Grow Pumpkins On A Balcony With These Container Gardening Tricks

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Pumpkins and squash are common residents of in-ground gardens, but you don't often find them in containers. Though their vines enjoy spreading out on a spacious plot of land, they'll happily take up residence in large pots and raised beds. With a little planning, you can use containers to grow these vegetables in smaller outdoor spaces. The keys to success are choosing the right receptacles, filling them with the type of soil pumpkins need, and figuring out where to direct the vines. If your pumpkins' containers live on a balcony or patio, guiding the vines up a trellis or fence can be helpful.

A standard flower pot won't do for growing pumpkins, squash, zucchini, or their relatives. These plants need containers that hold at least 10 gallons of soil so their roots have room to roam. Ceramic or plastic will do, but avoid metal because it can get too hot and cause your pumpkins to protest. Also make sure your containers have an abundance of drainage holes. This can help prevent root rot and other problems that stem from waterlogged soil.

Nutritious soil is also a must. That's because pumpkins extract large quantities of nutrients from their growing medium. Potting soil amended with compost is a good starting point, and incorporating perlite to foster air circulation near the plants' roots is a good idea. To restore crucial nutrients throughout the growing season, add balanced NPK fertilizer or homemade banana peel powder to your garden. Also keep the soil consistently moist but not wet. For optimal growth, allow the uppermost inch of the soil to get dry between watering sessions.

If your pumpkins receive nutrient-rich soil, plenty of space for rooting, and six hours a day of direct sunlight, they're likely to produce lots of fruit. In fact, a balcony is a great place to grow pumpkins because it offers some wind protection, preventing you from losing fruit to summer storms. You can boost these yields even more with hand pollination and careful pruning.

Hand pollination involves transferring pollen from male flowers to female ones. Bees already do this, but consider delivering pollen to female flowers with a soft watercolor paintbrush to maximize your harvest. Many female flowers open for just a day, so don't dally when you see one in this phase of its life cycle. Each female flower has a bulbous growth behind it. You can also aid pumpkin pollination by attracting more bees to your garden with flowers they love or free lodging such as the Whitehorse premium cedar bee house.

To prune your pumpkins, start by excising extraneous vines, which divert energy away from making fruit. Vine overgrowth can also make your containers tip over. Lop off any dead or damaged plant parts to keep squash bugs from descending upon your garden. In addition to conserving space, growing the vines up a trellis can make them less appealing to pests and improve air circulation, which helps prevent fungal problems. If you're into creative repurposing, try turning old mattress springs into a garden trellis. Nervous that dangling pumpkins might fall from their vines? Support them with slings such as those in the Mysenlan melon hammock 10-pack.