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Grittyville, WA

Thats a bit slow! The smallest I ever grew off an AG was about 9 lbs and it DID have viable seeds but I'm not sure what the trick was with that one, but it was on the vine all summer, perhaps an intentionally poor pollination might need less resources than a fully pollinated pumpkin. It would create less seeds, but it could be easier on the plant?? I've not seen any discussion on how to grow the smallest viable pumpkin. Fyi heating the soil temp might direct resources into the roots, away from the pumpkin... A radiant heat source onto the pumpkin might be the way to go. Not hotter than the sun though... with no outdoor breeze it would be easy to accidentally cook it.

12/7/2025 1:04:58 PM

East Coast, USA

It's on a very short, very thin vine. There can't be more than maybe 3 nodes with roots. So I'm sure that has a lot to do with it going so slow. I don't think slow is a bad thing in this case though, since I don't want it to outgrow the area that I have for it, but would still like it to produce viable seeds. Per your suggestion, I think I might try a chicken brooder light up pretty high away from it. I do have a fan running in the room for air circulation. I have some sensors that I've been building for a VPD system. I think I'll put one of those on it and point the IR thermometer on the fruit, so I can monitor it.

12/8/2025 8:50:40 AM

Syracuse, NY

Mine are on random, random, r..., lol. In my living room, two plants and one is just about to get to the top of the 5-gal. bucket - the other was a freaky experiment and is at the 1-true-leaf stage, so it's gonna take some recuperation. Commenting here to save u from looking at multi-pages for multi-plies, lol. PS---The buckets inhibit side light from reaching the plants - too tall, but will be overcome soon.
THEN... I do have leftover ferts and a tricked-out spray bottle, lol. eg

12/8/2025 2:28:49 PM