How to grow your own pumpkin from seed

Credit: iStock / Anthony Rosenberg

Save the seeds from your jack o’ lantern to grow your own pumpkins next year.

If you want to try growing pumpkins from the seeds in your jack o’ lantern, first know that you’re playing a bit of a gamble. The seeds found inside many of the pumpkins whose destiny it is to be decorative may surprise you next year when they grow up to be some sort of pumpkin-squash mutant vegetable. Cross-pollination is common for this and other members of the cucurbita family, so be prepared for a possible surprise guest in the garden. For best results, choose seeds from nice, healthy-looking pumpkins.

To prepare the seeds, you’ll first want to dry them out for a few weeks. In soggy B.C., that may be hard; one (high-powered) option, if possible in your household, could be to layout the seeds on newspaper in a tray in the bathroom and flip on your heat lamp and fan. Once the seeds are dry, store them in a cool, dry place wrapped in newspaper or a paper bag until you can plant them.

Learn More About Growing Your Own Pumpkin
Pumpkin Seed Germination
How, when and where to grow

More tips for what to do with your pumpkin after Halloween +++