Comments on: Pumpkins

By: Alyssa

Alyssa — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 23:29:03 +0000

Turn green pumpkins orange we threw old rotton pumpkins under our pine trees and this year the pumpkins sprouted and taken over a whole corner of our yard they are growing well the problem is our neighbors or someone around our house is stealing our pumpkins and they arent even orange so we thought if we picked them and put them on our deck nobody would steal them. I was just wondering if you pick green pumpkins will they turn orange or get any bigger because most of the pumpkins we picked are green...so thank you.

Hi Alyssa Your green pumpkins will not get larger but with time and care can turn orange. Here's how to ripen pumpkins and accelerate maturing. Place them in a sunny warm spot on a patio, deck or window. Expose the green side to the sun and rotate periodically to expose all other green parts. If it gets too cold (freezing) overnight bring them inside. The pumpkins may not color evenly especially when exposed to chilling temperatures below 50F. Also see the article on storing pumpkins.

By: Pat

Pat — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 09:49:47 +0000

My name is Patrick and I live in London, England. My pumpkin grew to the size of a bowling green ball and on August 24th I was very disappointed to see that it had turned soft. When I discovered the new fruit, I was very overjoyed and protective. I fed and watered it regularly and put it on an old plastic bin lid to keep it off the ground. Did my last action have anything to do with its sad demise?

Hi Pat Most likely not-by raising it off the ground you actually helped keep other insects and small animals from chewing on it. The problem may have been a squash vine borer that drills its way into the vine and can work its way into the pumpkin. I had the same problem last year. My pumpkins started to rot from the inside and when I cut it open found a vine borer inside.

By: carol

carol — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 09:03:13 +0000

Powdery mildew on pumpkins Hi my name is carol from california and I am growing pumpkins from seeds for the first time . I am a little confuess about what to do when my leaves turn that powdery midew. I notice my vines had this stuff, should I cut off the leaves that have this white stuff on them and spray stuff on them so the other vines can grow, or should I just restart all my plants all over again. some have this white stuff and some dont I have not had any frut yet and I planted my seeds at the end of June, what should I do. Thank-you for your time. carol

Hi Carol Depending on the severity,You can treat the vines with a baking soda spray to control the spread of powdery mildew. Add 1 Tbsp each of baking soda and horticultural oil (dormant oil spray) to 1 gallon of water. Spray weekly making a new mix each time. I also heard of 1 tbsp of pine sol to 1 gal of water as a spray. You can also try Benomyl (systemic fungicide), sulfur/fungicidal soap. Once the disease takes hold it is difficult to control. Some cultural things that can be done are to remove the infected leaves, do not crowd the plants, provide good air circulation and keep plants well watered and stress free. Pumpkins take 100+ days to develop fruit so you may not have enough time to start from seed.

By: Debbie

Debbie — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 13:38:16 +0000

I live in MO. An unexpected pumpkin vine began growin g in out landscape area (lava rock area), and a nice sized pumpkin has developed at the end of the vine. I am excited to have even one develope, but it is only the beginning of August and the vine is beginning to rot and leaves are falling off. The leaves were wilting during the day and I would water the plant. Now I beleive I must have overwatered the plant. Is there any thing I can do to extend the life of the vine? I do not want to lose my only pumpkin. Thanks for any advice. Debbie

HI Debbie Your pumpkin may have a wilt disease caused by squash vine borer which will cause the vine to wilt in the middle of the day.

By: cindy

cindy — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 02:29:37 +0000

I’m new to growing pumpkins. Live in San Jose, CA and planted 1 plant in the back. Weather here has been perfect. I planted my plant the first week of May which I bought from Home Depot. Can’t recall the name of plant, but it’s only supposed to reach 7-10 lbs. Everything is going smoothly, letting nature do its thing. Two weeks ago my first female opened, and wouldn’t you know it, none of the males opened up that day, what a sadness. Where are the males when you need them? Since then another female opened. My vine is pretty long 15-20 feet with 4 side vines taking off. I have 10-12 female buds growing and I’d love to harvest as many of those as possible, one for all my kids and their cousins, too for Halloween. If pollination is successful can the fruit on this plant reach it’s potential if I don’t cut any off? As for the first female that didn’t get pollinated, how long till it begins to die? It was softball size when its flower opened. I have bees coming around and even more black bumble bees visiting everyday. Should I try hand pollinating one for experience? Also, my vine is reaching my crepe myrtle tree, when the weather gets hotter (aug & sept) do you think the filtered tree shade will be enough to protect fruit? Avg temps from here on out will be 80-85 next 4 weeks,90 plus thereafter, should I water everyday? Twice week? Thanks for your help.

