How to Grow Pumpkins in Tennessee

Clear the debris and pull the weeds from a well-draining area that gets partial to full sunlight and test the soil pH at least six months to one year prior to planting pumpkins. If needed, amend the soil to between 6.0 and 6.5 using ground agricultural limestone according to the test’s recommendations.

Feed the soil about three months prior to planting with 2 to 3 pounds of soluble, continuous-release, 6-12-12 NPK fertilizer per 100 square feet using a broadcast spreader and work it into the top 6 inches using a fork.

Condition your soil after fertilizing with 2 inches of compost to improve drainage and permeability. Work the compost 12 inches deep using a fork.

Plant six pumpkin seeds evenly apart in a 2-foot-wide circle and 1 foot deep in the soil the first week of May if you live in western Tennessee. Plant seeds during the second and third weeks of May if you live in eastern or central Tennessee or during the last week of May if you live in a mountainous area of the state. Space each circle of pumpkin seeds 4 feet apart in rows, setting each row 10 to 12 feet apart and cover them with excavated soil.

Water the seeds at planting with 1 to 2 inches of water. Water the soil each week thereafter with 1 to 1 1/2 inches of water if you receive less than 1 inch of average weekly rainfall.

Remove all but two or three of the healthiest seedlings from each circle you planted after they develop two or three sets of true leaves, using a trowel for the task or by grasping and uprooting them. Use the uprooted seedlings for compost.

Spread 2 to 4 inches of shredded bark or shredded leaves over the soil about 1 1/2 inches away from the stems after the plants establish, or about one month after planting.

Rub a cotton swab on the tip of the male flowers’ stamens after they open to remove the pollen. Rub the pollen on the stigmas of the female flowers to pollinate them. Male flowers have a single reproductive protrusion, known as a stamen, while female flowers have a cluster of reproductive parts, known as the stigma.

Reposition newly formed pumpkins a little to the right each day, over the course of a week, to encourage them to grow at right angles away from the vines.

Pinch off the fuzzy tips of the vines after two or three pumpkins form on them. Sterilize a pair of pruning shears and a utility knife in a solution of 1 cup all-purpose bleach and 9 cups of water for 15 minutes. Trim back the side shoots to 8 feet long using sterilized pruning shears.

Sever the pumpkins you don’t want to keep from the stems using the utility knife, allowing only the most robust fruits to remain. Prune the vines so they extend 10 to 12 feet beyond the pumpkins you allowed to remain on the vines. Wipe the blades of the pruning shears and utility knife with a cloth moistened with rubbing alcohol between cuts.

Check the pumpkins, stems and vines regularly for cucumber beetles, squash bugs, squash vine borers and corn rootworm beetles. Cucumber beetles, vectors of bacterial wilt, have lime-green bodies marked with spots or stripes and a black underside. Squash bugs have shiny, oval bodies and a reddish-copper color. Squash vine borers cause sudden wilting of foliage, and have white, wrinkly bodies that measure about 1 inch long. Corn rootworm beetles resemble cucumber beetles, but have yellow undersides instead of black.

Mix together 2 teaspoons of 23.7 percent concentrated carbaryl with 1/2 gallon of water in a spray bottle if you a have a severe vine borer, squash bug, corn rootworm beetle or cucumber beetle infestation. Spray all sides of the pumpkin’s foliage and stems with carbaryl up until three days before harvest, and no more than once a week, to treat the pests.

Press your fingernail in the pumpkins’ skins about three months after planting. If you can’t indent it with your fingernail, it’s probably ready to harvest. Tap your fingers against the pumpkin and listen for a hollow sound, another indication of ripeness. Cut the pumpkins from the vines between 100 and 120 days after planting, leaving between 1 to 2 inches of stem on each.