Matthew Stevens: Pumpkins, gourds bring the fall season home

September is just beginning, so it may be just a bit too early for some of you to start thinking about pumpkins. However, my wife had me bringing fall decorations out of the attic recently, so pumpkins just happen to be fresh on my mind. You can probably find the pumpkin of your dreams at a local farm in just a few weeks, but perhaps next year you’ll want to grow your own. If so, here are some things to consider.

Both pumpkins and gourds are members of the cucurbit vegetable family, so they are relatives of squash, cucumber, watermelon, zucchini and cantaloupe. As such, they share many of the same pests and like many of the same soil and growing conditions. However, while most of the other cucurbits are used as food, pumpkins and gourds are primarily (but not solely) grown for their ornamental value.

If growing either pumpkins or gourds, be prepared to provide a good deal of space, as both are vining crops that will run 4-8 feet or more in each direction. Don’t overcrowd the plants and avoid using sprinklers or other watering methods that wet the leaves, as foliar diseases will occur when leaf moisture is high and air circulation between plants is poor.

Pumpkins and gourds will use a lot of nutrients during the growing season, so soil test prior to growing and follow recommendations. Fertilizing with too much nitrogen is a common mistake that will result in lush vine growth with few fruit.

Harvesting pumpkins and gourds can be a bit tricky for beginners. For gourds, look for a change in the sheen of the skin. When mature, it will go from shiny to somewhat dull. You also want the outer skin to be hard and not easily scratched with your thumbnail. Pumpkins will also develop a more robust outer shell when mature and will be a deep orange color (for most varieties, anyway).

Perhaps the most important thing to remember when harvesting your pumpkins and gourds is to cut through the stem with a knife rather than trying to twist or tear it from the vine. If the stem is damaged during harvest (or after), it will lead to a rapid decline in the postharvest life of the fruit. Gourds and pumpkins with long, intact stems are easier to handle and last much longer.

Now for the fun part: What varieties can you grow? There is a tremendous amount of variation in the color, shape and size of pumpkins and gourds — much too many to list, really — but that diversity lends itself to their decorative uses. If you’re picking a pumpkin to turn into a Jack-o-lantern, you likely want one that is large, orange and relatively smooth.

If you’re using pumpkins or gourds for other decorative purposes, however, a good rule of thumb seems to be that the uglier and more unusual they are, the better they work as decorations. Many varieties are oddly shaped, have weird growths on them or come in random combinations of colors that look like an artist has splattered paint on the flesh of the fruit.

Some of the most interesting ones I’ve come across are “Red Warty Thing,” a large pumpkin that looks exactly like the name sounds like it would, and “Porcelain Doll,” a creamy-pink, flat pumpkin that is wider than it is tall.

Comb through your favorite seed catalogs, find the ones that appeal to you and grow a few for next year!