Atlantic Giant Pumpkin – seeds, cultivation and care

A giant pumpkin is not just any pumpkin, but “it’s in its genes”. It is a very specific species in the pumpkin genus from the cucurbit family. There are a total of 22 to 36 types of pumpkins (in the course of botanical research the number of species changes constantly), in horticulture there are five types of pumpkin cultivation:

• Japanese gourd or (in the southern US) Cushaw gourd, Cucurbita argyrosperma
• Fig leaf gourd, Cucurbita ficifolia
• Musk gourd, Cucurbita moschata
• Garden pumpkin, cucurbita pepo and ours
• Giant pumpkin, Cucurbita maxima.

So if you just buy a bag of seeds with a giant pumpkin on it, and maybe even “Megalomany” or “Big Freddi” or nice names like “Rouge vif d’Etampes” or “Atlantic Giant”, you will definitely end up with a pumpkin, probably a big pumpkin too.

However, if you want to grow a giant pumpkin, you have to buy the seeds of a “Cucurbita maxima”, variety “Atlantic Giant”, ie a seed with a precise botanical name and variety name. Both must be on the seed bag together, because Cucurbita maxima is not only available in the “Atlantic Giant” variety, but also in a number of other pumpkin varieties.

If you don’t just want to have “lots of fun with lots of pumpkin”, but actually want to keep up with the record holders with your “Atlantic Giant”, things get even more complicated: It is then not enough to simply buy an Atlantic Giant seed , then your seed needs a “family tree”. The specialists in giant pumpkin breeding buy their seeds individually and from carefully selected sources – how the Atlantic Giant variety became the record giant pumpkin and what needs to be considered when breeding this giant pumpkin is a story of its own, which unfortunately blows up in this article would.

Please do not have excessive expectations!

If it is your first attempt with a giant pumpkin, a note should be made here: You shouldn’t absolutely trust that you will be able to come up with a well-developed, gigantic specimen of a giant pumpkin at the next breeding show, without cracks, with evenly colored, shiny skin and with lush curves. Because rearing a perfect giant pumpkin takes a lot of experience, and a bit of luck is also involved.

But if you just enjoy growing a very special pumpkin in your garden and can enjoy the result (and 300 l pumpkin soup) even if your giant pumpkin has a crack in the shell, you should be fit for after reading these instructions be the first try:

The cultivation of the giant pumpkin Atlantic Giant

A giant pumpkin develops extremely high vigor in an extremely short time, and in order to achieve this it must be optimally promoted in every respect. Here is a brief overview of how you can provide the Atlantic Giant with exemplary conditions:

1. With the soil preparation

… the pumpkin adventure begins, because the extremely fast growing giant pumpkin should naturally grow in the perfect breeding ground. A pumpkin thrives best in loose, humus-rich garden soil that has to be rich in nutrients.

For the giant pumpkin, the bed should be prepared in the preseason for next spring. A really nice and heavy pumpkin “consumes” a lot of organic matter in the course of its growth. This can already be enriched in the soil in the previous year by growing green manure plants, mixing in / piling up compost or adding manure (well deposited, at least one season). All of these organic substances give a giant pumpkin a good nutrient base for its growth.

If the idea of ​​growing giant pumpkins is to be realized spontaneously, you can also prepare the bed in spring by mixing compost or manure into the soil with a hoe (as soon as the ground is no longer frozen). For an Atlantic Giant, 5 to 50 square meters of bed area must be prepared (depending on which pumpkin size you are planning), so it is advisable to borrow a tiller. Depending on the planned or hoped-for pumpkin size, the bed area is calculated – the giant pumpkin itself needs some space, as does its leaves, normally it can be assumed that more space will produce a larger plant and thus a larger pumpkin. Most growers prepare a bed of 20 to 30 square meters, some even allow their giant pumpkin 50 square meters (per plant).

2. Germinate Atlantic Giant seeds

The Atlantic Giant is preferred indoors so that it can enjoy all the warmth outdoors that a German summer season has to offer. With us, it is only certain from mid-May that the giant pumpkin really enjoys warmth in the garden bed, at this point the young plant should be strong enough to be planted out. To do this, you should germinate the seeds from mid-April. The professional treats his precious giant pumpkin seeds in a very special way so that the schedule is right and the seeds germinate safely:

• The seed is pretreated because the strong seed coat encloses the inner seed core like a safe.
• Of course, this “safe” also gives the germination point voluntarily, but maybe a few days later, and the professional calculates in almost hours.
• The flat seed is therefore filed all around, always along the seam, so that the inside of the kernel absorbs moisture more easily and the cotyledons can later “break out” quickly from the shell.
• You may only file at the round end, at the pointed end the shell is very thin, this is where the germ should break through.
• You can carefully file until you can just see the light-colored inside of the shell.
• The seeds treated in this way are then placed in lukewarm water for about half a day so that they absorb moisture.
• If you are after records, you do so in separate pots, each seed is documented here separately.
• After watering, the seeds are wrapped in soft kitchen paper so that they are moistened so that they no longer drip.
• The package comes in a plastic bag and in an environment where a warmth between 26 and 30 ° C can be guaranteed.
• The first germs could appear after just 12 hours, from then on you should check every 6 hours.
• When the first trace of the root shows up, the seed is unpacked and (carefully, root down) placed in the prepared seed pot.
• With a transparent foil bag, the nursery pot becomes a mini greenhouse, which offers a lot of humidity and constant temperatures.
• The nursery pot is placed very brightly so that strong young plants can grow (lack of light causes long, thin shoots).