Hi Cindy
Pumpkins are always fun to grow. I love searching thru the leaves to see how many the vine produced. You know the saying “don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched”. Some of the fruit will survive while some will not. The plant will “prune” its fruit if it cannot support all the pumpkins. Or you’ll get many little pumpkins instead of a few large ones. The important thing is that the vine stays healthy and doesn’t get infested with insects. It might be fun to hand pollinate and see what happens. The filtered shade of your Crepe myrtle should help shade the fruit. Make sure your pumpkin gets plenty of water and fertilizer.

By: Melissa

Melissa — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:43:31 +0000

While brushing a few small pieces of mulch from a newly pollinated pumpkin in my garden I accidentally caused a small scrape in the skin of the fruit. Will this result in the fruit dying before it can grow ? Is there anything I should do to guard against insects, disease, etc ? The scrape is not deep, it was just a small part of the very top layer near the flower, but I want to check, just in case. Thank you !

Hi Melissa
There’s not much you can do. Like people with cuts, the scrape should heal over and form a scab.

By: Bridget

Bridget — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 18:28:12 +0000

My son and I planted three pumpkin seeds, in April I believe, and they have taken off quite nicely. The problem is that the female flowers won’t open up. I know that heat has a lot to do with it and being the fact that I live in Florida and the temperature is unusually high for this time of year, we’re talking high 90’s with feels like temps in the 100’s. And we are watering it everyday due to the fact that it starts to wilt by early afternoon. It gets a full days worth of sunlight everyday. It’s in a huge pot as well. Should we move the pot to a spot where it gets more shade then sunlight to help reduce some of the heat? And as soon as I can get the female flowers to open I plan on hand pollenating them since the bee activity is low.

Hi Bridget
Moving it to a shadier spot may help until it cools down a bit. Plants will stop blooming when temperatures get too hot.

By: Charlie of Danbury

Charlie of Danbury — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 19:12:02 +0000

Very, very interesting…Thank you all! However, I wonder if the sunlight required for continuing to mature pumpkins once the vine dies can be full spectrum grow lights? Any experience on this? Great learning experience sharing going on here!

By: dorothy

dorothy — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 23:56:49 +0000

My pumpkin fruit are also forming turning yellow and then rotting and falling off. They are – well watered – well feed – well pollinated (I saw the bees at work right now!)
Do I keep the plant in or give up and pull it out.
Otherwise a little powdery mildew *but this started before that did* but other wise big healthy spreading plant.
Help!

HI Dorothy
I am assuming your plants are healthy and disease free. If so, your pumpkins may not have been pollinated well because of hot or cool weather and/or slow bee activity. When the weather moderates you should get more pumpkins, if not help by hand-pollinating the flowers. Flowers open in the morning and close by noon and sooner if its hot. Bee activity also slows in cooler temperatures. For adequate bee activity observe your plants. Bees should visit a flower every 15 minutes.
Hand-pollinate in the morning, take a small brush and transfer pollen from the male flower (stamen) to the female flower part (pistil). The female has a small swelling below the flower and if it is not pollinated then it will fall off. Another easier method is to take the male flower’s stamen and rub it in the pistil of the female flower.
If the plants are healthy keep the plant and wait for more flowers to polllinate.

Also be on the look out for squash vine borer. Are the leaves wilting on a sunny day? Check the vine close to the base and see if there is some sawdust like material-squash vine borer. Its difficult for the plant to maintain fruit when it is under attack.

By: julie

julie — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 02:59:47 +0000

Can pumpkin plants make it through the winter. If they can what is the best way to protect the plant.

Hi Julie
Pumpkins are a warm weather crop and are easily killed by cold temperatures. They are also grown as an annual, once they produce fruit they are finished, if the insects don’t get them first. I’m afraid you will have to start new plants in spring.