and July
- Place the scissors 2 to 4 leaves behind the last fruit set
- Only cut when clearly visible, tennis ball-sized berries have formed
If a pumpkin plant grows all over the garden, cutting it back is not the only solution. Instead of shortening excessively long tendrils, arrange the flexible shoots in a circle around the heart of the plant or parallel to the edge of the bed.
Background
Stinginess reduces fruit size
When pumpkin gardeners strive for extra large fruits, miserliness torpedoes the desire. The avarice is the herbaceous counterpart to the woody water shoot or wild shoot in the tree. Both types of shoots are usually sterile and use up a lot of plant energy that is no longer available for the size growth of fruits. As a result, puny fruits are to be complained about. A miserliness can be seen in his position. The unwanted shoot usually sprouts from the leaf axils and should be removed promptly. The easiest way to do this is to grasp the base with your fingers and break off the shoot to the side.
Harvesting pumpkin – harvest cutting instructions
After a warm, dry summer,end of Augustopens the window for theharvest season and remains open until the first frost. Any pumpkin with a solid, smooth skin and a woody fruit stem is a candidate for harvest cutting. A knock test dispels any remaining doubts about whether the harvest is ready. If it sounds hollow and dull from inside the fruit, you can harvest the pumpkin.
The correct harvest cut is done with a sharp, disinfected knife. Leave a piece of the woody fruit stem at least 10 centimeters long.
Is Grim Reaper already knocking on the garden gate, even though your pumpkins still show green patches that indicate they are unripe? Then you still reap the rewards. In a warm, bright location, the hard-shelled giant berries ripen within a few weeks.
Cutting for kitchen and Halloween
The sight of ripe, juicy pumpkin fruits makes the gourmet's mouth water. Creative minds immediately start philosophizing about imaginative carvings for Halloween. Cutting pumpkin does not end with the harvest. The following short instructions get to the heart of how to properly cut the fruit for consumption or as a furious decorative sculpture:
Consumption cut
- First halve the fruit with a large knife, then quarter it
- Cut fruit stem
- Removing pumpkin seeds with a spoon
- Peel the pumpkin quarters with a kitchen knife or vegetable peeler
- Prepare pulp to your own taste
Halloween cut
- Ideally dry the pumpkin first
- Cut off the lid with a saw or knife (leave the fruit stalk standing)
- Scrape out the pulp with an ice cream scoop or spoon
- Sketching scary face on the bowl
- Cut out the drawn shape with a utility knife
Only when candlelight flickers mysteriously in the pumpkin is the Halloween grimace perfect. To ensure the candles receive enough oxygen, drill or cut a few small holes in the lid.
Excursus
Oven time reduces effort
For the chef, peeling and cutting pumpkin requires considerable effort. A look into grandmother's bag of tricks reveals how easily the strenuous challenge can be reduced to a bearable level. To do this, place the pumpkin on a baking tray and put both in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. At 150 degrees top and bottom heat, the voluminous, hard-shelled fruit becomes noticeably easier to cut. This trick is not recommended for carving pumpkins because the long heat contact reduces the shelf life.
Frequently asked questions
Are there poisonous varieties of pumpkin?
Most pumpkin species and varieties are suitable for consumption and are rich in he althy vitamins. Only a few ornamental pumpkins are used exclusively for decorative purposes because they contain toxic cucurbitacin. These concerns apply primarily to crown and claw squashes with well-known varieties such as 'Shenot Crowns' or 'Autumn Wings'. If in doubt, leave pumpkins with bizarre shapes lying around or ask a specialist specifically.
An early onset of winter forced us to harvest unripe pumpkins. Can the fruits continue to ripen?
Pumpkin is one of the climacteric plants. In concrete terms, this means that the fruits continue to ripen, comparable to apples, pears and bananas. In any case, it is recommended to store all freshly harvested pumpkins in a warm, bright location for 8 to 14 days, regardless of whether they are ready to harvest or not. The only difference is a slightly longer waiting period until an unripe pumpkin is ready to eat.
Is pumpkin pulp poisonous to dogs?
Dogs love a little variety in their diet. About a third of the meat meals can be supplemented with fruit and vegetables. Most dogs do not disdain the aromatic pulp of pumpkin, especially as a pureed side dish. Ground pumpkin seeds can also be fed as they strengthen the immune system and act as a worm prophylactic. An exception applies to all kinds of ornamental pumpkins, which are not good for your four-legged friend due to a high content of cucurbitacin and cause symptoms of poisoning.
Is pumpkin a fruit or vegetable?
This question concerns all home gardeners who strive to create a balanced nutritional plan for themselves and their family. In fact, the topic has been controversial among scientists for a long time, because pumpkin meets the criteria for both fruits and vegetables. A Solomonic solution ended the heated discussions. Pumpkin is defined as a fruit vegetable and therefore plays in the same league as tomatoes, eggplants and melons.
The 3 most common cutting mistakes
Without pruning in summer, you will struggle with lots of tiny, tiny fruits. If you allow miserly shoots to sprout unhindered, countless leaves and a few pumpkins will flourish. Anyone who cuts off the fruit stalk at the base when cutting the harvest runs the risk of rot. This overview draws attention to three common mistakes when cutting pumpkin and gives tips on how to do it correctly:
| Cutting errors | malicious image | Prevention |
|---|---|---|
| do not cut back | many small fruits, poor harvest quality | cut back long tendrils in June and July |
| Avaricious urges not removed | bushy growth, lots of leaves, few pumpkins | Break out miserliness regularly |
| Fruit stalk cut off during harvesting | Spread of rot | leave at least 10 cm of fruit stem |
Tip
Balcony gardeners don't have to miss out on harvesting juicy home-grown pumpkins. Numerous delicious varieties thrive beautifully on the sun-drenched south-facing balcony. A voluminous bucket with a volume of 60 to 90 liters and a bottom opening for water drainage offers the best conditions. Nutrient-rich vegetable soil has everything a pumpkin wants for magnificent flowers and delicious fruits.