Don’t you dare to pull your precious giant pumpkin seeds with a nail file? If you don’t really see the structure of the pumpkin seed, you could buy a packet of pumpkin seeds (snack foods) at your nearest Mediterranean grocery store. You can use them to familiarize yourself with the pumpkin seeds, you get to know the shell and the inner core (which is enjoyed roasted with the snack food) and learn how strong the shell is, which surrounds the inner (germ) core.

You can also just forget everything that has just been said and simply put your pumpkin seeds in the ground in mid-May, water and wait. This is the convenient method for all gardeners who just want to grow a large pumpkin and not experiment with a priceless Atlantic Giant seed, which should also be constantly under control during germination. But first continue with controlled cultivation:

The giant pumpkin seedling is allowed in the garden

The giant pumpkin seedling is now growing into a young plant in its nursery, and it will develop rapidly in the nursery pot. Whether you move the young pumpkins into larger growing pots again is a matter of taste, small growing pots should encourage good root development, but whether that really makes a difference in a plant of such enormous vigor is doubtful. Quite a few breeders therefore save themselves repotting in between and put the pre-germinated kernel in a fairly large growing container in which the young giant pumpkin can stay until it is planted out.

Your giant pumpkin seedling should be ready punctually after 2 to 3 weeks to “move” to the prepared pumpkin patch. To do this, you loosen up the planting area for the pumpkin plant deeply, the soil can be improved with a little good potting soil to give the giant pumpkin a quick start. The pH value of the soil can be checked again, a value around 6.5 to 7 would be optimal, maybe a little lime (increases the pH value) must be added.

Now the giant pumpkin seedling can be planted, and very carefully, the small plant reacts sensitively to every kinking and twisting of the root or the shoot. The seedling is set according to the direction of growth of the main shoot, which must be able to develop freely. The main shoot is the shoot that emerges from the first leaf. So mostly the third leaf, which grows after the two oval cotyledons and looks a little different, usually the main shoot grows exactly in the opposite direction of this leaf.

Pollination of the Atlantic Giant

In order for your giant pumpkin to produce a fruit, a flower must be pollinated, i.e. pollen from a male flower has to get onto a female flower. Every pumpkin plant kindly provides both flowers, and nature provides the bees to do this pollination.

If you just grow a giant pumpkin, you can also leave the pollination to the bees, the genes of your seedling have already been created and are no longer influenced by pollination. A breeder would now pass on new genes to his giant pumpkin, which later affect his seeds. Then it is pollinated by hand in a controlled manner, after the appropriate selection of the “pumpkin parents”.

maintenance

Now it’s time to water and fertilize, and please do it in exactly the right and even rhythm. Every fluctuation in the water supply can cause the fruit to crack or burst, every downpour after a rather dry phase as well, every hot spell after a cool period can ensure that a pumpkin grows but not a giant pumpkin.

The garden soil should therefore always be kept evenly moist, which is not an easy task on a bed area of ​​up to 50 square meters, especially if you also want your giant pumpkin to have slightly warmed rainwater. If that’s too much fitness training for you, you should contact experienced giant pumpkin growers and inquire about the sophisticated irrigation systems they have come up with. With a little planning, an even water supply with heated water can also be achieved with a hose or even with a watering can.

If you always water under the leaves, you will prevent mildew infestation if that does not work, e.g. For example, if you water with a sprinkler, you should water early in the morning so that the leaves can dry as quickly as possible without being burned by the midday sun. If additional nutrients are to be brought in during growth, this can be done with the irrigation water, but you should definitely avoid overfertilizing if you do not want to get more herbs than pumpkin.

Shape design and fruit selection

The main shoot of your Atlantic Giant is growing in one direction and forms side shoots at regular intervals. These secondary instincts support the main instinct and help with the uptake of nutrients, they are allowed to stay. Tertiary shoots grow from the secondary shoots, which are not needed and should be removed when they are young.

After pollination, fruit formation begins, now you have to choose one or two fruits in a convenient location if you want to harvest giant pumpkins. These fruits should be as perpendicular as possible to the tendril, you can help a little. But please only move a few millimeters a day in the desired direction, the stem is more than sensitive. The selected fruits can be grown on a base made of plastic, hard foam or wood to protect them from snails, mice and stones.

If it is to be a record, there really is only one fruit left on the plant, if the selected fruits are roughly the size of a soccer ball, then you have to decide. The most beautiful pumpkin is then allowed to grow on its own, and that is what it (and possibly its companion) will do. Now all you have to do is try to keep your giant pumpkin away from any disturbance.