Waltham Butternut pumpkin
Waltham Butternut is an excellent storage and tasting pumpkin. They weigh up to 2 kg and have that well known butternut ‘pear’shape. There is a lot of meat in these pumpkins due to the small seed cavity. Does require as much warmth as possible over a Tasmanian summer so lay down some black plastic and plant/sow in a cut out hole.
Sow – Germinates when soil temp >20C. Sow direct when a week of sunny weather is forecast from Nov on. To help lay black plastic down, cut an X and plant into that. Note can be quite slow to germinate at low temperatures so pick a good week of higher temperatures.
Spacing – 80cm to 1m (provide lots of water)
Native to North America (northeastern Mexico and the southern United States), pumpkins are one of the oldest domesticated plants, having been used as early as 7,500 to 5,000 BC.
