Worth knowing:
The orange-red fruit of the Japanese Hokkaido Pumpkin weighs in average 1.5 kg and consists of strong, almost fiber-less and light or dark orange coloured fruit pulp. Its somewhat nutty taste reminds one of chestnuts, and compared to other pumpkin species it contains less water and is instead more rich in vitamins, carotene and trace elements. Contrary to other species the crust of the Hokkaido Pumpkin is also good to eat. The annual, crawling plant grows soft stalks with round leaves and is very easy to cultivate.
Natural Location:
At the end of the 19th century, the plant was introduced to the Japanese island of Hokkaido by American agricultural consultants. The Japanese cultivated and transformed the back then rather tasteless pumpkin plant into the delicate Hokkaido Pumpkin.
Cultivation:
Outdoors, you can start planting the seeds from the middle of May, but with seedlings raised from middle of March on your windowsill, you will get a better result. Plant the seeds separately about 1 cm deep into a bigger pot with moist potting compost since pumpkins grow rather wide. Then, cover the seed container with clear film to prevent the earth from drying out. Don’t forget to make some holes in the clear film and take it every second or third day completely off for about 2 hours. That way you avoid mold formation on your potting compost. Place the seed container somewhere bright and warm with a temperature between 20°C and 25°C and keep the earth moist, but not wet. The germination takes about two to three weeks, and after another month, the seedlings can be shifted to even bigger pots or planted out in the garden (maximum eight plants per square meter). From the germination to the flower formation, it usually takes about two months, and from there another month until fructification.
Place:
A sunny place would be ideal for your plant.
Care:
Pumpkins like a nutritious soil for cultivation, humous earth is therefore to prefer. In ordinary garden soil an additional regular fertilizing with fluid fertilizer is necessary. Water the plant regularly and plentiful. To prevent the fruits from molding on the earth, you should use a wooden board as underlayment. With the end of the growing season, you can cut some of the big leaves to enhance the fruit development. Pumpkins are favoured by snails, so a slug fence for protection is recommended.
During the winter:
Picture credits:
- © © Jamain - CC-BY-SA-3.0 - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
- © Frank Laue - © Saflax - http://www.saflax.de/copyright
- © Frank Laue - © Saflax - http://www.saflax.de/copyright
- © Jamain - CC-BY-SA-3.0 - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
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