Pumpkin

Looking after it

Water: Pumpkins need a lot of water, especially once the fruit starts to grow. Water the ground, not the leaves. A good trick: bury a pot next to the plant and fill that, so the water goes straight to the roots. Feeding: Rich soil is what pumpkins need. Dig plenty of compost or well-rotted manure into the planting spot and most plants then need nothing more. For very large fruit, give a high-potassium liquid feed every 10 to 14 days once the fruit swells.

Harvest and keeping

Leave the fruit on the plant until it has fully coloured. The skin should be hard and not dent when you press a fingernail into it. Cut it before the first frost with at least 10 cm of stalk. Then leave it in the sun for a week to 10 days to harden the skin. Store hardened pumpkins in an airy place at 10 to 15 °C, not touching. They keep at least three months, up to six in good conditions. Frosted fruit won't keep.

What can go wrong

• Fruit rot. Fruit rots if it lies on wet soil or is cut with too short a stalk. Set each one on a tile, brick or piece of wood. Never carry it by the stalk.
• Powdery mildew. White powder covers the leaves, worse when plants go dry. Water steadily and give plants room so air can move.
• Slugs and snails. Young plants and flowers get eaten. Protect plants after planting out, especially in damp weather.