Pumpkin fruiting

Question

As we have had a late summer with no frost anticipated, I would like to have a pumpkin or two for Thanksgiving. My plant is loaded with male & female blooms, but no fruit has developed. It gets lots of sunshine by day. As it is in a planter, I could move it inside at night if frost is predicted. Or I can move it close to the house, and if it would help, underneath a mercury night light. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

Ok, so the way a pumpkin plant works- Each runner will root many places on the ground, as it takes a great deal of energy to bear a fruit. With this being said, if you were to bring your pumpkin indoors then they would have nowhere to send these roots, and therefor will not grow any pumpkins. I recommend at least 8 gallons of soil in container for these large plants. Also they will need several pots of soil for each area that tries to root. This large plant almost NEVER produces indoors without some serious help and fore-though. Indoors, if you can meet the rest of these requirements, you will have to hand pollinate the female flowers with the male flowers. If you are expecting cooler weather between now and the few months it can take to grow a full-sized pumpkin then this will halt its fruit production. I’m afraid that even if you had enough frost free weather to do this, it will definitely not be ready for Thanksgiving. I know this is tough news to hear, but I had to find out the hard way- several times- before I realized what was going on. Sorry to bring such bad news. (Also worth noting… I believe the reason that the fruit has not been produced yet, is that it is in container.)

Here is an article to help you with the care of a pumpkin plant: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/pumpkin/pumpkin-growing-tips-for-halloween-pumpkins.htm