A pumpkin has to grow and ripen before the first autumn frost, and the fruit must ripen fully to store well. The bigger the fruit a variety is bred for, the more weeks of warmth it needs. In a short Scottish summer, that makes fruit size the main thing to choose by.
Quick answer
Charmant for eating and storing: moderate fruit, and the only one with some powdery mildew resistance. Jack be Little for the least fruit to ripen and the least space. Atlantic Giant only for show.
What Scotland means for the choice
Pumpkins take about 14–20 weeks from sowing to harvest. Sown indoors in mid-to-late April, that puts harvest roughly between late July and mid-September. The fruit also has to ripen fully to store well, and the varieties with the most fruit to fill are the ones most likely to run to the end of that window, closer to the first autumn frost, especially in colder inland and upland areas (see frost dates by region). The pumpkin growing guide covers sowing, planting out, protecting fruit from frost and curing for storage.
The five varieties
| Variety | Fruit | Spread | Hardiness | Storage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jack be Little | Palm-sized, about 10 per plant | 1–1.5m | H2The RHS's H1a–H7 scale for how much cold a plant can survive outdoors, H1a being tender indoor-only and H7 hardy anywhere in the UK. Full definition → (1–5°C) | Up to 12 months |
| Charmant | 6–8kg | 1.5–2.5m | H1C (5–10°C) | Well into winter |
| Cargo | 6–10kg | 2.5–4m | H1C (5–10°C) | Well into winter |
| Hundredweight | Very large, best at one fruit per plant | 1.5–2.5m | H2 (1–5°C) | No figure given |
| Atlantic Giant | Can exceed 1.8m across; record 782kg | Up to 5m | H2 (1–5°C) | No figure given |
None of the five holds the RHS Award of Garden Merit. The hardiness ratings differ, H1C against H2, but all five are tender and all go out only after the last frost. What keeps mattering through to autumn is how much fruit each plant has to ripen.
Charmant
Charmant is the smallest-fruited of the full-size pumpkins here, at 6–8kg, and the only one of the five with "some resistance" to powdery mildew. The fruit stores well into winter. The plant isn't small, though: it's a spreading, trailing type reaching 1.5–2.5m, so plan bed space for that.
Jack be Little
Jack be Little has the least fruit to ripen, small ribbed pumpkins about the size of your palm, roughly ten to a plant. It also takes the least room, at 1–1.5m, and stores for up to 12 months once fully ripe. The trade-off is use: these are single-serve pumpkins, not ones for carving or big-batch cooking. Apart from grey mould and powdery mildew, which affect all five, it's described as generally pest-free.
Cargo, Hundredweight and Atlantic Giant
Cargo gives slightly bigger fruit than Charmant, 6–10kg, that stores well, but it needs the most room of the eating pumpkins at 2.5–4m. It's the one variety here that also lists slugs and snails as a problem, so protect young plants.
Hundredweight can produce very large pumpkins in good conditions, especially restricted to one fruit per plant, and needs ample space. With that much fruit to fill, expect it to take longer to finish.
Atlantic Giant is a different species, Cucurbita maxima, bred for size. Its vines reach up to 5m and its flesh is watery, usable in stocks and soups but not good eating. It's likely to need the longest season, and it needs the most space of the five, so treat it as a show project rather than a food crop.
Which one for your situation
- Pumpkins to eat through the winter: Charmant, or Cargo if you have the room.
- A cold, late or exposed plot: Jack be Little.
- A small garden: Jack be Little, at 1–1.5m.
- Long storage: Jack be Little, up to 12 months.
- A giant for show, on a long, sheltered, sunny plot: Hundredweight, or Atlantic Giant.
Powdery mildew and grey mould (botrytis) are listed for all five. Only Charmant has any mildew resistance, and none resists grey mould.
Common questions
Which pumpkin ripens fastest in Scotland?
No variety has a published days-to-harvest figure, but Jack be Little has the least fruit to fill, so it's the safest bet against an early frost.
Can I grow Atlantic Giant in Scotland?
You can, as a show project rather than a reliable food crop. Its fruit can exceed 1.8m across, so it needs the longest run of warmth and up to 5m of space, and its flesh is watery.
Is Charmant a compact pumpkin?
Its fruit is moderate, 6–8kg, but the plant trails and spreads 1.5–2.5m, the same as Hundredweight. Plan for that much room.
Sources
Show the 7 sources
- Pumpkins: Grow Your Own: The five named varieties and their descriptions, none with the AGMThe RHS's Award of Garden Merit: a UK-wide trials award for reliable performance, not a Scotland-specific recommendation. Full definition →
- Cucurbita pepo 'Charmant': Fruit size, mildew resistance, storage, spread, hardiness
- Cucurbita pepo 'Jack be Little': Fruit size, storage, spread, hardiness, pests and diseases
- Cucurbita pepo 'Cargo': Fruit size, storage, spread, hardiness, slugs and snails
- Cucurbita pepo 'Hundredweight': Fruit size, spread, hardiness, space
- Cucurbita maxima 'Atlantic Giant': Species, fruit size and record, flesh, spread, hardiness
- Pumpkins and Squashes: 14–20 weeks from sowing to harvest