Long Island Cheese Pumpkin: Growing the Best Heirloom Pie Pumpkin in Kansas
By Autumn Prairie Pumpkins
Long Island Cheese is an open-pollinated heirloom pumpkin named for its flattened, ribbed, buff-tan fruit, which resembles a wheel of cheese. Its orange flesh suits pies, soups and fall baking. Shop Long Island Cheese pumpkin seeds for current packet choices, prices and availability.
Comparing varieties? See our Seminole and Long Island Cheese comparison.
Long Island Cheese belongs to Cucurbita moschata, a useful species to consider where squash vine borers are a problem. Resistance does not mean immunity. Check vines throughout the season, and plan for a spreading plant rather than a compact bush.
Planning Long Island Cheese for Kansas
Kansas heat, soil moisture and the length of your frost-free season all affect the crop. No variety guarantees a harvest under pest pressure or difficult weather. Start with a sunny, well-drained site and enough space to reach the plants for watering and inspection.
Allow about 100 to 110 days to maturity, plus time for weather delays. Count backward from your local first-frost date and check actual soil warmth before spring planting.
For Kansas-specific pumpkin growing guidance, K-State's squash vine borer guide (MF3309) covers identification and management of this pest.
How to Grow Long Island Cheese in Kansas (Zone 6b)
When to Plant
Direct sow after last frost when soil is consistently 65°F or warmer. In the Newton/Wichita corridor, that's mid-May. Sow seeds 1 inch deep, 2–3 seeds per hill, and thin to the strongest seedling. Indoor starts work too, plant in 4-inch pots 3 weeks before transplant, and move them outside once nights are reliably above 55°F.
Spacing and Trellising
Our product guidance allows 3 to 4 feet between plants and rows 6 to 8 feet apart. Leave a generous bed or ground-level patch for spreading vines. If using a trellis, the structure and fruit supports must suit the expected load and local wind; fruit shape alone does not determine whether a support will work.
Soil and Fertility
Use well-drained soil and a soil test to guide compost and fertilizer additions. Do not assume that this variety needs less nitrogen than other pumpkins without evidence from your soil and plants.
Watering
Keep soil moisture consistent through growth and fruit development. Water at the root zone, adjusting for rainfall, heat, drainage and soil moisture. Do not deliberately drought-stress plants to try to sweeten the fruit.
Pest and Disease Management
Monitor for squash vine borers as well as squash bugs. Inspect stems for entry holes, frass and wilting, and leaf undersides for squash bug eggs. Moschata ancestry does not make a plant pest-proof. Keep access between plants for inspection and follow local extension advice when problems appear.
Harvest and Storage
Harvest when the skin is uniformly buff-tan and feels hard to the touch. The stem will begin to dry. Cut with 3–4 inches of stem. Cure in a warm, dry area for 10–14 days before moving to cool storage. Long Island Cheese stores well, expect 3–5 months under good conditions (50–60°F, low humidity).
Long Island Cheese in the Kitchen
This is a pie baker's pumpkin. The flesh is deep orange, dense, smooth, and naturally sweet, it purees beautifully with almost no stringiness. Many bakers consider it superior to canned pumpkin for homemade pies.
Beyond pie, Long Island Cheese makes outstanding pumpkin soup, pumpkin ravioli filling, roasted pumpkin wedges, and pumpkin butter. The flavor is rich and complex, sweet with a slight nuttiness that intensifies after curing.
Saving Seeds
Long Island Cheese is open-pollinated, but saved seed stays true to type only when the flowers are pollinated by the same variety. Let one fruit mature fully on the vine, harvest seeds, rinse clean, and dry for 2–3 weeks. Store in paper envelopes in a cool, dry place. Remember: it will cross with other Cucurbita moschata varieties, so isolate if seed purity matters.
Add Long Island Cheese to Your Kansas Garden
Long Island Cheese Pumpkin Seeds ship from Newton, Kansas. See all of our pumpkin and squash seeds, including vine borer resistant Cucurbita moschata varieties.
More growing guides: Dickinson Pumpkin Growing Guide · Musquée de Provence Growing Guide · Magdalena Big Cheese Growing Guide
