Hypericum Pumpkin

Feeding your plants is probably the single most forgotten part of growing healthy long lasting plants. We recommend feeding your St John’s Wort Pumpkin in the very early spring and again in mid summer after all new growth has hardened off and it begins to set flower buds. Bio-tone starter fertilizer is the best product to use at the time of planting. Our ideal fertilizer schedule for you to use is as follows. Apply an early spring fertilizer with a product such as Espoma Flower-tone at the recommended rate this will give the plant a boost of nitrogen potash that will be needed for healthy foliage and stem growth. Follow this up with another early summer application of Espoma Flower-Tone, this will again provide the necessary nutrients to promote a flush of beautiful flowers. Espoma products are easy to use, just sprinkle around the base of the plant and water it in. Be careful with products such as miracle-grow as these products can burn newly planted plants when not used at the recommended rates. Slow-release fertilizer can help prevent rapid soft growth that is vulnerable to diseases and insects.

We highly recommend that you mulch your St John’s Wort Pumpkin with either a ground hardwood mulch or a ground cypress mulch depending on your local availability. Any type of mulch will do but cypress or hardwood mulch will be of a higher quality and provide better nutrition overall as they breakdown. Mulching helps to keep weeds away which will compete with your new investment for water and nutrients. A 2 to 3 inch layer of mulch is sufficient but remember to take care not to cover any part of the stem of the plant with mulch. Its better to leave a one inch gap of space between the mulch and the stem or base of the plant.

Do not remove the old flowers of St John’s Wort Pumpkin as they become the beautiful berries in the fall. Remove any brown stems and leaves to give your plant a healthier and more attractive appearance. Cut it back in the spring before it begins to bud. Cutting back will promote new growth, giving you a healthier plant with stronger stems.

When to Prune St John’s Wort Pumpkin:

The best time to prune St John’s Wort Pumpkin is in the early spring, to encourage more branching, flowers and berries. Fall pruning, especially in warmer climates, can result in a quick flush of new growth that prevents dormancy and makes winter freezes potentially deadly.