In my opinion your planters are far far too small.

I grow mine in 10"(250mm)diameter bottomless pots of a similar depth,which sit on top of my compost heap.

In you case I would say it is not essential to place them on a compost heap but I would get them into bigger pots ASAP before they become pot bound and possibly die off.

I find builders buckets with holes in the bottom are a useful size.

Let the runners (stems) run over the ground.

It is not unusual for my stems to extend to over two metres from the pot.

This link (with pictures) might assist you!

http://www.thegardenersalmanac.co.uk/Data/Pumpkin/Pumpkin.htm

The variety in the pictures are Jack o' Lantern

Hey TG! Thank you for your quick reply!

That link is helpful, though, I need to ask about some things that are unclear to me...

First, I don't understand about the timings on that link, they begin with what to do after 4 months, while my plant is 2 months already and it's pretty big, also, I did not do put it in a small cup size planter like they began, so I don't know where I am on that timeline.

Second, Please, will you care to elaborate on this sentence, I don't quite understand it: "Week 27; Pinch out the growing tips of trailing varieties to encourage the production of laterals which tend to bear most of the female flowers."

+ I might not understand some of the instructions, but according to them, I should see the first fruit after more than 7 months? I thought it was less than that, is it really 7 months?

Thanks to all the helpers (:

Quote; I don't know where I am on that timeline.

I wouldn't worry too much about the time line due to the climate you live in, I would guess it is much colder here in the UK so most things will take longer than what I would expect where you are.

Quote;"Week 27; Pinch out the growing tips of trailing varieties to encourage the production of laterals which tend to bear most of the female flowers."

Pumpkin plants will send out runners as long as you let them, and they will produce fruit at intervals along these runners.

There is a limit to the number of fruits a plant can sustain.

For example if you go for a lot of fruit, they will be quite small so generally the less fruit on a plant the bigger the fruit.

So basically what is means is; cut the growing tip off after about three fruit have set.

Another way is to cut the growing tip off after one or two fruit have set; this will cause the plant to produce laterals (branches if you like).

Then you can allow one fruit to grow on each lateral, and in this way you still get three or four fruits per plant but the plant does not take up as much space.

Quote; I thought it was less than that, is it really 7 months?

Again this depends upon where you live and if you are growing them under cover or out in the open.

Plus the fact the 7 months you mention is for growing in the UK.

If you look at my link again you will see that from my planting out time (week 22) I am pollinating fruit within 6-7 weeks (week 29)

Then depending upon temperature it can take up another ten weeks till the fruit matures.

In Israel I would think this period would be substantially reduced!

I hope that clarifies your issues..Tg

Oh I understand now, our summers are more suitable for the plant so it might grow faster than in a climate where it stuggles.

About the fruits, when there will be a few I just need to thin out some so that one or two will grow in optimal conditions. (like I did when I sowed the seeds, I put 6 seeds and they all came up, I thinned (?) them and left only the 2 most stronger plants). same with the fruit gotcha

Thanks again ^^