[needssomehelp]

ok ive bought my atlantic giant seeds, and i have read many conflicting opinions of when where and how to plant, what to feed, how often to feed, remove some of the fruit or leave them all on........im confused! i want to enter one in our local RHS club comp next year, the one that won this year wasnt that big so im hoping with some inside info from "experts"  ;)on here i might stand a chance.

[Jamie Butterworth]

I dont grow them myself but this site might help

http://www.allotment-diary.co.uk/Giant-record-breaking-pumpkin.html

[Kleftiwallah]

This is the memsaab and I after we 'swept the board' at our local pub comp.

The variety wasn't atlantic but a lesser sized pumpkin and the seeds were supplied by a seedsman (cannot remember which company).  The benifit of the 'smaller size enabled anyone with a garden or part of an allotment to enter, not only those with an acre to waste.

The plant was grown in the pub garden. It finished up about the size of half a tennis court.

We left it for 2 weeks holiday and when we came back we removed over 30 pumpkins and left three (one for me, one for my beloved and one for our cat)!

Tip one.  get the seeds in as soon after Christmas as you can if you have a heated bench and correct frequency lights.  If not wait until spring.

Tip two.  Dig in as much good quality (well rotted) muck as you can get your 'ans on in the centre of where you think the plant will extend to. i.e. in the bull of a dartboard.

Tip three.  Water the plant and spray foliar feed from day one.

Tip four.  This shall be imparted when the plant is established, but you have enough to be going on with.  Very best wishes.    Cheers,   Tony.

[lacewing]

I agree with what Kleftiwhalla has said except, unless you have poly tunnel, don't sow your seeds too early. Once the seeds germinate, pumpkin plants grow very, very, quickly and dislike being held back in pots. Four to six weeks before the last frost would be about right.
When the young plants are finally planted out, they will need protection from cold winds by means of a barrier of some kind and fleece at night, until the weather realy warms up.

When the plants start to flower and set fruit, leave all the fruit on for a few weeks and then choose the best looking fruit to grow on,  remove all other fruit and any further fruit that may develope.  The way to a big pumpkin seems to be, feed, feed, feed, water,water,water
and a warm sunny site.  Hope this is helpful......Good luck!

[needssomehelp]

thank you for your great advice, im getting really excited now. i think i will have to wait to plant the seeds as i dont have a polytunnel on my plot.
i was thinking on planting it at the beginning of my plot and trying to grow it up the side and along the top, thats my plan anyway, if i can do that it means it wont take over my growing area too much . also i have a couple of large water butts so i was thinking of planting it near them and then when the weather gets hot (hopefully) i will turn the tap so i have a constant drip near the roots to help keep it well watered when im not there......not sure if this will work in practice, or if im being stupid 
any more advice greatly accepted xx lisa

[lacewing]

You are on the right track, Lisa, growing the plant along the edge of the plot means you have some controle over it. When the main vine reaches the boundry, stop it by cutting off the tip with a spade and bury about 18ins of the growing vine. If you can get your hands on a leeky hose to attache to your water butt, that would be a real bonus, but make sure you run the hose along the growing space before the plant gets going, you'll have no hope of doing it afterwards! 

[Kleftiwallah]

Re-request help when you get the thing in the ground.  My memory is a bit iffy, I'l need a nudge.    Cheers,   Tony.

[griff]

 When growing out side i never germinate until the second week in April. when these big boys grow they can grow up to a1ft a day. You wontplant out until at least the last week of may when the frost as gone. the longer they are in the pot the more chance they have of splitting

[needssomehelp]

thank you sooooo much x x

[philsmith1967]

Try this site;
www.hollandsgiants.com

[philsmith1967]

lots of ground preparation for these hungry eaters-compost,manure or whatever you can put in the ground now to feed them next year