Your comments and tips

05 Mar 18, Mike (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

The female flower is there for a few days - if it is not pollinated then it will rot and fall off. If you put water into the flower it will probably rot. The flower is only open for one morning so hand pollinate it if you don't have any bees. There is a shortage of bees world wide. It might be a bug/disease and I have no idea. Have the plants out in the open and not in shade damp areas. Water low and in the late afternoon - no water into the female flower.

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09 Feb 18, bruce (Australia - temperate climate)

Butternut pumpkins...planted mid Nov'. do they change colour & sound hollow when ripe? we are a bit dubious when to harvest.

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12 Feb 18, Mike (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

Harvesting Knowing when to harvest pumpkins is no great mystery, firstly the skin should be hard, secondly the stem leading to the vine should be hard as well, this indicates that the pumpkin is no longer taking in nutrients. And Thirdly when given a tap it should sound a little hollow. SO how long from planting to harvest 3 – 4 months. When you do harvest them make sure you leave a good amount of stem attached, this helps them last longer and prevents rot. Many growers like to leave them in the field until the first frost hits as this will knock back the vines but also toughen the pumpkin and some say make it taste sweeter and keep longer.

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31 Jan 18, Karen hoye (Australia - temperate climate)

When to plant gourd seeds in Newcastle NSW first attempts Cheers Karen

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02 Feb 18, Mike (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

It says it grows like pumpkin, so plant it now.

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28 Jan 18, Shelley O'Brien (Australia - arid climate)

What are the best varieties of butternuts, and pumpkins to plant in dry areas of western NSW?

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30 Jan 18, Mike (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

Go to a seed company like Boondie Seeds and read about different pumpkins. Doesn't matter what kind of pumpkin you grow it will need a fair amount of watering.

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27 Jan 18, Cat (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

I have a pumpkin vine just pop up in my compost heap (just a hole in the ground i dig the compost into away from the house & pets). It's starting to grow pretty prolific, no flowers yet though. I have no real idea of the variety as I've used probably (at least) 3 different varieties of pumpkin and all of the seeds have been mixed in the compost heap. a) can i transplant it to a garden bed in full sun? b) does the one vine/plant grow flowers of both genders or do i need two plants? How do you know what's going to grow? This is the first time I've ever heard you needed or that there were genders to the flowers. My grandpa grew pumpkins when I was a kid & never said. TIA, Cat

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02 Feb 18, Mike (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

If you read the last 20-30 posts here about pumpkin, we talk about hand pollination. Each female flower is only open one day and quite often shut by lunch - so check each morning. If it has grown quite a bit I would not transplant it.

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01 Feb 18, Katie (Australia - temperate climate)

Hi Cat, Yes you can transplant your pumpkin plant! There will be no way to tell what kind of pumpkin you have until your fruit are growing and it may actually end up being a hybrid mixed variety. It should still be good to eat though! Pumpkins produce both male and female flowers. If you do not have many bees or wish to be guaranteed pumpkins it doesn't hurt to hand pollinate particularly if you only have the one plant. Plenty of info online about how to do that but it is easy with pumpkins. Just google

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