By Joseph Mugenyi
Kibiito: A pumpkin is a cultivar of a squash plant, most commonly of cucurbita pepo, that is round with smooth, slightly ribbed skin, and most often deep yellow to orange in coloration.
The thick shell contains the seeds and pulp. Some exceptionally large cultivars of squash with similar appearance have also been derived from Cucurbita maxima.
We have many pumpkin varieties including;
- sweet cream
- Bala
- Dulu, Etc.
How to Grow Pumpkins
Pumpkins grow well in loamy soils with good drainage.
Soil should not be water logged for the plant not to rot before harvesting.
Pumpkins are propagated using seeds.
Clear the land were you want to plant the pumpkins.
Heap-up soil and put 3-4seeds.
Distance heaps at 5-6feet to each other.
Gently cover them and water them. You can also soak pumpkin seeds for rapid germination.
Seedlings will emerge after 5-7days depending on the conditions.
Prune the vines to avoid random growth.
Do weeding to control pests and diseases.
Do mulching.
This is where the pumpkin will rest during the growing period.
After 90-120 days, you can harvest.
Each seed can produce 40-60 pumpkins a season.
After harvesting, the plant can re-start flowering and yield other pumpkins for the second season, meaning they can yield twice a year.
Pumpkins have ready market.
Mostly a pumpkin costs 1500shs -5000shs depending on size.
Get all the agricultural information here bi-weekly.Mugenyi Joseph (MJ Farmer) is a practicing Agribusiness entrepreneur based in Kibiito and a software Engineering student at Makerere University. He can be reached on 0701-443309, Email:mugenyijosemj@gmail.com
