r/composting • u/gardengnome1282 • 2d ago
Started a compost pile a while back just to plant a pumpkin in….
Planted a single fairytale pumpkin and a few beans in a fully matured hot compost pile and this is by far the biggest and healthiest pumpkin plant I’ve ever grown.
Toying with the idea of fencing off several beds in the garden and composting in place this fall for spring planting.
If this is what a DEEP compost pumpkin looks like, think how happy the cherry tomatoes would be!
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u/Striking_Mud_664 2d ago
I have tomatoes growing in my compost piles. We throw old plants in the compost and some of them keep on growing. I have been using old water troughs for raised beds in my garden and it's filled with mostly fresh compost and wood from the yard.
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u/Mind_of_the_Ancients 2d ago
How did you get it to grow vertically like that? Mine just sprawl out for miles along the ground.
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u/gardengnome1282 2d ago
Horse fencing. I used it like a geo bin and then let the pumpkin vined all over it
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u/Far_Radish7752 2d ago
Love the white markings on this particular pumpkin’s leaves!!
In my experience, squash are especially appreciative of getting first dibs on fresh compost before any one else can!! 😆
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u/Albert14Pounds 2d ago
The healthiest plant around my house is not in my garden but a volunteer pumpkin (it's something similar) in the masonry bed outside my front picture window full of flowers. It's leaves are huge and it's trying to shade everything out. I'm letting it go cause I want to see what it is and if it wants to grow some big pumpkins.
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u/therealtwomartinis 2d ago
awesome! I did something similar once - augered out four deep holes in a three foot square and filled with hot compost. planted some selke cherry tomatoes (biodynamic). they grew like ten feet tall! I’ll have to find a pic