Focus on… Pumpkins

WHETHER you take a knife to these fruits to carve them or eat them, there’s no finer sight on the autumn plot than a healthy crop of pumpkins. It’s no secret that pumpkin plants have a healthy appetite for food and water, but what else do you need to know to get the best from your plants?

Aside from following the growing tips in my checklist opposite, you need to try to keep the growth rate as uninterrupted as possible. Once those fruits set, their potential to swell (especially large-fruited varieties) is gargantuan, and so any check in moisture or nutrition will set back your chances of growing a record-breaker.

If you find your plants are producing lots of male rather