Can I Save Halloween Pumpkin Seeds to Plant Next Year?

How Hard is it to Grow Pumpkins?

Jaipi Sixbear
Why would you want to save Halloween pumpkin seeds to plant next year? I can think of a lot of reasons. Considering the high price of pumpkins at the grocery store, having your own pumpkin patch doesn't seem too ridiculous, does it? After all, you've already bought the pumpkin. There are plenty of seeds in there, so why not? You could make some tasty pumpkin seeds in the oven. Still, even if you do that, you can set a few aside to plant next year.

Consider the type of pumpkin you want. If you want eating pumpkins, you're better off buying seeds. The Halloween pumpkins you buy in the store are the type best used for carving. Eating pumpkins have thicker, sweeter pulp. Still, if you just want to carve your pumpkins, go ahead and save this years Halloween pumpkin seeds to plant next year. You won't be disappointed.

Do you have room for a pumpkin patch? A pumpkin patch takes up a lot of space. One plant can spread out as far as twenty feet. Ours went bonkers this year. They wound through the neighbors fence. Luckily, we have great neighbors. They were happy we gave them the pumpkins on their side of the fence for free. If you don't have friendly neighbors like ours, be sure to locate your pumpkin patch well away from yard borders.

How hard is it to grow pumpkins? Pumpkins are among the easiest garden crops to grow. In fact, they practically grow themselves. Just make a hill with a gully around it. Plant two or three seeds at the top of the hill. Water daily in dry climates. Watch for the ground to dry in damp climates. Six hills like this will produce all the Halloween pumpkins you can use and then some.

You might get a bumper crop. If you plan to save Halloween pumpkin seeds to plant next year, be careful how many you plant. Pumpkins are a high yield crop. Of course, you could share your bounty with a local food bank. You could even sell your pumpkins in the front yard. Save your friends and neighbors from the high cost of store bought Halloween pumpkins too.

You might also get a giant record breaking pumpkin. Go ahead and save your Halloween pumpkin seeds to plant next year. All it take to grow a giant pumpkin is a lot of water and fertilizer. We've never won any prizes for ours. That's probably because we just let them go wild and basically ignore them. Who knows? If you baby yours enough, you might have the biggest jack-o-lantern on the block!

More from Jaipi:

How to Make Healthy Treats for a Kids Halloween Party

How to Use Halloween Pumpkin Carving Patterns

Prevent Halloween Tooth Decay with These Handy Tips


Published by Jaipi Sixbear - Featured Contributor in Lifestyle

This award winning web writer is co-owner of several writing websites. She's a featured parenting contributor on Yahoo! Shine and Yahoo! Voices. She enjoys helping fellow writers maintain a positive mindset...  View profile

2 Comments

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  • Sandy James9/23/2011

    More and more people are growing their own veggies.

  • Dina Montgomery9/22/2011

    great info... :o)

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