Do you wonder how many pumpkins you can get from a single plant?
Gardeners who will grow pumpkins for the first time are curious about the yield they will get when harvesting comes.
The variety of the plant, growing conditions, nutrients, pests, and diseases are some of the factors that will affect the actual number of pumpkins per plant.
Also, the fruit size matters and you need to decide if you want more pumpkins but small in size or fewer pumpkins but larger in size.
How Many Pumpkins Per Plant?
A single pumpkin plant will be able to produce 2 to 12 pumpkins. The size and the number of fruits usually depend on their variety.
Some large-size pumpkin varieties bear lesser fruits because they need more energy, and more nutrients to support plants’ growth and fruit size.
These varieties can grow 2 to 5 pumpkins per plant. Gardeners who want to achieve huge pumpkins leave only 1-2 fruits.
The energy coming from the sun, and nutrients from water and fertilizer are enough to make those pumpkins grow big.
While some smaller-size pumpkin varieties can grow more fruits because the energy and nutrients they get are enough for the plants and fruits to grow.
These smaller pumpkin varieties can grow up to 12 fruits per plant. It will be a great harvest to get a lot of fruits.
If you are growing more pumpkin plants, you can increase the number of fruits you can get.
When it comes to harvesting, smaller varieties of pumpkins can be harvested earlier than the bigger sizes.
It can take about 90 to 100 days to harvest smaller pumpkins while it takes 130 to 160 days to harvest large pumpkins.
How Many kg/lbs of Pumpkins Per Plant?
If a single smaller size pumpkin variety plant will produce 12 fruits, then you can have around 12 pounds (0.45 kg) of pumpkins per plant supposed each fruit weighs a pound.
Smaller pumpkins weigh between six ounces and 2 pounds. These pumpkins are light to lift and it is easier to harvest these fruits.
Giant pumpkins weigh a lot which can go between 150 pounds (68 kg) to over 2000 pounds (900 kg).
For example, if you have 2 giant pumpkin fruits on your plant and both of them are weighing 170 pounds (77 kg) you will have 340 pounds (154 kg) of pumpkins per plant.
Most of the smaller pumpkins taste way better than giant pumpkins. You can grow any variety depending on your purpose.
How To Increase Yield Of Pumpkin Plant?
There are times that the yield of the pumpkin plant is lower than the average yield.
Commonly it happens when there are only a few female flowers that grow on the plant or there are only a few pollinated female flowers.
If there are no bees roaming around on your pumpkin plant, you better hand pollinate the flowers.
Pollinate More Female Pumpkin Flowers
There are male and female flowers on the pumpkin plant and all you need to do is get pollen from male flowers and transfer it to female flowers.
You can use a small brush for hand pollinating or just remove the petals of the male flower so that pollen is easy to transfer to the female flowers.
The female flowers usually have swollen or small fruit under the flower while male flowers don’t.
Once the pollination is successful, you will not have more pumpkins on your plant.
Grow More Pumpkin Plants
For example, a single plant will bear 12 small-size pumpkins per plant and if you have 5 plants, then you will harvest 60 pumpkins all in all.
It will be easy to do when you have enough space to grow more plants. Spacing is needed because these plants will grow longer.
The vines of pumpkins can grow a few feet so they need space. Without spacing, the plants will be crowded and they probably compete with water, nutrients, and sunlight which will lead to a poor yield.
Another thing is when a plant is being attacked with pests or diseases because of spacing, other plants can survive and might not be affected.
Also, buy pumpkin seeds from nurseries, garden centers, and other related agriculture stores to get high-quality seeds.
Give The Pumpkin Plant Its Necessary Needs To Get High-Quality Yield
Make sure the pumpkin plant is getting enough sunlight at least 6 hours per day. The longer hours of direct sunlight will be great for the plant.
8 hours of sun is much longer and can transfer more energy to the fruits making them bigger.
Also, find a good spot with a little bit of distance away from big trees to prevent them from blocking sunlight away from your pumpkin plants.
Pumpkin is somewhat drought tolerant but they are thirsty plants. They need an inch of water per week.
Make sure that pumpkin plants are getting enough water per week to grow well and have a good yield to come
Nutrients are also important for pumpkin plants. Use high-nitrogen fertilizer when the plants are still short and switch to high phosphorus fertilizer once the plant starts to flower.
The nitrogen improves the foliage of the plant but you need to lower this element and switch to phosphorus-rich fertilizer to improve the fruit size.
Also, protect your plants if there are pests attacking your plant. Cut those affected leaves of the plant. You can also grow some companion plants that will prevent pests or use insecticidal pest control.
Why Does Pumpkin Produce Fewer Fruits?
The pumpkin plant will produce fruits if there are many flowers but none or only a few of them are pollinated.
You need to do hand pollination to increase fruits on the pumpkin plant. You can use a brush or just your hand and try to transfer the pollen to the female flower.
Excessive nitrogen can lead to good plant growth but fewer pumpkin fruits.
You need to switch to high phosphorus fertilizer once the plant produces flowers.
Conclusion:
So how many pumpkins per plant? A single pumpkin plant will produce around 2 to 12 pumpkins.
Depending on the growing conditions, the cultivar, and how the plant has been cared for will be the factor in how many pumpkin fruits each plant will produce.
Pollination is important to produce more fruits. When there are many pollinated female pumpkin flowers there will be more fruits.
But you still need to consider the variety you have. If you have a small size variety of pumpkin plants then you can let more fruits grow on the plant.
But if you have a bigger size pumpkin variety plant then you must just leave 2 to 5 fruits on the plant to let the fruits grow to the max.
Just wait around 90 to 160 days depending on plant variety and you can harvest the fruits once they mature.
