In the world of competitive vegetable growing, the pumpkin remains unrivalled, despite the fact that it’s technically a fruit. Part of the reason for this lies in its pictorial good looks, something that puts it on a different level entirely to the world’s longest parsnip, biggest onion or heaviest marrow. But it’s also due to the pumpkin’s ability to grow to a stupendous size if provided with the right combination of heat, water and nutrients, a magical alchemy that encourages a certain breed of competitive gardener to go to extraordinary lengths in pursuit of potentially producing one of record-breaking dimensions.
Almost every year the record for either the world’s largest pumpkin or its heaviest pumpkin is broken. This time it was the turn of twin brothers Ian and Stuart Paton from the UK whose giant pumpkin smashed both records, weighing in at a colossal 2,819lbs (1,278kg) and with a circumference of more than 21ft (6.4m).
Both men have been growing giant pumpkins competitively for more than 50 years, having started in their early teens. According to the BBC, this year’s record-breaking specimen was grown in a climate-controlled glasshouse where it required about 130 gallons (492 litres) of water a day. In the final fortnight before it was ceremonially weighed (for which a forklift was required), the Patons’ pumpkin was gaining roughly 70lb (31.7kg) a day, roughly the same weight as a two-seater sofa.
Pumpkins are thirsty, greedy, heat-loving and space-hogging. They are native to Mexico and Central America. A member of the cucurbit family that’s closely related to squash and marrow, this short-lived, annual scrambling plant can be successfully grown outdoors in Ireland so long as it’s given a warm, sheltered, sunny spot and a damp but free-draining soil that’s been generously enriched with well-rotted manure and some handfuls of a slow-release fertiliser.
In a warm summer like this year’s, the plants are reliably productive, giving multiple fruits suitable for eating as well as for Halloween carving. In a cool, wet year they do best in a polytunnel or glasshouse but require a lot of growing space (a minimum two metres between plants), the reason why pumpkin-growing isn’t suitable for a small garden or allotment.
The bright orange Jack-O’-Lanterns used for Halloween celebrations are what many of us most strongly associate with pumpkins, but in fact this versatile fruit comes in a surprisingly wide variety of colours and sizes depending on the particular variety and its genetics.
In the case of record-breaking specimens, seed is carefully collected and guarded by growers to guarantee every possible competitive advantage, using a chainsaw or power drill to crack these giants open and retrieve the seed inside. Truly giant pumpkins like that of the Paton brothers are generally descendants of the variety known as ‘Atlantic Giant’, seed of which is widely available to order online (seedaholic.com). But bear in mind that individual competitive growers have carefully hand-selected the seed of subsequent generations of plants to up their chances of producing a record-breaking pumpkin. Really competitive growers will also sometimes clone a particularly outstandingly productive plant by taking cuttings that are then overwintered undercover in a frost-free glasshouse or polytunnel. The resulting plant is then used as a pollinating partner to produce seed of potentially record-breaking plants.
So while a plant raised from ‘Atlantic Giant’ seed sourced online will certainly give you a large pumpkin if it’s provided with the right growing conditions, it’s very unlikely to produce a record-breaker. For the latter, you’ll need to source seed from a competitive grower or via one of the associations that promote giant vegetable growing such as the National Vegetable Society of Ireland (NVSI) (contactable via its Facebook page or the website of nvsuk.org.uk)
Of course, few gardeners are interested in going to such lengths, preferring instead to raise young pumpkin plants from seed sown with bottom heat and under cover in April, before planting them out into their final growing positions in early summer after all threat of frost has passed. Even then, they’ll need as much protection from wind and cool temperatures as you can offer them, the reason why here in Ireland they’re often grown under the protective cover of a woven insulating material such as Bionet or horticultural fleece.
For a reliably productive plant that will produce pumpkins of a size suitable for carving for Halloween, seek out varieties such as ‘Jack-O’-Lantern’, ‘Tom Fox’, ‘Racer’, ‘Gold Medal’ or ‘Wicked’. For a mini pumpkin ideally suited to baking or roasting, try ‘Baby Bear’, whose pretty orange fruits typically weigh no more than a couple of pounds, or the ghostly ‘Casperita’, whose snow-white miniature pumpkins offer a charming alternative in terms of Halloween decorations. For something equally different, seek out seed of the highly decorative orange-and-yellow striped ‘Fireball’ whose fruits are roughly the size of a football and are also delicious roasted or used in a nourishing soup. Or try ‘Polar Bear’, or ‘Old Boer White’, both of which produce extra-large white-skinned, orange-fleshed pumpkins perfect for Halloween carving.
If you grew pumpkins this year, then bear in mind that they’ll need to be harvested as soon as possible, before the first harsh frosts of autumn turn them to mush overnight. If you grew culinary varieties for eating over the following months- see irishseedsavers.ie for seed of Pumpkin ‘Oregon Homestead Sweetmeat’, an outstanding, cold-tolerant variety ideal for home-storing in this way- then it’s also important to ‘cure’ them to make them suitable for storage in a cool, dry space indoors. You can do this by placing your pumpkins in a bright, dry, sunny, sheltered spot during the day, then bringing them back under cover at night. Or if the curing process can be carried out in a glasshouse or polytunnel to protect them from rain, then all the better.
Finally, no mention of pumpkin carving would be complete with a nod to the old Irish tradition of turnip Jack-O’Lanterns, from which it originated. As someone who grew up in a time when the latter was the norm, Halloween will always be associated with the distinctive smell of damp turnips slowly cooking by candlelight. Not exactly poetic, but forever evocative.
This week in the garden
Continue planting spring flowering bulbs into pots or in the ground to provide a colourful, pollinator-friendly display next year. The only exception is tulips, which should be planted after the first harsh frosts have cooled soil temperatures and reduced the risk of the destructive disease known as tulip fire For the same reason, avoid planting tulip bulbs in a spot where they’ve grown in the previous three years.
Late October is an excellent time to move young deciduous and evergreen trees and shrubs, making sure to do this quickly and with minimal disturbance to the plant’s root system (see last week’s column). Always make sure to water generously immediately after moving and during any subsequent dry spells.
Dates for your diary
Isles of Scilly, an illustrated talk by Ciaran Hyland and Holly Doyle on the Abbey Garden, Tresco Howth Yacht Club, Dublin 13; Wednesday, November 5th (8pm), on behalf of Howth and Sutton Horticultural Society, all welcome (members free, non-members €5)
Small Gardens, a Zoom talk by British designer, writer and broadcaster Annie Guilfoyle on behalf of the RHSI, also November 5th (7.30pm-9pm), see rhsi.ie (members free, guests €8).
