There’s still time to grow a pumpkin for Halloween

Garden expert Ciscoe Morris says there is still time to get pumpkin seeds in the ground so you can grow a stellar pumpkin for Halloween. But he says there are some tricks to it.

Due to a lack of bees, Ciscoe says sometimes pumpkins don’t get pollinated as well as they used to. But you can step in to pollinate the flowers manually.

“What you’ve got to do is you’ve got to watch the flowers. The male flowers usually come out first. They don’t have a little pumpkin attached to the bottom. But then pretty soon you’ll see flowers with what looks like teensy little pumpkins at the bottom of the flower.”

Ciscoe says pollen will be visible on the male flower and you should take that male flower and rub the pollen on the point that sticks farthest out from the female flower.

“You pick one male flower and you can pollenize five female flowers with it by rubbing the pollen on there.”

One warning on growing pumpkins, Ciscoe says make sure you have lots of room because they can get pretty big.

Gardening with Ciscoe can be heard on KIRO Radio on Saturdays at 10 a.m. Available anytime ON DEMAND at KIRORadio.com.