THE bad weather has resulted in a poor pumpkin crop this year, with some fruits not turning the rich orange colour which is so valued for carving for Halloween. Indeed, they need a long hot summer to ripen fully, but once established are pretty easy to grow.

When harvesting, allow fruits to develop their full colour by lifting them and putting them in a sunny spot to complete their ripening.

Bring the ripe fruits indoors before the first frosts of autumn and aim to use them before Christmas, as they don’t store well. If you’re looking to use them to carve into lanterns, ‘Atlantic Giant’ is the biggest of all, but is not one for eating, while ‘Baby Bear’ and ‘Becky’ are more palatable.

To grow them, sow seed indoors at a temperature of between 18-22C, planting outside into soil with added organic matter in May or June when all danger of frost has passed, allowing at least a square metre per plant. If your plants are trained to scramble up supports, you may need to support the heavier fruits to prevent stem damage.