If you're growing pumpkins and are disappointed that they're not growing as big as you'd expected, it could be down to this year's 'strange' weather, according to the RHS.
The society's principal horticultural adviser, Leigh Hunt, said "It’s been a strange year. To start with, a dry start to the summer meant plants struggled to get roots into the ground and establish properly. It’s not been a really long, good growing season. By August, we were getting cooler temperatures into the night, and it slows down the plant and the way the fruit develops. People were finding the flowers rotting off; other people were finding the fruits were coming but it was very slow, and where it got really soggy, they were getting some of the fruits rotting off." In addition to this, mildew thrived and the low temperatures and lack of sunshine in August stunted the development of the plants.
But all is not lost. Even if you've only got small pumpkins, there are still plenty of things to do with them. Read on for some inspiration!
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