How to Grow Dill's Atlantic Giant Pumpkins

Since 1979, every world-record, heavyweight pumpkin has been a Dill's Atlantic Giant. Howard Dill developed this cultivar that year and won back-to-back championships before making the seeds available to the general public. The pale-orange squashes may grow to over 1,000 pounds. The most difficult part of growing a Dill's Atlantic Giant is finding a crew large enough to move the monster. Line up the seeds, prepare the soil, and stand back -- these pumpkins will soon dwarf every jack-o'-lantern on the block.

Dill's Atlantic Giant Pumpkin seeds
12-inch peat pots
Seed starting mix
Shovel
Soil amendments (if necessary)

Instructions

- 1
  Pack the peat pot with seed-starting soil roughly two weeks before the last frost date in your area. Set a seed 1 inch deep into the pot, and water it well.
- 2
  Test your garden soil. Incorporate compost or other amendments at least 1 foot deep into the dirt, using the test results as a guide. Err on the side of too much compost rather than too little, since pumpkins are very heavy feeders.
- 3
  Transplant the seedlings after the last frost date. Give each pumpkin vine at least 150 square feet -- the more foliage, the more food for the growing pumpkin. Keep the soil evenly moist, but not wet. Pumpkins require large amounts of water.
- 4
  Watch for the first fruits at the base of female flowers. If you wish to have one extremely large pumpkin, leave only three pollinated flowers per vine. Wait until the three pumpkins reach roughly 6 inches in girth, then remove the two smallest.
- 5
  Monitor the stems of these fast-growing giants. Dill's Atlantic Giant pumpkins, because of their growth rate and size, often kink or pull away from their stems. When the pumpkin is young, move excess vine into an S-shape near the pumpkin to ensure each vine is long enough for future growth.

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