Growing a pumpkin inside another pumpkin is a fun and creative way to grow these fall favorites This method allows you to turn one pumpkin into two with a cool conversation starter along the way Follow these simple steps for pumpkin inception and enjoy showing off the pumpkin within a pumpkin to family and friends,
What You Need
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Pumpkin – Select a small to medium sized pumpkin with a sturdy stem. The original pumpkin serves as a planter, so opt for one free of soft spots or damage.
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Seeds – Pick a small variety of pumpkin suited to container growth like Jack Be Little or Baby Boo. Large varieties won’t have room to develop properly.
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Potting soil – Use a light, seed starting mix. Avoid heavy potting soils that will be difficult for sprouts to push through.
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Trowel or knife – A small hand trowel or paring knife works well for cutting into the pumpkin.
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Watering can – Use a narrow spout can for controlled watering once seeds are planted.
Step 1: Cut the Top Off Your Pumpkin Planter
Start by cutting a circle around the pumpkin stem, angling the cut downward as you go. Remove the top and set it aside. You’ll need it later as a lid.
The hole doesn’t need to be large, just big enough to allow access for planting. A two to three inch diameter is usually sufficient.
Step 2: Scoop Out Strings and Seeds
Use a spoon, ice cream scoop or your hands to clear out excess strings and seeds from inside the pumpkin. Remove as much as possible to allow more room for potting soil.
Leave the thicker flesh around the edges and bottom to maintain the pumpkin’s structure. Avoid scraping the sides too thin.
Step 3: Add Potting Soil
Fill the pumpkin two-thirds full with potting soil, mound it slightly and pat down, leaving a space for seeds.
The soil helps provide stability and drainage for the seedlings later on. Pack it down lightly to prevent it shifting around once planted.
Step 4: Plant Your Seeds
Make indentations in the soil approximately one inch apart and one inch deep. Place a seed in each hole and cover gently with a small bit of soil.
Clustering the seeds together in the center maximizes limited space inside the pumpkin planter.
Step 5: Water Your Seeds
Use your watering can to moisten the potting soil thoroughly. The soil should be damp but not saturated or muddy.
Proper watering is crucial for seed germination. The soil needs to stay moist consistently in these early stages.
Step 6: Replace the Lid
Put the pumpkin lid back on top. This helps retain moisture while allowing a bit of airflow.
If the stem is quite long, you can trim it down to fit under the lid more securely.
Check daily and remove the lid once sprouts emerge. The lid keeps soil from drying out as seeds first germinate.
Step 7: Care for Seedlings
Once sprouts emerge, take off the lid and water when the soil begins to dry out. Place the pumpkin planter in a spot with full sun.
Fertilize seedlings weekly with a diluted liquid fertilizer to encourage growth in the confined space.
Step 8: Monitor Growth
Keep an eye on seedlings as they develop, watering when needed and providing support with toothpicks if they become floppy.
Thin down to the best looking plant once the second set of leaves appears. Crowding stunts development.
Step 9: Transplant Your Pumpkin
When it’s time to transplant, use a spoon or trowel to gently loosen and scoop out the small pumpkin plant.
Select a sunny spot in the garden and dig a hole the same depth as the pumpkin planter. Carefully place the pumpkin with the plant inside and fill in around it with soil. The young pumpkin has an instant head start!
Step 10: Harvest Your Pumpkins
In a few months, you’ll have a unique pumpkin within a pumpkin to harvest. The original planter pumpkin may rot eventually, but can sustain the plant for quite some time.
Cut the small pumpkin off the vine with a bit of stem left when it ripens to full color. Now you have two pumpkins – one inside the other!
Growing a pumpkin in a pumpkin is a fun project for the fall and makes an interesting display piece. With a bit of effort and TLC for your plants, you can enjoy this unique way to grow pumpkins this harvest season.
Kids Gardening Project with Pumpkin Seeds
When we had completely cleaned out the pumpkin, we headed to the kitchen sink to rinse off the seeds. I am not sure that we needed to clean them off, but I thought it was the right thing to do for this kids gardening project.
Finally, JDaniel watered the soil to give the seeds a moist area to grow in. We must have put in too much water. Just beneath the pumpkin on a rubber mat, we placed the planted pumpkin on a pool of water appeared. I was so glad we had put drainage holes into the pumpkin for this kids gardening project.
| The link to Pumpkin Hill below is an affiliate link. |
Pumpkin Hillby Elizabeth Spurr is the wonderful story about how a lonely pumpkin became a whole patch of pumpkins. The lonely pumpkin grew alone on a hill. One day it broke from its vine and rolled down a hill and into a field. When it finally came to a stop, it broke open and scattered its seeds all over a field. The owners of the field couldn’t decide what to grow in the field that falls and so it was left unplanted. As time went on pumpkins grew in the field. No one knew they were there and so no one came to get them. The pumpkins withered and died leaving their seeds in the soil. Once again the farmer plowed the field and left it without seeds. He just couldn’t decide what to plant.
This time a wind blew the pumpkins out of the field and into town. There were pumpkins everywhere. What happened next? Well, you will have to read the story to see what happens to all of them. Let’s just say that were just like they grandfather pumpkin. In our case, our pumpkin and its seeds are sitting on our front step. I am hoping that we will have little sprouts by Halloween. The weather here in South Carolina has stayed warm and sunny. If it stays warm, planting a pumpkin this late in the year may still work out for us. Hooray! This kids gardening project has been a success.
How to Grow a Pumpkin Patch : Pumpkin Gardening
FAQ
Can I grow a pumpkin from a pumpkin?
We found another pumpkin but this time we scooped out the seeds first, washed them off, and put the seeds back into the pumpkin with soil. That made all the difference. (And I didn’t voraciously water it). Four days later the seeds started sprouting!
Can pumpkin seeds sprout inside the pumpkin?
Last week while carving our pumpkin we were amazed to find that one of the seeds inside had actually sprouted and was growing! Talk about a teachable moment lol. In all of my years carving pumpkins I have never seen this before! We were able to see how it grew out of the seed, the roots, stem, and leaf.
Can a single pumpkin plant produce pumpkins?
From a standard pumpkin vine, you can expect an average of two to five pumpkins. But that all depends on the size of the pumpkins. Some smaller varieties like mini pumpkins and pie pumpkins can produce as many as 12 per plant, whereas growers of giant pumpkins limit growth to one pumpkin per vine.Jul 5, 2024
Can you plant pumpkin seeds fresh out of a pumpkin?
If you want to save seeds from a fresh pumpkin to plant, clean off all the pulp. Rinse off the seeds then air dry them on a paper towel.Jun 5, 2023