There’s pumpkins growing out in your pumpkin patch. How Kewl! The focus turns from making babies (pumpkins) to ‘puttin on the pounds….lots of them. It’s so exciting to watch your little pumpkins swell into giant pumpkins right before your eyes. The speed of their growth is simply amazing.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it(and you have), is to fuel the growth of your fruit to produce the biggest pumpkins you’ve ever seen. In August, you also need to be diligent and guard against insects and plant disease, especially powdery mildew.

Here are some tips for adding lots of weight to your pumpkins:

Keep your patch well watered. Turn over a spadeful of soil. Is it moist down several inches? Great! More on watering pumpkins
Adding a layer of compost feeds the plant, helps to retain soil moisture, and helps to keep weeds down.
Big pumpkins have big appetites. Use regular applications of fertilizer More on fertilizers
Switch to a fertilizer high in potassium.
Cover the vines with garden soil. This promotes secondary root growth, and results in much bigger pumpkins.

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