Gardening Pumpkin selection

[JulesF]

G'day Mark, hope this finds you well. I recently moved to South East Qld and am excited to get a start on growing here in the sub tropics.

I noticed in your videos it seems like you almost exclusively grow Kent pumpkins. Just wondering how you came to that conclusion, whether it's taste, climate, how they grow, fruit size etc?

I get a bit tired of reading copy and paste info online for example 'Qld Blues are great for pumpkin scones' but I'm not going to grow a pumpkin for just that if you know what I mean. Seems to be not much real growing experience written about. Thanks for your time mate

 

[Lunai]

Hi Jules,
I'm not quite sure why exactly he stays mostly eith them. Maybe he preferres the taste, maybe it stores better than others or it grows better in his specific micro climate than others, or a combination of both
I at least remember him saying in multiple vids that that particular pumpkin vine just can't be killed and always comes back on its own. He sometimes even drives over it with the lawn mower

If I had a pumpkin vine like that I wouldn't get rid of it either its one of the best things you can do. Let grow what grows best and on its own. I myself love the Hokkaido pumpkin. It grows well and easy in my climate and it tastes very well and it also can easily be stored over our winter.

Maybe if Mandy Onderwater (our super moderator) finds time for this post she'll be able to give you more direct information. But sadly her granddad-in-law got really sick and she's having a rough time so it may take a while. But there are others as well that may find this thread and will give their input on what pumpkin they prefer
Cheers mate

 

[JP 1983]

G'day Mark, hope this finds you well. I recently moved to South East Qld and am excited to get a start on growing here in the sub tropics.

I noticed in your videos it seems like you almost exclusively grow Kent pumpkins. Just wondering how you came to that conclusion, whether it's taste, climate, how they grow, fruit size etc?

I get a bit tired of reading copy and paste info online for example 'Qld Blues are great for pumpkin scones' but I'm not going to grow a pumpkin for just that if you know what I mean. Seems to be not much real growing experience written about. Thanks for your time mate

For me its definitely taste. Kents are one of the sweetest pumpkin cultivars available and excellent roasted, souped, pancakes, pies, etc; seeds are true to type and they grow like mad. QLD blues are dull in flavour by comparison, but still lively vines.

 

[JulesF]

For me its definitely taste. Kents are one of the sweetest pumpkin cultivars available and excellent roasted, souped, pancakes, pies, etc; seeds are true to type and they grow like mad. QLD blues are dull in flavour by comparison, but still lively vines.

Thanks JP that's a great answer. I guess the only thing I can do is grow a few different ones myself and see what I like best. I had hoped to steer away from what's readily available in supermarkets but I guess Kent and butternut are there for a reason and I love both. And I have since read that C. Moschata vines grow better in sub tropics conditions anyway. Thanks again mate!

 

[JulesF]

Hi Jules,
I'm not quite sure why exactly he stays mostly eith them. Maybe he preferres the taste, maybe it stores better than others or it grows better in his specific micro climate than others, or a combination of both
I at least remember him saying in multiple vids that that particular pumpkin vine just can't be killed and always comes back on its own. He sometimes even drives over it with the lawn mower

If I had a pumpkin vine like that I wouldn't get rid of it either its one of the best things you can do. Let grow what grows best and on its own. I myself love the Hokkaido pumpkin. It grows well and easy in my climate and it tastes very well and it also can easily be stored over our winter.

Maybe if Mandy Onderwater (our super moderator) finds time for this post she'll be able to give you more direct information. But sadly her granddad-in-law got really sick and she's having a rough time so it may take a while. But there are others as well that may find this thread and will give their input on what pumpkin they prefer
Cheers mate

Thanks Lunai, I really appreciate your response. You're right too if I had a vine like that I never get rid of it haha. I'll definitely grow a few different varieties and see what works best for me. Thanks again mate

 

[JP 1983]

There is one Korean cultivar my wife likes, she says they're even better than Kents. They're very small, round green pumpkins available in Asian groceries from time to time.

Always good to diversify your options! Grow what grows, and grow what you know you'll cook!

 

[Grandmother Goose]

Experiment! Grow one vine of each type of pumpkin and see what you like most. That's what I'm going to do. People may say this pumpkin or that pumpkin is best for this thing or that thing, doesn't mean you're going to agree. Different people like different things. There are people that think cilantro tastes like soap and others that love the stuff, there's people that love raw oysters and others that would much rather not. The only way to know what we're going to like eating and how, is to try it ourselves.

I like pumpkin, but I don't love it - or at least I don't love any of the medium to large common varieties found at the shops in any of the ways I've ever had them cooked. My biggest problem with medium to large pumpkins is that once cut, they need to be used fairly quickly, and I don't like pumpkin enough to grow a large pumpkin vine that will produce a heap of large pumpkins that I'll only eat a small portion of and give the rest away. So I'm going to tackle that problem by experimenting with growing small instead.

Once I get my veggie patch sorted out (hopefully by mid-spring) I'll be growing one or two vines each of 8 different varieties of miniature pumpkins that I've managed to get the seeds for. Then I will go about testing them all - which ones grow best, which ones I like most when cooked in which ways, etc. I'll get friends and family to do the same and report back to me what they think, then I'll decide which type/s of miniature pumpkin I'll be growing for myself, friends and family in the future if any, because I think if I don't grow miniature, I'm not going to grow them at all. I'll document what I learned about them all, maybe make a video or write an article or create a forum thread or something posted here once that project is complete.

I invite you to join me and do the same with whatever pumpkin varieties you're interested in trying out. Worst case scenario we end up learning we don't like any of the ones we grow, but that's still a good lesson learned and well worth the time and money to find out, because what not to grow is as valuable a lesson as any. And if we don't like any of them, there's always food banks and kitchen charities that desperately need food donations to help feed people in need.

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

As Lunai indeed said it grows amazingly for him, and he likes the taste. He doesn't need to tend to the plant, and occasionally you will see him drive over it with the ride-on mower. It will just come back. I'd say it has been a favourite of his for both ease and taste.
In multiple videos he mentions that most plants he regrets growing, were plants that grew well but he didn't like the taste off. So surely he likes this pumpkin

 

[AndrewB]

My favorite is a french pumpkin called Musquee De Provence. They grow big, have deep segmented sections, so easy to cut & are super sweet. You can eat them raw, they taste like canteloupe/rock melon.

People in the shop went crazy for them once they had a taste!

 

[JP 1983]

I nabbed a photo of those small Korean pumpkins, they call them Dan Hobak (lit. sweet/sugar pumpkin).