Jack of All Trades F1
The carving pumpkin to grow if you want a proper orange lantern for Halloween rather than something to eat.
If the point of the exercise is a lantern on the windowsill for Halloween, this is the variety to sow. Jack of All Trades is a hybrid carving pumpkin bred for the shape people expect: round, evenly ribbed, bright orange, with a smooth shell and a firm stalk that makes a proper handle. Fruit are medium sized rather than enormous, which in Ireland is an advantage, because a medium pumpkin has a realistic chance of colouring up before the end of October and a huge one usually does not.
Quick facts
- Botanical name
- Cucurbita pepo and Cucurbita maxima
- Type
- F1 hybrid
- Category
- Carving pumpkin, trailing
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Hardiness
- Tender, no frost tolerance
- In Ireland
- Cloche or fleece helps
- Germination
- 5 to 10 days at 18 to 25C
- Sowing depth
- 2cm
- Spacing
- 150cm apart, 180cm between rows
- Position
- Full sun
- Containers
- Needs open ground
- Sowing to harvest
- 15 to 22 weeks
- Harvest
- September to October
Sowing and harvest calendar for Jack of All Trades F1
Months shaded below are the reliable windows for Irish conditions.
Where to buy Jack of All Trades F1 pumpkin seeds in Ireland
Irish suppliers that stock this, so postage stays domestic and seed arrives in time to sow. These are plain links, not paid placements.
Garden centres and mixed retailers
- Mr Middleton Irish Posted from Dublin Mail order arm of a long established Mary Street shop, carries the familiar named varieties the organic specialists skip. Visit Mr Middleton , Co. Dublin
- Johnstown Garden Centre Irish Widest branded range, best ordered in spring Third generation family business near Naas with the widest branded range, though popular varieties sell out by midsummer. Visit Johnstown Garden Centre , Co. Kildare
- Woodie's Usually the cheapest packet, click and collect nationwide Dublin headquartered chain, part of Grafton Group. Cheapest per packet and the only nationwide click and collect option. Visit Woodie's
Why it suits Ireland
Carving pumpkins are the hardest kind to get right here, because size and colour both need heat we do not reliably get. Jack of All Trades is a sensible compromise: it is quick and uniform, it colours well, and it does not try to be a giant. That combination is what gives it a chance of finishing in a normal Irish season.
The Halloween connection is worth knowing. The festival descends from the Gaelic Samhain, and the original Irish lanterns were carved from turnips and swedes, which are far harder work and considerably more sinister. Pumpkins came back across the Atlantic with returning emigrants and took over completely. Growing your own closes that loop nicely.
If you cannot find this variety, the older open-pollinated Jack O’Lantern is the traditional carving type and behaves similarly, though it is less uniform.
Growing notes
Sow one seed on its edge in a 9cm pot in late April at 18 to 25C. Do not be tempted into March: the plant will be pot bound and miserable weeks before it is safe to go outside.
Plant out after the last frost into the richest, most sheltered sunny spot you have, with plenty of well-rotted manure underneath. Allow around 1.5m to 2m each way. Protect the young plant from slugs for the first fortnight, which is when it is most likely to be lost outright.
Limit each plant to one or two fruit if you want them large, pinching the growing tips out beyond them in early August, and slip a slate underneath each fruit as it swells. Turn the fruit gently every week or so from September, otherwise the side lying on the ground stays pale and the lantern has a green patch on it.
Cut with a long stalk, and give it a week somewhere warm and dry indoors before carving.
Common questions
Can you eat a Jack of All Trades pumpkin?
You can, but nobody grows it for the kitchen. Carving varieties are selected for shell shape, colour and a large hollow cavity, which means the flesh is comparatively thin, wet and bland. Roast it hard with plenty of seasoning and it makes acceptable soup, and the seeds are worth toasting, but if you want a pumpkin to eat grow Crown Prince or Uchiki Kuri alongside it.
How big will the fruit get in an Irish garden?
Smaller than the packet picture, usually. In a warm sheltered garden with rich soil and one or two fruit left on each plant you can expect a decent carving size, roughly the width of a dinner plate. In a cool wet summer, or with four or five fruit left on, you get several small ones instead. Restrict the fruit early if you want one impressive lantern.
When should I cut it for Halloween?
As soon as it is fully orange and the stalk is drying, which is usually the first half of October, rather than leaving it out until the last week. A cut and cured pumpkin sitting indoors keeps far better than one left on wet ground through an Irish October. Carve on the day itself or the day before, since a hollowed pumpkin softens within a few days once the flesh is exposed.
More pumpkins to consider
Uchiki Kuri
Open pollinated / Onion squash, small trailing
The most reliable pumpkin for Irish conditions, and the one to choose if you only have room for a single plant.
Growing notes and stockistsCrown Prince F1
AGMF1 hybrid / Winter squash, large trailing
Grow this one to eat. The flavour is in a different class and a cured fruit will still be good next spring.
Growing notes and stockistsAtlantic Giant
Open pollinated / Giant exhibition, very large trailing
The one to grow if the goal is size rather than dinner. Enormous fun, enormous space, and a lot of feeding.
Growing notes and stockists