Behold… the tail end of 2015’s Seminole pumpkins:
We’ve had a few more stragglers come in since that shot, but most of the vines have died away now.
Last year I got another round in the fall but I think this year’s rains have been too much.
See the genetic variation in this batch? Crazy, isn’t it? I’m cross-breeding a variety of lines right now with seeds from all over the place. The one with the neck is really weird.
(You can see more Seminole pumpkin notes and photos of the wide range of varieties people have e-mailed to me on this page. The last update was yesterday – check it out.)
Seminole pumpkins are one of the crops I discuss in detail in my new book Totally Crazy Easy Florida Gardening. They’re hard to beat.
They’re almost pest free… except for the occasional…
SQUIRREL ATTACK!
I couldn’t figure out what was destroying the pumpkins I left on the back porch to cure… until my daughter saw that squirrel early one morning and grabbed her camera and filmed it so I could see.
Good girl.
So – how are you all doing with your Seminole pumpkins this year? Got a second round going for the fall?
11 responses to “All Good Things Must Come To An End, Seminole Pumpkins Included”
Hi David (Mr. Goodman),
I recently obtained some cool plants from a very nice un named benefactor. I did a really silly thing in my excitement, I planted everything the day I received them. I now have about 14 or so beautiful Seminole pumpkin seedlings growing in pots. Now I’m thinking ( a little late I know) what the heck will I do when it gets cold? I thought I would bring them inside…. until april or the last frost? any idea on how to slow them down so they don’t take over my entire house????? I also have a semi greenhouse that stays a few degrees warmer than outside… how cold can they go before giving up the ghost?
Keith
Oh boy. Ha!
Just don’t let ’em freeze at all – they’ll die in the first frost. You also need to make sure they get lots of sun or they’ll give up.
Been slowly picking the pumpkins and pulling the vines from the side yard. Have a few more in the back that have just started to bloom. We’ll see what they do……
Also, the pickleworms have recently found the Seminole vines. In the past they left them alone but that changed in the last week or two. Just another problem to solve……..
I suppose it’s time to look up pickleworm recipes.
If only they were edible, I could feed a small army.
They are edible… it’s just a matter of will. Hehheh.
Mine seem to have regenerated,are blooming and setting fruit.Every year is different.The fruit this year are thinner walled and sweeter overall.
My pumpkins got ate out by worms. I got about 90 pumpkins average 2lb. Off of 12 vines. They are good an sweet. I’ve lost a couple dozen to mold/rot/fungus… The chickens love them, an I’ve canned 7qts so far. Got about 60 just hanging out I keep a close eye on an eat or feed the ones not keeping. I live without a/c so putting the long storage claim to a real test…
Mine were extremely productive this year. At least 50 pumpkins in a 10’x20′ patch, and some of them big enough to make 4 pies.
Also, as an experiment I planted one seed in an unpromising location out back, with no soil prep other than some leaf mulch and zero watering or maintenance. It straggled for months while the main patch grew and then died, putting out about 6 feet worth of growth and no pumpkins.
Then, when the rainy season got here, it did a fascinating thing: it started to grow, and sent out one single tendril almost 25 feet, making a beeline for my long-term compost heap. It is now within a foot or two of the heap, and lo and behold, it has started producing a pumpkin there.
Hey David, I’m looking for seeds for seminole pumpkins. Do you have any for sale or do you know where I might find some? I looked through grower Jim’s stuff but couldn’t find any.
Baker Creek seeds has the small type. Some people are also passing around a larger variety in Florida, but it’s hit or miss on finding them. Mine are all in storage right now.