How many pumpkins per plant?

Hi everyone, I was just wondering if I should limit the amount of pumpkins on my plant? I've hand pollinated two female flowers but more are appearing all the time. Would allowing too many to grow take too much energy & prevent them getting large enough? Any advice welcome.

 

Are you you growing them to eat or for size?

 

I'm growing them to eat but I'd like them to be a nice size as well. Thanks JWK, I was thinking two or three might be ideal.

 

I love pumpkin pies, pumpkin soup & pumpkin ravioli with pine nuts & sage, I'm, vegetarian & it seems most of my cookery have lots of pumpkin recipes. I'd love to carve one as well though, I'll see what size they end up. Thanks again for the advice.

 

I'd tend to say its getting slightly late for setting pumpkins now.

For good sized ones you really need them to be forming in early July.

Having said that, you might get some reasonable ones if we get a warm Autumn, ripening may be a problem.

 

Yes, I grow courgettes as well, I'm letting a few of them turn into marrows this year to make some marrow & ginger jam. Courgettes are fantastic, you get so much out of each plant & don't have to worry about pollination! I took three large ones from the garden this evening & I'm in the middle of making creamy courgette lasagne :D I saw someone growing yellow courgettes this year, I'd love to give those a go, I'm sure the taste isn't vastly different but I love the colour.

Pete - I was thinking they were starting late to become large enough but the flowers only opened on mine in august, I think I should have planted earlier. I planted them as an experiment this year but it would have been fantastic if they worked out. Those flowers I pollinated have dropped off & the little pumpkins are growing quite well but you're right that ripening could be an issue, mild autumns where I live are pretty few and far between, mild summers aren't exactly frequent either, if only there was some fruit & veg that loved constant torrential rain, they'd be thriving here these days. Ah well, I'll wait and see with the pumpkins! Thanks for the advice everyone.