Pumpkin Pruning: [Dates and Ways to Do It]

One of the main characteristics of the pumpkin is that it expands without control, so pruning them correctly is very important.

Pruning helps the pumpkin gain greater strength and thus be healthier.

To carry out this work, the plant must be in its growth stage and, in order to ensure not to harm it, some instructions must be followed.

Let’s see what they are.

Why prune the pumpkin?

The main reason for pruning the Pumpkin is to keep it in a certain space and to strengthen it.

This also helps to make it look much more leafy and be able to produce better fruits.

In addition, it should be considered that in most cases it grows uncontrollably , so it could leave a whole space of land well covered.

For a person who wants to have some other crops in his garden, this characteristic is not at all positive.

When should pumpkin pruning be done?

Pruning the pumpkin should be done when it is in full growth.

In fact, pruning may not necessarily be one time , but several times, depending on what is observed.

The most flattering thing is to cut the shoots that are already showing some growing fruit. In this way, the work that the plant must do to grow will be reduced and energy will be focused on producing better fruit.

What tools do we need?

The most common way to prune pumpkin and any other plant is with the use of gardening shears .

These scissors should have gone through a disinfection process after any work was done with them.

This action prevents that if there are diseases, they are transmitted from one plant to another through the wounds generated by pruning.

A special knife for this work could also work and, of course, it will also need to be well disinfected.

Disinfection can be done with heat, burning the leaves that will come into contact with the plant.

Depending on the thickness of the shoots, in some cases tools will not be needed but can be separated with your fingers.

In these cases, it must be done with care so as not to pull the sprout with excessive force and break it at some other unplanned point.

How to do it correctly?

The correct way to prune a pumpkin will largely depend on the results that you want to obtain for the harvest.

Cut shoots

A first way is to cut the shoots when they have the desired amount of small pumpkins , for example two or three.

This action ensures that the plant develops normally and, in turn, that the fruits obtained are of good size.

Prune new shoots and keep those at the base

Another way is to prune the plant as new shoots grow, keeping those closest to the base of the plant .

This significantly reduces the amount of fruit obtained but it helps that the ones that remain are much larger.

On some occasions, this system is used to have large pumpkins on particular dates such as Halloween.

Eliminate male flowers

The third procedure that can be performed is to remove the male flowers from the plant.

To better understand this action, it is worth knowing that the pumpkin plant has both female and male flowers.

The female ones are the ones that produce the pumpkins and within their structure there is a small pumpkin. From now on, the great fruits that we will consume will come out.

Now, the male flowers are responsible for the pollination of female flowers , so they also have their importance.

However, to prevent the plant from overgrowing these can be removed, leaving at least one male flower per shoot. This male flower will perform the pollination function of the remaining female ones.

Although they are different processes, it is best to take only one when pruning. In this way we will avoid damaging the plant excessively.

This is due to the fact that every time a plant is pruned green, there are open wounds through which some bacteria or fungus could enter.

And actually, what we want is for the pumpkin to be healthy.

In addition to all of the above, it will be very important that the pumpkin takes good care of nutrients and fertilization and thus can withstand the pruning processes.

Pumpkins are one of the easiest plants to harvest as they are undemanding in terms of climate and terrain characteristics.

But it should not be forgotten that it is an invasive plant and that if it is not given proper attention it could take over any space.

This, without considering that it would give many fruits of reduced sizes.