Animal Crossing: New Horizons Pumpkins — How to grow the biggest patch

Acnh Halloween Pumpkinpatch
Acnh Halloween Pumpkinpatch (Image credit: iMore)

Halloween is by far my favorite holiday of the year, so playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons during October is a must. After all, the festivities make it one of the best Halloween Nintendo Switch games out there. What better way to celebrate than by growing our own little pumpkin patches? You're going to want to get busy because you'll need plenty of squash to craft Spooky Pumpkin DIY recipes and decorate your island for All Hallows Eve. Here are some tips and tricks for growing pumpkins and crafting Halloween decorations.

Four different types of Animal Crossing pumpkins

Acnh Pumpkin Colors (Image credit: iMore)

It's important to know that there are four different pumpkin colors: white, green, orange, and yellow. The thing is, there's no way of telling what color a pumpkin start will turn into when you plant it, so you need to wait and watch it grow.

The Halloween DIY recipes call for orange pumpkins, but you can use the other colored pumpkin to customize your existing Spooky Pumpkin decor into different colors.

How to get Animal Crossing pumpkins

Anch Leif (Image credit: iMore)

Anch Nooks Cranny Cabinet Pumpkins (Image credit: iMore)

Source: iMore

Instead of buying pumpkin seeds, you can purchase pumpkin starts either from the Nook's Cranny cabinet or from Leif if he happens to have set up shop on your island. If possible, we suggest purchasing from Leif over Nook's Cranny because he charges half as much as the Nooks.

Swipe to scroll horizontally
Header Cell - Column 0 1 Pumpkin Start5 Pumpkin Starts
Leif's Shop140 Bells700 Bells
Nook's Cranny280 Bells1,400 Bells

You're going to need a ton of pumpkins to make all of those Spooky Pumpkin DIY recipes, so we recommend stocking up on extra pumpkin starts whenever Leif is visiting.

The best way to grow a lot of Animal Crossing pumpkins

Anch Spooky Tower And Witch

Anch Spooky Tower And Witch (Image credit: iMore)

You're going to need several pumpkins if you want to craft all of the Spooky Pumpkin DIY recipes. So, here's how to get the most out of your pumpkin patch.

1.) Build a pumpkin patch

This isn't strictly necessary, but if you want to keep track of your pumpkin progress more efficiently, we recommend creating a dedicated area for your gourds. It can look adorable if you put down dark dirt with a fence around it.

2.) Water your pumpkins each day

One pumpkin start can produce as many as three pumpkins when it comes to full term. The plants that get watered more regularly throughout the four-day growing process are more likely to produce more gourds.

  • Note 4 stages of growth: Just as you have to wait for flowers to reach maturity in Animal Crossing, so too do you need to wait four days for a pumpkin to start to grow into a full-blown pumpkin. If just planted, a start will only have a few leaves poking out. On the second day, these leaves will be larger. On the third day, a small pumpkin will appear. Finally, the pumpkin's color will be revealed on the fourth day, and it will be ready to harvest.

3.) Plant more

As soon as you're able to harvest the pumpkins you've planted, you'll want to place more in the ground and start the process over again. That way, you're far more likely to be able to get all of the pumpkins you need for this spooky holiday. It might even be worth planting some each day for four days; that way, you'll constantly have more coming to term as October waxes old.

Animal Crossing pumpkins

Animal Crossing is one of the best Nintendo Switch games. Now that you've got that pumpkin patch in place, it's getting even more fun. Good luck decorating your island with plenty of festive Halloween decor.

Rebecca Spear
Gaming Editor

Gaming aficionado Rebecca Spear is iMore's dedicated gaming editor with a focus on Nintendo Switch and iOS gaming. You’ll never catch her without her Switch or her iPad Air handy. If you’ve got a question about Pokémon, The Legend of Zelda, or just about any other Nintendo series check out her guides to help you out. Rebecca has written thousands of articles in the last six years including hundreds of extensive gaming guides, previews, and reviews for both Switch and Apple Arcade. She also loves checking out new gaming accessories like iPhone controllers and has her ear to the ground when it comes to covering the next big trend.